Order Fulfillment Meets Personalization

By Erin Harris, Editor-In-Chief, Cell & Gene
Follow Me On Twitter @ErinHarris_1

May 2015 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

Adore Me grew its revenue more than 300% in 2014, in part from the help of its new distribution and logistics provider.

Last year, Adore Me ranked 49th in Inc. magazine’s list of the 500 fastest-growing companies, and with good reason. Headquartered in New York City, the disruptive lingerie e-commerce manufacturer and retailer offers free domestic shipping along with easy exchanges and returns. Adore Me’s customer-centric approach attracts thousands of shoppers and VIP members every month with personalized showrooms and designs. Adore Me rose from start-up to retail enterprise by growing its revenue more than 300 percent for two consecutive years in 2014. But, according to Gary Bravard, VP supply chain at Adore Me, impressive growth comes with demand challenges. Here’s how a third-party logistics provider helped Adore Me meet demand, scale to peak seasons, and add panache to the customer experience.

Exponential growth in sales is a blessing when your operations can keep pace with demand. But when operations and fulfillment lack the agility to meet volume, profits and the customer experience may be compromised. “All of our products had to be bar-coded, which was one of our major pain points,” explains Bravard. “Without bar codes, we could neither easily verify nor keep track of the accuracy of each order. Pickers had to know by heart where to find each item, and we simply could not scale our business that way.”

Indeed, as Adore Me’s sales continued to grow, it became clear that the company’s initial logistics provider could not handle the large order volume. Bravard learned of Dotcom Distribution through other entrepreneurs, and he chose them for two reasons. “We chose Dotcom Distribution because of its ability to scale quickly and because of its expertise in helping other online retailers achieve tremendous growth,” says Bravard. “We had started to grow rapidly, and we wanted to continue that exponential increase in orders while maintaining customer satisfaction.”

Adore Me’s rapid growth caused the retailer to outgrow its previous warehouse. Once the order is picked from the warehouse floor, it then is packed for delivery. This packing phase is important, as Adore Me has special guidelines for how orders are packed. Dotcom Distribution adheres to strict brand instructions that include how a product is placed, folded, and inserted into the box. In fact, each of Dotcom’s clients has a binder of specific instructions for how to package orders to deliver the best experience for their customers.

Adore Me uses a variety of Dotcom Distribution’s services, including drop-ship capabilities, e-commerce fulfillment, freight management, personalization, and photography. “Dotcom’s logistics team and warehouse are agile enough to scale during peak seasons,” Bravard explains. “This is especially important for us, as we’ve grown from start-up retailer to a top player in the retail space.”

Dotcom’s ability to help Adore Me receive and ship orders during peak seasons, holidays, and sales has been one of the critical factors enabling the company’s growth over the past year. When Adore Me’s customers are excited about receiving their respective packages, customers take to social media to post photos of themselves opening the boxes.

Personalized Packaging: A Brand Differentiator
Bravard explains that the retailer prides itself on personalization. Dotcom Distribution helped Adore Me design and craft beautiful, sturdy boxes to ship orders, which are less expensive than the retailer’s previous cartons. “Adore Me strives to visually convey that every order is a treat and that opening the package is an experience, and high-end packaging helped us accomplish that,” he says.

Personalized packaging was a critical component of Adore Me’s brand. “We’ve always believed in using branded packaging over ugly white plastic bags or plain brown boxes, but our previous packaging was flimsy and sometimes arrived dented,” Bravard states. “Though our products never arrived damaged, the sturdier boxes Dotcom helped us develop arrive intact, which adds to the customer experience. We also now include personalized notes within the packages that thank our customers for shopping with us, which helps to replicate the in-store experience via e-commerce.”

According to Bravard, by taking on logistics with their warehouse that can scale easily to their peak seasons, Adore Me has been able to focus on growing the business instead of shipping. In 2015, Adore Me plans to integrate Apple Pay and Interactive Voice Response.

For More Information On Dotcom Go To www.dotcomdist.com