About Top Dog Direct
Top Dog Direct is a leading “as seen on TV” company that finds, develops and launches new products. When its B2C fulfillment company went out of business, the company leaned on its B2B distribution partner to take on consumer-direct fulfillment. It did not go well.
Staci Americas Helps Direct Seller Top Dog Direct
Among the problems during the pandemic:
● A lack of reporting meant Top Dog had little visibility to real-time inventory and backorders
● Order backlogs increased delivery time from days to weeks, leading to customer complaints via the support line and social media
● Poor systems integration forced manual processing of orders that took hours to release
“At one point, we had 3,000 customer emails awaiting a response,” says Top Dog CFO, Karen Hoefer. “The only way we could handle it was by pulling in temporary staff and people from other departments. We knew we needed a B2C-focused fulfillment partner that understood our direct response business model, and Staci Americas fit the bill."
Key To Success
SCALABILITY
With the new voice pick system in full operation, 32 Degrees shipped more B2C orders on July 4th than it did on the previous Cyber Monday. Fulfillment is no longer a barrier to growth.
ADAPTING BASED ON SKU-SPECIFIC FORECASTS
With the new voice pick system in full operation, 32 Degrees shipped more B2C orders on July 4th than it did on the previous Cyber Monday. Fulfillment is no longer a barrier to growth.
PARCEL SAVINGS
A change from USPS to FedEx SmartPost using Staci Americas' lower rates yielded substantial parcel savings.
CLOSE COMMUNICATION
The relationship is highly collaborative. “Staci Americas acts on the information we provide – not all 3PLs do,” says Lunden. And 32 Degrees will change its processes in response to an Staci Americas request. For instance, 32 Degrees worked with its overseas vendors to group like SKUs together when loading containers. This significantly reduced unload and sort times at the warehouse.
KEYS TO SUCCESS
DELIVERY SPEED
Orders immediately download to the Staci Americas system and are shipped, often the same day. Top Dog’s confidence in Staci Americas led it to move away from FBA to process the company’s Amazon orders, a decision that has significantly increased margin for this channel.
VISIBILITY
Staci Americas' reporting tools provide a real-time view of inventory, backorders and returns – critical data that informs Top Dog’s marketing decisions. “If inventory is getting low on an item, I can shift promotion to another product,” says Top Dog CMO, Steve Silbiger.
FLEXIBLE PROCESSES AND SYSTEMS
“We often change out product configurations,” says Silbiger. “Staci Americas easily adapts its packaging process when this happens.”
PARCEL SAVINGS
Immediate and substantial savings came from shipping under Staci Americas' favorable parcel contracts, which are negotiated based on the 3PL’s aggregate shipping spend.
POST-SALES CUSTOMER SERVICE
Staci Americas' call center now handles all post-sales customer service inquires via phone, email and social media. “Before Staci Americas, I would regularly spend 4 hours a day dealing with warehouse and customer service issues,” says Hoefer.
RESULTS
Improved Scale and Quality
In the last 6 months, order volume has increased 150% with improved operational performance.
Improved Order Accuracy
Improved order accuracy from 90%-95% with the former provider to nearly 100% with Staci Americas.
Saved Parcel Shipping Costs
Saved 50% on parcel shipping costs after the initial shift to Staci Americas' parcel management program.
Monthly Savings
$2-per-package reduction in shipping charges
Reduction
In error-rate
Reduction
In customer calls and emails
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