Invoicing challenges, communication issues and poor customer service led travel apparel brand Bluffworks to want to switch fulfillment providers. That's what led it to switch to partnering with Cart.com in July.
But pressure from both the COVID-19 pandemic and then new tariffs kept it from making the move sooner.
“[T]he problem in fulfillment is that when it goes wrong, it goes really, really wrong,” CEO Stefan Loble told Supply Chain Dive in an interview.
For example, as it grappled with the pandemic in 2020, Bluffworks received a $200,000 back invoice from its previous fulfillment partner. The company couldn’t properly invoice Bluffworks, leading to delayed charges, Loble said.
“We stuck with them all the way from 2020, another six years after that disaster, and the final invoice after those six years was also held up because they could not get their invoicing act together,” Loble said of Bluffworks' previous partner.
Overall, Bluffworks needed a fulfillment provider that was reliable and responsive. In turn, the company needed the assurance that it wouldn’t go through what it did with its last fulfillment partner.
“Cart.com has their operation buttoned up, especially their technology. I can open Cart.com’s software and see the status of the whole operation without emailing anyone to ask,” Loble said in an Oct. 14 press release.
The apparel brand’s inventory and fulfillment operations are now centralized at Cart.com’s Terrell, Texas, facility, after transitioning from its previous fulfillment center in Memphis, Tennessee, in less than three weeks, according to the release. The new setup is expected to help lower fulfillment costs by 20%.
Texas is “sufficiently central" and features a consistent model in terms of inventory management and fulfillment, Loble said.
As an example, when an inbound shipment was recently damaged during transit, Cart.com’s team inspected the merchandise and sent photos and documentation to Bluffworks. The gathered information allowed the travel apparel brand to resolve the issue with its suppliers without sending personnel to the facility that housed the merchandise.
Bluffworks has joined other brands that have recently chosen Cart.com to handle inventory and fulfillment operations. In June, Tommy John selected Cart.com to consolidate down from multiple fulfillment providers to just one. Other brands using Cart.com include Pacsun, Toms Shoes and The Body Shop.
