SMALL BUSINESSES, BIG SUPPLY CHAINS
that followed a promotional segment on a national morning television program. (See sidebar for details.) Today, Aroma Retail operates out of a 13,000-square-foot factory and retail space known as The Smelly Bar, right off The Strip in Las Vegas. The Redings’ team of 25 employees ship packages all over the world every day. They have now served more than 100,000 customers—70,000 of whom make purchases at least twice a year or more. “Our biggest challenge when we were a micro company was looking like we were a serious company that could take care of customers over the long term,” say the Redings. The image Aroma Retail projected was tied to its check- out process. The improvement paved the way to further growth. OUTSOURCING LOGISTICS SMBs might share humble origin stories but the supply chain approaches they adopt are ultimately as individual as they are. Branch Basics is a non-toxic cleaning products company founded by three health-conscious women who never intentionally set out to market soap. However, consumer demand for natural and environmentally friendly cleaning products fueled demand. In order to
meet it, the company engaged a third- party logistics (3PL) provider. As a mission-based company, Branch Basics provides numerous resources to create a healthy home including a blog, a podcast, various guides, and a Toss the Toxins™ course, which are all accessible through its website. Primarily, the company considers itself an education platform. “We just happen to sell cleaning products as the economic engine to drive our growth and to be able to create content centered around healthy living,” says Greg Bastian, president and chief nancial of cer for Branch Basics. Enter ODW Logistics, which proved a cultural t for the company. The 3PL admires Branch Basics’ conscious effort to make an impact. Prior to the partnership, Branch Basics operated out of three warehouses. SMBs might share humble origin stories but the supply chain approaches they adopt are ultimately as individual as they are.
The Smell of Panic– Then Success Jim Reding, CEO of environmental scenting company Aroma Retail, admits that most of its peak sales period challenges are self-inflicted. “Every Black Friday and Cyber Monday, we do a ridiculous amount of sales, but that’s something that we plan for throughout the year,” he says. However, the biggest episodic promotion Aroma Retail has done thus far is one that took them by surprise. After being featured on the TV show Good Morning America in a “Deals and Steals” segment, Aroma Retail wound up processing orders totaling $250,000 in a single hour following its airing. “The segment aired at 8:30 a.m. and by working through the night, we got the bulk of the orders out within a couple of days. But it took another few days to really dig out from under it,” Reding says. Descartes XPS™—the cloud-based, multi-carrier platform Aroma Retail uses to provide ecommerce solutions—rose to the occasion, although there was an initial hiccup. “It was user error, my mistake,” admits Reding. Similar to how a bank cuts o consumer credit cards if it detects unusual or heavy usage, Descartes institutes a cap when sales activity begins to climb at a higher rate than normal. “Descartes simply needed to talk to someone in charge,” he says. “One phone call and it was resolved. Now we know to give them a heads-up next time we blow the roof o!”
A partnership with ODW Logistics enabled Branch Basics to branch out into ecommerce channels.
142 Inbound Logistics • January 2025
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