Blenders Eyewear creates bright, bold sunglass styles at a ordable prices. To handle challenges created by the pandemic and respond to peak season peak season demand, Blenders partnered with PFS, an e-commerce order fulfillment provider and business unit of PFSweb, Inc. PFS provides warehouse management, inventory control, inventory control, and order fulfillment services to support Blenders’ direct-to-consumer e-commerce and business-to-business wholesale channels.
The solutions Blenders currently uses are not necessarily different in concept than what the company has utilized before. The difference? “The execution has been more consistent than with prior partners,” O’Connor says. “We appreciate the communication and problem-solving that we currently have with PFS,” O’Connor says. “When challenges arise, they are willing to make efforts to act quickly and with the urgency that we would expect from our internal team.” SATISFIED CUSTOMERS Blenders’ customers primarily experience the bene ts of these improvements and ef ciencies so they are dif cult to quantify, O’Connor says. However, these improvements are re ected in higher customer satisfaction, which leads to more dedicated customers. In addition, the reduction in the costs incurred by the Blenders’ team when they need to recover from costly mistakes is also real, if similarly dif cult to quantify. “It can be a signi cant swing in either the positive or negative direction if you don’t solve for warehousing and ful llment in ways that meet the modern customer’s experience and expectations
PFS’s solutions also provide scalability and exibility, ensuring its systems can grow and evolve with its customers. “We make sure our solutions aren’t stagnant,” Lowe says, adding that this “means our brands don’t have barriers.” This approach follows from PFS’s business philosophy. “We believe strongly in the brands we target, and that a brand with direct-to-consumer capabilities has to prioritize differentiating the experience,” Lowe says. PFS can manage the basics of operations, while also layering in higher-touch operations, such as custom gift packs, note cards, or other personalization. As important, it can offer these capabilities during peak holiday and promotional periods. In the direct-to-consumer market, order processing time and speed are critical. PFS commits to a two-day service level agreement for 99% of orders processed at its distribution centers. Many orders, however, are ful lled within 24 hours or less, Lowe says. PFS charges so that the cost per unit or order decreases as a company’s volume grows. The reason it can do this, Lowe says, is its technology, such as light picking solutions that drive ef ciency and accuracy in its warehouses and distribution centers. Also key is PFS’s operational expertise, such as the skilled technicians that make the company’s engraving program possible, he adds.
companies strive for—can make it challenging to scale a direct-to-consumer operation while also maintaining service level agreements. Not every logistics provider can offer solutions that are both scalable and of high quality. As Blenders and PFS worked together, several phases of the project moved in parallel. This included PFS integrating its e-commerce platform with Blenders’ ERP solution while simultaneously building out the warehouse from which PFS would ship Blenders’ products. Onboarding a company with PFS typically takes about eight weeks. A rst step in project administration is ensuring all parties are aligned on the business requirements. After that comes the implementation, then system integration, followed by the start of project administration. PFS worked with Blenders Eyewear to set up its ful llment operations in PFS’s distribution center, while also coordinating and handling process documentation, system design, and setup. THE PFS DIFFERENCE One attribute that differentiates PFS from many logistics providers is the full suite of services it offers; it can handle functions starting with ful llment through to customer service. “We’re intent on being a strategic partner,” that can assist customers with all aspects of their supply chain, Lowe says.
from other sellers,” O’Connor says. Through its partnership with PFS, Blenders is meeting these challenges, eyes wide open.
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December 2022 • Inbound Logistics 51
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