E-commerce automation isn’t just a nice-to-have for retailers in today’s rapidly-evolving market, it’s absolutely essential.
Automation streamlines operations, reduces manual tasks and boosts productivity, enabling businesses to focus on more important activities that boost customer experience and overall growth.
As the leading retail operating system, Brightpearl is in the driving seat of the automation transformation in retail.
With a powerful Automation Engine at its heart, Brightpearl helps the average e-commerce merchant save 352 hours every year using no-code automation – as well as reduce errors by 65% and cut labor costs in half.
If you’re yet to feel the benefits of e-commerce automation in your business, dive into these inspirational Brightpearl success stories from top retailers in a range of sectors.
Dan-O’s Seasoning is a $30M multichannel seasoning brand, launched in 2016 from Louisville, KY by Dan Oliver.
After succeeding with selling an original all-purpose blend at farmers markets and outdoor shows, the brand exploded on TikTok and the range has since expanded to include spicy, crunchy and chipotle varieties.
The challenge
The business didn’t have the technology in place to cope with such rapid growth.
Sean Bownman, VP of Finance, says: “We had a revenue of $10M but we were a 100% manual business – that wasn’t sustainable.”
The solution
Sean explains: “We didn’t want a pricey legacy ERP like Netsuite. We needed a slick, flexible system that could connect seamlessly with our website, sales channels and favourite tools and eliminate the manual work that was dragging us down.
“I kept coming across positive reviews for Brightpearl so I got a demo and a quote – and I was sold.”
Thanks to Brightpearl’s unique expert-led approach to onboarding, Dan-O’s went live on the platform in just three months.
The Result
With immediate access to powerful automation functionality, the retailer was quickly able to streamline its operations, saving time and resources.
Automation has been transformative. Revenue has tripled and seven hires have been saved, with the team getting back weeks every month.
“Brightpearl has been instrumental in us becoming a successful $30M retail brand,” Sean added.
2. TBCo
TBCo (formerly Tartan Blanket Company) is an Edinburgh-based, B Corp-certified retail brand on a mission to create statement pieces that add the finishing touch to outfits and homes.
Founded in 2014, the fast-growing business operates across a Shopify webstore, physical store and wholesale.
The challenge
TBCo had lots of individual systems that were great, but they didn’t ‘talk’ to each other and there were data siloes, as well as lots of people doing things manually on spreadsheets.
Alice Davidson, Lead Operations Specialist at TBCo, says: “We’d been ‘making do’, but we couldn’t really move to the next step in our growth journey until we had a proper operating system in place.”
The solution
Having used Brightpearl in a previous role, Alice knew it was the best scalable, flexible operating system to support the rapid growth of the business.
TBCo went live on Brightpearl in just three months, in time for Black Friday peak.
The Result
With Brightpearl’s powerful Automation Engine at its disposal, TBCo was quickly able to overhaul its operations – automating around 82 manual workflows in order to save huge amounts of time, streamline processes and boost profits.
“The automation power that Brightpearl has given us has been truly game-changing,” says Alice.
3. Unimart.com
Unimart.com is a rapidly growing online marketplace offering a wide range of products from electronics to fashion. It’s built on a complex, multichannel model – consisting of Shopify Plus-powered direct-to-consumer sales, a B2B arm for corporate customers, and a separate API stream supplying brand loyalty programs.
The challenge
Unimart.com’s legacy ERP couldn’t copy with the business’s complex set-up and its disjointed data transfers were causing chaos.
Roberto Jiménez, CEO and Founder, says: “Everything was disconnected and nothing matched at the end of each month. It was a terrible setup, it just didn’t work.
The solution
Roberto considered alternative legacy ERPs but found their all-in-one nature, as well as their clunky means of connectivity, meant they weren’t financially viable. Following a recommendation from Shopify, he discovered Brightpearl – and there was no going back.
The result
Unimart.com’s manual systems have been transformed by Brightpearl’s Automation Engine, which streamlines and automates manual tasks in inventory, warehouse, orders, shipping and fulfilment so that key staff are freed up to direct time into growth and innovation.
Not only has this meant Unimart.com can easily integrate their self-run shipping and logistics processes, Roberto estimates they’ve saved an incredible 70 hours a month on manual purchase orders.
4. Bond Touch
Bond Touch, founded in 2013, is dedicated to creating wearable technology that helps loved ones stay connected. The company’s signature product, the Bond Touch bracelet, allows people to send and receive touch messages, simulating a physical connection regardless of distance.
The challenge
When demand surged for Bond Touch’s innovative bracelets, running various channels with large order volumes, using only manual workflows and spreadsheets, became an impossible task.
“Our processes were far too manual. It was a nightmare,” says COO, Jorge Henriques.
The solution
Bond Touch considered signing up with Netsuite, as a traditional ERP provider, as well as single point solutions from Skubana and TradeGecko. However, only Brightpearl was able to offer the scalability, flexibility and functionality the brand required.
The result
Automating order processing and other routine tasks on Brightpearl has saved three full time hires – equating to around 120 hours a week, or 480 hours a month.
Jorge adds: “Our aim was to stop our team doing almost all manual tasks, and we were able to achieve that with Brightpearl’s Automation Engine. Now, everything except occasional warranty orders are handled automatically.”
5. Baby & Co
Baby & Co is a family-run, Bristol-based company, specializing in strollers, prams, nursery furniture and nursery equipment from premium brands including Bugaboo, Silver Cross and Mamas & Papas. Established in 1982, the DTC business has a webstore powered by Advanced Shopify.
The challenge
Baby & Co came to Brightpearl after growing by 40% year-on-year and ending up bogged down by manual processes.
“We needed a flexible, scalable solution that could help us automate and streamline. Brightpearl ticked every box and more,” says Director, Jeff Mills, said:
The solution
After evaluating several options, Baby & Co. chose Brightpearl for its robust automation capabilities and seamless integration with their existing tools.
Jeff says: “We did our homework and looked at lots of other providers, but they all came up short compared to Brightpearl,” said Baby & Co’s Director, Jeff Mills.
“It became clear that many systems weren’t built for the retail sector and, with the exception of Brightpearl, they all faltered when we hypothetically tested them with certain scenarios.
The result
Automation has enabled the Baby & Co team to take a hands-off approach to hands-off approach to everything from managing inventory to order fulfillment. By setting up simple-yet-powerful no-code rules, the business is saving 280 hours a month.
Jeff adds: “I’d say automation saves us two members of full time staff – or around 70 hours a week – and it eliminates human error too.”
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Launched in 2013, Lords & Labradors is a premium pet supply retailer, offering products for pets and their owners via a Shopify Plus-powered website and marketplaces including Amazon, eBay, Not on the High Street and Etsy. Based in Stickney, England, the business is best known for its luxury pet bedding and furniture – including its iconic doggy chesterfield.
The challenge
In a familiar story, the multichannel business was struggling to manage operations manually after experiencing rapid growth.
Commercial Director, Ryan Willey, says: “We realised we needed a dedicated operations platform that could streamline our systems and automate our processes – and we needed it quickly.”
The solution
At first, Lords & Labradors turned to ecommerce platform Linnworks for help, attracted by the promise of a cheap and easy solution.
But the partnership quickly turned into something of a dog’s dinner. It turned out the platform couldn’t offer all the features Lords & Labradors needed to scale and it wasn’t able to integrate with other tools well.
The business joined Brightpearl instead and went live in just 120 days, with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations.
The result
A whopping 80% of orders get processed automatically, seamlessly flowing through the system without needing manual input.
Brightpearl’s e-commerce automation tools have also saved the team more than 35 hours a week, eliminated frequent human errors (like copying and pasting addresses incorrectly) and helped the business better manage spikes in demand.
“Brightpearl has absolutely helped us grow,” adds Alexandra Clements, Buying and Supply Chain Manager at Lords and Labradors.
Based in the West Midlands, Wolverson Fitness supplies high-quality fitness equipment to gyms and individuals. Powered by two Shopify websites, the business has swiftly secured a large, loyal following of home-based fitness enthusiasts, independent gyms and personal trainers across the UK – splitting its sales 50/50 across consumer and commercial markets.
The challenge
Without a robust operations system in place, the e-commerce brand was weighed down by time-consuming manual processes and fighting against day-to-day issues, including stock over-selling and platforms that didn’t communicate with each other.
The solution
Wolverson Fitness joined the Brightpearl family – and embraced a built-for-retail operation system that added instant core strength to its operations.
“We needed a composable tech stack that brought everything together – and Brightpearl was the only provider that could deliver,” says MD Jason McCarthy.
The result
Since automating workflows with Brighpearl. there’s been a 300% increase in productivity, enabling the team to focus on expanding the business and improving customer satisfaction.
Wolverson’s Sales Manager Jordan Hill said: “We previously employed someone full time to do the manual tasks associated with order fulfilment, such as printing labels and data entry. Now, Brightpearl automates the whole process – saving us a full-time hire plus around 40 hours a month.”
The Flex Company launched in 2016 with a revolutionary invention: a disposable menstrual disc; and a clear mission: to improve the lives of people who have periods.
Thanks to a powerful growth mindset and an unwavering dedication to company culture, the business’s success skyrocketed and within just 12 months the team had expanded to eight people and $4 million in revenue.
The challenge
As so often is the case for brands like The Flex Company, with rapid growth came operational complexity. The business needed a reliable platform to streamline its systems and support ongoing growth.
The solution
The Flex team started looking into its options and put Stitch Labs, Skubana and Brightpearl in the running, among others.
One of the key features that drove the decision to join Brightpearl was its strong automation capabilities.
“The Automation Engine is one of the best Brightpearl features in my view,” says Aaron, SVP of Supply Chain at The Flex Company.
The result
Thanks to automation, orders are now processed twice as fast.
Aaron adds: “We automatically route all orders. If inventory is low in one warehouse we automatically reroute orders to get fulfilled in another warehouse and also automatically upgrade the shipping so it still arrives when we promised it would.
“This is something that we previously would have done manually – and would have taken lots of time.”
Founded in 2009, Strength Shop specializes in providing high-quality strength training equipment for athletes, gyms, and fitness enthusiasts. The Scotland-based business has grown alongside the popularity of sports including strongman, powerlifting and crossfit and now operates globally, with sales coming from a Magento-powered website, alongside marketplaces including Amazon and eBay and via other reselling partners.
The challenge
Growing 50% year-on-year, it was an exciting time for the business – but with no system in place to streamline retail operations, it was also stressful, and the business was exposed due to a reliance on spreadsheets and non-integrated third party apps.
The solution
The team considered traditional ERP systems – but they didn’t fit the requirement for a system that was low effort to get running, highly extensible and could be implemented quickly. Brightpearl did.
The platform went live for Strength Shop in just 120 days, finally consolidating all orders in one centralized hub.
The result
The easy-to-use automation rules on Brightpearl that have transformed the day-to-day operations of the business.
The team was previously spending whole days processing orders; now it’s done automatically. Products are shipped faster and communication with customers is better than ever.
And the best bit? The hours saved every week thanks to automation are being reinvested in growing the business.
“The automation features of Brightpearl have made a massive difference,” says Ricky Shah, COO.
10. Honour
Founded in 1988, Honour began selling lingerie and gothic clothing from its Waterloo-based store in London, before moving into more strictly fetish-based clothing, toys and accessories. Honour now trades across several direct-to-consumer and wholesale websites, as well as several marketplaces, including Amazon, and stocks more than 10,000 products for its sexually adventurous customer base.
The challenge
As an early adopter of ecommerce, Honour had built its technology stack around a legacy provider, rather than a cloud-based and integratable system, and this was becoming a major issue for the business as it grew.
The solution
With its automation powers as well as extensibility to a wide range of built-in integrations, including to 3PL softwares such as Shipstation, real-time reporting functionality, and robust scalability, Brightpearl was an obvious choice to address Honour’s growing pains.
“We run a complex operation”, says Director, Joe Xuereb. “So we were looking for a solution that would support multi-channel selling across online ecommerce, marketplaces, wholesale and physical retail locations and could easily integrate to our other apps.”
The Result
Since automating as many of its manual workflows as possible, Honour is saving hours every week and has streamlined activity and reduced overheads.
Joe adds: “We automate all of our invoices, orders and shipping processes and we’ve seen a major impact on the speed and efficiency of our operation, while transforming our customer service.
“We used to have a full time employee whose remit was solely managing returns, and we had a team dedicated to customer support. Brightpearl has streamlined this entire process, saving us 28 hours each week.”
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