This month we’re highlighting a range of customers who are benefiting from the epic combination of Brightpearl and Shopify.
Today, we’re highlighting Snow. This celeb-endorsed, $100M oral cosmetics brand has overhauled its operations, boosted customer service and saved hiring tens of new staff thanks to a combination of Shopify Plus and Brightpearl’s market-leading Retail Operating System (ROS).
I analyzed 22 ERP, OMS and other operations systems before making a decision on the right option for us – and Brightpearl came out on top – Trevor Martin, Vice President, Operations, Snow
Launched in 2017, Snow is a fast-growing oral cosmetics brand, best known for its teeth whitening kits alongside a range of floss, toothpaste and wireless whitening devices. Endorsed by A-list celebs, including Kim Kardashian, Chris Pratt and Ellen DeGeneres, Snow has become a leading DTC retailer in the US, with sales revenue tipping $100M.
Systems in meltdown
Snow set out with a powerful vision to innovate and disrupt the stagnant oral cosmetics industry. With a string of celeb fans, retail placements at America’s biggest stores and millions of loyal customers, it was clear the multichannel, Shopify Plus-powered brand was headed for phenomenal success.
However, beneath the brand’s pearly white veneer and 90% year-on-year growth, there was operational chaos. When the pandemic hit and demand soared, the cracks in Snow’s operational processes quickly became chasms – and urgent action was needed.
“Our systems were siloed, we had no automation in place and there were spreadsheets plugging lots of gaps. We were frequently running out of stock and upsetting our customers, who sometimes had to wait up to eight weeks for items to arrive,” said Trevor Martin, Snow’s VP Operations, who was brought in to find an operational solution – and quickly decided Brightpearl, as a flexible, scalable Retail Operating System (ROS), was it.
Ready to shine
With a less-than-three-months turnaround, and in time for Snow’s peak season, Brightpearl was implemented and configured for the brand’s unique needs by a team of retail experts.
In particular, Brightpearl’s huge library of Plug & Play integrations (including to Shopify Plus, which powers Snow’s website), powerful Automation Engine and market-leading Inventory Planner have been game-changers for Snow.
The Automation Engine has dramatically sped up workflows which meant that even during Snow’s peak season, the brand could maintain same-day dispatch. It’s had a profound impact on customer experience, too, with customer ticket wait times cut from 14 days to just 12 minutes.
“Without the Automation Engine, I would have had to double our warehouse and operations staff – it would have been a nightmare. Brightpearl saved us tens of hires,” Trevor said.
“The Inventory Planner has also been phenomenal for us. It factors in seasonality so that we can look at the data and instantly know what to order. The Plug & Play integrations have helped us make key savings on shipping and iron out issues with our supply chain, and we’ve had custom integrations built, too.
“These are all things you can’t get from traditional ERPs or low-end solutions like an OMS.”
The real bang for your buck with Brightpearl is in the connectivity. Having a central source of truth for all your data, across all your channels, is simply invaluable as you scale. – Trevor Martin, Vice President, Operations, Snow
The brand, which has ranked #2 on the ‘DTC power list’, has also been able to connect Brightpearl seamlessly with SPS Commerce, the software that connects Snow with major player retailers.
“SPS is key for us to be able to scale and reach new big player retailers and being able to connect it to Brightpearl takes away the risk of errors and improves operational efficiency even further,” Trevor added.
“It’s always been important to us to partner with a brand that’s constantly innovating and looking to the future, as we are. The recent announcement that Sage, with all its scale and financial expertise, has acquired Brightpearl was music to my ears.”
Key Takeaways
- Live in LESS than 90 days, ready for peak season
- Huge cost, time and efficiency savings, including saving hiring tens of additional staff
- Customer service transformed, with ticket response times cut from 14 days to 12 minutes
- Stockout issues eradicated and demand accurately predicted, factoring in seasonality
- Real-time transfer of data that doesn’t slow down when orders spike
