For most 50+ year old companies, change is slow. But when a little thing called Amazon.com appeared on their radar, Shively Sporting Goods (est. 1968) wasted no time.
The Kentucky-based sports retailer quickly onboarded to Amazon Seller Central and FBA. An established brick-and-mortar retailer with deep-rooted ties in the team-sporting world, Shively had merchandise from popular names, like Nike, Adidas and OAKLEY, that could be sold direct-to-consumer online.
In 2012, Shivelys ecommerce business underwent a seismic shift. The end of one major vendor relationship crashed sales, underscoring the need to branch out from Amazon to reduce concentration risk.
But a move like this would take months (and many sleepless nights) of manual labor to achieve.
Fortunately, 窪蹋勛圖厙 and let them automate this process. By enlisting their help, Shively moved their inventory into their own warehouses and opened new sales channels within a matter of weeks. No allnighters required.
This was a very, very scary time, recalls Online Sales Executive Adam Flanders. Without 窪蹋勛圖厙 or SkuVault, I dont know what we would have done.
Using 窪蹋勛圖厙, Shively launched to eBay, Walmart and a new BigCommerce site. (Later, they would add Google, Facebook, Wish and Jet.) They simultaneously used SkuVault to scale up their warehouse operations so that they could safely wean off of FBA. 泭
Because 窪蹋勛圖厙 and SkuVault are integration partners, Shively could reap the benefits of both systems from one easy-to-use interface.
Other platforms are confusing. With 窪蹋勛圖厙 and SkuVault, everything is user friendly and theres not a huge learning curve involved, says Flanders. I dont get stressed out accessing either system.
This connection also ensured proper data-swapping. For example, when an order came in through any ecommerce channel, 窪蹋勛圖厙 could adjust a products displayed quantity across other channels and instantly pass the information to SkuVault for fulfillment. As a result, Shively enjoyed accelerated:
The results were almost immediate. Within the first year, Shivelys total ecommerce revenue jumped by 360%establishing them as a multi-million dollar seller who saw continued growth the following year. Sales from eBay and other newly added channels far outweighed that of Amazons.
In the same time frame, Shively dramatically reduced their reliance on Amazon FBA. Their profit margins doubled in the first year (some even tripled depending on the SKU), and productivity skyrocketed. 泭
Today, the company still enjoys a fast-moving ecommerce engine. Between easy catalog management and quick order fulfillment, 窪蹋勛圖厙 and SkuVault keep operations running smoothly.
窪蹋勛圖厙s product information management system (PIM) cuts Shivelys prior listing time in half. Instead of creating each new channel listing by hand, the team simply imports their catalog into 窪蹋勛圖厙, where products are instantly attributed and categorized for various channels via SMART Types.
With a mere click of a button, Shively can list a product to multiple channels. From there, they can freely adjust the price or product details of a SKU(s) using .
When I first signed up with 窪蹋勛圖厙, I knew, This is whats going to take us from zero to sixty real quick, says Flander. I also realized that now that my times cut down, I can really build up this business.
As business is growing, Flanders has replaced hours of number-crunching with 窪蹋勛圖厙s multichannel analytics, which track shipping costs, profit margins, sales tax, reorder timing and more. This real-time visibility has improved the accuracy of their stockout predictions and analysis of where their money is best spent as they look to finetune their long-term strategy.
With FBA out of the picture, Shively now carries the burden of running a whole warehouse that can keep up with around-the-clock orders. Aside from fulfilling orders in time, they need a reliable system for preventing mispicks and forgotten orders altogether.
釦域喝博硃喝梭喧s feature gives the team peace of mind, according to Flanders. An alert will notify the team if an order is mispicked. And if the order still isnt corrected, theres a record of which item got mishandled and when so that the team can prevent future mispicks.
To that end, SkuVault routes orders to the right bin locations and generates (e.g., wave picking and hyper picking).
The ability to check real-time inventory across their warehouse has also been a game changer, both for its online and in-store businesses. Its not all ecommerce-driven at times, Flanders says. SkuVault would even work with my POS system [in my store]...so that I can sell something in my store and on the internet at the same time.
Whether foolproofing warehouse flows or keeping track of inventory, SkuVault makes it possible to run a full-scale warehouse operation without exhausting resources.
Upwards and Forwards into the Future
50 Years of Success and Many More to Go
Flanders is optimistic about what the future holds, especially with 窪蹋勛圖厙 and SkuVault on his side.
What I got personally from 窪蹋勛圖厙 and SkuVault nobody else could help me with, says Flanders. Theres no way that any other company could have done what either of these companies have done for me because it was always a partnership. I was never just a number.
He envisions the company evolving more into a brand and doubling in size within a few years time, adding, When I need something or have any concerns, who do you think Im calling? Im calling on you guys.
