How a Candy Maker Keeps Pace with its Continued Growth

Background

Our client, a confectionery company based in Western Canada, had a rapidly growing business with an avalanche of orders to fill. Their flagship gummy products are sold—in both the U.S. and Canada—to distributors, retailers, and consumers alike. They also sell directly through their online store to anyone with a craving for sweets.

What made them so popular? Easy, they provided a healthy alternative to traditional sugar-heavy confectionery products, and their mission was to help people kick unhealthy relationships with food and encourage smarter snack choices.

Our client received a lot of attention from both the media and health conscious sweet seekers. With their unique recipe—free of sugar, sugar alcohols and artificial sweeteners—coupled with a successful social media campaign, our client started to attract a dedicated following along with a big spike in orders.

It’s a good problem to have, but only if you have an effective supply chain in place.

The Problem

First and foremost, the client needed to streamline its supply chain processes. They also wanted to collect analytics and insights on their inventory movement, receiving, order fulfillment, and shipments—regardless of source.

In terms of their product offerings, they offered two flavours of gummies (sour and fruity) in various configurations (half boxes, mixed half-boxes, 12 bags, mixed full boxes, etc.) to consumers and retailers, through its eCommerce and retail channels.

Quick turnaround of order fulfillment was essential. In an age where Amazon has normalized super-fast delivery times, it was imperative we keep our client’s product flowing in and out of our warehouse to meet the high demand.

Go Direct was tasked with delivering, literally and figuratively, on the promise made by our client to its consumers—ensuring customer satisfaction, continued loyalty and repeat purchases.

The Solution

The partnership with our client began in May 2017. Within days, the products were received by our warehouse, which then immediately began the process of order fulfillment to both retailers and consumers.

Thanks to a seamless integration with their online store, orders placed through the company’s website began flowing to our order and transportation management systems automatically—without the need for manual intervention.

To automate the process further, we also integrated with the order processing system used for our client’s retail channel.

The client also gained access to our central online tool which provides them with real-time inventory, order status and tracking information. Our systems also highlighted which of their products were most popular and highest selling through weekly and monthly order and revenue metrics.

In real time, they could see all the action remotely while they remained focused on growing their business.

The Results

Within the first 11 months, Go Direct fulfilled approximately 8,000 consumer and 4,000 retail candy orders consisting of more than 200,000 pieces. Talk about keeping up with demand!

In addition to regular fulfillment activity, we also assisted in distributing gummy samples to consumers.

All orders were processed, packaged and shipped within 24-48 hours and were delivered to their destinations within 1-7 business days.

The key benefits that our client has gained through its partnership with Go Direct included:

• a robust reporting suite which includes access to daily inventory reports, and detailed order history reports with lot numbers and tracking information
• streamlined eCommerce order kitting and packing process from bulk
• procurement of various shipping boxes
• flexible systems and workforce management based on timelines
• business reviews, reports, and analytics
• strong relationships with reliable transportation partners

The Relationship

Go Direct and our satisfied client have fostered a close and productive working relationship. Our customer service team schedule weekly conference calls with client representatives to share ideas, address existing or potential challenges, plan for future distributions, and identify opportunities for improvement.

As our client continues to grow and expand its product offerings, we will continue delivering on its commitments and contributing to the client’s ongoing success.

Kellie Lefaive, is the President & CEO of Go Direct. A Senior Executive with strategic planning, business development, operations, and divisional startup expertise. She has a strong understanding of technology integration and platform roll-outs. Kellie is a recognized leader, who is experienced in leading large and small-scale, multi-site operations. She has spent over half of her career working with CPG companies and major retailers create multi-channel strategies and omni-channel execution. Kellie can be reached at kellie.lefaive@godirectsolutions.com