BACKGROUND

Online giftware retailer, Promofix, helps entrepreneurs and company owners to showcase their business through branded products including mugs, coasters, lanyards and water bottles.

The firm was the brainchild of founder, Kathryn Holloway, nearly 10 years ago. It has grown from an eBay-only store to a digital operation spanning multiple sites and countries, including Amazon.co.uk, Amazon France, Amazon Germany, Amazon Canada and the company's own website.

A vital catalyst in this international expansion story has been Promofix's relationship with multichannel eCommerce selling software solution, ChannelGrabber, which has enabled Promofix to integrate and holistically manage its ever-growing online presence.

THE CHALLENGE

"As soon as we started expanding from just eBay onto Amazon, we realised we needed a solution to help us manage this growth," notes company founder, Kathryn. "Finding the right software to help us with stock management was very important, as initially we were hoarding stock due to a paranoia about running out."

Promofix had a number of further criteria that a potential solution had to meet. Flexibility and compatibility with existing company technology were top of that list. The company needed software that would work online, from any device, rather than being installed on individual machines, so it set about looking for solutions that met this criteria.

THE SOLUTION

As a start-up business at the time of its initial search, Promofix quickly realised that many multichannel eCommerce selling software solutions available on the market simply weren't suited to the needs of growing businesses. In this respect, ChannelGrabber very much stood out from the crowd.

"We looked at a few systems that were a lot bigger and more involved, but they didn't feel very welcoming for a small business starting up, which we were at the time," adds Kathryn.

"We needed a solution that was easy to use with no technical expertise, but which could also grow with us as a company, and enable us to accelerate that growth journey. ChannelGrabber fitted the bill."

One attractive element of the ChannelGrabber solution was the ease and speed at which Promofix could get up and running. A dedicated support advisor took staff through all the functions of the platform so they could use it independently.

Now, three years down the line, Kathryn and her team only need to turn to ChannelGrabber when they have a technical query, or require additional support rolling out a new feature.

THE RESULTS

International expansion has been the biggest single benefit to come out of Promofix's relationship with ChannelGrabber, as the giftware retailer can now capitalise on calendar events such as Mother's Day, Father's Day and Christmas, all over the world.

When it comes to fulfilling orders, especially around those peak trading times, ChannelGrabber makes a real difference to Promofix's order management capabilities. Rather than trying to manage multiple sites in different geographies across a variety of different platforms, Promofix can control stock and fulfill orders holistically from a single solution.

This has helped the company to increase stock accuracy, putting an end to its hoarding fears from the early days, and reduced the number of out-of-stock situations that left customers dissatisfied.

When a customer places an order, ChannelGrabber also makes the mailing process much simpler. It automatically produces postage labels, including any UK deliveries that require an integrated barcode based on the stock weight and parcel size, something that many other small businesses still manage manually.

In addition, Promofix recently integrated delivery labeling for signed-for packages, so that these can be handled in the same automatic way as standard first and second-class post.

"Being in the giftware industry, most of our stock comprises of smaller, lower value items, which means accurate and efficient delivery is key," Kathryn comments. "ChannelGrabber is a huge time saver for us, as we're not jumping from system to system to fulfill an order."

This efficiency has also enabled Promofix to meet Amazon's strict order handling policies, which requires companies to process orders the same day on which they are placed. Other benefits that ChannelGrabber has yielded Promofix include better customer service, as staff can access customer details via a single system, and a simpler re-pricing process when it comes to updating item costs.

"We have absolute confidence in the ChannelGrabber system," concludes Kathryn. "It's a fool-proof solution for us to manage the hundreds of products that we sell daily."

"As a growing business, ChannelGrabber has brought us confidence, efficiency, and peace of mind about the accuracy of our stock and the quality of our online fulfillment process. It has freed up our time to look at new expansion opportunities, and grown with our business as we've increased our global footprint."

Why don't you emulate Promofix's success by trying out ChannelGrabber today? Our multi-channel ecommerce software helps you to automate the management of listings, stock, orders, billing, shipping and messaging so frees up your time to focus on scaling your business.