What We Achieved:
As MOQ1’s 3PL shipping partner, we helped take the company’s world-class fulfillment operations to a whole new level. The results include:
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- Increased reliability and consistency in delivery
- Sharp reduction in shipping costs as a percentage of revenue
- Flexible service and transparent pricing that fuel a strong, long-term relationship
Overview of MOQ1
MOQ1 is an eCommerce and fulfillment platform that streamlines operations for businesses in the promotional products industry. Dealers, decorators and distributors can create client-ready web stores in minutes with built-in fulfillment solutions, allowing them to offer branded merchandise without the need to manage inventory or logistics. MOQ1 carries a robust catalog of products that includes apparel, activewear, bags, hard goods and home goods.
MOQ1’s state-of-the-art facility in Detroit’s historic Corktown neighborhood uses advanced printing technology, robotics and warehouse automation to turn around orders in one to two days and ship directly to consumers. The promotional products industry is built on minimum order quantities, or MOQs. However, the efficiency of the company’s fulfillment operations allows it to manage orders as small as one T-shirt. Thus, the name MOQ1.
Shipping Challenges and Opportunities
MOQ1’s fulfillment strategy depends on the timely and efficient delivery of merchandise. It ships a high volume of small, lightweight packages, exceeding 50,000 a day during peak periods.
When Robert Kendall joined MOQ1 as chief financial officer in the summer of 2020, the company was experiencing COVID-related shipping disruptions that had upset customers. Even prior to the pandemic, MOQ1’s shipping expenses as a percentage of revenue had been steadily increasing.
One of his first priorities was to improve shipping operations, as the company was relying on one parcel carrier for all its domestic shipping. “We had to go out and evaluate our options,” Kendall said. “We couldn’t hit another peak and have another disruption. Our customers would have thought we weren’t listening to them.”
The Benefits of Partnering with OSM Worldwide
Kendall is the first to admit he’s not a shipping expert, so he connected with industry professionals who introduced him to OSM Worldwide. Kendall’s first impression of OSM was positive. “OSM is not a big, giant public company with a CEO you can never reach,” he said. “I appreciate that, like us, the company was started by visionaries. OSM is bigger than us in terms of revenue, but it still has an entrepreneurial mindset that every customer matters.”
When MOQ1 partnered with OSM in November 2020, they quickly collaborated to seamlessly integrate their systems and applications, including OSMART™, OSM’s robust client portal. In addition, OSM helped improve MOQ1’s operations by reorganizing its shop floor and overhauling the sorting process so packages could be efficiently loaded on OSM trucks. The transition happened in about three weeks—what Kendall considers record speed.
The business relationship has thrived for nearly five years, with OSM playing a key role in enhancing MOQ1’s fulfillment capabilities and driving growth. Promotional products represent a $28 billion industry that continues to grow as more retail brands dip their toes into the branded merchandise pool. There are several reasons why Kendall appreciates the partnership with OSM, including:
- Simplified pricing: “You get one invoice every week, and that’s for all the packages shipped the prior week,” he said. “I don’t have to look at multiple invoices or merge different records to figure out our weekly expenses.”
- Flexible shipping: OSM works with MOQ1 to process parcels based on the region instead of having parcels cross multiple shipping zones, which increases shipping rates. Shipments headed to the East Coast are transported directly to OSM’s sorting facility near Philadelphia without going through a sortation process in Chicago, OSM’s closest facility to Detroit.
- Reliable service: “We wanted a stable, dependable and predictable service level,” Kendall said. “That was number one after we experienced previous delays. And OSM has delivered with the OSM Premium Network®.”
As for MOQ1’s shipping costs, the improvement under OSM Worldwide makes a CFO’s heart skip. Kendall estimated that shipping costs as a percentage of revenue have decreased five percentage points since 2020. “Five gross margin points should turn anyone’s financial head,” he said.
Want to see more? Check out this case study featuring prestige beauty brand Madison Reed. Learn how OSM Worldwide simplified their supply chain with our premium shipping service, ensuring more consistency in costs and transit times.