Bells of Steel's Rapid Growth: Leveraging Brightpearl for Operational Efficiency
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
- Functional Applications - Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
Applicable Industries
- E-Commerce
- Retail
Applicable Functions
- Sales & Marketing
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Personnel Tracking & Monitoring
About The Customer
Bells of Steel is a proudly Canadian fitness brand founded by Kaevon Khoozani. The company started in 2009 when Khoozani noticed a lack of Olympic-level equipment in the market. He began selling fitness equipment on Craigslist, which eventually turned into a full-time career. The company grew over the next decade, becoming a popular direct-to-consumer home-gym supplier. However, the pandemic brought about a surge in demand that the company struggled to meet. This led to a decision to scale up the business, hiring more staff, opening new warehouses and stores, and overhauling the website. Despite the operational challenges that came with rapid expansion, the company has grown significantly, with revenues increasing from $3M to $15M in 18 months.
The Challenge
Bells of Steel, a Canadian fitness brand, experienced a rapid surge in demand during the pandemic. The shift to online shopping, particularly for home fitness equipment, overwhelmed the company's team of seven. The founder, Kaevon Khoozani, was faced with a critical decision: sell the company, stay small, or scale up. He chose the latter, hiring 39 new staff, opening a larger warehouse in Toronto, a retail store in Indianapolis, and adding 3PL in LA to cover West Coast demand. However, the rapid expansion brought about operational challenges. The company's workflows became increasingly complex, leading to financial losses. The back-end operations, made up of a patchwork of software with little cross-communication, were plagued with manual inventory management and accounting inaccuracies. The lack of visibility, especially in inventory, negatively impacted the company's margins and decision-making capabilities.
The Solution
To address the operational challenges, Khoozani sought a solution that was not a traditional ERP, which he found to be overly complicated and clunky. He discovered Brightpearl's Retail Operating Solution, which appealed to him due to its retail focus, ease-of-use, and robust financials and reporting functionality. Brightpearl's record of fast implementation and a 97% success rate also impressed Khoozani. Bells of Steel was set up with Brightpearl's system in 120 days. Brightpearl's Automation Engine solved the company's inventory visibility issue by automating and streamlining processes such as ordering, inventory, warehouse, shipping, and fulfillment. It also provided in-depth inventory insights across multiple warehouses and channels. The Inventory Planner tool and its Bundling and Components feature allowed Bells of Steel to replenish individual components of its flagship product, the at-home gym kit, and boost profits on their margins with accurate, data-driven sales forecasting for all products.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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