brands4friends, Germany’s first and largest shopping club for fashion & lifestyle products, was looking to optimize its shipping processes to aid international expansion. The company was using seven shipping modules from various providers, which was time-consuming and inefficient for the logistics department. The company also wanted to increase transparency in the supply chain, monitor shipping companies, and improve the shipping experience for customers.

John Lewis, one of the UK's largest omnichannel retailers, aimed to seamlessly link online shopping with the traditional shop experience while still providing exceptional service to customers. The company pioneered its first click and collect service in 2008, enabling shoppers to choose from over 200,000 products on johnlewis.com for free delivery to local John Lewis or Waitrose shops. However, the company faced challenges in improving the cross-channel shopping experience, enabling click and collect ordering, streamlining the delivery of large products to customer addresses, and providing detailed tracking information.

ASOS, an online fashion and beauty retailer, was facing complications in international delivery, particularly in documentation and data. The requirements for these vary by country of destination, adding to the complexity. The company’s international delivery processes required manual intervention to regularly contact carriers and update prices within the ASOS fulfilment systems, as well as paperwork for each order to meet necessary customs regulations. ASOS wanted to manage its increased volume in deliveries and destinations, minimise manual tasks and paperwork, and achieve the best price for carriers around the globe.

Polybags Ltd, a leading UK site for sourcing polythene bags and film, was using an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system provided by Kerridge Commercial Systems (KCS). The ERP system was directly integrated through a bespoke piece of software with a single carrier. However, when that carrier ceased to exist, Polybags faced a serious dilemma. The company needed a solution that would protect against overreliance on a single carrier and provide options to easily bring on more carriers without having to develop their own bespoke link.

Pierce AB, an eCommerce operator in the motorcycle and snowmobile industry, was facing the challenge of presenting a local face to customers across 16 countries. The company was looking for a way to consolidate and streamline its logistics while providing exceptional customer service. The company was also looking to scale its business interests internationally. Before implementing MetaPack, Pierce AB was served by only four carriers, which was insufficient for its wide geographical range and growing customer base.

River Island, a global leader in stylish, affordable fashion, was facing challenges with its carrier management system. The system was manually intensive, requiring personnel to assign each parcel to a carrier on an individual basis when processing an order. Moreover, the system wasn’t aligned with physical stores, and it couldn’t handle carrier automation or package assignment. The retailer was looking for a more efficient approach to meet the demands of shifting consumer behaviour, especially across borders.

Childrensalon, one of the UK’s largest online retailers of children’s fashion, was running a manual despatch operation that used a number of different carriers. In order to process orders through the website, picking lists and invoices had to be printed manually. Although systems were automated as far as possible, there was pressure on staff to select the best carrier and to ensure that all necessary paperwork had been completed correctly. Once the goods were in transit, obtaining tracking information was a time-consuming task that placed an additional burden on customer service personnel. This inefficient use of time and resource combined with the lack of sufficient tracking information led to a procedure that would enable the company to maintain exceptional levels of service to customers.

CB Fashion, a logistics service provider for a wide range of fashion brands, was looking to streamline its operations and expand its product offering. The company was facing challenges in meeting the demands of its fast-paced customer base. The IT team was burdened with tasks that could be outsourced to a specialist firm. The company wanted more flexibility in setting up new carriers and new carrier delivery options to meet the demands of its customers. They were looking for a multicarrier plug-in tool that could help them achieve this flexibility without having to develop it themselves.

Gorgeous Shop, a luxury haircare and beauty retailer, was facing challenges with its logistics operations. The company was relying on a process of manual address data entry, which required order information to be imported into bespoke systems that varied from one courier to another. This led to picking errors, addressing errors, and manifesting issues. The company was seeking to minimize these inefficiencies and free up resources that would be better spent on sales and marketing efforts. Additionally, the company was looking to drive customer retention and loyalty by providing consistent, reliable, and cost-effective delivery options.

Halfords, a company offering 30,000 product lines related to automobiles, leisure, cycling, and more, wanted to keep up with the changing consumer behaviors as online shopping becomes more prevalent. The company aimed to launch a service that allows consumers to order goods online and collect them from a local store at no extra delivery cost. This was in response to the changing shopping habits of their customers who increasingly move between Halfords stores and the brand’s website. The challenge was to implement this without incurring any additional implementation, resource, or cost requirements.

3P Logistics, a leader in providing eCommerce and order fulfilment services to online retailers, was facing the challenge of meeting the increasing expectations of customers in the rapidly evolving online world. Customers were demanding extended same-day shipping windows and on-demand order information. As the company's business continued to grow, there was a need to pursue efficiency gains through automation and enhance its service offering to differentiate from other operators. The company was also looking to refine its strategy through data-driven insights.

figleaves.com, a luxury lingerie and clothing retailer, was facing challenges in improving customer satisfaction and expanding its range of delivery options. The company's in-house warehouse management system was integrated with two carriers, both offering next-day service and a more economical three- to five-day delivery option. However, customer feedback revealed that users wanted a wider range of delivery options, as well as improved online tracking. Introducing extra services would mean that each new carrier would need to be integrated separately into both the figleaves.com front end and the company’s back office system, which would incur significant costs and have an impact on time and resource. The company's goal was to find a way to introduce a greater choice of delivery options with minimal administrative burden.