Throughout the last 15 years, CPG brands of all shapes and sizes have been falling in love with Zipline Logistics. In fact, 40% of last year’s business was generated by clients who have been with us for 5+ years. This is because our clients know a retail-specialized 3PL adds value that an average broker can’t.
Today, even multibillion-dollar retailers call us one of their most trusted partners.
This love story tells the tale of two extremely successful retailers in the United States whose growth and success are attributed in part to Zipline Logistics.
Sustainable High-Tech Shoe Company Skyrockets Growth
A few years ago, Zipline called on a small but sustainable, high-tech shoe brand headquarted on the West Coast. Over the last few years, Zipline has helped this up-and-coming brand boom into a national favorite.
The Situation
Businesses operating in metropolitan areas deal with heavy foot traffic, limited parking spots, and tight storage space. This shoe brand was no exception. Their storefronts were tiny inside, meaning they could only keep a limited amount of inventory on hand at one time.
Their set-up required multiple deliveries per week to keep the store stocked and only allowed extremely narrow delivery windows to do so. What’s more, their floor-loaded shipments took drivers extra time to unload and sometimes left debris all over the store floors.
If things didn’t go perfectly – i.e., a driver arrived even five minutes late or held up traffic taking too long to empty the truck – the store could entirely miss out on their shipments or even get in trouble with the city. These are situations that small brands just can’t afford to lose money on. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what was happening.
The brand’s logistics providers at the time just weren’t cut out to provide the extremely specialized and expertise-level service needed to do this job correctly. They were consistently failing on-time delivery, offering minimal visibility into shipment tracking, and doing very little to put the brand in a position to succeed.
The Solution
Zipline stepped in and changed this shoe brand’s game completely.
A dedicated Zipline account team communicated every twist and turn their freight encountered, answering every single phone call, e-mail, question, and concern. On-time delivery became the norm, eliminating unnecessary delays and missed delivery windows. Our transportation management system (TMS), KanoPI, provided incredible track and trace visibility into their shipments. It also allowed them to look at performance data reports and compare different time periods as a growth model. And grow they did.
Zipline played a major role in helping this shoe brand skyrocket. Since entrusting us with nearly 100% of their domestic freight over the last three years, their revenue nearly doubled as they explosively expanded from four stores to 30+. Still offering the same service we started with, they’ve also asked Zipline to palletize and handle their inbound freight in the midst of current port congestion.
Mastering logistics with a retail-specialized 3PL focused on providing the best service experience possible allowed this shoe brand to maximize gross profit and invest in more sustainability, research, and design efforts.
$8 Billion Specialty Retailer Thrives Through COVID-19
Another blossoming love story is Zipline’s relationship with a $8 Billion specialty retailer in the Fortune 500, famous for high-quality fragrances and candles. This tale began when supply chain leadership approached Zipline partners at a roundtable six years ago.
This company was seeing consistent growth year after year and was already incredibly successful. Equipped with a TMS and their own internal global supply chain provider, they hadn’t yet worked with any 3PLs. What could Zipline bring to the table that they didn’t already have?
The Situation
Sourcing raw materials and moving them into the U.S. was covered, but this company needed consistent manpower transporting shipments from ports to distribution centers. The product being moved was expensive, valuable, time sensitive, and extremely high volume. It would be an intense undertaking to navigate alone, so this company saw extreme value in adding a retail-specialized 3PL to their network.
The Solution
Like most new relationships, Zipline was given a lane here and there when something broke down or a crisis emerged. We showed up with our best foot forward each time, moving a few hundred loads in the first year or so. As time went on, we continued to prove our value in their network, consistently delivering on time and never giving back freight we committed to.
By year three, Zipline had moved 3500 loads at 96% on-time delivery rate. Maintaining the same level of performance through challenges presented by COVID-19 — supply chain disruptions, labor force shortages, and more — we have quickly become one of their most trusted partners. The amount of freight they depend on Zipline to move has nearly quadrupled over the last three years.
Since partnering with us, we have seen their revenue grow by close to $3.5 Billion.
Our performance in this relationship proved to other massive retailers that Zipline could take their game to the next level. It opened the door for conversations with companies we called on for years, like a multibillion-dollar lifestyle clothing brand and a massive community retailer with over 1400 stores. These giants used to believe we could not meet their needs. Now we handle significant freight for both and increase their competitive advantage with each above-and-beyond shipment.
Zipline love stories are always in the making.
Fall in Love With a Retail-Specialized 3PL
Simply put, even companies with huge supply chain departments see the value that a retail-specialized 3PL adds. We are beating out the competition for shelf space and giving the best possible transportation experience to some of the biggest names in the game — all at the same cost as average brokers.
The real Zipline experience is reflected by our numbers, too:
- 96% customer retention rate
- World-class customer service ranking 5 times the industry average
- National network of 38,000+ hand-picked carriers vetted to haul retail goods specifically
- 95% on-time in-full average for appointments
Sure, there are other fish in the sea. But big-box brokers focused on their bottom line won’t offer the same care, communication, or expertise Zipline Logistics promises on every shipment. We’d love the opportunity to prove ourselves to you just like we have to our biggest clients.
Who knows? Maybe we’ll create a love story of our own.