"BLOWN AWAY": How LLUME Jewelry 50x their volume YoY With OTW Shipping
When Llume blew up with huge Black Friday volumes, OTW stepped up and delivered seamlessly.
Reena and Chris are the co-founders of LLUME, a curated jewelry line specialized in elegant, layered necklaces. Initially, the pair crafted jewelry together as a way to pass the time and make pocket money during the COVID pandemic.
In those early stages, Reena and Chris relied on a 3PL to help them ship across borders to other countries. “Most of our orders were in the US but we live in Victoria, Canada, and cross-border shipping is slow,” they explain.
However, when LLUME started growing quickly, their previous 3PL simply could not get their products out the door on time. Sometimes they had as many as 700 shipments on backorder at a time.
On top of basic delivery backlogs, their previous 3PL’s WMS (warehouse management system) didn’t allow them to do basic operations like cancel or change their orders. Small requests often snowballed into long email chains.
“We were impressed with the systems OTW put in place on the back-end to make working with them seamless.”
Chris and Reena, Founders of LLUME Jewelry
Why LLUME Chose OTW Shipping
As told to OTW Shipping by Chris and Reena, Founders of LLUME.
What made you choose OTW Shipping to be your 3PL Partner?
After seeing unprecedented growth in their store in 2022, Reena and Chris knew it was time to change fulfillment services—but after putting up with so much hassle with their previous provider, they weren’t going to dive into another 3PL without doing their research. The pair personally interviewed 8 3PLs, looking for one that could support the scale of their orders without sacrificing their need for flexibility and reliable customer support.
“What stood out about OTW was that it felt like the perfect size of business for us to partner with,” they said. “The owners were very engaged but they also could take on our volume of orders without a hiccup. We were impressed with the systems they put in place on the back-end to make working with them seamless.” The pair never looked back.
What did you first notice once you moved?
“Our team sliced our ‘time talking to 3PL’ from hours to minutes per week on average,” Reena said.
And when there are bumps in the road, OTW’s customer support has always been straightforward and responsive: “Response times on Ryver (OTW’s support channel) is typically minutes,” Chris affirmed. “By email, zero to two hours.”
How LLUME's Fulfillment Changed
As time has gone on, how has OTW Shipping helped support LLUME's growth and brand image?
As speedy delivery and no-questions-asked returns are the backbone of Llume’s customer promise, punctuality was paramount to Chris and Reena.
“We’ve kept a close eye on [processing times], and to me it appears that 99% of the time—dare I say 100%?—orders ship within SLA (service level agreement),” Reena attested. “When I wake up in the morning in Pacific Time, my orders are already packed.”
The founders also appreciate OTW’s ability to reliably meet their needs during critical high-volume periods like holidays.
“I was blown away on BFCM (Black Friday and Cyber Monday) that they barely had a delay,” Chris said. “BFCM 2023 we did about 50 times our previous year.”
Llume now plans to add about 50 new SKUs in the coming months. “We knew we could sell like crazy because we had OTW to ship orders,” they say. “Accuracy issues are so infrequent that we cannot meaningfully discern whether the issue lies with our customers or OTW.”
In addition to getting reliable and scalable services with OTW, Reena and Chris have also been able to increase their margins. Since switching to OTW, Reena and Chris reported a 15% reduction in costs, both with pick-and-pack and shipping.
What's Next for LLUME?
Why did you choose OTW over ShipBob?
After trying Amazon, I wanted to find someone closer to the west coast and more sophisticated around the processes and software used. I also was looking for a more personal fulfillment relationship and you guys [OTW Shipping] offer better customer service and communication than ShipBob. It was the fact that I am working with you directly and can email you knowing you guys get back to me right away.
During the interview process, I asked questions such as “let me see the address, let me see the facility, give me a walk-through, tell me your processes”. ShipBob would not have easily given answers to those questions. So it was very valuable for me to see how you actually do things and was the validation for me to say that you guys are truly legit, these guys are responsive, and they care about my business.
When things come up, your team is insanely responsive. That is something that can’t be overlooked in a fulfillment partner. The other end of that is consistency. You need somebody to ship out your product on time and accurately. You don’t screw that up. Those are the two things you look for. Those are the two things that you need.
“In starting a business you find a lot of people you don’t want to work with, and then when you find the people that are killing it you feel so lucky. I think of you in that latter half.”
Evan Tripp, Founder of FLIK
What's next for LLUME?
Since eliminating the blood, sweat, and tears from their fulfillment, Reena and Chris have spent more time elbows-deep in their creative efforts. “OTW’s responsiveness, dependability, and professionalism has allowed us so much peace of mind and time to work on other areas of the business,” they said.
Going forward, Reena and Chris hope to continue expanding the range of products and dabbling in innovative designs, such as jewelry with birthstones built in for each month. “Despite 2024 being a difficult year for many ecommerce brands, we’re expecting about 35% growth,” they reported. Since they know OTW will be there to facilitate that growth, they can prioritize “what matters most to modern customers: quality, value, and purpose.”
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