How the Right 3PL Can Grow your Sales Channels—a DCL Logistics Customer Spotlight with Bond Touch
Bond Touch produces a smart bracelet that keeps you connected with your loved one—every time they touch it, you feel a little buzz around your wrist. It’s fitting that they paired with DCL, a 3PL committed to personalized attention and custom fulfillment strategies. Since their first product launch, Bond Touch has seen steady sales growth, but their logistics and fulfillment strategy wasn’t supporting that growth. As first-time startup entrepreneurs, the Bond Touch team needed a 3PL to help them build a more efficient growth strategy and connect them to more sales channels.
What made the choice easy was the clear capacity that DCL had for accompanying our growth, and the very close relationship we built with them right from the start. It made me trust DCL, which still continues today.
Touchpoints for Bigger B2B Channels—Amazon, LTL, and More
Since partnering with DCL earlier this year Bond Touch has had some of their biggest sales volume to date. They more than doubled their B2B shipments, upgrading from regular parcel shipments to LTL this Fall.
Simon mentions, “We recently started using LTL shipping—basically because my DCL account manager walked me through how to do it.” Even though currently Bond Touch only has one B2B retailer, their shipments and batches have been rapidly increasing. “We had 400 or 500 batches going to the retailer, and within a few months we are now sending 2K units to them. In fact, I have one scheduled for 6K in a couple of days. Since that size grew, we are really glad to be using LTL now, which is less expensive. I credit DCL for teaching us how to make that change—it has been really helpful and fruitful.”
As the holiday gift giving season approaches, Bond Touch is particularly excited to announce that their products are now available on Amazon. DCL helps guide many companies through Amazon’s seller platforms. Simon adds, “We are really excited that Bond Touch is available on Amazon just in time for peak season. It is a huge increase in our B2B and we are very excited. We expect significant sales growth from this.”
It’s exactly this kind of steady, big-picture growth that Bond Touch knew DCL would be able to help them with. “What made us choose DCL was the clear capacity that they had for accompanying our growth. It comes down to the lack of problems we have. Everything with DCL feels really easy, it’s all so organized and there’s a clear process for anything I need. Even if I have really specific questions, I just call up my account manager and she is so helpful.”
Connecting with the Right 3PL
Partnership is a significant theme for the Bond Touch team. “Right off the bat we built a great relationship with DCL,” states Simon. “DCL was always there to help, even before we signed anything with them. Other 3PLs weren’t that interested unless you wanted to commit to something. That’s where DCL shines.”
Simon and his team shopped around and compared 3PLs to find the right fit. With growing demand for their product, they knew they needed a 3PL that could provide strategic advice and guidance for their team. “For me, I haven’t had any experience in logistics before working for Bond Touch. I’m a designer and a manager, so when we started integration, I’ll be honest, I was nervous—things hadn’t been very easy until this point. But everything with DCL has been smooth.”
Whether you are a big company or a first-time startup, the integration is crucial to the foundation of your working relationship. It’s important to get everything right before your first launch. Simon relays, “DCL took us through integration step by step, week by week, with deliverables on my side, deliverables on DCL’s side. And it always progressed very neatly. Of course when our launch date came around I was very nervous because I didn’t want anything to go wrong, but low and behold, launch date was perfect—I was impressed that everything went smoothly, it was even easier than before.”
DCL has the Tools That Put Plans into Action
Simon and his team have come to rely on DCL for consistency, organization, and the tools to help make their goals a reality. Simon relates, “After I realized this was a good team to work with, it was eFactory that, compared to other platforms, was miles ahead of other ones. I knew right away that eFactory was something I wouldn’t have a hard time navigating. DCL’s platform is very clean.”
Automation is a key component to efficiencies in logistics. What eFactory does well is connect all parts of the fulfillment process and make them visible in one platform. Simon mentions, “I like scheduling reports. I can schedule a report to run everyday at 9am—which means I get a notification of how much stock there is each morning. It’s very cool, and it helps my day a lot. I also really think ReturnTrak is fantastic. Being able to make the returns process automatic, it helps me to not worry about it, but it also helps customer support. And it helps our customers, since customer support is that much more efficient. eFactory just helps in itself.”
When Simon thinks about the future of sales distribution for Bond Touch, he says, “There have been so many surprises, a lot of exciting unexpected growth for Bond Touch. I feel delight while working with DCL. And throughout the upcoming years I expect to have the same delight to witness our growth and how DCL will help us take care of that for many years to come.”
More About Bond Touch
Bond Touch creates touch bracelets that bring long-distance lovers closer than ever.
If you are looking for fulfillment and logistics support, or have questions about how to partner with DCL Logistics please contact us here.
