How Cure Hydration Found a 3PL to Help Scale an Omnichannel Business

Cure Hydration is a premium hydration brand, offering refreshing, scientifically-formulated electrolyte drink mixes that taste as good as they make people feel. Their plant-based products are created from non-GMO ingredients and are free from added sugars and artificial sweeteners, delivering essential hydration without unnecessary additives. Their high-performance products are highly sought-after, making their choice of supply chain partners imperative.

Like most brands, they’ve worked with a few different 3PLs through their startup phase. The process of finding the right partner can be tough.

With 10 years working in logistics, Brian Mangels, Director of Logistics at Cure Hydration, has worked for numerous startups, including helping grow Swell Bottle from a small business to 100 million in revenue. Now with his team at Cure he had a good idea of what they needed to meet their expansion plans.

“We knew that DCL would help us solve the types of problems that we have as an omnichannel brand with a focus on DTC. DCL took the time and care to get everything right from day one. Clearly laying out milestones for integration by channel upfront made onboarding more efficient. It was  refreshing to have such dedicated attention and an organized plan in place; we haven’t experienced that kind of support in the past.”

Ecommerce Study: Cure Hydration

• Problem: Cure needed a reliable, forward-thinking 3PL partner to help them scale their omnichannel DTC brand
• Solution: DCL’s suite of quality services, like kitting, lot control, and premium inventory management software gives Cure the operational support they need to meet customer expectations and stay ahead of the market.
• Result: Cure has happy, satisfied customers who reliably get quick delivery, access to a fun assortment of products through bundles, all at a reasonable cost.

Omnichannel Brands Need Agile Fulfillment to Stay Ahead of the Market   

Ecommerce brands need to think globally to get products in front of consumers. The expansion of sales channels has increased dramatically in recent years and smaller brands can’t sacrifice quality or accuracy on any channel.  

Brian says, “As basic as it may sound, as an omnichannel brand we really need a reliable and forward thinking partner to help us do it all. We need to be flexible to maximize our sales in brick-and-mortar and online, but also every channel in between. We need to plug and play our inventory into the sales channels that make sense for that moment, whether it’s DTC, Amazon FBA, or dropshipping. The fact that DCL can service all channels of our business is a huge win for us.”  

Fulfilling products to multiple channels at once isn’t simple, operationally. But to meet the needs of global consumers is to meet the needs of competitive brands. Fulfillment providers stay ahead of the market by getting products to each channel with the same accuracy, without sacrificing quality within any other channels.  

Brian explains, “Brands can’t only rely on a business that’s solely focused on one channel. In the next five years, your channel mix may change dramatically, and it’s pertinent to be with a partner who can be flexible and evolve with you. Looking at DTC and B2B fulfillment performance with DCL, more than 99% of orders are shipping on time and we reached our established service level targets one week prior to our agreed upon ramp up deadline. On the receiving side, we are consistently achieving 24 hour dock to stock processing which supports Cure by staying in stock for all products in the building. DCL has quickly proven that they can scale up with us, shipping to everyone from independent stores to big-box retailers, it’s a necessity for growing CPG brands.” 

“DCL has quickly proven that they can scale up with us, shipping to everyone from independent stores to big-box retailers, it’s a necessity for growing CPG brands.”

Quality That Can Be Measured, How High-Performance Brands Think About Value-Added Services (VAS)

Cure relies on kitting and value-added services (VAS) to ensure they are meeting customer demand and leveling up to stay competitive. “It’s just the nature of a DTC brand, our need to be flexible and nimble produces a need for quality and reliable value-added services,” Brian says.  

Many CPG brands use VAS for many aspects of their business, the most common include marketing campaigns, promotions, and product bundles. But there’s more to it than that. Brian explains, “Like many brands, we do our best to forecast accurately to ensure inventory is allocated at the right times. But when that doesn’t happen, we rely heavily on kitting and other warehouse projects to account for supply chain challenges upstream.” 

When Cure came to DCL, kitting was a big topic. They asked detailed questions about DCL’s kitting processes: what do the SOPs and documentation look like? How are you moving inventory and our components through the stages? What are the quality checks in place? 

Brian explains, “Of course, when doing RFPs every 3PL says ‘Yes, we can do that.’ But the difference was how DCL measured VAS on site. DCL not only met the team and showed us around the warehouse, but they took the time to walk us through their workflow—the projects calendar, kitting guides—gaining visibility to their audit logs was a key indicator that they had their VAS processes buttoned up. With other providers in the past if we had issues with kitting or found products with defects, there wouldn’t be sufficient documentation to determine the root cause.”  

The proof of any ecommerce project always lies with the customer, when they are happy, everyone is successful. Happy customers get their orders on time. Brian says, “Right now, we’re seeing a four-day turnaround for kitting, which is best-in-class from our point of view. In the past, we were used to at least 14 day turnaround times on the same projects. Seeing DCL put into practice what they promised us, is amazing and a huge relief.”

Finding the Right Partner? Look for Transparency  

DTC products like Cure’s electrolyte drink mixes are often at a relatively low price point, making it more important to understand every cost that goes into manufacturing, fulfilling, and shipping to customers.  

Brian says, “The most obvious factor most brands are looking at is cost. When vetting a new partner, you want to see their price compared to the market, especially specific costs for various activities.” 

Getting granular pricing details may not always be easy, but some fixed-price services may cost a business revenue that could otherwise be recaptured.  

“The more transparency and detail you can get on pricing, the better. Many partners will give an all-in-one cost like $5 per order for a certain weight category and that will include shipping and other services. We knew we needed more transparency and the amount of detail we get in our invoices from DCL is amazing. We are hitting exactly what we budgeted for based on our contract.”  

Transparency is also needed in other areas of fulfillment. Through DCL’s inventory management software, Brian and his team can see data for everything they need to make business decisions in real-time.  

Brian says, “DCL’s eFactory system is impressive. It’s easy-to-use and you also get so much transparency into all transactions: sales and inbound shipments, but also granular detail for orders on hold or inventories on hold–and it’s all live.” 

Inventory transparency leads to greater accuracy, which is an important factor in avoiding stockouts and backorders. Order transparency helps resolve customer inquiries quickly and eliminates any concern about tracking units through the supply chain.  

“I love DCL’s use of lot capture,” Brian explains, “the serialized scanning at DCL is definitely best in class. The fact that they are scanning both the UPC and the lot number is critical. It means we are very comfortable and confident in our data for outbound orders—we know exactly what lots and which items are going out to customers. God forbid there’s a recall, even if there is, we have zero worry about tracing; we know we have great records.”   

When you have transparency, you ultimately have control. High-growth brands who need to make decisions quickly to meet the demands of the market rely on high-tech tools to give them the transparency they need.   

Brian says, “I have all the data I need, to see capacity at each building, what pallet positions they have, the details to prove that they can get orders out, and that they have the capacity for same-day fulfillment.” 

About Cure Hydration

You can learn more about Cure Hydration on their website at www.curehydration.com – make sure to check out their new Starter Kit, which includes one stick of each of their electrolyte drink mix flavors! 

Hydration is the foundation of health. But research shows that staying hydrated often requires more than water alone. Cure Hydration’s electrolyte drink mixes are based on the World Health Organization’s gold standard of rehydration, known as Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS), and each packet of Cure contains sodium, potassium, and glucose to deliver rapid hydration. Plus, Cure’s non-GMO, plant-based formula has no added sugars or artificial ingredients, just delicious fruit flavors you’ll love to drink.