Paws-itively Efficient: Supertails’ 8-Month Journey to a 99.99% Order Fulfillment Rate and 18% Reduction in Returns with Unicommerce Solutions
What Supertails Achieved Using Unicommerce?
99.99%+ Order Fulfillment Rate
96% Order Growth Rate in Just 8 Months
Maintained Average O2S Time of 14 Hours
18% Drop in Returns
Over 2.4 Lakhs Live Inventory Count
17K+ Live Catalog Count
About the Company
Supertails is a pet-care focussed e-commerce marketplace based in Bangalore that provides pet food, pet accessories, pet health care, pet grooming, and more. It was founded in 2021 and is the first of its kind in India to offer a one-stop solution for pet parents.
The team at Supertails is made up of pet lovers who are dedicated to providing premium services to pet parents. Their range of services includes pet foods and treats, health and wellness products, accessories, toys, grooming products, expert vet consultation, training, supplements, and more. Their ultimate goal is to strengthen the bond between pets and their parents and make the experience of companionship with pets more special.
Despite achieving significant success, Supertails has faced several challenges in the past. One of these was integrating new features on their platform, while another was order syncing. This led to errors and inconsistencies in sales and inventory data, causing delays in fulfilling orders.
Challenges Faced by Supertails
- Inefficient Space Utilization – As a rapidly growing marketplace, Supertails had to manage an increasing variety of pet care products. However, their previous technology provider lacked an effective system for managing the storage and organisation of their inventory. The existing system was not scalable and did not allow for optimal use of storage space. This led to difficulties in locating items quickly, inefficient use of storage space, and potential delays in order fulfillment.
- Order Syncing Issues – Order syncing is a crucial aspect of any e-commerce operation. In the case of Supertails, due to a lack of support from their previous technology partner, the brand encountered challenges with order syncing on their D2C website. With the nature of their business involving multiple brands and a vast range of products, syncing orders accurately became crucial to ensure operational efficiency and enhance customer satisfaction.
- Difficulties with Pincode Serviceability – Pincode serviceability determines where the courier service is available. For label generation, Supertails had to manually select each shipping provider and the specific pin codes they serviced. Although everything was running smoothly, this manual process proved to be time-consuming and occasionally led to human errors, such as entering incorrect pin code data or missing out on updating changes promptly.
- Substandard Picking Process – Supertails also identified areas for improvement in their picking process, which relied on manual product scanning without any automated and streamlined order tracking system. Nevertheless, they sought automated solutions to enhance their operational efficiency and reduce the probability of errors and inaccuracies in the picking process.
Solutions Offered by Unicommerce
- Superior Inventory Management with Shelf Creation – Unicommerce introduced Supertails to a groundbreaking feature called “Shelf Creation,” revolutionizing their inventory management. This innovative solution offers a wide array of shelves and shelving units designed to maximize efficiency and facilitate effortless identification of product placement within any storage facility or warehouse.
This not only helped Supertails to amplify available space economically but also ensured a clutter-free arrangement of products, enhancing accessibility and picking efficiency. - Better Operational Efficiency at the Batch Level – By leveraging Unicommerce’s advanced batching feature, Supertails was empowered to seamlessly trace its inventory at the batch level. This feature provided Supertails with the ability to track different aspects of inventory, such as cost, expiry, manufacturing details, and vendor information.
Moreover, the batching feature enabled the marketplace to identify inventory that was nearing its expiration date. This enabled Supertails to effectively sell off products by implementing the First-Expiry-First-Out (FEFO) method, thereby reducing the occurrence of expiration and wastage.
- Enhanced Picking by Handheld on Batching – To address the substandard picking process at Supertails, Unicommerce helped the company implement an enhanced picking system using handheld devices. The handheld devices are equipped with advanced barcode scanning capabilities, enabling efficient and accurate identification of products.
Each handheld device is connected to a centralized order tracking system, which provides real-time updates on order status and inventory levels. Supertails leveraged handheld on batch lot inventory, which enabled workers to scan and pick items in batches/lots, reducing the time and effort required for each order. As a result, the brand can process a larger number of orders within the same timeframe, thereby boosting productivity.
- Advanced Reporting with Automated Report Generation – Unicommerce provided Supertails with a powerful reporting feature, “automated report generation.” Through the integration of APIs, Supertails can now easily export reports with specific details, such as batch expiry information. This means that the brand can now automatically download data at the batch expiry level, allowing for granular analysis of its inventory.
Undoubtedly, the versatility and flexibility of Unicommerce’s APIs empower Supertails to streamline its reporting workflows and enhance efficiency. Instead of spending hours manually downloading data, Supertails can now rely on the automated system to provide them with the necessary reports in a timely manner.
- Dropship Facilities for Improved Operational Efficiency – The solution provided by Unicommerce, called Dropship Facilities, significantly improved operational efficiency by enhancing the coordination and information sharing between Supertails and multiple vendors.
By implementing this solution, Supertails gained comprehensive visibility into vendor-specific order information within their account. This means that they can now easily access and monitor orders placed with each vendor, allowing for efficient tracking and management of the entire order fulfillment process.
“Supertails has experienced a transformative journey with Unicommerce’s innovative solutions, empowering us to unlock new levels of operational efficiency. Thanks to their advanced features like shelf creation, picking by handheld, automated report generation, and dropship facilities, we have streamlined order processing and enhanced our collaboration with vendors.”
Impact on the Business
The implementation of Unicommerce has had a profound impact on Supertails’ business operations, driving significant improvements in efficiency and performance. Notably, the implementation of features such as handheld picking and putaway at the batching level has played a pivotal role in driving these improvements.
With a remarkable order fulfillment rate of 99.99%+, Supertails has achieved exceptional customer satisfaction by consistently delivering orders accurately and on time. In just eight months, Supertails experienced a remarkable 96% order growth, a testament to the effectiveness of Unicommerce’s solutions in scaling their business.
The marketplace has successfully maintained an average O2S (order-to-ship) time of 14 hours, reflecting its ability to efficiently process and fulfill orders, which also resulted in a significant 18% drop in returns.
The marketplace has successfully maintained an average O2S (order-to-ship) time of 14 hours, reflecting its ability to efficiently process and fulfill orders, which also resulted in a significant 18% drop in returns.
With a live inventory count exceeding 2.4 lakhs and a live catalog count of over 17K+ products, Supertails has benefitted from enhanced traceability at the batch level. This comprehensive visibility into their inventory allows for better inventory management, accurate stock tracking, and efficient order fulfillment.