3PL Flexibility matters
to Yogamatters
Company:
Yogamatters
Industry:
Health & Wellness
Founded in 1996, Yogamatters supports yoga teachers, studio owners, and practitioners worldwide. With over 2,000 yoga and wellbeing products, they needed a flexible eCommerce fulfilment partner.
Yogamatters have been serving the yoga and wellbeing community for 28 years. The company is dedicated to offering quality products, information, and service, connecting to yoga teachers, studio owners and customers from all around the world.
In 1999 Yogamatters launched online, listing around 20 yoga-related products. With bales of blankets and crates of belts arriving from India, the range increased to over 200 products by the end of that year. Today over 2,000 yoga and wellbeing products are available online at yogamatters.com.
According to Yogamatters Managing Director, Twanna Doherty, efficient logistics are key to excellent customer service as well as to business success, so the choice of The Finishing Line as the company’s new eCommerce fulfilment partner was critical.
“The key criteria for our new 3PL partner was to be able to service our existing order volumes, storage requirements and sku assortment, and to enable us achieve the added efficiencies that would ultimately allow us to deliver a better service to our customers.”
– Michelle Klein (Commercial Director at Yogamatters)
founded in
SKUs
annual order volume
Yogamatters 3PL Partner Requirements:
- Location: Proximity to London Gateway, Felixstowe, Tilbury ports, and major consumer markets in London and the South East.
- Scalability: The ability to scale order volume with a 3PL Partner whilst optimising costs.
- Visibility: Access to a WMS portal for managing live order data and stock control.
‘Location was a key factor’
The catalyst for seeking a new eCommerce fulfilment partner was to drive efficiencies in some of their existing fulfilment processes and achieve a more competitively priced service.
“Location was also a key factor in our decision-making process as our previous partner was based in the North East, requiring feeder vessels into Teesport, which added additional cost and lead times onto our container shipments,” adds Michelle Klein, Commercial Director at Yogamatters.
By contrast, The Finishing Line’s location close to the ports of London Gateway, Felixstowe and Tilbury – as well as its proximity to the UK’s largest consumer markets in London and the South East – has facilitated a shorter, more sustainable and less costly supply chain, improving customer service.
Yogamatters reviewed six potential 3PL partners in the Summer of 2023 and made the decision to move into The Finishing Line in March 2024.
“At Yogamatters, you’ll find a passionate, engaged and values-driven team, and it has become clear to us that we share very similar business values with The Finishing Line.”
“We are aligned on our beliefs in teams and people, promoting within our organisations and creating environments where people can thrive.”
– Michelle Klein (Commercial Director at Yogamatters)
‘We were impressed by their inhouse tech system and the professional approach’
Michelle confirms that while rates were comparable with their previous 3PL partner, the Yogamatters team were convinced that there were gains to be made on the tech side and were impressed by the professional approach taken by The Finishing Line.
“The inhouse Tenevo system gave The Finishing Line a good edge and a strong competitive advantage,” she says. “We also appreciated their thorough approach and professional manner throughout the tender process.
“They made the effort to visit us in the very early stages of the process to gain a better understanding of our business, and whether they could meet our fulfilment needs. It was reassuring to see them go the extra mile in those early days!”
“A smooth transition”
During the transition to The Finishing Line, Michelle confirms there was zero down time in terms of order transactions, and their web shop remained open throughout.
“Seven full trailer loads of stock were sent over from our previous warehouse. Although some of these pallets took a little longer than expected to be processed, we did have over 1,500 different skus! It was no mean feat to get all this done.
“The team handled the pressure well and were open to feedback and support throughout the process. You could say that The Finishing Line team bent over backwards to ensure that everything went smoothly!”
Although it’s still early days, the team at Yogamatters say they have been very impressed by their order volumes being cleared down in line with the SLA’s.
“The team have done really well on this metric,” Michelle says. “We are working on a couple of key priorities and hope to see the expected financial improvements delivered within the coming months. We have a continuous improvements task list that is also under review and regular meetings to make sure we are aligned and are seeing the improvements required.”
“We are aligned on our beliefs in teams and people.”
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We’re here to help. If you’re looking for a trusted partner in Essex to handle your eCommerce fulfilment (from storage and pick & pack to fast, reliable delivery) get in touch with our team today. Let’s take your business further.
