What Promising Brands that Scale Rapidly Tend to Have in Common
We’ve been in the fulfillment game for a long time. We’ve seen a lot. We’ve seen young promising brands fall apart. We’ve seen them grow modestly and perhaps plateau.
But we’ve also been a part of rapid scale. In those cases, brands tend to have a combination of common characteristics. Across a variety of verticals – from beauty and wellness to apparel and shelf-stable CPG – brands that check most, if not all, of these boxes, tend to repeatedly reach new heights.
Follower Count
Brands that prioritize building a movement over quick (and often one-time) sales understand that amassing an army of believers is key to rapid scale. We’ve seen this first hand with some of our brands like r.e.m. beauty, Touchland, and Goodles.
Takeaway: Invest in social. Not every follower will convert into a customer. In fact, a very small percentage will. But there’s a tipping point that happens where the army you’ve built becomes a growth asset.
Influence
Let’s be honest: brands with influencers backing and/or strong strategic influencer relationships are positioned to do extremely well. A built-in audience? Check. High engagement? Check. Loyalty, admiration, aspiration? Check, check, check.
We’ve seen it time and again: whether it’s a brand directly backed by an influencer or a one with a strong influencer engagement program, those that utilize this strategy tend to scale quickly.
Operational Experience
Followers and influence are important, but little of that matters if a brand doesn’t have the operational experience in place. As a 3PL, we have a direct view into this requirement. In fact, it’s a criterion we apply to every brand we consider bringing on board. What’s the track record of their leadership team? How’s their ops team look? Do they have experienced investors? Does everyone trust each other?
Bottom line: Brands that get their leadership and operations teams right tend to scale fast. Brands that don’t… don’t.
Data-Driven
It’s one of the buzziest of buzzwords, but young brands that are data-driven from the start are poised for rapid growth.
There’s inventory data: Order line details by vertical. SKU profile. SKU velocity. Case pack quantities. Inventory position. Stockout rates. Single unit pricing. Multi unit orders. Sell-through rate. Carrying costs.
Then there’s shipping data: Spend per parcel. Time in transit vs. cost. Rate of service vs. cost. Free shipping order value threshold. Carrier performance. Geographic distribution.
Don’t forget returns data: Return rate by product. Return reasons. Return frequency by customer segment. Refunds-to-exchange ratios. Customer return method preference. Restocking times and resale rates. Geographic distribution of returns.
And this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Brands that have a sound data management infrastructure in place are already ahead of the competition. And from a 3PL’s perspective, we often help our brands fine tune their data operations, working together in collaboration to drive efficiencies and margins.
Retailer Relationships
Young brands that have (or are in talks to have) relationships with retailers have already taken a big step towards rapid scale. B2B relationships are huge for obvious reasons: reach, promotion, additional channels (both brick-and-mortar and online).
We’ve helped brands strike and/or optimize retailer relationships, most notably in the beauty space through our consolidator relationships with Sephora and Ulta.
Professional Forecasting
No one can see the future, but brands that have a strong sense of what’s coming are set to scale. Professional forecasting is fueled by data, experience, lessons learned, geopolitical situations, climate trends, consumer behavior, shifts in demand and so much more. Staying on top of all that is no easy task. Brands that develop relatively predictable forecasting models, are well positioned to continually reach new heights.
Your Scaling Secret Weapon?
It’s your 3PL. Your 3PL should be able to help you figure out forecasting, your retailer relationships and your data infrastructure. They should be able to help you optimize your operations team. They might even be able to share a few lessons learned when it comes to influencer and social strategies.
If none of that is the case… you know who to call.