Eco Beach is a family ecommerce business based in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. They have produced the largest collection of sustainable sunglasses in the UK, alongside apparel and children's kites. The sunglasses are made from eco-friendly materials, from bamboo and maple wood to bioacetate, and with a 4.8 rating on Trustpilot, they benefit from an extremely loyal customer base.
Eco Beach's founder, Simon Drury, says that despite being a small business, the brand has to cover all the same business functions that a much larger brand would do to get their product to market. This includes product research and selection, procurement, photography, graphic design, web design, digital marketing, social media marketing, customer service and of course fulfilment. "There are not enough hours in the day to accomplish everything we would like to, but we have struggled to find trusted partners to take over some of these functions," says Simon.
Eco Beach had attempted to outsource fulfilment to a large UK-based 3PL once before, "with disastrous results, including the loss of 10% of our stock." The Eco Beach team appreciated the smaller size and more personal approach of Eirios's service. "The guys at Eirios took the time to understand my business and provide a bespoke fulfilment service that suits the products we sell."
Simon explains that although there were some initial technical hurdles during setup, these were expected when getting disparate systems talking to each other, and were resolved in the early days. Eirios now uses the new Helm warehouse management system, which has allowed clients like Eco Beach to clearly track orders and inventory levels, with everything synced back to the main Shopify website.
For small business owners, it's often very difficult to step away from work and switch off. Orders can quickly pile up, leaving a backlog when returning from a break or travel, and prior to the partnership with Eirios, Simon would often find himself with that headache. "With Eirios there is never a backlog and I can easily step away for downtime. I can monitor the state of orders and stock levels any time I choose using Eirios's fulfilment system."
"More generally, I now have more time to focus on other things, secure in the knowledge that Eirios are managing my fulfilment effectively."
As well as giving Simon and Eco Beach peace of mind, the new setup has given confidence to invest in and grow the business. "I am very happy with the service provided by Eirios and it has given me the confidence to invest more in the business, knowing that the fulfilment function can scale to meet demand."
