Dastmalchi partners with Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services to scale business and grow its retail channels.

About

Dastmalchi develops and manages a suite of brands that provide high-quality products to improve the health, beauty and overall wellness of customers. The minute a customer turns on a sonic toothbrush or steps on a bluetooth-connected scale, they feel the difference. For more information, visit www.dastmalchi.com.

The Challenge of Growth

Dastmalchi owns health, beauty, lifestyle and personal care brands including VitaGoods, Vanity Planet and DazzlePro (more are underway). With carefully curated listings and a successful marketing strategy, demand for its products quickly accelerated. “As we began to grow, our existing fulfillment partner was unable to meet the needs of our expanding business, and the logistical needs our customers were demanding from us,” said Mike Ponzillo, COO.

A New Partnership

In searching for a new fulfillment partner, Dastmalchi was careful to select one that delivered an excellent customer experience and had the capacity to scale over time — a capability its previous partner struggled to provide. Dastmalchi was secure in choosing Ingram Micro Services because of its proven track record supporting businesses through major growth periods. Ingram’s expansive global network of warehouses, access to a strategic client-account director relationship and the strength of its Shipwire Platform solidified the deal. “We really needed a partner that could integrate into our platform and support the technology needs of our customers,” said Mr. Ponzillo. While many fulfillment partners support drop shipping, through the Shipwire Platform, Dastmalchi is able to manage its drop ship operations centrally, which equates to faster processing and dispatching of orders.

Adding More Retail Channels

A major strategy in Dastmalchi’s growth is selling on large retail channels. Prior to working with Ingram, the company had six retail partnerships in place and wanted to increase the number significantly. A common challenge when selling through established retailers is complying with strict service level agreements (SLAs). Additional requirements like retailer-branded packing slips and third party carrier billing also factor into compliance regulations, which differ from retailer to retailer and can be difficult to manage. To simplify and speed up the process of selling on major retail channels, Dastmalchi leveraged the Ingram Micro Services Sell Thru Retail solution. The solution enables connections to virtually any retail.com sales channel and automates the flow of orders, inventory and tracking information, while being 100% retail compliant. Synchronizing requirements makes adding new retail channels much more efficient, resulting in faster growth. “The team at Ingram Micro has customized the Shipwire Platform to meet the needs of our customers in many different areas…we connect to it directly through API. It is seamless,” Mr. Ponzillo said.

Adding EDI

Next, Dastmalchi focused on purchase order transmissions. Many mainstream retailers require purchase orders to be transmitted through EDI. Previously, the company worked with a third-party EDI provider, but was in the market for an option that could integrate with its ERP and WMS solutions. Ingram’s Commerce EDI product addressed this interest, eliminating the need to handle multiple third-party solutions. Today, Commerce EDI connects Dastmalchi to a few major online retailers and more are in the process of being integrated. The combination of Ingram’s Sell Thru Retail Solution and Commerce EDI product has enabled Dastmalchi to quadruple its connections to major retail channels, and momentum continues to grow.

A Personal Touch

Breadth and scalability of services offered are critical to the Ingram and Dastmalchi partnership, but the human aspect of a partnership cannot be understated. “Communication is integral in building a partnership,” said Jami Llamas, Director of Logistics. “We are constantly collaborating and finding ways to modify and streamline the processes we have built together. If Dastmalchi has new ideas or suggestions to enhance the systems we are using today, my account director helps bring them to life.” Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services provides a dedicated Account Director to all large accounts. Along with managing day-to-day tasks (account management, planning and reporting) Dastmalchi’s Account Director ensures that the company has a single point of contact to manage its needs and facilitate communication between various other teams. “When issues come up, my account director ensures that they will be addressed, informs me of any workarounds that are in place and identifies how we can come to a resolution that will prevent them from occurring in the future,” said Ms. Llamas. “Having that level of responsiveness is invaluable.”

A Look At the Future

From the start, Dastmalchi was drawn to Ingram Micro Services’ ability to scale with a rapidly growing business. Its products are available in North America and Europe, further international expansion is on the horizon and the company is exploring the option to build integrations between the Shipwire platform and its other solutions. In closing Mr. Ponzillo said, “It’s an exciting partnership, it’s one we depend on and it’s one that we look at as a significant advantage in us moving forward at Dastmalchi.”