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THE SCALE UP

Insights and advice to help you build a bigger eCommerce brand

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All | Customer Experience | Growth |   Operations

Brand Spotlight: Tina Davies makes a lasting impression

Since creating the first-ever disposable microblade, internationally renowned make-up artist and pigment perfectionista Tina Davies, has taken the permanent cosmetics industry by storm.

Brand Spotlight: A roller coaster year for The Renatural

Kehlani, Kahh Spence, Patricia Bright and Tokyo Stylez - they're all fans of The Wig Fix. This medically-approved tool keeps wigs in place, comfortably and safely - even when riding roller coasters.

Rock ‘n’ rolling counts: The best way to do a stock take

If your stock-taking process is less rock 'n' roll, more taking its toll, then perhaps it's time to consider a new approach.

Brand Spotlight: The Sunday Times FT company that went from rucksacks to riches

Velocity Commerce, which started out as a small self-store garage business, became one of the fastest-growing companies in just seven years. How did they do it?

Brexit and product liability law – What online retailers need to know

The UK’s split from the EU is far from a clean-cut ordeal. Chris Salmon of Quittance Legal Services tells The Scale Up what post-Brexit legislation changes eComm businesses will need to be mindful of.

Brand Spotlight: Chemo drug advice changed everything for Hanna Sillitoe

Hanna Sillitoe on wooing the Dragons in the den, regaining control and being the face of a successful skincare brand.

A jigsaw map of the UK and EU - a visual metaphor for Brexit
Brexit: Understanding the impact and planning for anything

Looming deadlines. Heated debates. Ongoing uncertainty. 2020 is starting to feel a bit 2019 as far as Brexit is concerned. So what can we be sure of and how can we prepare? Here’s how to ready yourself for whatever lies ahead.

Brand Spotlight: How one founder’s mental health struggles inspired a new business idea 

In this Q&A, Bare Biology founder Melanie Lawson speaks candidly about her difficult life experiences which led her to launch a thriving health supplement business. 

Brand Spotlight: Kopi Luwak’s taste of success

Kopi Luwak Co. has a story that's too fascinating not to share. Aiming to be the leading Kopi Luwak provider stateside, the brand's director anticipates Q4 2020 will be their biggest yet.

Q4 Success Checklist: How to master peak season

When is the 'prime' time for increasing online orders? Here's a handy checklist of strategies and tactics you can follow to guarantee your peak success this quarter.

What to do when everyone wants your product (unexpectedly)?

Listen in to an IRX Engage hosted webcast where Founder of Cambridge Mask Co. Christopher Dobbing offers up some valuable product supply and demand insights.

Brand Spotlight: Frau Green crafts perfect partnership with James and James

Faced with unprecedented demand for arts and crafts materials during the coronavirus lockdown, Sophie Green, Co-owner and Director of Frau Green, needed a more professional and agile approach to fulfilment.

A photograph of the exterior of James and James's new fulfilment centre
On Peak Form: Why 2020 is the year for agile online brands

Lockdown certainly triggered a major re-think of fulfilment operations. For agile, prepared brands, the latter half of 2020 offers unprecedented opportunity.

An image of inside a fulfilment centre with racking full of products
Peak Readiness: How to outsource your fulfilment in 7 days

As a fast-scaling eCommerce business, you're feeling the time is right to outsource your fulfilment. But can it really be done in less than seven days?

The words Black Friday highlighted on a brick background
Planning for peak, Black Friday and every eventuality

Brace yourselves! Something is going to happen. But what? We take a look at what we do know about the current eCommerce landscape and share our Black Friday 2020 prediction.

bare-conductive-bibi-nelson
Brand Spotlight: Bare Conductive’s co-founder on staying in your lane of expertise

Bibi Nelson tells us why it's important to focus on the expertise related to your core business.

Brand Spotlight: Dope Ropes co-founder takes leap of faith mid-pandemic

The co-founder of Dope Ropes had to make rapid adjustments to keep up with demand for jump ropes during lockdown.

What should luxury eCommerce brands look for in a fulfilment partner?

With luxury retailers shifting their focus to eCommerce, security and traceability are increasingly fundamental to luxury shopper satisfaction and reassurance.

5 ways to spend your time, once you’ve outsourced your fulfilment

Outsourcing your fulfilment gives you time back to build your brand, manage your inventory or even take a break. Here's how 5 founders spend their time, now they're working with James and James.

Brand Spotlight: Frenchie Bulldog’s feeling at home

The team behind Frenchie Bulldog says the James and James consultancy team is the 'friendliest group of people they spoke with' on looking to outsource their order fulfilment.

Brand Spotlight: OOSC – the fun and sustainable skiwear brand conquering seasonal peaks

When the co-founders of the Original Old School Ski Company found themselves spending too much time at the Post Office, they knew something needed to change.

5 reasons customers abandon online shopping carts – and how you can stop them

There are many reasons a customer might give up on their order. Here we look at the top 5 and offer up some re-marketing tactics to bring them back.

Coping with highs and lows in demand

When you experience high and lows in demand for your products - for example, Black Friday to Christmas sales peaks - outsourcing your fulfilment to a specialist provider can help you reduce risks and costs.

Selling online to the USA in 2020: a five-step guide to setting up US fulfilment

With the cost of UK to US shipping increasing by “more than 100%” from 1 July 2020, learn how to set up a US fulfilment centre, to avoid additional charges and improve long-term customer experience for your US buyers.

How packaging can enhance your customer experience

In this guest post, Alex Macfarlane, Sales Executive at Macfarlane Packaging, explains why customers love receiving parcels that arrive quickly and gorgeously presented.

How to reduce postage and packaging costs

There are various facts and figures to consider when looking to reduce your packaging and postage costs. This post provides some advice on how to get started and which shipping services will provide best value for money.

A photo of product-filled shelves - eCommerce stock control and inventory management
6 reasons stock control is important for eCommerce success

As your online store takes off, your product range sprawls and hundreds of orders flood in, it's time to take your eCommerce stock control and inventory management seriously. Here are six reasons why.

Why website personalisation is important

In this guest post, Ben Rogers, Head of Marketing and Creative at Digital Paint, discusses website personalisation. Find out how you can create individual user journeys on your website and improve the overall experience for your customers.

eCommerce returns: 5 ways to reduce (or make the best of) them

eCommerce returns often reach their annual peak following the Black Friday to Boxing Day sales. In this post, we offer five tips on how you can reduce them as a retailer – or at least turn them into a positive experience for your customers.

A photo of a James and James fulfilment centre colleague packing a Cards Against Humanity card game box into cardboard packaging ready to ship to a customer
Brand Spotlight: Cards Against Humanity shows how to do international expansion right

Following its massive success in the US, Cards Against Humanity began gaining momentum in Europe and needed support to fulfil orders on this side of the pond.

Brand Spotlight: Freeing up time to build a (Protein) Empire

Founded in 2015, Protein Empire were setting up their new business when they began looking for a competitive and premium fulfilment service.

How to get full visibility on your eCommerce fulfilment operations

Have you ever felt in the dark about your eCommerce fulfilment? Getting the right data on your operations can be a nightmare, but our cloud-based technology can help.

7 ways we prepared for peak in 2019

Each year, we review our performance over peak season, to optimise it for the next. Here are seven ways we improved our operations for Black Friday 2019.

Brand Spotlight: Houston, we (Armadillo Merino) don’t have a problem

Having trust in your fulfilment partner is a must, when – like Armadillo – you’re dealing with customers such as NASA.

Brand Spotlight: Tailored Athlete makes big gains stateside

Read on to find out why our fulfilment software (almost) made the COO of the premium menswear brand cry.

Brand Spotlight: Anderson Entertainment steps into Thunderbird 2’s hangar

2017 - the year Anderson Entertainment commenced its launch sequence (outsourced fulfilment) with James and James.

Brand Spotlight: Sureflap proves it pays to make a switch

Since switching to James and James eCommerce Fulfilment from another provider to fulfil its eCommerce orders, the award-winning smart pet product specialist has seen impressive results.

Selling CBD oil online and the role of order fulfilment

Growing consumer interest and changing legislation means that more brands are selling CBD oil online. In this post, we look at the burgeoning CBD oil market and order fulfilment’s role in it.

Brand Spotlight: Data visibility is key for Regis – the largest hairdressing business in the world

Regis wanted to add an eCommerce sales channel to their retail offering. To do this, having access to intelligent reporting has been fundamental in delivering exceptional customer service.

What is a SKU and how are they used by retailers?

SKU stands for stock keeping unit. Each SKU represents one product line and its unique characteristics. In this post, we answer some of the frequently asked questions about SKUs, and show you how to use them in your eCommerce business.

Managing variety in the pick and pack process

As the digital economy booms, consumers have ever greater choice in what they can buy. This can pose problems for fulfilment centres. In this post, our CEO, James Hyde, shows how academic thinking can solve these problems.

Why Facebook Marketplace doesn’t work for retailers

Facebook Marketplace helps individuals sell used items locally. But online retailers must take a different approach to the social network. Here's how.

Brand Spotlight: ‘New Wash’, new market, new fulfilment partner – the perfect Hairstory

James and James’s order fulfilment software, ControlPort, bridged the gap between the US and UK for the NYC-founded Hairstory company.

What is outsourced fulfilment and is it right for you?

If you've heard of outsourced fulfilment, but aren't sure what it is, this is the post for you. We answer four frequently asked questions, explaining how order fulfilment works and if it's right for you.

A photo of a James and James Fulfilment colleague loading despatch trolleys with parcels
eCommerce shipping strategies: when should you offer free shipping?

Deciding how to charge for shipping is always a dilemma that store owners struggle with. In this post, find out whether free shipping is feasible and profitable for you, and explore other shipping strategies.

A customer shopping online using their mobile phone and credit card
Boost your eCommerce conversion rate with this 15-point optimisation checklist

If you're getting traffic to your online store, but aren't seeing the sales you'd hoped for, it's time to understand your eCommerce conversion rate and optimise it. This post guides you through a 15-point checklist to boost your sales.

An image of a phone with icons representing social media and online customer reviews and commentary
8 ways to get traffic to your online store

You’ve had a brilliant eCommerce business idea. You’ve set up an online store. Now comes the hard part – starting to get traffic to it. In this post, discover eight ways to do that without spending a fortune.

An image of a phone displaying Shopify as one example of an eCommerce platform
What’s the best eCommerce platform for creating your online store?

Want to start an online store? In this post, we'll show you how to find the best eCommerce platform for you, asking four questions to help you choose between Amazon Marketplace, WooCommerce, Shopify and Magento.

Brand Spotlight: The Literary Gift Company gains “brainspace” to double turnover

Time. Life's most precious commodity. And, the most significant benefit of choosing to work with James and James has been regaining more of it.

A photo of a person holding a lightbulb: a metaphor for coming up with an idea
How to have brilliant eCommerce business ideas in 5 simple steps

In the first of a series of posts on how to start an eCommerce business, we look at the first step you need to take – having, testing and developing new ideas – and walk you through a five-step process to help.

4 reasons why you won’t find robots in our aisles

Many see warehouse automation as a panacea for fulfilment accuracy and efficiency problems. We think we're a much quicker, cheaper and friendlier solution than a swarm of bots.

Brand Spotlight: Anne Beauty on re-discovering a work-life balance

Shareen Akhtar, Founder of Anne Beauty realised the importance of putting responsibility into the hands of others - not only to achieve business scalability but to reduce stress and gain back time.

How is artificial intelligence changing the face of logistics?

In this guest post, Mélanie Vaast, Writer and Project Marketing Manager at eCommerce Nation, discusses the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation on the logistics industry.

Launching a new product – what could go wrong?

A product launch can make or break your eCommerce business. But with careful preparation, you should be able to forecast whether or not it will succeed.

How to make your packaging more eco-friendly

With consumers becoming increasingly eco-aware, it's important to consider the environmental impact of your packaging.

4 things to consider when measuring the success of your products

Different variables of a product can determine just how successful it will be on the online market. It's important to consider every factor. In this post, we show you how to do just that, turning every product into a success.

The secret to crowd-pleasing Kickstarter fulfilment

Are you using Kickstarter, GoFundMe, or other crowdfunding site? Fulfilling so many orders, so quickly, for so many expectant customers can be a tricky business.

Finding value beyond the initial ‘How much will outsourced fulfilment cost?’ question

While initial pricing is variable and tailored to the specific needs of you and your business, outsourced fulfilment brings added value and considerable savings to be made.

10 web platforms and services to build your eCommerce business

From Shopify to WooCommerce, Crazy Egg to Mailchimp, we round up 10 top-rated tools and services for your website and business.

Motivating staff in a pick and pack environment

Motivating staff is a key challenge for any company operating a pick and pack warehouse. In this post, we share some tried and tested tips to create a fun, fair, challenging and rewarding pick and pack environment.

Order fulfilment can impact loyalty, repurchasing behaviour and ultimately – those online reviews

Need to improve your online reviews? A fulfilment system will help you tackle customer issues and lead to great customer service. In turn, this will lead to better reviews. In this post, we show you how.

Engaging influencers to become your brand advocates

Brand advocates are people who like your company, product or service so much, they tell everybody about it. Here are some tried and tested ways to turn 'influencers' – well-known people in your niche – into brand advocates.

A James and James team member scans a barcode in one of our fulfilment centres
Where do barcodes come from?

Almost every mass produced product in the world has its own barcode, yet no two are ever the same. In this post, we take a look at the complex world of barcoding and show you how to start barcoding your own products.

The true cost of lost or damaged parcels and how we work to prevent it

Businesses accept that there is risk involved in eCommerce, such as fraud, online theft, or lost and damaged parcels. In this post, we show you how to reduce that risk, focussing on the problem and cost of lost parcels.