DHL Express has cut supply times to help a US start-up business ship 3.6 million items a week toretailers.
DHL Express is now the exclusive international express delivery provider for Stretchy Shapes,the US market leader in upscale, durable and highly collectible fun-shaped bracelets. Founded inBirmingham, Alabama, last year, the start-up business sells packs of trendy children’s braceletsand currently ships about 3.6 million bands a week to retailers across the USA.
Stretchy Shapes’ original distribution process involved a forwarding agent, resulting in adelivery time of 8 to 12 days from its factories in China to the company’s US warehouse. With DHL’slogistical expertise, that delivery cycle now averages 2 to 3 days. After pickup at the factoriesin Xiamen, China, DHL transports Stretchy Shapes’ bracelets to its hub in Hong Kong, clears UScustoms at DHL’s Cincinnati hub, and delivers them to the company’s headquarters and distributioncentre in Birmingham.
By utilising DHL Express, Stretchy Shapes has realized as much as a 75% time savings ininternational delivery cycles, allowing it to bring its uniquely designed bracelet packs to ahyper-competitive market far more quickly.
April Mraz, Stretchy Shapes’ co-founder, said: “Orders started flooding in, but we couldn’tfulfill them fast enough, and needed a fool-proof, efficient way to get our product from thefactory floor to the retail floor as quickly and hassle-free as possible.” She praised DHL’s levelof customer service for such a small company.
OCG Products, the parent company of Stretchy Shapes, is already working to expand its 18-themedbracelet packs to include a limited edition “International Expertise” set for DHL. Stretchy Shapesis also expanding its current product line of silicone-based products to additional outlets in theUSA and new international markets.
“We’re incredibly proud and grateful to have a shipping partner that is a leader in theirindustry,” said Mraz. “Whether kids around the world know it or not, they wouldn’t have thehottest bands around their wrists without DHL’s critical support of Stretchy Shapes.”
“DHL’s partnership with Stretchy Shapes demonstrates how vital our services are to helpingsmall- to medium-sized businesses grow as well as expand into new markets,” said Terry Carter,General Manager and Area Vice President for DHL Express. “DHL is dedicated to meet our customers’special needs and will go the extra mile to deliver all the attention and international expertisethese growing entrepreneurs expect and deserve.”
