Making the Decision to Outsource

When Barefoot Tess, the fashion shoe company specializing in woman shoes size 9 plus, realized its fast growing ecommerce business was exceeding its in-house fulfillment resources; they launched a search for a fulfillment partner. The criteria for selecting the fulfillment partner included finding a company with product category expertise, the flexibility to meet abbreviated implementation time lines and IT knowhow to connect to multiple software platforms. Barefoot Tess, like many brands today, also had the need for a fulfillment provider with a comprehensive understanding of the operational differences required to service the inherently unique requirements of b2c customers as well as the stringent demands of their retail accounts.

Barefoot Tess entrusted its business to Warwick Fulfillment Solutions. Warwick is known as an end-to-end fulfillment provider with flexible solutions and an equally excellent aptitude in b2b and b2c fulfillment. Winning the new account was just the first challenge for Warwick. Once selected, the pace picked up quickly as Warwick had less than one week to relocate Barefoot Tess entire inventory, locate it in Warwick's facility and begin shipping to meet SLA requirements - and all of this over the July 4th week - a week when typically staffing can be on the lower end of requirements as vacations are in play. "Warwick understood our need for fast, effective implementation with an eye on completing the replatforming process within the same month, "stated Karen Williamson, founder and CEO of Barefoot Tess. "Changing from an in-house to an outsourced solution is not a decision that any company takes lightly. Warwick made this decision easier for us ... we quickly knew we were in good hands and that we continue to place our focus on expanding our offering and growing the business...while we let Warwick focus on the operational aspects of delivering our product across the country and the world." For more about Barefoot Tess go to www.barefoottess.com