Today we will take a closer look at how Liquid Screen Design (LSD) sends out 2,500 packages a week from Liquid Screen Design’s fulfillment center in Chicago. Ranging from custom swag boxes or individual t-shirts to everything in between, LSD has built a large-scale fulfillment operation to help our customers meet their swagging goals.
Wait, I didn’t know LSD did fulfillment!?! How did that happen?
Operationalizing swag fulfillment at scale is no small feat and is not something that can be done on a whim. “At the beginning of the pandemic, as many of our customers shifted to virtual events, employee appreciation, and even virtual camp experiences, customers began reaching out to us because of our past fulfillment work with spiritwear. They asked if we could help send additional items to their participants and employees,” says Benji Bearman, Liquid Screen Design co-owner and known as “The Box King of Chicago”. “We told them, of course, we could help!”
What Makes Good Fulfilment
Fulfillment is a simple process to understand: accepting orders, picking, packing, and shipping it, but actually doing fulfillment is difficult. While everyone knows the process, there are some ins and outs that make it more efficient and that LSD does that make it go far beyond the pick and pack process.
Everyone knows the current climate of the supply chain. We live in an “Amazon world” where customers expect next-day delivery!
A good fulfillment operation should have a few things in place:
A Highly Skilled Staff
The most important thing to have successful fulfillment is having adequate staffing. Says Arielle Epstein, Branding and Swagging Architect, “We learned early on that without highly skilled staff there is no fulfillment. Every order is custom. What goes to whom, what size, what color, which notecard, etc.? Each order has several iterations and we need to ensure that each package is correct takes time and people that know what they are doing.”
“We built a fulfillment staff that comes every day and has seen it all. Whether it is international shipping and customs forms or individualized notes for each package, they have seen it and know how to handle it.”
Relationship with All the Major Shippers
Statistically, things will go wrong with shipments. Fulfillment operations with high volume and great carrier relationships make tracking missing or damaged packages much easier. At Liquid Screen Design, we take responsibility for missing and damaged packages, replace them quickly, and work directly with our carrier reps to be reimbursed.
“I talk to our shipping reps at FedEx, UPS, and USPS weekly, and not just when we have problems,” says, Paulina Jakubzcak, Branding and Swagging Manager, “we check-in and just see how things are going and when there is a problem they jump through hoops to make sure we get things resolved quickly. Being a small business sometimes you are treated like you don’t matter, but our relationships with them make me feel like we are Amazon calling and that helps our customers in the end!”
Discounted Shipping Rates
Discounted shipping rates with major shipping carriers. The big three are UPS, FedEx, and USPS. A good fulfillment operation will have discounted rates due to high volume. At Liquid Screen Design those discounts are then passed along to our customers.
So why doesn’t every swag company offer fulfillment?
The easy answer, it’s hard to do well.
When looking for a swag company, learning the different services they offer should be a way to figure out if they are the right company for all your physical marketing needs. Nearly anyone can print a few hundred t-shirts, but can they package them with custom coffee, a custom mug, a custom s’more kit, in a fully customized box and ship them to several hundred locations across the world and still meet your “event” date?
What does this mean for our LSD clients?
This means we can make their swag hopes and dreams come true!
Whether an in person event has suddenly changed to virtual, or clients don’t have the time and resources to send out hundreds of individual spiritwear items, we take care of it all - no stress needed!
