Beyond Lister - How the Services Team Propels Clients to New Heights

Beyond Lister - How the Services Team Propels Clients to New Heights

Upright Labs is best known for its compelling inventory management and multichannel listing software, Upright Lister. This technology has helped secondhand retailers list and ship over $75 million worth of products; however, unlocking the true potential of your operation requires more than this incredible software tool. The Services team at Upright Labs partners with clients in both the traditional e-commerce and secondhand retail spaces to streamline operations and drive revenue to the bottom line through a holistic approach.

Check out how the Services team helps clients catalyze their e-commerce growth below:

1. Operational Audit & Monthly Support

Through operational audits, Upright Labs gains a 360-degree view of your operation. The Services team digs deep into the challenges and opportunities for improvement by means of employee interviews, observation, and analysis.

Case Study: Goodwill Industries of Delaware and Delaware County

  • 10 Employees interviewed in depth across store and e-commerce teams
  • On-site visit to observe product flow and to take photos and videos of the facility
  • 198-page audit deck summarizing recommendations and methods of implementation across various topics from product supply and processing to people operations
  • Implementation of recommendations helped generate an 89% year-over-year / 15% month-over-month sales increase in August 2020

As part of the monthly support, the Upright Labs team serves as the partner and project manager in implementing the proposed changes following the initial audit. During this period, the Services team also follows up with data-driven insights such as product category profitability and item discard analyses. These analyses guide the e-commerce team on strategic initiatives that allow continued growth of revenue and reduction of costs.

2. Facility Launch & Redesign

In 2020 alone, the Upright Labs team has redesigned or launched over half a million square feet of warehouse space. As experts in lean operations, the Services team is able to reduce touchpoints and streamline the flow of product within the facility. The Services team doesn’t just design the space, they roll up their sleeves and build the shelving units and tables needed to seamlessly transition into the new space with minimal disruption and training for your team.

Case Study: Marigold & Grey

  • Marigold & Grey is a curated gift box company whose warehouse footprint had doubled in size from 3,000 to 6,000 square feet
  • The Upright Services team did a 2 day on-site audit and proposed a new facility design that would optimize product flow and standardize all operational processes
  • In one weekend, the Upright Labs team transformed the facility by building and arranging equipment that was entirely on wheels for greater agility within the operation
  • These items included 10 5-feet shelving units, 36 work tables, 4 monitor stands for KPI reporting, and more

Upon seeing the improved warehouse, Jaimie Kutchman Wynne, Marigold & Grey’s Founder and CEO, commented, “it looked like a real warehouse and it felt like [the Upright Labs team] took my business and made it a grown-up. Everything seemed clean and organized.”

Storage - Before & After

Production - Before & After

Shipping - Before & After

3. Identifying Unique Revenue Opportunities

The Services team at Upright Labs makes sure to shine a spotlight on your entire supply chain to help you discover revenue opportunities that may not have been evident before. Discarded items, for example, represent a key source of potential revenue gains and cost savings that e-commerce organizations may not have the capacity to analyze.

Case Study: Goodwill Industries of Greater New York and Northern New Jersey

  • Goodwill NYNJ was paying about $175 per pickup of waste disposal, a steep price for the service
  • The Upright Services team conducted an analysis that projected this would cost Goodwill NYNJ ~$380,000 over two years
  • Upright Labs identified a potential savings of $180,000 if the team purchased a trash compactor

The insights gained from the analysis conducted by Upright Labs allowed the Goodwill NYNJ team to generate significant cost savings long term.

4. People Operations

The Upright Labs team offers expertise beyond operational efficiency and data-driven strategic decision-making. Upright Labs believes that team structure and support systems are key to ensuring a well-run operation.This may mean proposing updates to how teams communicate, setting up goals and incentive programs, or building out robust reporting to create greater transparency throughout the organization.

Case Study: Organization not shared for privacy reasons

  • Reporting was a manual 2 hour process for the e-commerce manager on a weekly basis and stores wanted even more detailed information on e-commerce performance
  • The Upright Labs team created automated reporting which shared high level e-commerce metrics, a store revenue leaderboard, and top sold items by category - like jewelry and textiles (see image below)

Automated reporting saved time for e-commerce leadership, improved store teams’ level of trust in the e-commerce operation, fostered friendly competition, and encouraged better product supply.

5. Sharing of Insights & Best Practices

Experience is the most robust source of knowledge. Through its intimate client engagements, Upright Labs has developed a wealth of experience. The Services team has built an exceptional repository of insights, materials, and best practices that it utilizes when guiding partners in new engagements. Clients have found these resources to be of tremendous value with one partner, for example, realizing a 99.9% reduction in nonessential communication between stores and e-commerce. Some of these resources include:

  • Product guides that showcase brands with high sell-through rates
  • Documentation that enables the quick identification of counterfeit goods
  • Information about profitable opportunities like Goodwill Blue Box that are not marketed effectively to different Goodwill regions

Conclusion

Upright Labs is on a mission to build dynamic relationships with its clients and help them unlock their full e-commerce potential. As highlighted above, the Services team seeks to lead you towards these heights with an approach that is holistic, thorough, and innovative. If this sounds exciting, please reach out to sales@uprightlabs.com!

Schedule a complimentary 30-minute consultation