Manchester tech firm Shipster has proved just the trick for a leading skateboard retailer ahead of the sport’s return at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
SkateHut is gearing up for a sales boom inspired by the games in August after the sport made its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. That high-profile debut kick-started a global phenomenon, making Team GB’s bronze-medal winning teenager Sky Brown a household name, and resulting in an increase in cross-generational participation.
Now, an expanded skateboarding schedule planned for Paris in August is expected to take adrenaline-heavy activity to dizzying new heights.
As SkateHut prepares for a surge in sales in decks, trucks, wheels and protective gear, it has further invested in technology to ensure it can cope with the summer order spike.
Central to this is its deployment of Shipster, the Manchester-based custom shipping integration platform which connects online retailers, ecommerce warehouses and distributors with over 100 leading couriers. In partnership with Descartes Peoplevox, a leading ecommerce warehouse management system, Shipster has automated SkateHut’s pick-to-ship process, increasing efficiency and productivity, increasing profits and enabling operational flexibility for growth.
The collaboration has now expanded to Linnworks, the ecommerce software, which connects to sales channels like eBay and Amazon, boosting SkateHuts reach further.
Tony Cheetham, founder and managing director at Shipster, said: “Retailers need a solution that is efficient, cost-effective and gets products out of the warehouse to customers seamlessly.
“Working together, Shipster and Descartes have developed a bespoke end-to-end pick-to-despatch system that has transformed SkateHut’s accuracy, productivity and scalability. It means SkateHut are ready for the sporting summer as skateboarding is beamed into the homes of a new generation of fans and inspires more to give it a try.”
Skateboarding has come a long way from an underground subculture in the 1970s to a £2.5bn global market today. In the UK, the scene has witnessed remarkable growth, with hundreds of new skateparks popping up over the last decade, and a market estimated to be worth over £35m.
SkateHut has been riding that wave since its launch as an online retailer in 2007. It now has three bricks and mortar stores and a 65,000 sq ft warehouse in Halesowen in the West Midlands shipping up to one million products a year, ranging from its core skateboarding equipment to scooters, bikes, outdoor and watersports equipment, and almost any sport you can imagine.
The year-on-year growth has been managed with a digital transformation strategy, moving away from manual and paper-based stock control, picking and dispatch operations.
Dell Blundell, pictured, operations director at SkateHut, said: “Skateboarding’s popularity surged during the pandemic and the Tokyo Olympics. Its return to the global stage in Paris is set to trigger a major boost in demand for skate equipment.”
“Working with Descartes Peoplevox has enabled us to increase the amount of orders we process, while Shipster has made the dispatch process tremendously slick.
“Seasonal surges can be tricky for businesses like ours, especially when accurate and on-time delivery are so crucial for building and maintaining a customer base. Investing in the right software stack has been vital. The technologies have proved to be the perfect solution for our growing business.”
Skatehut sells anything from the tiniest bolt for a skateboard to 10 ft long surfboards to customers all over the world, generating a complex array of 12,000 shipping requirements. These are handled by Shipster’s powerful rules engine, which collects order data from Descartes Peoplevox, contacts the courier, books in the shipment, prints the relevant shipping and promo documents, and then passes back the data to Descartes Peoplevox and SkateHut’s sales platform.
Meanwhile, Shipster’s flexible licensing model also means that the business can add or remove licenses or couriers during busier or quieter periods. The result is a seamless end-to-end solution from ecommerce order through to dispatch which is fast, accurate and scalable.
Johannes Panzer, head of product strategy, ecommerce for Descartes, added: “The flexible connectivity that Descartes Peoplevox offers enables us to integrate with best of breed software across the ecommerce ecosystem, including Shipster. The importance of a water-tight tech-stack across the lifecycle of an order minimises risk of mis-ships, increases effectiveness and maximises your chances to consistently over deliver on customer expectations.”
