Dragon Glassware improved delivery speeds by 50% and reduced logistics costs by 35% with the help of Amazon Supply Chain Services

The challenge

Managing a rapidly growing company as a small business owner

In recent years, we’ve seen a shift in the kitchen and home decor industry from a strictly brick-and-mortar selling strategy to multichannel online selling. As more and more consumers look to enhance their dining accessories, sellers like Dragon Glassware focus on having their products available on multiple sales and distribution channels to satisfy demand.

Located in Sacramento, California, Dragon Glassware was founded by Matt Rollens in 2017 with the aim of creating unique drinkware and barware out of high-quality materials to elevate the drinking experience for tea, coffee, wine, beer, spirits, and more. The business, which started off by selling on Amazon.com, soon established itself as a standout dining set retailer. Their products have been featured on “Late Night with Seth Meyers”, HBO’s hit TV series “Westworld”, and “Star Trek: Picard” on Paramount+. Rollens continued to create specialized drinkware by collaborating with iconic brands to please beverage connoisseurs. For example, the company’s latest product line is the Wicked x Dragon Glassware Collection in partnership with Universal Studios.

Dragon Glassware’s kitchenware is designed in the US and manufactured in China. After products are imported to the US, they are sent to storage and fulfillment centers to supply orders placed through multiple channels, including Amazon.com, the company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) website built using Shopify, and some brick-and-mortar stores.

After Rollens started Dragon Glassware, he soon discovered that he required support from a third-party logistics (3PL) provider to handle the company’s logistics operations as business boomed.

I’m really focused on growing my off-Amazon presence using my DTC website. Having a knowledgeable 3PL partner that offers reliable shipping is key and integral to that growth.

Matt Rollens Founder & CEO

And while he had found one, as Dragon Glassware grew, Rollens started to explore making the switch to a 3PL that could help:

• Reduce operating costs – Dragon Glassware’s 3PL charged a whole host of fees and surcharges for everything from unboxing to labeling – making calculating 3PL costs complicated and cumbersome.
• Scale operations – As a team of one, Rollens was looking for a 3PL that had fulfillment and logistics expertise to help run his operations smoothly as his business expanded.
• Minimize logistics lead times – During the holiday shopping season, it could take a month for the 3PL to inbound and process inventory so that it was ready to be sold. Rollens needed a 3PL to help him optimize his supply chain and reduce lead times.
• Handle holiday order fulfillment - Dragon Glassware is a popular choice for gift-givers, with 40-50% of their annual sales coming during the peak holiday shopping season. The kitchenware manufacturer needed a 3PL partner that had the capacity and personnel to manage the spike in orders during the holidays.

“I’m really focused on growing my off-Amazon presence using my DTC website. Having a knowledgeable 3PL partner that offers reliable shipping is key and integral to that growth,” Rollens said.

The solution

Streamlining inventory management across sales channels

Dragon Glassware was already selling on Amazon, and when Rollens learned more about Amazon’s Multichannel Fulfillment (MCF) service—which provides fulfillment support across non-Amazon channels—during his research, he knew it would be an easy move to engage Amazon for additional supply chain support. Multichannel Fulfillment is just one of many services within Amazon Supply Chain Services (ASCS), Amazon’s end-to-end supply chain and 3PL offering. By using Amazon for order fulfillment across channels, Rollens could take advantage of:

• Competitive pricing – MCF includes just one fee for pick, pack, and ship. Rollens no longer needed to worry about managing the complex back and forth with providers on quotes, invoicing, and hidden surcharges.
• Consolidated inventory – With Amazon as his 3PL, Rollens can manage a single pool of inventory to fulfill orders across all of Dragon Glassware’s channels, allowing for better inventory control and reducing stockouts.
• Best-in-class fulfillment network – By utilizing Amazon’s fulfillment services across its various sales channels, Rollens gained access to Amazon’s world-class logistics network —which stretches across 27 countries and has over 2,000 facilities (including more than 200 fulfillment centers) as well as over 100,000 trailers, aircraft, and intermodal containers, and 1.5M+ employees and partners—which can be leveraged to fuel the growth of Dragon Glassware around the globe and across various channels.
• Abundant integration options – It was important for Rollens to have a streamlined workflow in order to manage a fast-growing business. MCF offered 100+ prebuilt and developer-friendly integrations to choose from, so that he could find the integration that worked best for his company.

“Transitioning to MCF meant having my inventory all in one spot. It meant simplifying my operations and allowing me to be hands off with my fulfillment so I can focus on new, unique products,” said Rollens.

Dragon Glassware integrated Dragon Glassware’s Shopify DTC website and MCF using WebBee, which automatically creates MCF orders.

WebBee also makes it easy to create virtual product bundles, allowing Rollens to easily manage orders containing a collection of their designer glassware and to take advantage of the multi-unit discounts of up to 50% off that MCF offers.

Rollens also utilized other MCF features like unbranded packaging and blocking Amazon Logistics as a carrier to meet the guidelines of various ecommerce marketplaces.

“There are so many features I enjoy about integrating Shopify and MCF using WebBee, that makes managing my business easier,” Rollens explained. “From automated tracking to product bundling, MCF has transformed how I run my company and has saved me time and money.”

The results

Enabling faster, more affordable, and integrated logistics operations

Dragon Glassware has been using Amazon for cross-channel fulfillment for eight years now. By incorporating MCF into their operations, Dragon Glassware has been able to achieve:

• Efficient logistics – Dragon Glassware removed the middleman and reduced the amount of touch points and time it takes for their products to get into the hands of their customers.
• Affordable order fulfillment – By using MCF, Dragon Glassware can offer luxurious products at a reasonable price. The company saves thousands of dollars on logistics by shipping products straight to Amazon fulfillment centers—and can pass these cost savings on to customers.
• Easy inventory management – Managing a single inventory pool for all online orders has proven to be invaluable to the company, as it helps to ensure that the right products are always available on the right channels at the right time.
• Fast shipping that delights customers – Dragon Glassware has seen customer satisfaction levels improve by adding MCF to its fulfillment operations. By offering Standard and Expedited shipping options, Dragon Glassware orders are arriving in 2.6 business days on average, with an over 99% on-time delivery rate.
• Flexibility during holidays and product launches – : Rollens doesn’t need to worry about dealing with staffing issues or adjusting the size of his internal team due to fluctuations in demand. ASCS has the capacity to handle the spikes in order volume that comes during new product launches, the holiday shopping season, and other periods throughout the year. In 2021, Dragon Glassware’s Barbie™ product line was launched as a website exclusive, with MCF handling fulfillment of the nearly 500% increase in orders during the first two months of the release.

“MCF is perfect for new startups or small businesses that don’t have logistics infrastructure,” Rollens stated. “Order fulfillment is a priority for ecommerce businesses, and the fact that MCF integrates with Shopify and my FBA inventory makes it the easiest and most low-stress solution. I haven’t found any other 3PL provider that comes close to MCF in service and cost.”