Inside RUBY's ship from store success:6 proven tactics to maximise store potential

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: Welcome everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss maximising your store's potential and how the fabulous RUBY have achieved this by shipping from store.

In this webinar, we are covering 6 proven tactics to leverage your stores for fulfilment, exploring RUBY's success story and how they have implemented ship from store. Olivia, Head of Digital and Logistics at RUBY, will share real-life examples of the challenges and successes she has experienced with a ship from store strategy.

We will also hear from our friends at Cin7 and BDO, and then host a live Q&A with Olivia. I am Georgia Kirkham, Account Executive here at Starshipit. We are a shipping automation platform that streamlines fulfilment processes to help shipping become a high point for your brand.

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: I am Olivia, Head of Digital and Logistics here at RUBY. I look after our online sales channel, as well as our eCommerce, inventory and dispatch. I have been at RUBY for 7 years now, starting in our Christchurch store and then working my way through a few different head office roles.

Andrew Gholizadeh, Cin7: My name is Andrew. I work at Cin7 in indirect sales, looking after indirect sales globally. That means I work with Josh Ambler at BDO and get to work with fantastic brands across the world.

Josh Ambler, BDO: I am Josh Ambler from BDO. I work in the information systems team in Auckland, where our team specialises in systems implementation and integration. My role is to take a holistic view of software and design robust systems for our clients.

I first met with RUBY back in 2018 to discuss changing IMS and POS systems. It has been a long journey, but with that time we have been able to execute a deliberate plan. My role was to work closely with Olivia to pull together a solution that would set RUBY up for the next phase of growth, and ship from store was a key part of that process.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: Olivia, RUBY is a much-loved New Zealand brand with 8 stores nationwide. I understand you have always shipped from store, but recently changed your tech stack and processes to achieve this more effectively. Can you tell us why RUBY chooses to ship from store and some of the challenges that drove this project?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: Stock management in our stores was the biggest piece. With ship from store and having that stock available online, we can offer customers more. If ship from store is not available, the online customer is limited to only the stock available in the warehouse, often just a few sizes of each style.

We do not make a large run of most of our styles, so if we cannot offer stock from our IRL stores, our online customer gets a limited offering. That was a big reason we went with a stronger solution. It is something we had always done, but we wanted to do it better.

It also means customers can get items faster. Shipping from stores closer to where customers are located helps us meet delivery timeframes, lowers freight cost and reduces the distance a parcel needs to travel. Shipping from Christchurch to Christchurch is much better than shipping from Auckland to Christchurch.

Through partners such as Uber, we have also been able to offer same-day delivery to customers in the same city, as well as click and collect so customers can collect an item on the same day they order.

Josh Ambler, BDO: Following on from Olivia's point about pulling stock online and aggregating stock across multiple locations and channels, that is the dream: getting stock holdings down to a position where you can sell right down to the last unit.

It is hard to do, especially in fashion. A lot of customers end up overstocking, facing stockouts, or not having smoothness across their stock holdings. RUBY came to us already doing this manually, so they were one step ahead of most. The next challenge was to automate as much as possible and take away the manual process when there are lots of orders and stock units moving around.

The challenge was putting a system behind that to reduce human input. Starshipit, Shopify and the wider solution have worked well for that, helping RUBY run leaner stock holdings.

Josh Ambler, BDO: We realised quickly that RUBY had strong engagement with their customers, and that the customer experience across stores and online needed to be consistent and feel like part of the RUBY community.

Ship from store helps drive that customer connection even though the sale has been made online. Customer communication can often go back to the local store, and delivery that comes from store can feel more personalised than a warehouse delivery. It supports local engagement while still giving the business a streamlined online shipping process.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: Shipping from store allows you to cut shipping time and costs because you can fulfil from a store that is closer to the customer. Shorter shipping distances reduce delivery time and shipping cost. Product, staff and store running costs are major expenses for retailers, so using those resources to fulfil online orders helps retailers use them more efficiently.

In RUBY's case, store staff fulfil orders quickly and easily in store using Starshipit. Each relevant store has a Starshipit child account, connected to the related fulfilment location in Shopify using the Starshipit Shopify integration.

RUBY uses Shopify order routing to assign orders to the appropriate store according to their business rules. The team can prioritise fulfilment from stores with lots of stock or deprioritise a store that is holding an event and out of action for a period of time.

Once an order is placed online, it imports into the correct Starshipit child account. Store staff can access the order, pick, pack and print a shipping label in the Starshipit UI with a couple of clicks. RUBY also uses multiple couriers when shipping from store, depending on the service selected at checkout. Carrier selection is automated in Starshipit using the rules engine, making it as easy as possible for store staff to get an order ready to ship.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: The second tactic is that shipping from store allows you to offer more choice at checkout. This helps reduce the risk of cart abandonment by providing options that suit different customer needs around delivery time and cost, including standard, express, same-day shipping, free shipping and click and collect.

RUBY offers same-day delivery using Uber Direct for delivery locations close to their stores. They use Starshipit rates at checkout and our integration with Uber Direct to show a live quote for that delivery at checkout. If the delivery address is outside RUBY's rules or not in a serviced area, it will not show as an option.

When an order is placed, the RUBY store team books the Uber pickup when they print the label in Starshipit. Tracking details are sent to the customer, and the customer can track their delivery. This was especially useful in the lead-up to Christmas, when last-minute customers could still receive orders the same day.

Andrew Gholizadeh, Cin7: Optimising inventory levels is sometimes not discussed deeply enough. As businesses expand, open more locations, add online, and perhaps add a warehouse, it becomes a web of where to hold stock and where to ship from.

Optimising inventory levels is crucial for running a streamlined business and managing cash flow. It helps prevent overstocking, where cash is sitting in the warehouse instead of in the bank, and understocking, which can hurt the community a brand like RUBY has built. Maintaining minimum stock levels and knowing when to order reduces carrying cost.

Andrew Gholizadeh, Cin7: We see more businesses adopting multi-channel selling, and consumers increasingly want multiple channels to communicate and purchase through. RUBY does a fantastic job of providing eCommerce as well as in-store bricks-and-mortar access, with a central point of truth.

When you have different selling points, you need to know where orders are coming from, how to fulfil them, and the best way to route them for the customer. Having a central tool in the backend gives you a source of truth for inventory figures, with real-time access to showroom stock, warehouse stock and expected deliveries.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: Now we move into the Q&A. Olivia, what would your advice be to retailers looking to implement a ship from store strategy?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: It is worth the time and effort. It opens up another opportunity to increase online sales, and it means you are not leaving stock unavailable to online customers. In our stores we may have one or two of each style on the floor, with more out the back, and that size availability otherwise is not available to customers other than in store.

Ship from store helps remove the potential for dead stock that is sitting on the shop floor and makes sure sell-through is strong. It also gives you the flexibility of not needing to ship stock back to the office or warehouse to make it available online, so you save on those freight charges and on freight to the customer.

Make sure the team from both a bricks-and-mortar point of view and an online point of view are really bought in. They need to work cohesively as one team to make it work as efficiently as possible.

Josh Ambler, BDO: Often ship from store gets put in the too-hard basket, so it was refreshing to see a company already doing it manually and seeing the benefit beyond automation. RUBY could see how it would create more sales and sell through stock right down to the last unit.

It is not an easy feat to sell stock down to the last unit, but it is worth the journey. You need to embed it into your culture, as Olivia said. You can also be practical about it by making sure you have the right spaces in store to do it. Not every store has the practical space, but you can think differently about whether a back-office area could help with other functions and make the store more efficient.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: I would add that if you are looking to implement a ship from store strategy, talk to your technology partners. We are all working with other retailers in the space to achieve similar things. There are many ways to achieve a ship from store strategy, so start having conversations, understand how others are doing it, understand your tech stack and what you want to achieve.

Olivia, training store staff and retail teams is a common consideration. How did RUBY go about training staff, and how did you find the transition period?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: We were moving 7 different tech pieces in the business at the same time, so there was a lot of training. But this part was probably a 30-minute section in one of our trainings, and the team picked it up really quickly.

Both the Starshipit interface and Shopify order piece are intuitive and easy to use. We have always joked that anyone who can use a cell phone can pick it up and figure out how to do it.

The full visibility from Starshipit for our online team is helpful. The online team can see store orders, so while stores are responsible for fulfilling their own orders, that ultimately falls back to our online team. If training or assistance is needed, the online team can oversee things, give stores a nudge and make sure fewer orders are missed or delayed.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: One question that comes up with retailers is attribution of sales. Olivia, how does RUBY attribute the sale? Does it go to online or store?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: For us, sales that come through our site are attributed to our website. We see all stock as a pool of stock for all stores. If a customer in Newmarket wants a size 12 and it needs to come from Ponsonby, we still see the channel it comes through as the channel that receives the sale.

We reinforce to our team that a sale is a sale for the business, no matter the channel. It is a one-team mentality, and that is part of our culture. For us, an online sale is an online sale.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: A question has come in about fulfilling from store when the retailer has a franchisee model, and the challenge of franchisee resource versus compensation from online sales. Josh and Andrew, have you got experience here?

Josh Ambler, BDO: It is quite difficult because you have different legal entities involved, and that often means different instances of systems as well. But the data captured in the process ties back to the attribution model. RUBY chooses to attribute online orders to online, but a business could choose to attribute them to the store.

With a franchise model, there will likely be some customisation involved, whether on the Shopify front end or in the backend systems. It is a unique environment and quite complex, but definitely doable.

Andrew Gholizadeh, Cin7: With franchise models, there are challenges, but it is possible because we are capturing a lot of data across the front-end and backend systems. Do a thorough analysis, scope and proof of concept to make sure you get it right from day one. It may not be completely plug and play, and may require configuration or development.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: At Starshipit, we have franchises who use Starshipit for a ship from store model. There are real tech stack considerations, but reporting tools can help report carrier costs by location and attribute costs or sales to franchisees. It can be done well, but you need to work through the tech stack, reporting and how costs are charged.

Andrew, how does the integration work between Cin7 and Shopify when an order is sold through one Shopify channel but fulfilled from a different branch?

Andrew Gholizadeh, Cin7: The Shopify integration between Cin7 and Shopify allows multi-location mapping. You have an online store, and in the backend of Shopify you have different locations mapped to different locations in Cin7, where stock is managed by location.

Once a sale comes in and is attributed to location A, Cin7 picks it up and maps it to location A, reducing or allocating the stock to that location.

Josh Ambler, BDO: A key piece Cin7 does is allow Shopify to drive fulfilment if you want to set it up that way. In RUBY's case, Cin7 can read a whole lot of stock interactions happening across the business, rather than fighting with that process. That allows orders and stock to flow to the right place while maintaining stock levels behind the scenes.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: Olivia, what were some of the operational challenges that you saw with this strategy?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: Team capacity is a big piece. In retail, you can have a Saturday where people are running in every direction, and the last thing you want is to pack an online order that does not feel urgent. For us, the important thing is reinforcing that to avoid oversells, the team needs to keep on top of orders and pull stock aside even if they do not have capacity to fulfil it immediately.

That means removing the product from the shop floor or stock room and putting it aside for orders, so there is no oversell. Oversells were something we experienced on our previous system, and that never makes for a happy customer.

Shopify POS gives us an alert if available stock for an item goes to zero, which can indicate that the item has sold online. During busy periods, we staff the store specifically for online order fulfilment. Since moving our tech stack, fulfilment has moved out the back instead of being done at the counter, and that dedicated space has been helpful for more than just filling orders.

Josh Ambler, BDO: That workflow is important. If it was not systemised, it could involve a lot of manual touchpoints. The integrations in play automate a big chunk of that, allowing RUBY's team to check on things and oversee the process from a more holistic point of view, rather than being in the trenches processing everything manually.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: A common operational challenge is order routing and how you route orders. RUBY uses Shopify and the order routing piece, which is fantastic, but not every retailer uses Shopify and there are other options. It is a key consideration when you are looking into ship from store.

What infrastructure do you need in store to execute this strategy?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: Space is a really big piece from a physical infrastructure point of view, making sure there is space so things do not get muddled up.

The other key thing for us is having a logistics team who own online orders. They are not just looking at their own fulfilment silo; they are the final point of contact across the process and across all stores. They make sure communication is clear, orders are not delayed, and there is still centralised management of online orders.

If communication needs to go back to a customer, it goes through our logistics team. That keeps things centralised and consistent, and means the customer knows where to ring if something goes wrong.

From a physical setup point of view, we use a desk, computer, keyboard, mouse, label printers and barcode scanners. We use an app that gets the team to scan every item, and it alerts the team if the item they are scanning does not match the order. That removes a large number of errors, because similar products can look the same on paper. Courier bags and label printers are also key.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: How do you see the future of ship from store evolving? What emerging trends or developments do you anticipate will shape its continued growth and adoption in retail?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: Customer expectations are getting higher and higher, especially around expecting an item to turn up immediately after checkout. Platforms like Amazon in the US are reinforcing same-day delivery expectations, and while New Zealand can be a few steps behind, those trends are starting to come through.

A key piece for us is to under-promise and over-deliver. For example, we launched Uber instant delivery and communicated it as a 3-hour delivery window. Most of the time, it arrived in under an hour, so customers were completely stoked.

Instant delivery is a big piece we are seeing, especially with Uber. A customer might need something for a wedding on Saturday morning, and they can order from us and have it there by midday.

Andrew Gholizadeh, Cin7: We are seeing more demand for ship from store and for customers wanting to know they can get a product from a store they recognise and trust. That reduces hesitation around purchasing online. Customers can purchase at night and receive the item the next day, and in some cases pay a premium for Uber shipping because they need it for an event. That demand is growing globally and across APAC.

Josh Ambler, BDO: It is about giving customers options. For single-brand retailers in particular, it needs to be part of the service to compete. Retailers are trying to build brand engagement, and ship from store is one part of that puzzle.

People also want to support their local stores, even if they cannot be bothered getting off the couch to go there. Ship from store is a nice in-between method where you can still get that local engagement, get the sale and keep the connection with the store. I do not see it changing too much, just becoming more mainstream.

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: With our stores shipping orders out to customers, they see the orders coming through. That gives store teams visibility when a customer they recognise comes into store, so they can say they saw what the customer bought and ask how it is going. It creates another level of customer interaction, even if they are not seeing the customer physically. They might write a note in the online order mentioning the last time they saw them, which helps develop that connection further.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: From Starshipit's side, we are seeing demand for a consistent level of service and brand experience regardless of whether customers purchase online or in store. That is a key consideration when running a ship from store strategy. Same-day delivery is also becoming a real option once you start shipping from store.

Olivia, one final question. What is the biggest benefit for you so far?

Olivia O'Neil, RUBY: The biggest benefit is the ability to grow online sales and customer satisfaction. The pre-Christmas example is a good one. In New Zealand, courier cut-off with NZ Post was early in the week before Christmas, which meant many retailers saw trade simmer off because customers wanted items before heading away.

By implementing Uber shipping and running a promotion where we offered free Uber shipping for that week, we were able to maintain sales through a period when others could not get items to customers on time. It meant customers knew they could confidently shop with us and their order would arrive in time.

We see that immediate service used all the time. Ship from store also makes product available in store, and click and collect lets customers know they can get it instantly. That confidence from the customer will long-term result in increased sales.

Georgia Kirkham, Starshipit: Thank you everyone for attending, and Olivia, Josh and Andrew, thank you so much for your time. If you would like to learn more, please reach out.