Evri, a global leader in international fulfilment and logistics, manages facilities across the UK, Europe, North America, and the Middle East. Their expansive operations necessitated robust integration solutions to maintain efficiency and scalability.
Challenges
Complex Integrations: Evri’s fulfilment proposition required extensive integration efforts, consuming significant time and resources. The integration process often spanned 6 to 12 weeks (about 3 months), with complexities varying by sales channel or marketplace. For instance, obtaining an API key from Amazon historically took months.
Resource Allocation: The development team’s bandwidth was heavily taxed, focusing on these integrations rather than on their core development roadmap. This affected their sprint cycles, slowing down overall progress.
Scalability Issues: Manual integrations hindered Evri’s ability to scale quickly, causing delays that could potentially turn off new retailers waiting to go live.
“Costs with the software are incomparable compared to how much time is saved. We’d come in and see 50 orders on the system, and we’d be, oh, how are we going to get them out? Because each order took so long to do. Now, 50 orders are nothing. It goes out so fast.”
Solution
Evri partnered with Helm, recognising the need for a scalable, plug-and-play integration solution. Key factors in choosing Helm included:
Pre-Built Integrations: Helm provided out-of-the-box integrations that aligned with Evri’s technical ecosystem.
Comprehensive Support: Helm offered access to 50+ integrations from day one, along with ongoing maintenance.
Favourable Commercial Agreement: The volume-based commercial agreement helped Evri gain significant traction quickly.
Implementation
Plug-and-Play Integrations: Helm’s solution enabled Evri to integrate new sales channels and marketplaces rapidly. This included a seamless connection to multiple platforms, reducing the time-to-market significantly.
Dedicated Support: Helm’s team, led by Matthew, demonstrated an understanding of Evri’s business needs and offered tailored solutions to address their pain points, particularly around integrations.
Scalability and Maintenance: Helm maintained the integrations, allowing Evri’s development team to focus on other priorities. This support included adding new marketplaces like Linnworks and OrderWise upon Evri’s request.
"The key with Helm was the immediate understanding of our business needs and the provision of scalable, out-of-the-box integrations. The commercial agreement based on volume was very attractive and helped us gain traction quickly. Without Helm, we wouldn't have been able to move as swiftly as we have."
Day-to-Day Operations with Helm
By using The Despatch Company’s Channels and Shipping products, Evri has streamlined its processes significantly. The platform enables seamless order pulling from various marketplaces like Amazon, eBay, and Etsy, ensuring that Evri meets strict service level agreements such as Amazon’s Seller Fulfilled Prime requirements. The data provided by Helm facilitates order fulfilment, shipping, and delivery tracking, enhancing Evri’s ability to maintain high standards of service and customer satisfaction.
"The Despatch Company's solution via Channels helps us achieve our main objective of getting orders out the door efficiently. Their support and understanding of our challenges have been incredible. The ability to integrate new sales channels and maintain seamless operations has significantly boosted our capabilities."
Helm’s inventory API is also crucial for Evri. It allows real-time stock synchronisation across all marketplaces, ensuring accurate inventory levels and reducing the risk of overselling. This integration simplifies the management of multiple sales channels, providing a single point of truth for all inventory and order data.
Custom Work by Helm
Helm’s flexibility and responsiveness have been pivotal in supporting Evri’s growth. When Evri encountered unique integration needs, Helm stepped in with custom solutions. Evri required integration with marketplaces and systems like Linnworks and OrderWise, which were not initially supported. Helm’s team quickly developed these integrations, allowing Evri to onboard new clients seamlessly.
Furthermore, Evri needed a specific product ID feature in the API, which Helm implemented within days. This rapid response to custom requests has been a significant advantage for Evri, enabling them to focus on core priorities while leveraging Helm’s robust and adaptable platform. The custom work provided by Helm has been instrumental in enabling Evri to scale efficiently and meet the diverse needs of its global customer base.
Results
Reduced Integration Time: With Helm, Evri was able to go live with new integrations within a week, as opposed to the previous timeline of up to three months.
Enhanced Operational Efficiency: The plug-and-play model significantly reduced the burden on Evri’s development team, allowing them to adhere to their sprint cycles and focus on strategic development goals.
Expanded Reach: The partnership enabled Evri to scale quickly, extending their operations from the UK to North America, Europe, and the Middle East.
Improved Market Competitiveness: Helm’s solution enhanced Evri’s fulfilment proposition, making it more attractive to the market and widening their addressable market.
Conclusion
Helm’s inventory API is also crucial for Evri. It allows real-time stock synchronisation across all marketplaces, ensuring accurate inventory levels and reducing the risk of overselling. This integration simplifies the management of multiple sales channels, providing a single point of truth for all inventory and order data.
