Three Ships Beauty
How a Brand of Transparency Brought Retail Growth to Three Ships Beauty
“Through Modern Dropship, it's been much easier to convince buyers to test out a partnership”
Overview
About
Three Ships Beauty
Three Ships Beauty proves that great discoveries can be made with limited resources. When customers use their simple, naturally-effective skincare, they don’t need a 12-step routine or a convoy of complicated products. The brand set sail in 2017 to offer alternatives in a market filled with overpriced, green-washed brands filled with unnecessary chemicals. In Three Ships Beauty products, customers find all natural, 100% plant-derived ingredients, selected for their clinically-proven performance and skin-loving qualities.
The Goal
Turning a Direct to Consumer (DTC) Beauty Brand into a Retail Powerhouse
The founders of Three Ships Beauty were frustrated by the lack of reasonably priced, high quality natural beauty products. After conferring with friends, business associates and advisors, they identified an underserved market for affordably priced beauty products made with natural ingredients.
With just $4,000 in savings, they rolled up their sleeves and began hand-making products in Connie’s tiny apartment kitchen. In just five years, they’ve launched 18 products powering a booming direct to consumer sales channel. In search of faster growth, the team knew that retail partnerships were the next logical step.
The only problem? Convincing retailers to take a chance on an indie brand.
The Challenge
Getting Retailers to Take a Chance
When Connie and the team began to approach retailers, it was a struggle. With thousands of DTC brands battling for retail mindshare, even a differentiated product line and a compelling brand wasn’t always enough to push wholesaling conversations forward. And when they did succeed engaging with retailers, they were often presented with weeks of effort for relationships they weren’t certain would pay off.
“I think it's risky for both a brand as well as a retailer to take a chance on each other when the relationship is new,” said Connie. “For the brand, the set-up time and costs to onboard with every new dropship or wholesale platform takes resources and time. For the retailer, it's also a time and digital shelf allocation risk.”
While they already had amazing relationships with key retailers like Credo Beauty, Whole Foods, Hudson’s Bay, Holt Renfrew, and Indigo, Three Ships was looking for a lower risk path to build relationships with new reputable retailers. They found it by dropshipping with those who’ve implemented the automation to make testing new relationships a breeze. With the help of Modern Dropship's sourcing team Three Ships Beauty also had the warm introductions they needed when pitching new marketplaces like allure.
“Through Modern Dropship, it's been much easier to convince buyers to test out a partnership given the low-risk nature of dropship”
The Solution
A Retail Foothold Found In Dropship Automation
As retailers seek to lower the risks associated with purchasing untested inventory, getting on shelves has become more difficult for new brands like Three Ships Beauty. At the same time, retailers need to test new brands to ensure their assortments remain fresh and attractive for their customers.
“Through Modern Dropship, it's been much easier to convince buyers to test out a partnership given the low-risk nature of dropship” says Connie. “Retailers that would have otherwise passed on an indie brand are now ready to take a chance.”
And it's not just easier for the retailer, the solution makes the prospect of adding new retail partners far more attractive by eliminating the need for back and forth communication with direct visibility into orders that flow from Shopify into their ERP. As more retail customers buy Three Ships Beauty products through dropship, wholesale partnerships are now on the table with several of their retail partners.
The Results
Beautiful Growth in Retail Channels Achieved
Today, Three Ships Beauty sells its accessible, all natural products through retailers like The Detox Market, Allure, The Verticale, with hundreds of orders processed in their first year on the platform.
For their small team of seven scattered across North America, the ease of keeping product and inventory data up to date for retail partners through Modern Dropship is essential.
“The process is very straightforward. Any issues, Modern Dropship is able to assist and resolve within 24 hours” said Judy Zayas-Bazan, Logistics and Supply Chain Manager at Three Ships.
With Modern Dropship, Three Ships Beauty can focus on continued growth in retail channels instead of getting bogged down in operations with each individual retailer..
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