Who is Pura Vida?
Pura Vida Bracelets is a laid-back lifestyle brand that sells artisanal, handcrafted string bracelets and jewelry. Since it was founded in 2010, Pura Vida has experienced massive year-over-year growth, growing to support over 800 artisans around the world, developing a successful influencer and ambassador program, and demanding significant shipping & fulfillment operations. They sell their products via specialty retailers and their direct to consumer (DTC) website. They opened their first flagship store in 2021.
Challenges &
Goal Alignment
Due to their rapid growth, Pura Vida began confronting increased order fulfillment costs. The Pura Vida team engaged Shipware to help lower distribution costs, improve service levels to increase customer acquisition and retention rates and, ultimately, increase profitability.
Pura Vida leverages a 3PL partner for retail and DTC product fulfillment services, amassing a very significant spend. The team wanted to assess their existing 3PL relationship, including a review of the fulfillment process and freight carriers being leveraged for both consumer and retail distribution.
The Work
Shipware built an inhouse team of consultants, pooling experts from our 3PL Optimization, Modal Optimization, and Data Analytics teams to perform a comprehensive review of Pura Vida’s incumbent 3PL. We assessed both the 3PL’s performance metrics and Service Agreement terms, a process which included:
After our initial assessment, our team went to work on identifying and evaluating various 3PL optimization opportunities. This stage included:
“I couldn’t be happier with the work Shipware did for us. Their team’s
depth of knowledge uncovered opportunities that delivered results
beyond expectations. Not only will we save millions, but the
strategies Shipware implemented will elevate our entire business for
years to come.”
Paul Goodman
Founder & CFO
Pura Vida Bracelets
The Solution
After modeling various scenarios, our team of analysts found the biggest opportunity for improvement was to remain with the incumbent 3PL while securing carrier direct relationships for the distribution of DTC orders.
Shipware assessed the costs and operational impact of various DTC carriers and distribution options. Ultimately, we decided to leverage USPS First Class flats for the majority of Pura Vida’s DTC order volume.
While the cost savings and service improvement opportunities with our solution were significant, some operational challenges had to be addressed prior to implementation. To accelerate the transition, Shipware helped Pura Vida streamline their USPS technology integration and improve the package tracking consumer experience.
Our focused, phase-one optimization strategy of the USPS First Class Flats solution included:
- Working with Pura Vida stakeholders to develop an improved order packaging solution
- Developing and implementing a highly effective order tracking solution
- Defining updated fulfillment workflow requirements
- Implementing technology enhancements to support the solution
50% +
On direct-to-consumer parcel
freight costs
The Results
Remarkably, the net result of our engagement with Pura Vida was over 50% savings in DTC parcel freight costs. For Pura Vida, Shipware’s modal optimization solution amounts to multimillion-dollar annual cost savings.
In addition to the bottom-line savings, Pura Vida and their online buyers have enjoyed significant improvements to the overall customer experience via new and improved branded packaging and a comprehensive order tracking solution. All in all, Shipware helped Pura Vida cut their DTC fulfillment freight costs in half while implementing enhancements that will ultimately increase customer satisfaction, customer retention and profitability.