Ultimate Electronics
99%
On-time shipping
1,000+
Orders per day
Products
: Consumer Electronics
Based in
: Baltimore, MD
Founded in 2014, Ultimate Electronics (Baltimore, MD) strives to delight customers with fast delivery and bulk pricing on niche consumer electronics and accessories. With a wide range of new and refurbished items, Ultimate Electronics is often the only Amazon Marketplace seller for certain items like encrypted flash drives and long-range TV antennas, as well as hard-to-find phone cases and computer peripherals. We sat down with Shaul Edelman, Owner of Ultimate Electronics, to hear how he leveraged Cahoot to capture the unprecedented surge in demand from COVID-19 without the additional expense of overtime or hiring more people.
The Problem:
Dealing with sudden volume growth after COVID-19 outbreak
Tedious label generation on manual shipping software
Time consuming rate-shopping
Overworked employees and excessive overtime
COVID-19 related FBA restrictions
Missed sales opportunities for West Coast market
Ultimate Electronics has a relatively small shipping department, so they relied heavily on Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) – especially for West Coast customers. But, when the pandemic hit Amazon suddenly halted their inventory shipments because they were considered non-essential. Not long after the virus outbreak, Ultimate Electronics experienced a surge in order volume. They went from shipping dozens of orders per day to over 1,000 orders per day. With limited shipping capabilities and their vital FBA channel choking, Shaul began to see that Ultimate Electronics’ revenue and reputation were on the line. Fortunately, Ultimate Electronics offered Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) for East Coast customers. But, without a nationwide presence, they were missing out on the huge spike in demand on the West Coast. With their small team and manual shipping software Ultimate Electronics was struggling to keep up with the 10X spike. Rate shopping across USPS, UPS and Amazon Logistics, and label generation became overwhelming. The team had to put in a lot of overtime to get everything picked, packed, and shipped. With overtime at an all-time high, and morale at an all-time low, Shaul saw that fulfilling orders this way was simply unsustainable. Moreover, this unprecedented increase required management to get deeply involved in the operations, taking them away from the critical work of expanding the business and managing customer relationships. Such a strain made it clear for Shaul that the only way to grow sustainably was to expand fulfillment capacity. After seeing Cahoot recommended in a trade group he frequents, Shaul decided to give it a try.
The Solution:
Automated rate comparison and shipping label processing
Expanded fast – shipping coverage to West Coast
The Cahoot team walked him through the platform, showing Shaul that Cahoot automatically compares rates of all supported shipping services and picks the lowest cost label for his orders. And all he needs to do in the morning is a single click to print his labels. By virtually eliminating all the time spent manually comparing shipping rates and tediously clicking through manual shipping software, Ultimate Electronics is now empowered to ship more orders on time with less time and effort.
Result 1: Boosted Fulfillment Productivity with Fast and Easy – Optimized Shipping
Thanks to the Cahoot platform, Ultimate Electronics now can process 10x more orders with ease and with the same crew. They now have – COVID-proof – fulfillment productivity and saves every penny on every shipment. Plus, they’re fostering better employee morale, and continuing to boost their reputation and thrill customers with fast shipping!
“Cahoot is making life so much easier. Now I can fulfill more orders every day with the same team”
Shaul Edelman
Owner of Ultimate Electronics
Result 2: Growing Sales with Fast, Low-Cost Shipping to the West Coast
What’s more interesting, Shaul shared with us that he didn’t expect to gain extra benefits outside of Cahoot’s shipping software. He was doubtful of the idea of a peer-to-peer fulfillment network and frankly, was not at all interested in the beginning.
However, things began to change after Shaul saw how Cahoot helped his operations. No longer wanting to miss out on West Coast demand, Ultimate Electronics placed inventory in a Cahoot warehouse in California. This enabled them to get back to selling in the region through SFP despite COVID-related FBA restrictions. So – what happened? Cahoot fulfilled their orders at 99% on-time shipping (maintaining compliance with Amazon’s strict SFP requirements) and their Amazon reviews remained high! Feeling great about his decision to give it a try – Shaul is now a believer.
“Cahoot’s fulfillment in California has been a big help since we don’t have any warehouse there, and demand for our products has been climbing in the West Coast. Cahoot helps us to maximize our shipping and, ultimately, our growth potential.”
Shaul Edelman
Owner of Ultimate Electronics
Be the Next Cahoot Success Story
