Dog treat advent calendar case study

This well-known online retailer, founded in the early 2000s, has become a destination for pet owners across the UK. Specialising in high-quality products for all kinds of pets, from dogs and cats to smaller animals, it offers various items, including food, accessories, toys and grooming essentials.

The company is recognised for its customer-first approach, ensuring fast delivery and exceptional service. With a focus on convenience and a vast selection of trusted brands, it has built a loyal customer base. Their commitment to the wellbeing of pets and their owners has made them stand out in the UK’s pet e-commerce market.

The challenges

Our customer planned to engage customers with a festive offering by launching 33,000 advent calendars for Christmas. Recognising the seasonal significance and the potential to enhance customer engagement, the retailer sought to create a high quality, memorable product that would stand out in the competitive holiday market. The retailer initially partnered with a third-party vendor responsible for building and filling the advent calendars but they were deemed unsuitable as the individual packets would come loose in the box and could not be accessed from the little advent calendar windows.

Inefficient production process

The retailer needed help to meet the ambitious production target of assembling 33,000 advent calendars within the tight Christmas season timeline. The build rate was significantly slower than anticipated, leading to delays in the overall production schedule.

Quality control issues

Due to the rushed and inefficient process, the advent calendars began to exhibit signs of poor quality. Components needed to be assembled with the necessary care, resulting in calendars falling apart and failing to meet the retailer’s quality standards.

Risk of missed launch deadline

With production delays and quality issues, there was a substantial risk that the advent calendars would not be ready in time for the Christmas launch. This threatened the retailer’s seasonal sales objectives and brand reputation.

The remedy

Recognising the urgency and the critical nature of the project, Prolog stepped in to salvage the situation and ensure the successful launch of the advent calendars. Our strategic intervention encompassed the following key actions:

Taking over the fulfilment process

Prolog was entrusted with full responsibility for the production and assembly of the 33,000 advent calendars by the client. This involved diverting the existing stock from the third-party vendor to Prolog’s warehouse facilities to gain better control over the production workflow. We dismantled several of the advent calendars to use the packs for new advent calendars. The calendars survived a harsh drop test, becoming a testimony of our quality work. The drop test was later on shared by our client onto their social media platforms.

Deployment of value-added services

Our warehouse team implemented specialised value-added services tailored to the assembly of advent calendars. This included:

• enhanced assembly techniques: utilising meticulous assembly processes to ensure each calendar was constructed with precision and care.
• component quality checks: implementing rigorous checks for each component used in the calendars to maintain high-quality standards.

Reworking and quality control

Prolog conducted comprehensive quality control (QC) inspections on all calendars. Units that did not meet the predefined QC standards were reworked to rectify any issues, ensuring that every advent calendar delivered was of premium quality.

Streamlined production workflow

By leveraging Prolog’s efficient warehouse management systems and experienced staff, we optimised the production workflow to accelerate the assembly rate without compromising quality.

This included:

• batch processing: organising assembly tasks into manageable batches to increase throughput.
• real-time monitoring: utilising real-time tracking and monitoring tools to oversee production progress and address bottlenecks promptly.

Timely distribution and logistics

Prolog coordinated the logistics to ensure that the fully assembled advent calendars were packaged securely and delivered to the retailer’s distribution centres on schedule. Our robust distribution network facilitated timely delivery, aligning with the Christmas launch timeline.

The outcome

Prolog’s strategic intervention delivered outstanding results, ensuring the success of the retailer’s advent calendar campaign:

On-time launch

We successfully assembled and delivered all 33,000 advent calendars in time for the Christmas season, meeting the critical sales deadline.

Enhanced product quality

We achieved high-quality standards through meticulous assembly and rigorous quality control, resulting in durable and aesthetically pleasing advent calendars.

Operational efficiency

We streamlined production processes, reduced lead times and minimised operational bottlenecks, enhancing overall efficiency.

Customer satisfaction

We delivered a high-quality product that met customer expectations, strengthening the retailer’s brand reputation during the competitive holiday season.

Scalability for future campaigns

We established a scalable fulfilment framework that can be leveraged for future large-scale seasonal campaigns, supporting the retailer’s long-term growth objectives.

Fulfilling 33,000 advent calendars was not an easy task but Prolog made it look so easy. Every process was exceptionally smooth. We are deeply impressed by the expertise the team withholds!

Adam
Customer Service Manager