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Chain Reaction: ShipBob’s Dhruv Saxena on Building Supply Chain Resilience Through Strategic Inventory Management
Andre Claudio
4 min read
Chain Reaction is Sourcing Journal’s discussion series with industry executives to get their take on today’s logistics challenges and learn about ways their company is working to keep the flow of goods moving. Here, Dhruv Saxena, CEO & co-founder of ShipBob, discusses how the supply chain and fulfillment platform is helping its customers navigate the ever-evolving logistics landscape with its suite of solutions—all while minimizing costs and streamlining operations.
ShipBob is a leading global supply chain and omni-fulfillment platform designed to provide e-commerce merchants with best-in-class logistics capabilities. Brands can leverage ShipBob for outsourced fulfillment, unlock more efficient in-house fulfillment using our proprietary warehouse management system (WMS) or utilize a combination of both strategies for a streamlined hybrid fulfillment approach.
We built ShipBob—both our technology and operations—to be global, omnichannel and industry-agnostic. As a result, we support thousands of brands across nearly every sector, from health and wellness to beauty, apparel and home goods. We’ve delved deep into the technology and operations specific to each industry to meet their unique needs. For instance, beauty brands often require lot tracking, kitting and bundling and customization of the unboxing experience. Meanwhile, apparel brands need to manage complex product catalogs and handle a higher return rate than other industries. We can manage all of that.
What is the main thing brands and retailers could do right now that would immediately improve logistics?
Brands can secure a single tech-driven partner with a proven track record in efficient and reliable order fulfillment. Partnering with multiple fulfillment providers—such as different ones in various countries or those specializing in B2B [business to business] versus DTC [direct to consumer]—can lead to a disjointed supply chain and inefficient fulfillment, requiring more internal resources to manage everything.
Piecemealing information from various technologies or partners can hinder brands from gaining a complete view of their operations, causing crucial details to slip through the cracks. By working with one partner, brands benefit from accurate inventory and order data essential for making informed business decisions.
When it comes to supply chain logistics challenges, there are things companies can fix, and things that are beyond their control. How can the former help the latter?
Partnering with a fulfillment provider that specializes in supply chain management can help you navigate the ever-changing landscape by leveraging its expertise. Many ShipBob customers refer to us as their “outsourced chief supply chain officer,” and some of our largest merchants operate with lean teams of fewer than five people.
Additionally, brands can distribute their inventory across fulfillment centers in different regions to mitigate risks and ensure order fulfillment during unplanned events, such as inclement weather that affects carrier pickups or shutdowns like those experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic.
What is your company doing to make the movement of goods more sustainable?
We encourage merchants to distribute their inventory across our 50-plus global fulfillment centers, ensuring they have stock in regions with a higher concentration of customers. By shipping orders from locations closer to the end customers, we minimize the need for air transit.
In the U.S., our Inventory Placement Program (IPP) allows merchants to send inventory to a single ShipBob regional hub, where we efficiently automate the placement, distribution and replenishment of their inventory throughout our U.S. fulfillment network.
Within our fulfillment centers, ShipBob enables merchants to use their sustainable custom packaging, disable packing slips to reduce paper usage and fulfill orders with paper dunnage [padding] instead of packing peanuts or plastic air pouches.
What logistic challenges do you think the industry is currently facing?
This issue relates to both logistics and macro challenges, but minimizing costs and improving the bottom line is a top priority for everyone in the industry—especially the merchants we support. We understand that best-in-class fulfillment is crucial for the success of all brands, yet it can also represent one of the largest expenses.
As a result, we’ve dedicated much of our roadmap to initiatives aimed at reducing fulfillment costs for our customers, including our IPP. While IPP enhances the end-consumer experience, it also lowers shipping costs for these brands.
Are you optimistic about the state of supply chains in the next few years?
We are very optimistic! There have been many innovations, emerging trends and new technologies that have come out just in the last few years. We’re bullish on omnichannel and have seen traditional leaders like Shopify and Amazon continue their growth, along with the emergence of new channels like TikTok, Temu and Shein. Internally, we are investing heavily in ShipBob Logistics and the use of AI [artificial intelligence], which will help our customers distribute their inventory smarter to drive down costs and transit times, along with optimizing our middle- and last-mile fulfillment. The supply chain never sleeps, and we’re here to continue driving much of its innovation.
