How Mister Zimi’s growth and fulfilllment journey are heading in the right direction, together

From manual processes and printing, via a 3PL, and finally to warehouse bliss. Getting fulfilllment right every time has been a journey of discovery for the Australian fashion brand, as it is for so many growing companies.

The background:

Mister Zimi was created by husband and wife team Zoe and Jimi Paul just over 10 years ago. They designed a label that champions the easy-going aesthetic. It all began in Bali, but since the company has grown and expanded, the team now reside in Byron Bay. The style is inspired by the 70s, with patterns and prints from different locations and cultures around the world. Mister Zimi offers versatile and trans-seasonal dressing that asserts ‘summer is in style all year round.’

Consistent growth:

The unique Australian brand quickly grew in popularity.  What started as a production of two collections per year (winter and summer) quickly increased to seven annual collections. This growth resulted in the opening of multiple brick-and-mortar stores on the East Coast of Australia and a transition into a custom, modern office space in Melbourne, ten times larger than their original HQ.

Life before Peoplevox:

Mister Zimi had never previously used a WMS. With a popular ecommerce presence, all orders were being processed through Shopify and shipping provider Starshipit, with the addition of the Stocky app for some inventory management. However, this had always been a headache, especially during busier periods. All the orders were printed onto paper picklists, inventory control was impossible and inaccurate, and major inefficiencies affected every step of the fulfilllment chain.

The warehouse move:

At the beginning of 2019, the team moved from a small two-story warehouse which was on top of a shop on a main road, to a new premise that was x10 the size. With all the stock being moved, Mister Zimi’s warehouse team initially decided to take on the services of a 3PL, without any prior knowledge or experience of the type of technology available for them to use and maintain control themselves.

This loss of control was an immediate extra pain to the business, just when they thought they’d be moving on from fulfilllment headaches. The process of passing on inventory control, and even the handling of the orders themselves as they came in through Shopify, was extremely challenging, and not up to the standards or ease they were expecting.

The Results 

The Byron Bay multi-channel retailer has seen a dramatic overhaul in its order fulfilllment.

• Elimination of cancelled orders due to inventory control failings and stock issues
• Much faster order processing times
• Efficient order picking and packing
• Fast and accurate goods in
• Wholesale improvements to the warehouse operation

These changes have had a direct impact on Mister Zimi’s relationship with its customers. They now receive many compliments and five-star reviews, on how quickly orders are being processed and received.

Collection launches are the busiest times for the brand. Prior to Peoplevox, Mister Zimi suffered from delays and frustrated customers during these times. Successfully negating these was a crucial element of the business case for implementing the WMS.

Moreover, fulfilllment accuracy for online orders has tightened considerably. Mister Zimi’s paper printing and the ensuing human error are now a distant memory. The system has also allowed the brand to fast-track orders for specific customers (in the case that customer needs the item urgently for example), as well as edit or cancel orders prior to dispatch. This adds great value to the overall shopping experience. Finally, Mister Zimi have taken great pride in processing an order before the midday, even if it comes in at 11:59am. 

“As a company who is growing every day, Peoplevox helps us achieve more and more with each and every season”

Across the busy December period, Peoplevox enabled Mister Zimi to dispatch more orders than “we ever thought possible” and broke all existing records. Having been well aware of the potential for issues and delays at Peak, and suffered at the hands of their growing demand over the last few years, collection launches are now seen as a great chance to grow the business further, with a system in place to handle ever-increasing demand and volume. With five retail stores across East Coast Australia alongside a flourishing ecommerce site, the future is exceptionally bright for Mister Zimi.