Meet the Partner: StoreFeeder

The latest in a new series, these articles showcase our partners from the Whistl integration ecosystem - from order management platforms to packaging specialists, eCommerce agencies to marketplaces.

This month we talk to StoreFeeder, a feature-rich eCommerce solution for businesses trading online.

Who are StoreFeeder?

The StoreFeeder platform streamlines various aspects of eCommerce operations, including order management, inventory control, shipping, warehouse and delivery. StoreFeeder's platform is designed to help businesses automate manual processes, save time, increase efficiency and ultimately grow their eCommerce operations. The company also offers a range of features, such as barcode scanning, warehouse routing, and real-time stock and inventory updates, to help businesses manage their operations effectively. StoreFeeder is based in Nottingham and serves businesses of all sizes in various industries across the UK and Europe.

How did StoreFeeder begin?

StoreFeeder began, like all great inventions, through necessity. The founder, Brian Williamson and our operations manager Ian Dade, worked for a third-party logistics company. The boss of that company quite rightly thought that there must be a software solution to operational problems within warehousing and stock management. Brian was tasked with developing a platform that would enable stock management and reduce picking and despatch errors.

After a lot of hard work and probably a few mugs of tea, assisted by Ian’s knowledge of how warehouses work, Brian created software that was intuitive and worked within a busy warehouse environment.

When the platform was delivered, it worked so well that a new company was formed, and StoreFeeder’s life began.

Who is in the StoreFeeder team?

From the top, Brian Williamson – founder, Shaun Field - lead developer, Ian Dade - operations manager, Andrea James – head of HR and finance, Daniel Roper - business development manager and about 70 dedicated techies and support staff. Together, they walk our customers through their StoreFeeder journey.

Who are StoreFeeder's current customers?

From the beginning in that warehouse, StoreFeeder now has hundreds of customers, including Twinings, Oddballs, Aquacadabra and the Rug House. We are very proud that StoreFeeder consistently serves most of the UK's highest-ranked eBay and Amazon marketplace traders.

Which key challenges do your customers face, and how does StoreFeeder help solve them?

As StoreFeeder covers all significant aspects of eCommerce (order management, despatch, warehousing), our customers face many challenges. Commonly we are asked to help people manage their orders to prevent overselling and bring efficiency to their picking and packing. As we all know that the more orders you can accurately despatch, the more growth you’ll see.

Most retailers come to us with a single issue that needs solving; during onboarding, they learn about the vast number of features StoreFeeder has. They get an idea of how the platform can transform their business.

Who are your ideal future customers?

StoreFeeder has matured now, and version 3 will be launched to the marketplace in the coming weeks. We now feel that customers with more considerable demands and targeted growth plans could benefit from StoreFeeder. We have onboarded some huge, high-turnover companies in the last two years, and we are happy that StoreFeeder has more than risen to the challenge presented by that kind of growth.

How does StoreFeeder work?

StoreFeeder works through API integrations and coding that is not just clever but works in a real-world warehouse and selling environment.

StoreFeeder starts by integrating all the client’s sales channels and downloading all of their product listings; this allows all of the orders to be received and actioned through one dashboard and the products to be created and catalogued within the platform.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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StoreFeeder allows you to map your warehouse; this means that stock locations can be assigned to products, allowing our customers to create flexible pick lists and ensure that pickers take the most efficient route around the warehouse.

Once all couriers have been integrated and shipping rules applied, StoreFeeder helps merchants pack and dispatch goods efficiently. We have an app that can also be used for picking, barcode picking (reducing pick errors), and a barcode dispatch solution (which reduces despatch errors). These efficient systems speed up the sales process and reduce errors, saving time and money and keeping our clients and their customers happy.

What makes StoreFeeder unique?

There are many multi-channel management software platforms on the market. In my opinion, two things set StoreFeeder apart from these other platforms. The first is that the people who built it have worked for many years in the environment for which it is intended to be used—making StoreFeeder useable in real-world working environments. The team have designed and built it to deal with the problems experienced in a busy eCommerce warehouse. The platform was born out of necessity.

The second unique feature is our onboarding and support service. As a team, we do not view our customers just as customers; we see them as partners; we understand how a minor issue can severely stress their business. We react accordingly. Our onboarding team walk our customers through their journey, and we support them through it all.

We are happy that we have a shallow churn rate and still have many clients who signed up with us in year one.

Who else do you partner with? Any emerging marketplaces and technologies retailers should look out for?

We have partnered with Parcelhub, part of the Whistl Group – a fellow Nottingham-based business we have admired for a while. We are constantly adding new integrations and features to the company. We have adopted full barcode technology and expanded our app by adding despatch. We are customer-led, however, and the innovations we add to the platform come from the requests we receive from our customers. If something arrives that they tell us that they need, it goes into a sprint, and we deliver it as soon as we can. Emerging technologies that retailers should be looking at are metaverse techs like augmented reality and VR, with a specific slant on encouraging virtual retail experiences.

Why did you decide to partner with Whistl?

We have a vast amount of customers that use Whistl. We are customer-led so when customers make requests we add these into our development roadmap and deliver them as soon as we can. Whistl is one of our latest integrations. Whistl are always willing to engage and work with us on projects.

How important is a multi-carrier delivery approach to your clients?

Very. eCommerce is competitive, and the cost of postage can mean the difference between making or losing a sale.

How important is proactive customer service to your clients?

This is something that we pride ourselves in, and as mentioned earlier, minor issues can have a severe effect on a business owner. Proactive customer service is a must-have for these businesses.

Where do you see StoreFeeder in 3 to 5 years?

That’s a tough one, the last ten years have flown by, and I am sure that we could not have foreseen where we are now. However, in three to five years, we’d like to be known for what we do best, providing eCommerce businesses with an order management platform that gives their business the tools to grow. And if we do it as well as we know that we can, we will grow with them.

How do you see your partnership with Whistl evolving?

We have some exciting products on the horizon, products that I believe would be very beneficial to Whistl customers and we look forward to developing them and work with Whistl on integration and delivering something very exciting to their customers.

As Whistl adds new services and StoreFeeder adds more features, the partnership will only go from strength to strength. Integrate Whistl with StoreFeeder here.