Parcelhub Nottingham Case Study: SA22 Fashion

Headquartered in Nottingham, Parcelhub is part of the Whistl Group and provides eCommerce retailers close to its collection depots access to 20+ carrier partners and 600+ delivery options, through a single platform. This month we meet Ashley Allen, Co-Founder of Ilkeston-based SA22 Fashion, a Shopify retailer and marketplace seller that specialises in designer menswear, sportswear and kids' brands at discounted prices.

How did SA22 begin?

Founded in 2022, SA22 Fashion came about after I got made redundant from my role as an Operations Manager for a retailer last year. My previous time as a business owner was tough mentally and financially and I always said I’d never do it again, but I couldn’t find another job at any level, so I reluctantly decided to give business another go. It started off by filling up our conservatory at home with stock from suppliers I had found on the web, then I converted the garage to a warehouse space and it’s just gone from strength to strength since. We’re now in an industrial unit and we are shipping out over 700 orders a month within 6 months of the business being founded.

Tell us about your people and operations

The business is co-owned by myself and Sean Davies. We have been best pals since school. I’ve been in retail for nine years now and most of my time has been spent running my own business. Then I worked for another retailer for three years, before being made redundant in September 2022. It’s my full-time job so I look over everything with the business. Finance, customer service, the website, stock, etc. Sean’s background is in the construction industry. His full-time job is a Project Manager for a construction company and getting involved in the business was as a side-interest. He helps out with the stock runs up the M1 in his big, fancy truck because it doesn’t fit in my little Corsa!

Which are your key sales channels?

We sell directly to customers via our own Shopify website, then third-party marketplaces such as eBay, Amazon, OnBuy and LoveTheSales.com. We also sell damaged/faulty stock and items without tags on Vinted.

Describe your technical infrastructure

We use Shopify as the business hub. We’ve hooked apps up for all the marketplaces we sell on to import the orders and customer data into Shopify. We have a useful app called Pickle that shows us picking locations for orders. From there, we use the Parcelhub integration to create our labels. That is the infrastructure of the business. Nice and simple.

Who are your current and future ideal customers?

Anybody who is looking for a bargain! We sell items for 0-6 months up to adults, so it’s a wide customer base and appeal we have. Ideally we want to cut out the marketplace customers due to the commission % we lose per sale and drive more direct sales to our website, but we’re realistic to the challenge of this and the timeframe this will take.

What makes SA22 Fashion unique?

Our product pricing makes us unique I would say. We often get emails or comments saying, for example, “Why is this so cheap when other retailers are selling it for ££?” We are a clearance retailer; we buy cheap and this means we can sell cheap. We could make a lot more money on certain stock but we prefer to keep the prices low and the volume high.

Which brands do you work with?

We work directly with Regatta and Dare 2b but these are the only two. The rest of our stock is bought from wholesalers and retailers across the country, whoever has the best deals - then we give them our money. We are mainly focused on fashion across men, women and kids, with t-shirts, jackets, sweaters and hoodies being core business for us, but we also sell all sorts of sportswear items like tennis balls, cricket pads and more. We do workwear, wedding hats, anything with a decent profit margin (that’s legal) we will try and shift it! That makes us sound like real-life Del Boys but that’s the joys of being an online clearance retailer.

During SA22 Fashion’s growth, which have been your greatest challenges?

Returns have been a challenge for us as we’ve grown. Having to accept that the more orders you ship out, the more returns you will receive. Storage in my garage was also an issue, but the new unit has made that a lot easier now we are settled in it. Customer demand with deliveries and answering emails has been a struggle at times too, but we’re managing to stay on top of it all the best we can.

How has Parcelhub helped you overcome these challenges?

In the early stages of the business, we were a pay-as-you go customer with Evri and Royal Mail. We enjoyed better success with Royal Mail but pricing in a business is always key and Evri deliveries were too slow due to their own-courier collection process. So we searched for a business account and Parcelhub came up trumps due to being local and multi-courier. Since opening with them, we’ve shipped nearly 1000 orders with Evri with nearly a 100% fulfilment rate and because their collection service goes straight to the depot, most shipments are delivering within 24 hours instead of 48, so it’s been amazing for our customers. We currently use Evri for our standard and next day parcels, and have just introduced DPD Europe for our international marketplace orders too.

What are the best things about working with Parcelhub?

The two couriers we have for our collections are always on time and there’s been no issues with any of the orders they’ve picked up from us. The speed of deliveries to customers is an added bonus. Accounts and the customer service team are always responsive whenever we have any queries, too.

What are the best things about working with Leigh Sissons?

Leigh (Business Development Director) was on the ball since day one. I’ve worked in retail and accounts for a long time now and customer service wins every day for me when I’m looking to build relationships. The rates were in my inbox quickly after our initial telephone call. Rate reviews, adding international couriers or other queries have been sorted quickly too. It has been a great experience with Leigh from day one and I look forward to that continuing.

How easy was it to get set up with Parcelhub?

Really easy! There was an initial phone call to discuss volume, rates, collections, etc., then the contract was signed and the account was live. An hour of training over the phone on how to create shipments and hook up the integrations and we were up and running.

How important is proactive customer service to your customers?

In such a competitive market, proactive customer service is key. Luckily, the very few queries I have had with deliveries, the customer service have been prompt with their responses so I could be quick in getting back to my customers.

How do you see your partnership with Parcelhub evolving?

We are in it for the long-term with Parcelhub. We want to reward them with more orders as a thank you for providing us with such a good service every day of the week. Hopefully one day our local Parcelhub van will be leaving our premises with a van full just from us!

Where do you see SA22 Fashion in 3 to 5 years’ time?

We recently expanded from my house/garage setup into our first industrial unit - that is within six months of starting the business. Part of the decision to take a unit in Ilkeston was the opportunity to move to a bigger unit on the same estate without hassle for the next stage of the business plan. This plan is to be in a unit big enough to include our warehouse space and a shop to trade from. Hopefully this might happen early 2024 but that is as far as the plan goes for now.

How can people learn more about SA22 Fashion?

You can learn more about us by heading to our website sa22fashion.com or our social media channels for products and offers @sa22fashiontld. Or for more business-related updates, we are pretty active over on our LinkedIn page, too.