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Faced with hundreds of potential fulfilment providers and no previous experience of choosing a 3PL, Shimeru Knives didn't know where to start. Fulfilment.com helped the growing brand narrow the market down to just three or four suitable providers, saving significant time and helping the team find a 3PL that matched their specific requirements.
Highlights
20–30 potential conversations reduced to 3–4
Introduced to suitable 3PL providers within 24 hours
Ease of finding the right 3PL: 5/5
Overall experience with fulfilment.com: 5/5
Would use fulfilment.com again: 5/5
From the garage to a 3PL setup built for growth
Founded by David Oak around three years ago, Shimeru Knives is a growing home cook knife brand with around 40–50 SKUs.
Like many early-stage businesses, fulfilment initially happened in-house. Orders were packed and shipped from a garage, with the team spending a significant amount of time printing labels, packing boxes and managing deliveries. That setup worked. Until Black Friday.
With 56% of Shimeru’s annual revenue coming during the Black Friday period, the surge in orders pushed their garage-based setup beyond its limits.
“When Black Friday hit last year, it was just insane. We thought, we can’t carry on like this.” — David Oak, Founder, Shimeru Knives
The team knew it was time to outsource fulfilment. But with hundreds of 3PL providers in the UK and no previous experience of choosing one, they didn't know where to begin.
Hundreds of providers to a shortlist of four
Instead of researching the market alone and speaking to dozens of providers, Shimeru came to fulfilment.com. The team was looking for a smaller, owner-operated 3PL that would suit the needs of a growing brand. Direct access to the person managing day-to-day operations was also important.
“I wanted to work with a company that wasn’t massive because we’re not a huge brand ourselves.”
Based on those requirements, fulfilment.com reduced a market of hundreds of potential providers to just three or four suitable partners.
“Instead of me having to sit down and have 20 or 30 conversations, it was 3 or 4. That was a huge time saving.”
Rather than navigating hundreds of options, Shimeru could focus its time on evaluating a small shortlist of relevant partners.
Finding the right fit, not just the first option
Shimeru initially selected one provider from the shortlist. However, after reviewing the terms and conditions, the team decided it wasn't the right fit and moved on to their second choice. That decision proved valuable. Since starting the partnership earlier this year, Shimeru has been highly positive about the relationship.
One of the biggest benefits has been working with a hands-on leadership team and having strong day-to-day account management.
“They’ve really been fantastic. The owner and director of the company, David, is very hands-on, and I think that’s super important.”
The experience highlights an important part of the search process: the right fulfilment partner isn't necessarily the first option, it's the provider that best matches the brand's operational needs.
More time to focus on the business
Outsourcing fulfilment hasn't reduced Shimeru's direct costs. In fact, fulfilment costs increased by around 50–60%. But the value has come from the time the team has gained back.
Before outsourcing, a significant amount of time was spent packing orders and managing deliveries. Moving to a 3PL has allowed the founders to step away from day-to-day fulfilment and focus on the wider business.
“It doesn't save money. If anything, it increases our fulfilment costs by about 50–60%. But you're not spending all your time putting things in boxes and going down to the Royal Mail depot.”
The benefits extend beyond business growth too.
“It means you can go on holiday and have a day off.”
For Shimeru, the right fulfilment partner has provided something that is difficult to measure purely in cost per order: time, flexibility and the ability to focus on growth.
What the US experience reinforced
Following the positive outcome in the UK, Shimeru took a similar approach when expanding into the US.
“In the UK, the director is hands-on in the business every day. If you email him, he knows exactly what's going on. That's a huge difference.”
For Shimeru, the experience reinforced the value of understanding how a 3PL operates before committing, from communication and account management to escalation processes and leadership involvement.
Four lessons Shimeru learned about choosing a 3PL
Don't choose based on price alone: The cheapest option isn't always the best value. Price is important, but poor processes, communication or service can quickly become more costly to the business.
Look beyond the sales pitch: Take time to understand how the operation actually works. Who will manage your account? How experienced is the team? What happens when something goes wrong? The right operational fit can be just as important as the initial proposal.
Always run a test first: Before sending a large volume of stock, test the relationship with a smaller batch. Shimeru did this in the US, limiting the financial impact and avoiding a potentially much larger loss.
“If we'd done that with a huge batch, the financial cost would have been massive.”
Understand communication and accountability: Know who your account manager is, how quickly they respond and how issues are escalated.
“Get to know your account manager really well because they're basically the person who's working for you and they're the person who can get stuff fixed.”
A faster way to find the right 3PL
Shimeru rated the ease of finding the right 3PL through fulfilment.com 5/5, its overall experience 5/5, and said it would use the platform again.
For the team, the biggest value was simple: fulfilment.com turned an overwhelming market of hundreds of potential providers into a shortlist they could realistically evaluate.
How we can help
Choosing a 3PL from hundreds of providers is overwhelming, and getting it wrong is costly. We do the heavy lifting: narrowing the market down to a handful of providers that actually match your requirements, so you're only evaluating a few options, instead of sitting through hours of sales calls.
Like we did for Shimeru Knives, we can get you in front of suitable partners within 24 hours, giving you the time to properly vet operations, leadership and account management before you commit, not just pick the first option that says yes.
