Logistics & Supply Chain
How The Wine Engine discovered a 3PL that wasn't on Google and grew orders 181%
+181%
YoY order growth
2x
annual revenue achieved
About
The Wine Engine needed a specialist 3PL that could handle alcohol, nearly 1,000 SKUs and a rapidly growing order volume. Fulfilment.com connected the business with a perfect-fit partner just five miles away, unlocking the capacity to more than double revenue and order volume.
Industry
Alcohol Fulfilment
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“The first 3PL [Fulfilment.com] came up with was perfect, actually. It was very close by. I was actively searching on Google Maps and on Google for 3PLs in my area, and I wasn't finding this one.”
Matt Ovenden
,
Founder
Highlights
Wine Engine was fulfilling orders in-house, limiting capacity to 15–20 boxes a day
Required a local, alcohol-licensed 3PL capable of managing ~1,000 SKUs
The brand couldn't find a suitable 3PL through online searches
Fulfilment.com connected Wine Engine with a specialist 3PL just five miles away
Orders grew by 181%, bottles shipped increased by 355%, and revenue doubled
How outsourcing fulfillment fostered growth
The Wine Engine, founded by Matt Ovenden, is one of the UK's fastest-growing wine subscription businesses.
With nearly 1,000 wines available across one-off purchases and subscriptions, the business gives customers plenty of choice. Its AI sommelier also learns customers' preferences to make increasingly personalized wine recommendations.
But behind the scenes, fulfillment was becoming a bottleneck, and before moving to a 3PL, Matt was packing orders himself from the office. At most, the team could fulfill around 15 to 20 boxes a day, a process that took up most of the morning and left little room to grow.
The Wine Engine needed a fulfillment partner, but its requirements were highly specific as the 3PL needed to:
Be located nearby for easy access to stock
Manage nearly 1,000 SKUs
“I was looking for one that had an alcohol license, that was nearby, and also we have a large number of SKUs. A lot of ecommerce brands might have 10 or 12. We're at nearly a thousand.”
The Wine Engine searched online and spoke with other providers, but struggled to find a partner that checked every box.
A perfect-fit 3PL; just five miles away
The Wine Engine came to fulfilment.com after already searching independently for a 3PL.
After speaking with the team about its requirements, fulfilment.com made an introduction to a specialist partner. The first introduction was the right fit. And the warehouse was just five miles away.
For Matt, the experience showed that the right partner isn't always the easiest one to find through a standard online search.
181% more orders and 355% more bottles shipped
The move to a 3PL gave The Wine Engine the capacity to grow. In February, before moving into the fulfillment center, The Wine Engine shipped 175 orders and 695 bottles.
By August, those numbers had grown to:
491 orders (+181%)
3,161 bottles (+355%)
Revenue: doubled
For The Wine Engine, outsourcing fulfillment wasn't just about saving time. It also removed a capacity ceiling that was actually holding the business back.
“You might think, ‘Oh, I could just find it on Google,’ but I couldn't; you guys had it.”
Matt Ovenden
,
Founder
More than picking and packing
The partnership has also taken work off the Wine Engine team's plate beyond fulfillment.
The 3PL now handles customer inquiries related to deliveries, including questions about where orders are and when they'll arrive. That means fewer unnecessary handovers between The Wine Engine and its fulfillment partner.
“There's no point in those coming to me and then me going to them. I'm just the middleman at that point. It's better that they field those directly.”
With the 3PL handling fulfillment and delivery-related customer service, the Wine Engine team has more time to focus on growing the business.
What The Wine Engine learned
The Wine Engine's search showed how difficult it can be to find the right fulfillment partner when your requirements are more specialized.
For Matt, the biggest challenge wasn't simply finding a warehouse. It was finding one that could meet the business's requirements around licensing, location and SKU complexity, and the right partner wasn't necessarily the one that was easiest to find online.
His advice for other brands is to think beyond picking, packing, and shipping when choosing a 3PL. Factor in what other services could make sense for your business, including customer service and phone support.
“Consider whether you might want them to do the customer service, answer the phone and that sort of thing, because they will often do that.”
The Wine Engine's experience with Fulfilment.com was highly positive, and Matt said he would use the platform again.
"We wouldn't have been able to scale without the 3PL. There was nowhere for the business to go unless I had a partner like that. You're very well connected, clearly."
Matt Ovenden
,
Founder
More than picking and packing
The partnership has also taken work off the Wine Engine team's plate beyond fulfillment.
The 3PL now handles customer inquiries related to deliveries, including questions about where orders are and when they'll arrive. That means fewer unnecessary handovers between The Wine Engine and its fulfillment partner.
“There's no point in those coming to me and then me going to them. I'm just the middleman at that point. It's better that they field those directly.”
With the 3PL handling fulfillment and delivery-related customer service, the Wine Engine team has more time to focus on growing the business.
What The Wine Engine learned
The Wine Engine's search showed how difficult it can be to find the right fulfillment partner when your requirements are more specialized.
For Matt, the biggest challenge wasn't simply finding a warehouse. It was finding one that could meet the business's requirements around licensing, location, and SKU complexity, and the right partner wasn't necessarily the one that was easiest to find online.
His advice for other brands is to think beyond picking, packing, and shipping when choosing a 3PL. Factor in what other services could make sense for your business, including customer service and phone support.
“Consider whether you might want them to do the customer service, answer the phone and that sort of thing, because they will often do that.”
The Wine Engine's experience with fulfilment.com was highly positive, and Matt said he would use the platform again.
