Case Study:
REDEYE WORLDWIDE
Overview
Redeye Worldwide, a prominent player in physical and digital music distribution,
specializes in the global distribution of LP records and merchandise worldwide with a
focus on independent music artists. Operating from facilities in Hillsborough, North
Carolina and Gothenburg, Sweden, Redeye caters to diverse customer segments,
including direct-to-consumer, Amazon, small music shops and larger stores featuring a
combination of indie and mainstream music products. In addition to physical music
products, Redeye also distributes artist merchandise such as apparel and posters as
well as works on the digital side with Spotify and Apple Music to ensure their artists get
on playlists and are visible within the platforms.
Benefits and Key Outcomes
Reduced order processing time from up to 5 minutes to 20 seconds
50% improvement in operational efficiency
Improved warehouse space utilization
Expanded operations without adding new staff
Challenge
Redeye’s position as one of the last remaining distributors of physical LP records and CDs presented a unique set of challenges.
Supporting approximately 800 record labels, the company wanted to add new customers and in doing so, increase potential
revenue, but was constrained by limited space in its 90,000-square-foot warehouse. Overstock and slow-moving inventory also
presented hurdles, especially because physical media like vinyl records are space-intensive and added complexity to Redeye’s
warehouse management process.
Order processing times further complicated things in the warehouse. “We combine multiple shipments into the same box and
with our previous shipping software, in some cases it could take up to 5 minutes to process one shipment,” said Michael Howard,
Associate Vice President of Global Operations at Redeye Worldwide.
Solution
Since implementing ShipHawk’s advanced shipping solution, Redeye has reduced the processing time for each shipment by
93%, from 5 minutes to less than 20 seconds. ShipHawk seamlessly integrates with NetSuite, providing Redeye the flexibility to
combine multiple shipments in one box and optimize warehouse space. “We’re combining multiple fulfillments into the shipment,
which was huge for us and the overall evaluation of the product,” said Howard. “Inside of NetSuite, we’re combining in some
cases 10 to 15 sales orders into the same box. It’s a huge ask based on the amount of data that it requires but ShipHawk
does it seamlessly.”
The ability to capture costs in real-time has been a game-changer, enabling Redeye to accurately charge for shipping and
enhance both customer satisfaction and its margins. “It’s important for us as we’re charging back either our customers or our
record labels to make sure that we’re able to not only charge by the correct amount, but in some cases, mark it up. So we’re
actually making a little bit of margin on that as well,” said Howard.
“ShipHawk has resulted in huge operational efficiency savings for us and, in the long run, it’s allowed us to expand our
warehouse without hiring additional staff,” said Howard. “We truly value the partnership with ShipHawk and I can’t say enough
great things about them.”
The thing that I think is unique about ShipHawk as opposed to other kinds of software vendors that I’ve dealt with is the fact that they’re very responsive and they take the time to learn your business. Our implementation was excellent.