Challenge
Help U.S.-based brand, The Perfect Jean, effectively expand into the United Kingdom and efficiently manage international returns.
Solution
Tap D2C global growth platform, OpenBorder, to support internationalization and related warehouse management system integration.
Outcome
Processing orders U.K.-based orders within two weeks of project launch; local return hubs facilitating faster product assessments and refunds.
For young, scaling ecommerce apparel brands, international expansion can feel daunting. All of a sudden, a well-oiled domestic operation has to figure out multiple currency management, localized online shopping and checkout experiences, preferred regional payment methods, different units of measurement for sizing, tax and duty calculations, international returns management… It’s not as easy as flipping a switch.
Here’s how we, along with D2C global growth platform and Capacity partner, OpenBorder, made it happen for The Perfect Jean (TPJ).
Not long after moving its fulfillment operation to Capacity, TPJ came to us with some news: They were preparing to open up into international markets and they had found the right partner in OpenBorder to support the expansion.
“Everyone knows how real return volume is in apparel,” said TPJ co-founder, Ovadia Labaton. “We knew that whoever we partnered with had to have solid international returns capabilities in order for international expansion to be worth it for us.”
Building the Integration
To start, OpenBorder installed its private, Shopify-approved app on the backend of TPJ’s Shopify store. This provided TPJ a currency picker, localized pricing by market and comprehensive tax and duty calculation and remittance services out of the box.
With those core requirements in place within TPJ’s Shopify environment, the OpenBorder team set out to develop a custom integration with Capacity’s warehouse management system. Hooking into the Capacity API, data generated by the OpenBorder app in TPJ’s Shopify store was able to pipe right into the Capacity’s warehouse management system.
“We set OpenBorder up as a carrier in our system,” said Kevin Bernick, Vice President of Business Development at Capacity. “This allows for label generation, commercial invoice generation – everything that needs to be created for international shipping. TPJ gets cheaper rates shipping with OpenBorder too.”
TPJ chose to start with 32 countries in Phase I of their launch. The entire integration took two weeks.
Nailing International Returns
With OpenBorder’s network of international returns hubs, TPJ customers in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada see their returns process in days instead of weeks. Returns are assessed and refunds are issued locally, speeding up transactions and delivering a pleasant customer experience that builds brand loyalty.
Once OpenBorder collects a certain weight of returned products – typically 50 to 200 lbs. – they’ll start sending product in bulk, back to Capacity’s U.S. operations.
“In our category, you don’t offer returns, you can’t sell. With OpenBorder we are able to provide customers globally a returns experience similar to what we give US customers. If I’m a TPJ customer in the U.K. and my returns are processing in days at low cost, I’m delighted,” said Ovadia Labaton. “OpenBorder has been instrumental in helping us get this right. And as we expected from a tech-forward 3PL like Capacity, they took a look at our proposed solution and said ‘Let’s make it happen.’”
Scaling Up
After having an experience they were proud to put in front of customers, the OpenBorder and TPJ teams collaborated on a digital advertising account structure, developing targeting criteria for their first set of international ads. OpenBorder also connected TPJ’s paid social accounts to its enhanced Performance Marketing Reporting dashboard, giving the team country-level insights for ad buying decisions across markets.
Early on, the TPJ team has found a number of markets with positive return on ad spend and plans to scale up spend through 2025.
Available to All Capacity Clients
Now that OpenBorder integrates with Capacity’s warehouse management system via API, it’s available to all Capacity clients.
International expansion and returns just got that much easier.