Balsam Hill – one of the world’s largest online retailers of realistic artificial Christmas trees and other seasonal decorations – has appointed Walker Logistics to manage part of its UK supply chain for the forthcoming 2017 season.
100 per cent of Balsam Hill’s UK sales are online via the company’s website and, of course, orders spike in the months leading up to the festive period and for a few weeks afterwards when Balsam Hill holds its annual clearance sale. At peak times, Walker will pick, pack and dispatch more than 2,000 orders per day for the client.
Walker expect to receive some 50-60 loose loaded containers of stock and has allocated around 1500 pallet locations plus dedicated operating space within its facility at Membury for the contract.
The high order throughput levels expected combined with the relatively short sales ‘window’ makes the functionality of the order processing technology critical.
“Because of the high volume of products to be picked, a robust IT system is essential for the smooth running of this project and we have been stress testing our infrastructure to ensure that everything will work as it should,” says William Walker, sales director of Walker Logistics.
The seasonal nature of the contract allows Walker to co-locate Balsam Hill’s stock within a facility which is also used to store garden furniture for another client throughout the spring and summer months.
“Our ability to handle Balsam Hill’s complex requirements demonstrate Walker Logistics’ agility and flexibility, ” commented William Walker.
“We offer a very personalised service and companies such as Balsam Hill that want a logistics partner that can provide a quality interface between them and their clients are attracted to us and our methods of working.”
