Netpack
When Kylie Minogue bought a pair of shoes from Brittique, an upmarket online retailer, their business took off. The owner was relocating from London to New York at the time, but the business has continued to grow regardless of her location, as all the orders are now fulfilled and despatched by Netpack
Netpack is an eCommerce fulfilment house based at Long Rock in Penzance, which has evolved over the last five years from its origins in mail order fulfilment in the 80’s.
Managing Director, Tim Brawn, says ‘The business model has changed dramatically as a result of broadband and the Internet. Now the company offers a total eCommerce fulfilment service – storage of stock, extracting orders from customers’ websites, processing orders, transferring payments, packing, despatch and even answering any customer queries via our call centre and email. Broadband is at the heart of our operation at every stage.
‘Our customers include large national charities such as the Cats Protection League, the Samaritans and the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. They are increasingly moving to online trading in place of catalogues and mail order. We need to stay one step ahead so we can provide a seamless interface for our customers. So we have recently upgraded our broadband speeds to 6 Mbps. This means we can now offer immediate real time processing of orders. We are processing hundreds of orders a day - without broadband, it would be impossible.’
The company has installed a Virtual Private Network so that some staff can work from home. Tim says ‘I am keen to reduce our carbon footprint and enjoy the business benefits of flexible working. I see it as the future for the company, with many key staff and maybe even the call centre operating from their homes at least some of the time.’
Tim points out that although his client base extends as far as New York, Netpack also provide a crucial service to businesses closer to home. ‘For small businesses in Cornwall’ says Tim ‘Netpack can turn their dreams into a reality. Because we provide a full eCommerce fulfilment service, small businesses can focus on the products and the marketing – we do everything else. It means that small companies can now think big.’
‘Broadband has transformed our business and because of what broadband enables us to do, we can help transform small businesses, allowing them to compete with large companies and trade worldwide.’
