How Nutrition Warehouse rolled out same-day delivery in less than two months
Discover how Brauz’s seamless integrations helped Nutrition Warehouse optimise its omnichannel offer.
Nutrition Warehouse is a leading omnichannel retailer specialising in supplements, vitamins and general health products.
Founded by Grant Mayo, a former competitive bodybuilder and Mr World, in 2008, the business has 120 bricks-and-mortar stores in Australia and three in New Zealand, as well as a fast-growing e-commerce site. Over the years, it has earned a reputation for its knowledgeable staff and commitment to supporting customers on their fitness journeys.
“We’ve worked hard on the education side of the business and the community side of the business, and those two things have helped develop a larger, broader customer interest group,” Heather Earl, Nutrition Warehouse’s head of e-commerce, said.
As the supplements category has become more saturated, with supermarkets, pharmacies and online marketplaces increasing their offerings in this space, Nutrition Warehouse has increased its focus on convenience, rolling out click-and-collect a few years ago. However, the solution was not as seamless for customers or store staff as the retailer would have liked, and it wasn’t possible to leverage the technology for same-day or ship-from-store deliveries.
Nutrition Warehouse knew it needed to solve these problems to compete in a crowded market, so last year, it teamed up with Brauz, a retail technology platform, to overhaul its omnichannel shopping experience.
A missed opportunity
Nutrition Warehouse first rolled out click-and-collect in mid-2022; however, according to Earl, this was just a means to an end.
“One of our core philosophies has always been, ‘be where the customer is,’” she explained. “The initial idea was opening more stores, but how do we really meet the customer where they are? If they’re in the office, how do we get our products to them in the office that day? So the end goal was to be able to deliver same day, anywhere. We called it Same Day Supps.”
Nutrition Warehouse planned to use its click-and-collect solution to facilitate same-day deliveries, but it faced several challenges. The solution was clunky and frustrating for store staff to use, and it didn’t provide a true omnichannel shopping experience for customers. For instance, if Nutrition Warehouse was offering a gift with purchase online, customers who chose click-and-collect at checkout couldn’t access the same deal.
But the biggest challenge was that the solution didn’t work with the retailer’s last-mile delivery provider, Rendr, making it impossible to launch Same Day Supps.
When Chemist Warehouse launched same-day delivery, and we were still not able to, that missed opportunity was feeling bigger and bigger,Heather Earl, head of ecommerce, Nutrition Warehouse
This prompted Nutrition Warehouse to find a new solution provider that could support a more seamless and convenient customer journey.
Seamless integrations and same-day delivery
Nutrition Warehouse was clear on the capabilities it was looking for in the next solution provider: seamless integrations with its existing tech partners, an easy-to-use dashboard that store staff could operate without impeding customer service and support for same-day delivery with excellent order tracking and communication at every stage.
That’s where Brauz came in. Its omnichannel solution met every one of Nutrition Warehouse’s needs. With the Brauz IQ dashboard, store staff could log into a single system to manage both click-and-collect and same-day delivery orders, and Nutrition Warehouse could set ‘rules’, such as how long an order could sit in the queue before it needed to be picked.
Crucially, Brauz offered an easy way for Nutrition Warehouse to launch Same Day Supps using the same system it used for click-and-collect. Customers could simply select same-day delivery at the checkout, and the order would be sent to the Brauz IQ dashboard, where the company could prioritise it in the queue to meet its two-hour delivery promise.
“The best part for us is that we can report on that window,” Earl explained. “I can see how long it takes from an order arriving in the Brauz IQ, to when it gets picked, to when there’s a notification for pickup, either by a delivery driver or the customer. Visibility of metrics is something that a lot of other providers don’t give you.”
I can see how long it takes from an order arriving in the Brauz IQ, to when it gets picked, to when there’s a notification for pickup, either by a delivery driver or the customer.Heather Earl, head of ecommerce, Nutrition Warehouse
From decision to rollout in two months
Once Nutrition Warehouse decided to migrate to Brauz, it took just two months to fully implement the solution, including rollout, change management and staff adoption.
The timing was important because Nutrition Warehouse was planning to enter New Zealand and wanted to launch with the same offer as Australia. A key factor in the speed of the rollout was the way Brauz and Rendr worked together, according to Earl.
“The way that those two teams worked together was like they were an extension of our team,” she said. “I feel like every agency or every tech partner says, ‘We’ll work like an extension of your team.’ And this is the first time I really felt that way.”
Throughout the implementation, Earl said the Brauz team made every effort to meet its needs, even if it required developing new features.
“Any challenge that we faced, there was never a no. It was, ‘Let’s look at how we can make that work,’” she said.
For example, Nutrition Warehouse wanted to be able to tell customers the expected delivery date for different shipping methods on the product page, a capability that Brauz didn’t offer. By that afternoon, Nutrition Warehouse had a widget live on its site.
BIGGER BASKETS AND HAPPIER STAFF
12-13%share of click-and-collect orders pre-implementation
30%share of click-and-collect orders post-implementation
Since migrating to Brauz, Nutrition Warehouse has seen a notable increase in click-and-collect as a percentage of total online orders, from 12-13 per cent pre-implementation to 30 per cent a few months later.
“That, to me, shows that customers wanted this; they just wanted it easier,” Earl said.
Nutrition Warehouse has also experienced the knock-on benefits of click-and-collect, such as bigger basket sizes in-store.
“Because our store staff are so well-trained, they have great product knowledge,” she said. “Having someone come in to pick up their order, they see the store, and if they haven’t been there before, it really helps. The opportunities are there for more personal interactions than online.”
Nutrition Warehouse has also noticed higher levels of staff satisfaction since implementing the Brauz IQ dashboard.
“Not a lot of technology providers think about store staff – their experience, their workflow, and how that works when they’re speaking to a customer, but that’s really important for us. We care about our store staff deeply, because they’re part of our NW Army,” Earl said.
“To be able to make their lives easier helps with retention. That’s something that I think gets forgotten, but it’s a big cost to the business.”
A no-brainer migration
To compete in a crowded supplements market, Nutrition Warehouse wanted to offer more convenient delivery options, but the omnichannel solution it first rolled out was clunky for store staff to operate and didn’t support same-day delivery.
The retailer knew it needed to find a new solution provider, and Brauz was a “no-brainer” due to its easy-to-use dashboard and seamless integrations with multiple technology partners, including Rendr, Nutrition Warehouse’s last-mile delivery provider.
Since migrating to Brauz, the retailer has experienced higher levels of staff satisfaction and a significant increase in click-and-collect orders. It has also launched Same Day Supps, enabling it to deliver orders to customers in less than two hours.
For Nutrition Warehouse, it’s all about being where the customer is and meeting their needs for increased flexibility and transparency. Now, it’s working with Brauz to launch ship-from-store for next-day delivery.
“Not only is it an incredible way to deliver surprise and delight to a customer in probably the only way that’s left, shipping, but also, it’s a cost-saving for our business,” Earl said.
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