East Midlands-based manufacturer and importer, Charles Bentley & Son, is expanding its operation with the launch of a dropship service, enabling retailers to easily expand their online home, garden and leisure product ranges without major upfront investment.
The company has chosen garden trade event Glee at NEC Birmingham to unveil the new service, which will be based at its 202,000 sq ft warehouse in Loughborough and will allow retailers to use Charles Bentley & Son as a fulfilment centre.
Charles Bentley & Son will effectively stock, pack and dispatch products directly to customers on behalf of retailers who are looking to explore new product lines.
The move means that other businesses will be able to echo the success of Charles Bentley & Son?s ecommerce operation, BuyDirect4U, which has reached a ?10 million annual turnover after launching in 2005.
The company has used dropship to develop its own catalogue, which now includes 1,500 products and has increased the average number of visitors to its website to 100,000 per month.
Charles Bentley, Managing Director, comments: ?We have trialled our new dropship operation with two major British omni-channel retailers, and following its success we are now rolling this out nationally by offering independent retailers and garden centres access to our expanding product portfolio of Charles Bentley branded products.
?The major benefit this fulfilment strategy offers to retailers is that it minimises risk and cost; they do not have to invest in stock or the warehouse space to store it, which offers an avenue of expansion that does not require major investment. The new service will be available across a wide range of products, so retailers can use this to trial new product lines and as we pack, pick and ship on the retailer?s behalf they can also save time.
?We are really pleased with the success of this service so far and expect it to become popular with a range of retailers, particularly those that are looking for an easy way to sell online for first time.?
Approximately 1,500 products will be available through Charles Bentley & Son?s dropship service, covering garden and outdoor, home living, sport and leisure, DIY tools and hardware, toys and games and pets.
The new dropship service coincides with the launch of Charles Bentley & Son?s rebrand, which has given the 156-year-old company a fresh look as it prepares to further diversify and grow its services.
Charles Bentley & Son Ltd is a Loughborough business. Formed in 1860, the company is still owned by the original Bentley family and originally started out providing brushes for Victorian chimney sweepers. It is now a multi-million pound operation, with specialisms in the equestrian, cleaning and household sector.
