Case Study

Dock & Bay Fulfilment: Earning Our Stripes

Loved worldwide for its stripy and stylish range of beachwear and accessories, in 2020 Dock & Bay chose ILG as its fulfilment partner for the UK and EU. The new relationship was quickly tested by Brexit and Covid-19, but despite these obstacles, ILG went on to help fuel the brand’s phenomenal growth and diversification, both in the UK and wider European markets.

“ILG is such a big part of Dock & Bay’s growth across the UK and EU. Three things really stand out about them: their readiness to change and innovate, their fast and proactive response, and their 100% transparency on telling us the way it is.”
Sarah Davenport, Head of Customer Service & Operations, Dock & Bay

The Story

Making the World a Little Brighter

Dock & Bay, the iconic eco-friendly beach and travel brand, was started in 2015 by Andy Jefferies and Ben Muller with a mission ‘to make the world a little brighter’. After securing investment from Deborah Meaden on TV’s Dragons Den in 2017, the brand quickly grew an enthusiastic following of customers across the globe. From its signature striped, easy-dry towel collection, Dock & Bay went on to launch over 100 stand-out lines, from beauty, bath and kitchen items to vibrant ranges for children, dogs and fitness.

As it expanded from travel into lifestyle, post-Covid holidays boomed and global demand surged, Dock & Bay needed a strong, collaborative and adaptive partner to service its fast-changing fulfilment needs across e-commerce and retail channels.

The Results

Supporting 150% Growth

Since onboarding with ILG in 2020, Dock & Bay has gone from strength to strength with sales up 150%. This has put pressure on ILG’s fulfilment operation to stay ahead of steeply rising demand across e-commerce and retail channels. But, thanks to its methodical approach, forward thinking and proactive response, ILG offers up a fulfilment environment perfectly tuned to Dock & Bay’s growth. From enhancing customer experience with product personalisation, to multi-site omnichannel solutions, to building European market share by relocating fulfilment operations inside the EU bloc, ILG is doing whatever it takes to add to Dock & Bay’s success story.

Taking Dock & Bay into the EU

Like so many UK brands sending orders to the EU post-Brexit, Dock & Bay was impacted by extra admin, long border delays and costly delivery charges. This made it harder to reach customers within the EU and compromised customer experience. ILG helped Dock & Bay sidestep these export bottlenecks, save money and ease distribution to consumers and retailers by setting up fulfilment operations within the EU at one of ILG’s Poland warehouses.

“After Brexit, ILG made it so much easier for us to sell to our EU customers. They set up our fulfilment in their Poland warehouse, shipped our stock over and guided us through all the form-filling and red tape.”

For more information about Dock & Bay, visit
uk.dockandbay.com

Peak 2023

“During our peak season, ILG became the cornerstone of our operations, ensuring that we met customer demands with remarkable efficiency. Despite the surge in orders, our warehouse team showed exceptional dedication, swiftly processing and shipping a high volume of orders within tight timeframes. Their commitment to excellence was further demonstrated by their consistent and prompt responses to all our inquiries, ensuring seamless communication and swift problem-solving. Their role in managing the influx of new products and accommodating various requests played a huge part in the growth of Dock & Bay. We owe a great deal of our success during this crucial period to the support and professionalism shown by the ILG team.”

Community Manager, Dock & Bay

Explore our other Fashion Fulfilment Stories