E-COMMERCE EXTRAS
Tigers also has its own boutique online
marketplace, akin to Amazon, where
customers’ products can be marketed and
purchased. “We have an e-shop in Hong
Kong, Malaysia, Germany and the US. So, if
you have a brand, invented in the UK, and
you want to start to sell it in Hong Kong,
we ship your goods into Hong Kong and
put it in our warehouse – or fulfil it from
here. People go to the e-shop or to your
website and order, and we fulfil it from
wherever the cargo is. We take care of
all the transactions for you, so you don’t
need to open a bank account elsewhere,”
Ayash explains.
the entire supply chain. That is part of the reason why we are here
in this facility and why we invested millions in expanding in the
UK, while others are afraid to invest money in the country. The
technology, we believe, is what enables us to grow the business
and to differentiate ourselves. We have our own R&D centre with
over 50 programmers, which I think is unique in our business.”
Virtual warehouse
SmartHub gives the customer flexibility while maintaining
control over goods, explains Ayash. “Until now, a lot of
companies wanted to consolidate their goods in one mega
distribution centre (DC) to gain economies of scale: a bigger
facility, better rates, better control of one provider and better
visibility, because it’s all in one place. With SmartHub, we can
split their cargo into smaller DCs and they can enjoy all these
benefits. And we charge the same because, for us, it’s the same
customer,” he explains. “Physically split it, virtually have it in the
same place – we were unafraid to approach it like this.”
Breaking goods down into smaller hubs also means the goods
are closer to the customer. “Given that 35% of supply chain costs
are spent on the last mile delivery, this surely means that being
closer to your customer is going to save you money,” he adds.
Thanks to the SmartHub:Connect technology, break down
can be done at no risk to the customer, who can see all their
inventory to the SKU level on the portal, as well as delivery
milestones and details on a shipment’s whereabouts, even down
to its precise location as it crosses the ocean. “And we work with
one operating platform around the world, so everybody sees the
same data,” says Ayash.
The Microsoft-certified, cloud-based technology is among
the top that exists in terms of security and speed, he continues,
and was even shortlisted for an innovation award last year.
“Other companies can provide
visibility over warehouse,
freight forwarding track and
trace and courier tracking,
but only SmartHub:Connect
combines all three,” he states.
Core values
As an employer, Tigers offers a
dynamic working
environment, with an
emphasis on Just Culture,
Ayash relates. “We build a
culture of freedom and
responsibility, where people
can make mistakes but learn
from them, and try to bring
something new to an industry
which is so outdated in many
ways.
“I think people find us easy
to do business with. We try to
make it all about the customer
and not about us. We are just
behind the scenes doing our
job in order to make their
brand successful.”
What, would he say, is
driving Tigers’ continued
growth? “Technology and
capabilities. We don’t have a
big sales team. We only have a
few people doing sales in each
country, if at all. What we do
have is customers that
recommend us to other
customers.”
Progress is very much
expected to continue, he
relates. “We’ve been investing
in our future for a number of
years and it’s now paying off.
We’re moving forward with
e-commerce growth and
meeting growing customer
demands in transit time,
quality, accuracy, visibility,
control and cost.” These efforts
will continue apace, he
concludes. “We have to
continuously improve in all
these areas. Otherwise we are
irrelevant.”
We started
with e-commerce
before it became a
thing
Shahar Ayash
Managing Director, UK and Europe,
Tigers
Tigers’ new state-of-the-art facility in
Thurrock, UK, will help to meet growing
e-commerce demand
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