Special Operations Supply
CUSTOMER SUCCESS STORY
Learn how Special Operations Supply went from manually uploading each product to their online store to using Flxpoint to automate each facet of their ecommerce business.
“We went from manually keying in and uploading the data for each product to WooCommerce—a time-intensive process—to using Flxpoint to upload a catalog of products in the same time it used to take us to upload a single product.”
Nicholas Jewell, CEO, Special Operations Supply
Company Overview
Special Operations Supply is tailored to military purchasing officers and was built on its founders’ acquisition frustrations while still serving on active duty.
The last thing anyone should be worrying about when operating is their gear. So, SOS created a one-stop-shop with access to premium brands, a training index, a feedback platform, and an RFQ generator—plus ecommerce capability.
SOS strives to provide the newest innovations in the industry and make procurement seamless to enhance the capabilities of military operators, first responders, and law enforcement.
The Challenge
Special Operations Supply manages a catalog of over 120,000 products. Without a software developer to reveal a better solution, they were uploading those products manually on WooCommerce.
This meant hours upon hours of manually inserting product descriptions, certifications, and specifications one by one into their website.
The work was far from over once they created each product listing. Then, the team had to build categories and manually move products under them. They listed each variation as a separate product, which meant shoppers couldn’t compare and choose products from varying attributes.
Once the manual work of uploading and updating products ended, they had to address the order fulfillment side of the business—they performed these tasks manually, too. When a customer placed an order, the SOS team manually created and sent POs in QuickBooks.
The Solution
Repetitive manual tasks inundated the Special Operations Supply team’s workflow. They realized how inefficient their product management system was—and then found Flxpoint.
“We went from manually keying in and uploading the data for each product to WooCommerce—a time-intensive process—to using Flxpoint to upload a catalog of products in the same time it used to take us to upload a single product.”
They have tools within Flxpoint that allow them to adjust their categories and organize product variations among the parent products, creating a more user-friendly experience for their customers.
The SOS team now also uses Flxpoint’s accounting automation capabilities to move order information into QuickBooks. Now they have access to profitability reports that allow them to analyze sales over time.
The Special Operations Supply team continues to expand its product catalog and increase online sales through dropshipping, which has proven to be a key component of its success.