A smart business move

When this Australian company was founded in 1935, selling oversees was likely a distant pipe dream – if even an aspiration at all. But over the years, as their products (like the legendary Snack'n Sandwich Maker)gained popularity and recognition abroad, expanding further afield not only became feasible, but a smart business move.

Now, Breville is an iconic Australian brand delivering kitchen products to over 50 countries around the world. In Europe, the company sells its small kitchen appliances under the brand name Sage^TM – and like Breville, Sage Appliances has become synonymous with thoughtful design and brilliant innovation.

In addition to knowing their way around the kitchen, Sage knows a thing or two about running an online business. In Europe, for example, long before the current boom in ecommerce, the company optimized its omni-channel distribution strategy by centralizing its European B2B and B2C fulfilment in Prague. A fulfillment center there has been at the heart of European operations ever since. There was, however, one exception: the UK market, which represented a crucial part of the business.

The Brexit ecommerce conundrum

The UK market presents a unique ecommerce challenge, even for businesses based in a Commonwealth cousin like Australia. For a while, Sage served its UK customers from a local B2C distribution center run by a third-party logistics provider. While the setup worked well, the company wanted to consolidate all fulfillment operations in Prague and take advantage of the well-oiled machine that served the rest of Western Europe. 

Then came Brexit.

The Sage solution

Enter DFN – our DHL Fulfillment Network that provides small and medium-sized ecommerce businesses the scale and speed necessary to compete in the global marketplace, including the UK after Brexit.

Sage needed to balance the specific needs of the UK market with the importance of maintaining smooth and uniform operations in Prague. The DHL Fulfillment Network is structured modularly, meaning the company retains the flexibility to work with the UK carriers it knows and trusts. In some cases, the UK distribution center allows customers to benefit from next-day delivery, a key selling point that helps ensure customers click the buy button after filling up their online shopping carts.

Once Sage learned they could replicate their success in Prague, mitigate the Brexit ecommerce impact and even lower costs, using our European Fulfillment Network was an easy business decision. The company was even able to avoid an increase in last-mile delivery costs that would have resulted from shipping on international rates from its Prague distribution center.