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December 6, 2024
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Gnarly Nutrition, known for its science-backed sports nutrition products, faced mounting operational challenges with its previous 3PL provider. Frequent order errors, shipment delays, and slow communication held it back.
With little control over order adjustments, Gnarly couldn't avoid internal and customer frustration with the experience.
In 2020, Gnarly partnered with iDrive Logistics to resolve this issue.
iDrive’s proactive support, from optimizing carrier options and shipping costs to providing real-time control over orders through its Warehouse Management System, helped transform Gnarly's operations.
As a result, Gnarly achieved a significant 40% year-over-year growth from 2020 to 2023.
With iDrive as its trusted partner, Gnarly continues to explore new ways to drive growth and efficiency—all while delivering top-tier customer experience.
Gnarly Nutrition is trusted for its science-backed sports nutrition products designed for athletes at all levels.
The team at Gnarly is committed to raising the bar on transparency, ingredient quality, product testing, and sustainability to deliver transformative products to their customers.
However, as their brand grew, so did their operational challenges. Hunter Boone, Director of Operations, noted their previous 3PL partner's slow communication, errors, and delays and could guess what was happening.
"They couldn't keep up with the growth that they were having," he said, "and kind of put us on the back burner."
Gnarly had limited control over common order adjustments, like address changes. This created even more frustration for the team and their customers.
To keep growing, Gnarly needed a reliable 3PL partner that could keep pace with their fulfillment needs.
Through a referral, Gnarly’s CEO Shannon O'Grady discovered iDrive Logistics.
Initially, iDrive stood out for its carrier price, advanced software, and strategic locations on both the West and East Coasts, as well as its proximity to Gnarly’s manufacturers.
Once on board, iDrive provided solutions directly tackling Gnarly’s operational pain points.
Here’s how iDrive made a difference:
Daxton, iDrive’s shipping specialist, worked closely with Gnarly. He provided quarterly reports on shipping costs and was quick to address any issues, consistently responding within 24 hours.
This level of responsiveness made an impact on Gnarly.
Shannon shared that all the account managers they had worked with from iDrive's team could effectively "assess the situation, figure out what needs to be done, and then put a plan of action in place."
Hunter also highlighted why he valued this kind of support in a 3PL partner. He wanted to "make sure that if anything did come up, it would be worked with a team that would be responsive and helpful," and went on to affirm iDrive's performance in this area.
Gnarly recognized that carriers play a crucial role in delivering the best experience for their customers.
That’s why iDrive has been working closely with Gnarly’s team to analyze shipping volumes and costs across each carrier.
Together, they regularly evaluate whether switching carriers could lead to additional cost savings and improved delivery times.
iDrive helped Gnarly set up and experiment with faster delivery options for their customers.
While Gnarly has determined that products should take only around five days to reach customers, these expedited options could benefit those who need or are used to faster delivery times.
iDrive is committed to providing proactive support to its clients.
That's why the team strives to look out for Gnarly's profitability while supporting the latter's commitment to top-tier customer experience.
They regularly review carrier metrics and shipping profiles to find cost-saving opportunities for Gnarly without compromising its service quality.
They also continue to explore regional carriers and introduce innovations, like new technologies to quickly analyze previous months' shipments.
According to Shannon, "whether it be helping Hunter integrate different carrier options or looking at regional carriers to bring down costs, [iDrive's team] has been helpful in finding ways to reduce what we're paying."
"It's great to have them so intertwined and invested in us as a customer," she added.
iDrive provided Gnarly access to its WMS, a smart logistics platform which gave the team real-time visibility and control over order fulfillment.
With this platform, Gnarly can track, process, and optimize shipments. These capabilities help them minimize errors that had previously plagued their operations.
Hunter described the shift this way: "It’s been night and day from our previous 3PL… We have the ability to go in and edit or change things, which previously was a headache."
Since partnering with iDrive, Gnarly has achieved impressive results.
From 2020 to 2023, it experienced 40% year-over-year growth. Even through shifting macroeconomic conditions, iDrive has supported Gnarly and kept its operations running smoothly – an effort that Hunter commended.
Additionally, most of Gnarly's customers rely on subscription-based deliveries. Gnarly's ability to make order adjustments in real time through the WMS platform has been helpful in keeping its customer base satisfied.
Compared to their experience with their previous 3PL partner, Hunter is confident that "a lot of order errors that we were experiencing before wouldn't happen [with iDrive]."
As to cost management, iDrive's data-driven approach and regular reviews have allowed Gnarly to focus on their customers while trusting that costs remain under control.
Because of these experiences, Gnarly strongly recommends iDrive to other companies seeking a reliable, scalable 3PL partner.
As Hunter put it, "I would definitely recommend [iDrive] to any customer that wants to move to a new system and know that they're going to comfortably grow into whatever their business looks like."
Here are the main takeaways that Shannon and Hunter experienced from partnering with iDrive:
iDrive Logistics’ solutions allowed Gnarly Nutrition to address its pain points, achieve remarkable growth, and maintain operational efficiency.
By providing reliable shipping support, ongoing optimization efforts, and their powerful WMS platform, iDrive played a key role in helping Gnarly manage its strong growth rate over several years.
These efforts also helped Gnarly maintain an excellent customer experience.
With iDrive as its trusted partner for shipping and fulfillment, Gnarly is well-positioned to deliver consistently strong results and scale even further.
If you’re looking for a partner that can provide tailored fulfillment and shipping solutions, reach out to iDrive Logistics today.
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