When you’re selling through multiple channels and working with multiple print partners, every new order has to go through a gauntlet of decisions.
First, it’s “Where does this order need to go? Does it need to be split? Which file needs to be sent?” And then it becomes “Has it shipped yet? Has the tracking made its way back to the customer?”
For Atelier Printworks, those questions were once answered manually for every order. Today, their business is making seven figures with a three-person team, using Order Desk to handle the routing and fulfillment work behind the scenes.
Before Order Desk, every order needed constant attention
Atelier Printworks sells through Shopify and Etsy, and works with several print partners. In the early days, that meant checking every order against a flow chart to determine where it needed to go.
Once they knew the destination, the order had to be placed manually. Then came the follow-up: keeping track of the order, checking when it was dispatched, and manually sending the tracking information back to Shopify.
The process worked, but it came with a cost.
“I knew early on that this wasn’t going to let us scale.”
The bigger concern wasn’t simply the time involved, as every manual step also created another opportunity for human error.
As order volume grew, that risk became increasingly harder to justify.
Automation extends its hand
That’s when they realized how much of a game-changer Order Desk was. Suddenly they didn’t even have to lay a finger, the entire workflow was automated for them.
The orders are now automatically routed to each of their print partners based on rules around the destination and product, ensuring that orders are sent to the right partner. The correct file goes with the order, and once it’s dispatched, tracking information is sent back to Shopify or Etsy without anyone having to move it manually.
That leaves the team with fewer operational decisions to make and more time to focus on growing the business.
“We use three main print partners and orders are routed to the right one automatically, based on rules we’ve set around destination and product – the right file goes to the right partner, and tracking comes back to Shopify or Etsy without anyone touching it.”
And after seeing the system set them up for success across their existing partners, Order Desk has now become part of how they evaluate new ones.
“I doubt we’d take on a new print partner if they didn’t integrate with Order Desk.”
Things are looking up
In their first full trading year, Order Desk helped Atelier Printworks reach seven figures in revenue while remaining profitable. Around 70% of sales are international, mostly in the US, across two sales channels and three print partners.
Meanwhile for the business itself, the core team is just three people.
They reached that scale without hiring an operations person, with Order Desk handling much of the work that would otherwise have required someone to constantly monitor orders, route them to the right printer, and keep tracking information moving between platforms.
For the team, that’s one of the biggest benefits of having the right workflow in place.
“It lets us focus on growing the business rather than operating the business.”
You need a system that does the job right
They first heard about Order Desk through one of their partners, but what ultimately convinced them to stick with it was the simplicity of the job it needed to do.
“Get the order to the right place with the right file.”
That’s still how they think about the platform.
After nearly a year of using Order Desk, they haven’t had a connection drop between their platforms. And when they have needed help, they’ve also been able to get an answer quickly from our incredible support team.
The end result is a fulfillment process that handles the repetitive work, without requiring someone to keep checking that everything is moving.
“I didn’t quite realise how much of the heavy lifting it would end up doing. In some ways I take it for granted now, because it just works.”
Some parting wisdom
“The one bit of advice I’d give before you start: your SKU convention needs to be solid.”
Your SKUs help determine how products and orders should be handled, so a clear and consistent naming system can make the setup much easier to manage. For a growing business, this can help alleviate any future headaches down the road, so it’s best to put in the work early and establish the naming system that will work best for your business.
If you’d like to check out the wonderful selection of products offered by Atelier Printworks, be sure to check out their website. You can also give them a follow on Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.
