Delivering a Freight Forwarding Transformation Ahead of Peak Trading
Client
Premium Beauty and Wellness D2C Brand | Multi-Source International Inbound
The Situation
Inbound freight operations lacked visibility and predictability. Freight forwarding was fragmented across suppliers, spot-rate exposure was high, and Finance lacked reliable commitment forecasting.
At the same time, the business needed to implement operational change before peak trading without running a prolonged procurement exercise.
What We DiD
Conducted a lightweight but targeted benchmarking exercise across sea, air and road freight
Assessed commercial, operational and regulatory fit across multiple forwarding providers
Recommended index-linked commercial structures to improve predictability and reporting accuracy
Built a practical contract and implementation roadmap designed to land before peak
Results
The project delivered:
Approximately 20% savings against prior-year inbound freight spend
Index-linked pricing replacing volatile spot-rate exposure
Improved commitment forecasting and cashflow visibility for Finance
Removal of operational complexity across cross-border declarations and supplier routing
A new freight structure operational ahead of peak trading
Beyond the Numbers
The engagement balanced operational and financial priorities simultaneously.
Rather than optimising purely for lowest cost, the recommendation prioritised operational fit, predictability and implementation speed — allowing the business to land meaningful operational change before peak rather than after it.
