We’ve spent years watching companies struggle with the same fulfillment challenges, and I can tell you this: most businesses treat their warehouse operations as a necessary evil rather than the profit engine they should be. DIME Beauty’s transformation proves there’s a better way.
After hosting our recent webinar with DIME Beauty’s Senior Manager of Fulfillment David Luna and Warehouse Operations Manager Baylie Waters, I’m convinced their story represents what separates winners from strugglers in today’s DTC market.
They told an exhilarating story last week of how they turned fulfillment into a competitive weapon that drove a 232% increase in daily shipments with a 14% reduction in labor costs.
WATCH THE FULL REPLAY:
The hard truth about manual operations
When you listen to DIME Beauty describe their original setup, you can recognize the symptoms immediately. Printing customer labels by hand. Grouping orders based on gut instinct. Conducting 100% inventory counts every Monday morning.
They wanted much better for their customers than what they had prior to Deposco:
- 11-14 days order-to-delivery during peak seasons
- 2.2 days sitting between order placement and first tracking scan
- Customer service drowning in “where’s my order” inquiries
- No ability to scale without hiring more bodies
“We were printing labels out, grouping them as best we can, trying to be effective,” David explained. “But customers were getting ship notifications with no transportation tracking for days—not a great experience.”
If you’re relying on tribal knowledge and manual processes, you’re not running a scalable business. You’re running an expensive hobby that happens to ship products.
Our 2025 DTC Supply Chain Report confirms this pattern:
- 44% of companies are stuck with legacy systems that create operational inefficiencies
- 40% cite poor inventory management as their biggest challenge
The cost of manual fulfillment is no longer sustainable.
The strategic shift: systems over sweat
What impressed me most about DIME Beauty was their mindset shift. They recognized that sustainable growth requires scalable infrastructure, not just fly-by point solutions.
While 54% of companies in our DTC survey are investing in technology to streamline logistics costs, the smart ones understand this isn’t just about cost-cutting. It’s about building the foundation for profitable growth. DIME Beauty focused on three areas that are non-negotiable for serious DTC operations:
Real-time inventory management (a priority for 60% of the industry): No more hectic Monday morning counts. No more guessing what you have in stock.
Advanced order management systems (a priority for 48%): Seamless multi-channel operations without the manual juggling act.
Scalable warehouse management (a priority for 42%): Fulfillment systems that make your team more effective, not just busier.
“We needed that inventory management backbone,” Baylie explained. “Full visibility into transaction history, real-time inventory adjustments across all channels.” That’s the language of someone who understands operations as strategy, not just tactics.
The results: when operations become competitive advantage
DIME Beauty’s results stand out because they demonstrate what happens when you stop treating fulfillment as a cost center and start leveraging it for competitive advantage:
Customer experience revolution
They cut order-to-delivery time in half during peak. More importantly, they reduced order processing over 76%. Their customers now get tracking information that actually means something.
The customer service impact? They reduced staff by 2-3 people because customers stopped calling to ask where their orders were. That’s true customer experience transformation.
Operational efficiency that scales
Most companies add people to handle more volume during peak. DIME Beauty actually increased daily shipments by 232% while reducing labor costs by 14% after implementing Deposco. Efficiencies came through eliminating the need for weekly inventory counts and creating processes so repeatable that temporary workers can execute them without extensive training.
“Everything is repeatable now,” David explained. “Temps don’t even see that it’s a bundle. They just know they need to pick these items in this sequence.”
Business model innovation
The operational excellence unlocked new capabilities that many companies wouldn’t even attempt. They added a countdown timer to their website promising same-day shipping for orders placed by noon. David’s reasoning? “I want to steal some of our business back from Amazon.”
That’s the mindset shift I’m talking about. They’re not just fulfilling orders; they’re competing on delivery promises because they know they can execute.
Four strategic lessons to take away
After analyzing DIME Beauty’s transformation alongside our industry research, I see four patterns that separate the winners:
1. Workforce development beats crisis hiring
The old seasonal playbook was simple: more orders = more people. Our data shows 46% of companies followed this approach in 2024. The new playbook focuses on cross-training (34% of respondents in 2025) and developing skills that multiply effectiveness.
An intuitive system that empowers workers to contribute immediately is an easy win for strategic workforce optimization.
2. Technology investment as competitive moat
While 48% of companies still rely on basic inventory management, the winners are investing in advanced WMS systems (44%), AI demand forecasting (46%), and comprehensive OMS systems (48%).
Explore our WMS Software: Fulfill with 150% greater efficiency, speed, and 99%+ accuracy.
Explore our OMS Software: Inspect inventory across all channels, automate order allocation, and fulfill faster with visibility into the entire order lifecycle.
3. Omnichannel as foundation, not add-on
With 86% of surveyed companies deriving at least 50% of revenue from DTC, you need systems that handle complexity without breaking. DIME Beauty seamlessly operates DTC, Amazon (doubled in 2024), and Ulta (expanding into 300-500 additional stores) because they built for scalability from Day 1.
4. Fulfillment as profit driver
The most successful companies transform fulfillment from expense to competitive advantage. DIME Beauty doesn’t just ship products—they compete directly with Amazon’s delivery expectations while maintaining higher margins through direct sales.
The market reality check
The DTC market has stabilized into sustainable growth patterns, with 82% of companies projecting 10-25% growth over the next 12 months. The industry has moved beyond explosive expansion onto building operations that can capture consistent, profitable growth.
Capturing this phase will require operational foundations strong enough to execute at scale while maintaining margins. Companies that don’t properly prepare their tech foundation will still be printing labels and hoping for the best.
Your strategic decision point
DIME Beauty’s journey from manual chaos to strategic advantage demonstrates what’s possible when you stop treating fulfillment as a necessary evil.
Is your current approach “just good enough” or are you ready to build a foundation for the business you want to become?
Don’t hesitate on operational investment. Now is the time to disrupt competitors rather than be disrupted. DIME Beauty didn’t hesitate, and their results speak for themselves.
Ready to see the complete transformation? Watch my full conversation with DIME Beauty’s fulfillment team, then get the strategic blueprint that’s guiding the most successful DTC operations in 2025.