Online goodies retailer integrates systems, makes shipping short and sweet

Generating pick lists was eating up all of Taste of the South founder Elie Abikhaled's time, so he simplified the process with CrossWare. 

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Originally from Lebanon, Elie Abikhaled thought he'd bring some international flair to Columbia, S.C., when he started a European delicacy shop there in the 1980s. Although his local clientele was interested in the imported truffles and Italian espressos, they always asked for a traditional Southern specialty: pecans.

So Abikhaled founded A Taste of the South in 1987, marketing his new company with a one-page leaflet. The business grew, and in the 1990s online commerce helped it grow faster – and reach more distant places.

Abikhaled paired with UPS to meet the increased shipping and logistics demands. Fifteen years later, he's still a devoted customer, and his business has grown into a prosperous corporation that ships up to 4,000 packages a day during the holiday season, accounting for 75 percent of the company's annual business.

UPS CrossWare connects applications
One of Abikhaled's main challenges was managing orders as business grew. Generating pick lists was eating up all his time. At his UPS account manager's suggestion, he decided to integrate UPS WorldShip^®, his shipping system, with his back-office systems using a data-sharing application called CrossWare.

The application runs in the background of Microsoft Windows, permitting real-time communication between Abikhaled's business systems and WorldShip and eliminating repetitive tasks such as entering order data into multiple applications. "CrossWare is a pretty sophisticated system that basically pulls data from various sources, like the online order, and puts it into accounting software," says UPS account manager Tyler Brown.

The solution helped A Taste of the South's pick-and-pack operation tremendously. "We cut down a lot of steps," says Abikhaled, who was accustomed to generating one huge pick list from WorldShip and then filling orders manually, crossing off packed items one at a time. CrossWare's technology, he says, reduces processing time by at least 60 percent. It also generates an order number, which Abikhaled's staffers can use to gain visibility into the order fulfillment process, and it helps minimize shipping errors. Most important: Although the CrossWare solution is high-tech, Abikhaled doesn't have to be. "It basically combines everyone's data," he explains. "CrossWare takes over and generates what we need to do to process the order."

Paperless Invoice cuts paperwork
Abikhaled says he's seeing a growth in international shipments, which currently make up about 8 percent of his sales. While WorldShip and CrossWare seamlessly take care of international orders, UPS Paperless^SM Invoice helps his staff get those shipments processed quickly and efficiently.

The technology creates an electronic commercial invoice that is transmitted to the destination country's customs service, eliminating some of the paperwork typically associated with international shipments. "Any time you can cut down on paperwork and dealing with brokers and customs, that's a lot of savings," he says. "The packaging isn't the critical component; it's all the paperwork."

Abikhaled plans to open a retail store in May 2009, which will provide a new set of challenges. "We consider UPS a partner in our business," says Abikhaled. "It's like having an in-house team that takes care of all your needs. From the drivers to the help desk, they're on our side, and that's an excellent asset to our company."