A behind-closed-doors report on White Fox Boutique has done little to quell customer concerns over delayed orders, as the Australian e-commerce giant rushes to fulfil purchases made during its Black Friday sale.
On Tuesday, White Fox Boutique co-founders Georgia Moore and Daniel Contos told A Current Affair that its Black Friday sales volumes vastly overshot predictions.
The brand handled around 100,000 customer orders this time last year, Contos said, compared to the 750,000 orders it accepted through the Black Friday and Cyber Monday period in 2023.
From the brand’s Sydney fulfilment centre, Moore and Contos said the overwhelming volume of customer orders had slowed the send-out process.
Customers of the brand are already well aware of the shipping delays.
For days, White Fox Boutique’s social media pages have been inundated with customers asking where their orders are — with many concerned purchases made in late November will not arrive in time for Christmas.
Speaking to A Current Affair, the millionaire duo said the White Fox Boutique team has been working seven-day weeks to fulfil the backlog.
“We understand that during Christmas that emotions are higher, it is very stressful for a lot of people,” Moore said.
“We are doing everything we can to get them out as soon as possible.”
The backlog is close to being fulfilled, Moore continued, adding that the sudden tide of orders, not stock availability, had slowed the send-out process.
That broadcast has not dispelled the concerns of every White Fox Boutique customer, with many outlining their concerns to the brand on Wednesday.
“I ordered on the 20th Nov and was told a 3-5 day delivery and I still have nothing and still haven’t heard when it will be delivered!” wrote one commenter.
“Ordered my items over a month ago … still not here,” wrote another.
“And they were Xmas presents for my 3 daughters.”
White Fox Boutique’s fulfilment issues may be a symptom of its own success, said Paul Waddy, an e-commerce consultant who has worked with cult favourite brands like Geedup.
The order overflow is “more a reflection that the company has gone absolutely gangbusters rather than Black Friday,” Waddy told SmartCompany on Wednesday.
That success ought to be celebrated, Waddy added.
Even so, the technical difficulties faced by some brands managing the Black Friday backlog can still serve as a lesson for companies ahead of the next sales bonanza.
Speaking generally, Waddy said diving through sales data before a major calendar event is massively important.
“You can’t really do anything efficiently without having excellent forecasting,” he said, recommending brands look at their data at least six months in advance of a major sales period.
“When you’ve got the forecasting, right, the rest is easy: you know how many orders you can put out, you know how many staff you can afford.”
“If you’re expecting 14,000 orders a day over Cyber Week, but you can’t dispatch more than 2,500 orders for whatever reason, then you know that you need to be increasing your capacity,” Waddy continued.
Brands bracing for exponential sales growth should also consider operating with variable warehousing and fulfilment staffing levels, he added, saying roughly 30% of warehouse staff should be on flexible agreements.
That preparation goes both ways, too: with an uncertain economic environment and the likelihood that budget-friendly shoppers have already loaded up, retail brands may face a drop-off in sales through early 2024.
“You do see brands have a sale, and there’s a massive hangover,” he said.
“People are trying to wait for sales. People are watching their money. It means they don’t have that disposable income, so they’re more inclined to spend on sales.”
SmartCompany has contacted White Fox Boutique for comment.
Senior Business Journalist
Focused on the small business sector, David’s work covers the political, regulatory, and economic issues facing Australian entrepreneurs. Prior to joining SmartCompany, he was a reporter for Business Insider Australia. You can follow him on LinkedIn.
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