MaximaVida is not like other online furniture retailers. What started out as a small wholesaler for wooden furniture, has grown to become the leading online retailer of indoor and outdoor furniture in the Netherlands. But they’ve never lost sight of their small-business roots. Their furniture is still crafted in small batches, giving it a special, one-of-a-kind look and feel that customers cannot find at other retailers. Through their online shop, they sell stylish furnishings that help their customers turn their gardens and homes into a paradise.
Despite their growing success, MaximaVida has held onto its strong values as an ethical, people-focused business. That means maintaining close connections with their carefully selected manufacturers in Asia and Eastern Europe. Each year, the company imports just 30 to 40 containers from Asia to its warehouse in the Netherlands. Since their business focuses heavily on seasonal furniture, timing and planning are essential to make sure the products make it to the market in time for the summer. That’s why MaximaVida trusts Shypple to give them full oversight over their incoming shipments.
As logistics manager at MaximaVida, it’s Melvin Ikink’s job to make sure containers arrive in time for the company’s peak business period. Before he started using Shypple, Melvin says he was often left in the dark when it came to where his company’s containers were at any given time. With previous shipping partners, it was unclear when the containers were being loaded or when they would arrive in Rotterdam.
Melvin says it also used to be an ongoing struggle to get information about the status of the containers while they were in transit. Once a container was loaded onto the ship, it was often anyone’s guess as to when it would actually arrive. When one container arrived one and half months later than the stated ETA, Melvin finally decided it was time to look for a more transparent, reliable solution. That’s when he decided to give Shypple a try.
Since switching to Shypple, Melvin feels much more in control of the shipping process at MaximaVida. “Shypple gives us an online platform where all the information is available in one place. That’s the main advantage for us,” he says. “We’ve also definitely saved on the costs of shipping since we started using Shypple.”
In addition to a clear overview and frequent status updates via the platform, Melvin says he’s also very impressed with the support he receives from the customer success team at Shypple. “The service we get from Shypple is proactive. They do their best to keep us informed, whether it’s everyday business or unusual situations like the traffic jam in the Suez Canal”, he says. Best of all, Melvin knows that he always has a single point of contact with Shypple: his very own customer success manager who can help at every step of the shipping process.
One more benefit that sets Shypple apart from other shipping partners is the flexibility, says Melvin. “The flexibility and communication with Shypple are big advantages compared with other providers. For example, with Shypple I even have the freedom to have our containers delivered on Saturdays. For a small or mid-sized company like ours, it’s important to have multiple options for getting your containers shipped. With Shypple, we’ve got full transparency and control over our shipping”, he says.
