The Strap Tailor ships hundreds of orders a day to watch collectors around the world. When ShipStation couldn't keep up, the team switched to Zenstores, and four people now handle that volume with no extra headcount.

The Strap Tailor is a British maker of luxury, handmade watch straps. Founder David Richards inherited his love of horology from his grandfather, who gave him his first watch. After fifteen years in a London office job, he left the corporate world to turn that passion into a business.

Every strap is hand-stitched using traditional saddle stitching, in leathers sourced from around the world. Alongside a ready-to-wear range of leather, rubber and fabric watch straps, the team makes fully bespoke straps to each customer's exact specification.

What started as a one-person business is now a small, dedicated team and demand keeps growing. Orders run into the hundreds every day, a mix of ready-to-wear straps that ship straight from stock and bespoke pieces made by hand, all heading to collectors around the world.

For a brand built on craftsmanship, delivery is part of the experience. A strap made by hand to a customer's exact specification needs to arrive safely, on time and without fuss, wherever that customer is.

That's where the trouble started. As order volumes climbed, the shipping software meant to support The Strap Tailor began holding the team back.

Challenge

"We moved to Zenstores after EasyShip and ShipStation couldn't do what we needed."

Before Zenstores, The Strap Tailor had tried both ShipStation and EasyShip. Neither platform could offer what the team needed, and as order volumes grew, limitations of each started to stack up.

With hundreds of orders arriving every day, every failed shipment had a knock-on effect. Parcels that didn't go through had to be put right, and customers were left waiting. Mondays were the hardest of all, with the whole weekend's orders waiting to go out on software the team couldn't rely on.

The biggest problems were:

  • International orders going wrong: UK to US shipping failed regularly, delaying orders to one of their key markets and creating extra work to put right.
  • Complex order routing: Ready-to-wear and bespoke orders need handling differently and follow their own routing logic, so the team needed a setup they could depend on every time.
  • Gaps in Royal Mail services: The team couldn't access all the Royal Mail services they needed, which limited the delivery options they could offer customers.
  • An outdated platform with distant support: The software was dated and clunky, and when something went wrong, getting it fixed meant raising a ticket and waiting.

Solution

"A service that excels where others fail. Not only did Zenstores save the day, but they massively exceeded our expectations."

Moving platforms can feel like a big job for a busy team, so the Zenstores team guided The Strap Tailor through the switch from start to finish. Zenstores quickly became the centre of their shipping operation, giving the team a platform they could rely on for every order, wherever it was heading.

Orders now land in one clear, organised dashboard, where the right rules are applied automatically and every shipment goes out the way it should. For a team of four handling hundreds of orders a day, that reliability has made all the difference.

How Zenstores supports The Strap Tailor's fulfilment:

  • A hands-on switch from ShipStation: The Zenstores team worked with David to move The Strap Tailor over and set up their Automations and Shipping Rules based on how the team actually works.
  • Reliable order routing: Zenstores Automations and Shipping Rules identify ready-to-wear and bespoke orders as soon as they land and send each one down the right workflow.
  • Dependable international shipping: Zenstores applies the correct customs data to every international shipment at dispatch. HS codes and product descriptions pull through automatically, and customs forms are generated as part of the shipping flow.
  • Direct Royal Mail integration: Zenstores connects straight to the team's Royal Mail account, with every domestic and international service available. Shipping Rules then assign the right service to each order automatically.
  • A clear, organised dashboard: Every order and its status sit in one easy-to-use view, so the team always knows what's ready to go and what needs attention.

Results

"Now we have a swift solution that more than covers our needs and saves us time. Lovely interface to use as well, unlike ShipStation that looks like the UI was designed in 1982."

Since switching from ShipStation to Zenstores, The Strap Tailor has kept pace with high and growing order volumes without adding to the team. Automations handle order routing in the background, so four people now manage a workload that would otherwise need a much bigger team.

Zenstores more than covers what the business needs at that scale, from separate workflows for ready-to-wear and bespoke orders to international customs and the full range of Royal Mail services.

International shipping has become something the team can count on. UK to US failures are no longer a regular problem, and with customs data applied automatically, orders to collectors overseas leave with everything they need. That means fewer delays, fewer mistakes to fix and a better experience for customers waiting on a handmade strap.

With time that used to go on fixing shipping problems firmly back in the team's hands, and a setup that fits the way they work, The Strap Tailor can keep growing without shipping holding them back.