First Base develop and wholesale clothing to the Australian and international market. Founded by Alison Cotton, the inspiration comes from a deep love of surf and skate culture. Tapping into this, Alison creates basics with a sportswear slant that are simple and iconic, just like Bondi beach where the business is based. We recently caught up with Tamarin Jackson, Production Manager at First Base. Tamarin describes First Base as “a lifestyle brand for everyday wear and its spirit is cool and casual.” They have a small, fantastic team based in Sydney that Tamarin enjoys working with.
The Problem
Being a new business, First Base didn’t have an existing inventory management solution in place. They knew they needed something that would enable them to enter and track the status of sales orders. Streamlining inventory management between their online store and wholesale accounts was also a top priority. It was vital to ensure that available inventory was always up-to-date in their online store, and they needed a solution that would grow with their business.
The Solution
The web developers behind First Base’s online store recommended Unleashed, as they knew it could integrate with Business Catalyst, the chosen e-commerce platform. Tamarin and Alison investigated Unleashed, with the final decision coming down to Tamarin as she manages the order processing and inventory management needs of First Base. Integrating Unleashed with their online store was easy, especially with the advice and assistance from an Unleashed Solutions Architect. “Strengths include the integration capabilities. Also being online software so that we can log in on any computer anywhere with internet access is extremely helpful,” says Tamarin.
Being in the fashion industry, there are particular needs and they have found Unleashed to be a good fit; they recommend using the Excel template for uploading style info into Unleashed. Tamarin’s experience has been that the software is user-friendly, and the introduction and training resources were easy for her to follow. This was really important for First Base; as a newly established business they wanted something that they could handle within their team. They were able to self-implement after watching the video tutorials and taking notes. Tamarin followed the demonstrated process to set up, and found the process went smoothly.
The Result
Tracking inventory is made simple. Tamarin enthuses, “We have set up separate warehouses for each of the locations we are holding stock and we’re able to run a report at any time to see what our stock levels are at any one location, or in total. This is incredibly time saving!” She feels that Unleashed would be a good fit for others in the fashion industry and enjoys how easy it is to use. “Unleashed is very user-friendly, so you will find most functions that you need by just exploring a little.” Plus, she really enjoys the flexibility that Unleashed’s online solution offers as she can work from home, which is really handy with a young child.
We wish First Base great success and know where to send anyone who’s after a perfect white T-shirt!
