Face Reality Customer Case Study
"Supply chain is the foundation of our business. The partnership with ALOM ensures that our supply chain is operating at the highest level of efficiency and our customers are completely satisfied."
Jennifer Neves, Sr. Manager of Business Operations
The Challenge
- High SKU complexity
- In-transit product damage
- Multi-channel, personalized order intake
- E-commerce process automation
- Expiration-sensitive storage and handling requirements
- Scalability to meet fast growing demand
The Solution
- Serialized inventory and lot rotation
- Custom kitting and fulfillment QA process with photo verification
- Business intelligence monitored supply chain performance
- Automated order management with status reporting
- Integrated returns management
The Benefits
- In-transit product damage virtually eliminated
- Rapid, same day order processing
- Six Sigma quality and order accuracy
- 99.9% on-time shipping worldwide
- Scalable capacity to meet peak demand
- Stronger, more sustainable packaging
- FDA registered fulfillment facilities and HIPAA privacy compliance
ALOM Helps Clear Up Skin Care Company’s Supply Chain for Rapid Growth
Face Reality is on a mission: to help the 50 million people who suffer from acne by treating and clearing their skin. From 2018 to 2020, through its
distribution network of 1,000+ licensed estheticians, it averaged more than 35% revenue growth, year-over-year. Face Reality leaders soon realized the company needed a supply chain solution provider with more scalable resources and technology expertise to support its growth.
Face Reality had to adjust its sales strategy when COVID-19 emerged in the United States and it became clear the virus could shut down its clinic, spa, and salon sales network. After implementing a new e-commerce strategy that allowed estheticians to place online orders directly for clients, the company soon realized it lacked the expertise and infrastructure to support an e-commerce fulfillment operation at that scale. Notably, in-transit product damage was eroding profitability and client satisfaction.
Unlike competitive, one-size-fits-all acne treatment programs, dozens of Face Reality product SKUs are available. Every order is individually packed with products to treat each end-users’ unique requirements. To protect orders during shipment and ensure arrival in perfect condition, Face Reality required improved packing and QA processes. Adding to the complexity, expertly controlling this high volume of “expiration date sensitive” and serialized inventory is critically important.
Jennifer Neves, Face Reality Sr. Manager of Business Operations, recalls how the company sought a partner they could trust: “We selected ALOM because our team felt they were fully invested in our success. ALOM had the services, medical industry, and scalable e-commerce technology expertise to support our growth. They also shared our values, which we felt would best protect our brand and customers.”
ALOM has 13 years of experience supporting clients in the quality and safety-driven medical product sector. This reinforced Face Reality’s decision to trust ALOM with its supply chain. ALOM provides the skincare company with ISO 13845-certified medical product handling expertise and Six Sigma quality levels to ensure end-user safety.
Quality and same-day shipping elevate customer satisfaction
During initial process testing, ALOM posted a 99.87% order accuracy rating. A dedicated Face Reality Quality Team then went to work implementing a custom QA process featuring UPC scanning and five HD cameras that confirm every order is picked, packed, and shipped with accuracy and care. The result: 99.99% order accuracy: a 0.12% increase.
To address packaging strength, quality, and sustainability, the ALOM team suggested sturdier packaging. The new, fully-recyclable packaging offers significantly greater protection of contents, which has virtually eliminated damage in-transit. In the end, customer satisfaction is driven by order accuracy and on-time delivery. Face Reality customers could not be happier with ALOM’s same-day order shipping with products arriving in perfect
condition.
Game-changing inventory and order control
ALOM’s climate controlled warehouses and digitally monitored inventory management system solved Face Reality’s storage needs. ALOM provides precision control of product and raw material lots, along with inventory rotation based on a first-in, first-out (FIFO) or first-expiration, first-out (FEFO) basis.
“Utilizing ALOM BI technology to see real-time supply chain performance data is super impressive,” Neves says. “Knowing minute by minute how many units we have available has been a game-changer. It’s allowed us to communicate with our customers about low inventory and sell outs so no one is caught unaware.”
Protecting end-user safety and data privacy
With multiple FDA-registered facilities across North America, ALOM can scale operations to fully and safely meet Face Reality’s growth and quality control requirements. Of equal importance, ALOM is HIPAA compliant, guaranteeing that Face Reality’s customer information and health privacy is always protected. ALOM is SOC 2 Type 2 certified, demonstrating the highest level of process and system e-commerce data protection and online privacy.
Shared values of diversity and inclusion
Face Reality’s culture highlights diversity, inclusion, and environmental protection. The fact that ALOM shares those values has given Face Reality added confidence that it made the right choice, Neves says. “It’s important to us that our partners have the same core values and feel that we have a symbiotic relationship,” she notes. “It’s obvious that the attitude at ALOM is: if you’re successful, we’re successful. And vice versa.”
