The Challenge
The fast-growing fashion brand initially ran into a couple of issues. The main challenges revolved around cash flow and the high cost of hiring staff in Australia, prompting the exploration of outsourcing and offshoring options.
Finding emotionally invested individuals for customer service roles was another obstacle, and the team sought to identify candidates who could genuinely connect with the brand’s story and values. Overcoming these challenges was essential to optimizing operational costs and establishing a dedicated and passionate offshore team.
Apart from this, they outsourced tasks to freelancers from various platforms, which didn’t work out since these freelancers couldn’t commit all their attention to Azura. Thus, the search for a fully functional staff continued.
The Requirement
Azura Fashion Group’s specific requirements for an outsourcing partner, were a company that could handle various aspects of the infrastructure, including payroll, HR, and legal compliance. They sought a provider who could find highly talented and experienced individuals who aligned with their values and were excited about what they wanted to achieve. It was crucial to work with a provider who could help guide, empower, advise, and educate as it was their first time working with an international team, and they wanted to ensure they could mitigate the risk and their fear of it failing.
“I had met Efren & Nerissa years ago and really liked their approach and attitude. I knew they understood our industry, and Filta had a great reputation within the Shopify and ecommerce communities.”
The Outcome
Scaling & Productivity
The one thing that Azura Fashion Group was most excited to share was the fact that the company grew by nearly 200% year on year since offshoring its roles to Filta. Apart from this, Filta was able to remedy Azura’s biggest issue— high turnover.
“You guys deliver on what you say, so that’s always an A+, but it’s really about the service you are providing, you’re very vested in the staff as well as the company.” , Wood added.
Once this was under control, the brand saw a steady increase in productivity. With a bigger and more skilled team, they improved in business functions like Tracking, Customer Services, Bookkeeping, and Business Analysis.
Azura Fashion Group grew by nearly
200%
year on year since offshoring its roles to Filta.
Customer Response Time
By outsourcing customer service and other support roles, the management at Azura Fashion Group could focus on different aspects of the business, such as sales and marketing. The dedicated staff provided by Filta enabled them to maintain a high level of customer service while expanding quickly.
Moreover, they have a full-time team looking after shipping and deliveries. Their job is to reach out to warehouses to ensure that orders are shipped on time, get the correct tracking numbers, upload them to the website, and ensure that customers stay up-to-date with the status of their orders.
Before their partnership with Filta, “Azura’s customer service rate was about 50% at best”, per their CEO, Sam Wood. “But since they have taken on a new team, the rate has grown to around 99% satisfaction.”
The Results
The success of Azura Fashion Group demonstrates the power of outsourcing as a cost-effective solution for startups looking to get their businesses off the ground. By outsourcing customer service and other support roles, the founders were able to focus on other aspects of the business and proliferate.
The decision to work with staff from the Philippines has been a key factor in the company’s success, as they were able to find staff who could be emotionally invested in the brand and provide excellent customer service. Overall, Azura Fashion Group is a great example of a company that leveraged outsourcing to achieve success and revolutionize the luxury fashion industry.
