Case Study: Autolights Streamlines Distribution with ShipAccel

Background

Founded in early 2024 by Troy Baltic and Will Stockert, M1 AutoParts, better known as Autolights, rapidly made its mark in Detroit, Michigan. Specializing in headlights and mirrors, the company began by remanufacturing defective components and has since ventured into cutting-edge innovations like 3D printing commonly broken parts. Autolights primarily sells on eBay while also catering to auto-parts companies and insurance providers. With around 500 monthly shipments nationwide and growing, Autolights is now confronting increasing logistical challenges as it works to streamline its shipping operations.

The Challenges: A new venture comes with its own set of problems as it scales

1. Single-carrier shipping solution

• Autolights initially relied on a single-carrier shipping solution offered through eBay, which came with fixed rates and technical limitations
• The company’s relatively low shipping volume made it difficult to negotiate better rates with carriers, leading to escalating shipping costs as the business grew

2. Limited tracking and address validation functionalities

• The limited tracking interface and lack of a robust address validation system led to frequent delivery errors and customer dissatisfaction
• These issues were not just operational headaches; they also increased costs, as Autolights often had to re-ship packages and reprint labels due to incorrect addresses
• As the company scaled, these challenges underscored the need for a more comprehensive multi-carrier software solution that could better handle their growing operational demand

The Request: Solve scaling needs with a multi-carrier software solution

• Autolights wanted to have the ease and flexibility to choose the carrier they wanted and gain access to the lowered rates offered through multicarrier solution
• The team also wanted to make sure the new solution can integrate seamlessly with the current ecommerce platform (eBay) and existing systems to help streamline the shipping operations
• Ultimately, by leveraging a reliable multi-carrier shipping solution, Autolights aim to unlock significant cost savings and streamline the shipping operations, so that they can focus on what they do best – serving their customers and growing the business

Finding the Optimal Shipping Partner

To tackle these challenges, Autolights turned to ShipAccel, a shipping platform offering discounted rates and seamless multi-carrier integration. ShipAccel’s intuitive interface and high visibility in comparing rate options immediately appealed to the Autolights team. Also, Autolights found ShipAccel’s expertise and customer service invaluable especially in guiding to avoid the hassle of going through multitude of prices across platforms and white glove service forged a direct connection between Autolights and ShipAccel that extended past its usage as a shipping solution.

The Solution: ShipAccel provided Autolights with Game-Changing features for a seamless shipping experience

1. Rate shopping: A consolidated view of carriers, simplifying rate shopping and eliminating the need to compare prices across multiple platforms
2. Address validation: Address validation tools reduced delivery errors and avoided carrier surcharges, while supply chain automation streamlined operations
3. Integration with PitneyShip Cube: The integration of PitneyShip Cube—a combination printer and scale linked directly to ShipAccel’s software—further enhanced efficiency. This tool automatically weighed packages, reducing intermediary steps and making label creation and rate shopping effortless
4. Branded tracking: Branded tracking emails offered two-way transparency, keeping both Autolights and its customers informed at every stage of the shipping process while enhancing brand visibility

The Impact

Since integrating ShipAccel, Autolights has experienced significant improvements in automation and efficiency, allowing them to focus on growth without worrying about supply chain limitations.

Looking into the Future

The team is excited about the future and places full faith in their partnership with ShipAccel, confident that their shipping solution is in capable hands.

“The ease of use to manage label creation, rate shopping, and address validation all from one place has been a lifesaver for our team.”