Casey Armstrong, CMO of ShipBob, has helped scale the company into a global fulfillment leader, supporting thousands of brands with over 60 facilities worldwide. With a goal to be the first and last fulfillment partner brands need, ShipBob powers seamless supply chain and omnichannel operations, shipping around 100 million orders annually across direct-to-consumer, retail, wholesale, and emerging channels.
Casey discussed using fulfillment as a method of growth at the CX Summit. Check out his insights:
This interview has been edited for clarity.
Carly Horn: We are just going to jump right in. Why do you believe fulfillment is one of the most overlooked growth levers in CX today?
Casey Armstrong: I will talk about why it is overlooked and why people are starting to focus on it more. I think it is often overlooked because brands tend to view their business through a digital lens, especially early on. Even though they are manufacturing and selling physical goods, they think about the customer experience digitally.
When they use a solution like ShipBob, they send us their inventory and focus on what they do best, usually marketing and sales, while we handle the physical goods. They see bits moving across a screen, but we are moving the atoms, the products themselves.
I remember hosting the Bloom Nutrition team in 2020. They said they had never seen more than five of their products together at once. They were used to thinking digitally, while we were managing rows and rows of their products.
Operations is not usually a founder's specialty or their differentiator. However, Amazon has set customer expectations for fast and affordable shipping. Brands can now leverage fulfillment as a differentiator.
Fast shipping can be achieved with two-day air from one location, but affordable fast shipping comes from maximizing ground shipping. To do that, you need a partner with the scale to get you the right pricing and distribute inventory across regions. You have to blend speed and cost together. Fulfillment might not seem exciting, but it can make a huge impact on the customer experience.
Carly Horn: For sure. You definitely know when it does not go well. When everything is running smoothly, it is more of an afterthought. We have worked with thousands of fast-growing merchants through ShipBob. What are some of the most common mistakes you see brands making post-purchase?
Casey Armstrong: There are a few, and this connects well with what you are doing at Kustomer. A big mistake is the lack of proactive communication and transparency.
At ShipBob, we provide notifications for every step of the order process, from when it is routed to a facility, picked, packed, staged, picked up by the carrier, and then carrier tracking. Most brands only send a confirmation when the order is placed and when it is delivered. That is a missed opportunity.
"Where is my order" is the number one customer service request. Getting ahead of that improves the customer experience dramatically.
Brands should also highlight fast and affordable shipping throughout the customer journey, from ads to website product pages. Amazon has trained customers to expect fast and free.
Customization and unboxing experiences are important too. Some brands save money by using custom packaging only for first orders, then switching to standard packaging after. You can also tailor marketing inserts based on customer behavior, using packaging as a cross-sell and upsell channel.
Packages are one of the only channels with a 100 percent open rate, so brands should maximize that opportunity.
Carly Horn: I love that, thinking about shipping and fulfillment as marketing. What are some other ways this can look in practice, and can you share a brand that is doing it really well?
Casey Armstrong: There are a few great examples. Bloom Nutrition, who I mentioned earlier, is excellent. They offer fast shipping, but also stagger perks with different cart amounts.
For instance, $50 gets you free shipping, and $55 gets you free shipping plus a Bloom tote bag. It encourages larger purchases while reinforcing the brand experience.
Another example is Our Place, a leader in the home goods space. Their products are heavy, yet they offer free two-to-three day shipping by distributing inventory across four or five facilities.
Instead of shipping products across the country, they ship within close regions, keeping costs down. That lets them offer free shipping on heavy products and extend shipping windows during holidays, leading to more last-minute purchases and millions in extra revenue.
For smaller brands, it can mean thousands or tens of thousands of additional dollars.
Carly Horn: That is really interesting. As a customer, around the holidays, you definitely think about those cutoff dates. Switching gears a little, how can marketing teams collaborate more effectively with operations to create a seamless post-purchase experience?
Casey Armstrong: Marketing can shape the unboxing experience, inform proactive communications, and gather feedback from customers to improve fulfillment operations.
Teams should call out their shipping and fulfillment strengths early in the customer journey. Include it in ads, on product pages, and in cart experiences. Some brands show progress bars at checkout to encourage upsells toward free shipping perks.
Brands often have great post-purchase experiences but fail to bring that message upstream in the customer journey. Highlighting it earlier can really drive conversions. Also, do not forget about the unboxing moment. Even if margins are tight, brands can customize the first shipment to create surprise and delight.
Carly Horn: Yes, especially thinking about the 100 percent open rate that comes with physical packages. That is such a key opportunity.
What role do you think proactive communication, like delivery messaging and tracking updates, plays in reducing support volume and improving NPS?
Casey Armstrong: It plays a huge role. "Where is my order" is the number one support request, so proactive communication helps both the customer and the business.
It builds trust with the customer, which drives repeat purchases and word-of-mouth referrals. It also saves time for the CX team, helping them stay lean and respond faster.
If done right, it can drive more top-line revenue while improving the bottom line through fewer support tickets and lower headcount needs.
Carly Horn: Absolutely. It allows agents to focus on complex issues instead of handling simple status updates. For brands that want to turn fulfillment into a true CX differentiator, where should they start?
Casey Armstrong: First, distribute your inventory if your catalog and scale allow for it. It is the best way to reduce costs and improve transit times.
At ShipBob, we even offer inventory placement programs to automate this for brands. With tariffs and rising costs, maintaining a great fulfillment experience helps consumers tolerate price increases a bit more easily.
Brands should also use fulfillment data to push updates proactively, not just at order confirmation and delivery. Few brands leverage this today, but it builds massive trust.
Finally, pull your fulfillment differentiators into your marketing funnel. Highlight free or fast shipping wherever possible because getting the first sale is harder than getting the repeat one. You want to make that first experience as strong as possible.
Carly Horn: Trust keeps coming up across all our conversations. It is a major theme right now, and fulfillment definitely plays a big role.
Any last takeaway you want the audience to remember before we hop off?
Casey Armstrong: There is a lot of chaos in the supply chain right now, with tariffs, de minimis rule changes, and other shifts globally. Brands are trying to navigate all this while running their businesses day to day.
If anyone has questions, even if they are not looking to move fulfillment providers, we are happy to share what we are seeing in the market. It is a lot to keep up with, but staying informed can make a huge difference.
Closing thoughts
As customer expectations for fast, affordable, and transparent shipping continue to rise, fulfillment is no longer just an operational task, it is a strategic driver of customer experience and growth. Casey Armstrong reminds brands that proactive communication, inventory distribution, and treating fulfillment like a marketing channel can create a major competitive advantage. For CX leaders, the message is clear: the post-purchase experience is as important as the first click, and it can make or break customer trust.
Looking for a comprehensive tool that can help you make big strides in your customer experience? Check out Kustomer. Our all-in-one customer service platform and CRM, powered by AI, allows brands to streamline costs and operations. Explore Kustomer today!
