Cheekoo’s isn’t your ordinary eCommerce destination for home goods and gift-giving items.
A small (but mighty) family-run business, Cheekoo’s offers unique, curated products sourced from local artists around the world. Founded in 2020 by Isabel Wang and Shailesh Kumar, the couple had a dream to bring awareness of global artisans to the U.S. market, helping grow their global reach and overall presence.
The name Cheekoo is derived from the popular Indian fruit of the same name which has a humble brown appearance but is known for its sweet flavor and health benefits. Additionally, in Chinese, the name reflects diligence and care—both of which are shown in the company’s mission to promote love, care, and productivity all while providing environmentally conscious products in a sustainable manner.
As the company started to grow and source products from additional artists, Isabel and Shailesh couldn’t keep up with fulfilling orders on their own anymore. Hear more below about how Deliverr was able to help Cheekoo’s meet their fulfillment needs in a cost-effective way, leaving more time to focus on what matters most: sourcing and supporting local artists.
Recognizing the need for sustainable growth
Prior to partnering with Deliverr, Cheekoo’s kicked off its eCommerce presence on Amazon. While this channel helped the company garner visibility and exceed its sales goals in just one year’s time, Isabel and Shailesh realized they were still fulfilling the bulk of their orders on their own and the channel didn’t align with its mission of supporting local in an environmentally conscious way.
Moreover, Isabel and Shailesh knew that keeping Cheekoo’s products solely within Amazon FBA would deter the company from scaling operations and expanding into new markets (and cost them a lot of money along the way). In short, they needed a 3PL partner that could help foster more sustainable growth.
Increasing sales and SKUs through a hassle-free fulfillment partnership
Fulfillment can be cumbersome, but Deliverr makes it hassle-free. To take the fulfillment responsibility off its own hands, Cheekoo’s moved inventory into the Deliverr network and started selling on two new channels – Walmart and eBay.
Although able to drive consistent order volume month-over-month using Deliverr Fast Tags on Walmart (seeing up to an 11.1% boost in sales over one month due to the benefit of fast shipping*), the company was unable to sell its more unique, artisan items on this channel. Isabel and Shailesh were ready to get back to its mission of supporting local artists by shifting focus to a direct-to-consumer store.
While Walmart was a catalyst for building brand presence in-market, Cheekoo’s saw value in shifting focus to its DTC store. Leveraging Deliverr’s Shopify integration, Cheekoo’s was able to increase product demand and go from roughly 70 SKUs to over 150 in just one month – a 114% overall increase.
*Fast Tag boost is the extra sales that merchants get when showing fast shipping badges on their listings. Learn more about our methodology for calculating this boost in sales here.
“Deliverr helped us remove the fulfillment bottleneck. By offering a simple setup, detailed help documentation, and human support, we were able to connect our sales channels and start selling with ease.”
– Shaliesh Kumar, Co-founder
By transitioning more than 90% of its fulfillment services to Deliverr, Cheekoo’s was able to grow its sales by an upwards of 145%.
What’s next for Cheekoo’s
Cheekoo’s current artisan partners include Touchstone Pottery, local to Michigan, and Matr Boomie, local to India. The brand’s goal is to grow the number of artisans they work with to 10-15 in the coming months—sourcing from new countries such as China.
With a goal of only selling unique, hand-made goods, the company plans to transition off of Walmart and sell exclusively on its Shopify-enabled site. This will require sending more inventory into the Deliverr network and building out a more diverse Shopify catalog.
Find out how Cheekoo’s and other small- to medium-sized brands are growing their business with Deliverr’s Fulfillment and Logistics Services.
