** The newsletter for actionable insights and brand growth
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** THE BRIGHT SIDE OF DTC
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** Hello and welcome,
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** We’re excited to bring you an exclusive content series for 2026… ‘The Bright Side of DTC’.
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Unlike our OG newsletter, this new series is monthly, stepping away from events and diving into innovative, actionable insights with case studies and data to back it up. We’re proud to announce we’re teaming up with Brightpearl by Sage (https://www.brightpearl.com/) to deliver this to your inbox in 2026.
We believe there’s more room in the DTC landscape to celebrate and share the bright side of business, and that's where this newsletter steps in, a positive read designed to help and educate.
This month, we’re looking at the engine room. Specifically, what happens when your sales growth outpaces the systems you built to handle it?
In their new series, Brightpearl by Sage takes a look under the hood of Leader Online (https://www.leaderonline.com/) , one of the UK’s fastest-growing online retailers, to see how they rebuilt their tech stack without hitting the brakes.
** How Leader Online rebuilt its tech stack during the busiest quarter of the year
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Rebuilding your ecommerce operations while continuing to grow is no small feat. It’s like trying to change the engine of a car while you’re driving down the motorway at 70mph.
For Leader Online, the growth was there, high order volumes and an expanding catalogue, but the foundation was starting to crack.
They were relying on a legacy ecommerce platform and a warehouse setup that simply couldn’t keep pace with customer expectations.
** The specific bottleneck
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Before their transformation, the team was struggling with daily operational drag.
As Gary Murray, CTO at Leader Online, puts it:
"We were running into daily challenges... there was lots of manual intervention on order processes and even things as simple as day-to-day stock control."
They were hitting capacity limits, and their "archaic EPOS system" meant they couldn't be as agile as their entrepreneurial spirit demanded.
** The fix… automating operations
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Leader Online knew that to scale further, they needed a tech stack that worked for them, not against them. While they upgraded their frontend with other integrations, the core brain of the operation became Brightpearl.
By implementing Brightpearl as their central retail operating system, Leader Online unlocked features that were previously impossible:
1. Selling Future Stock (Forward Allocation)
They can now push future inventory to Shopify, allowing them to take pre-orders on stock that hasn't arrived yet, capturing revenue that used to be lost.
2. Automated B2B Pricing
Complex B2B price lists are now synchronised automatically from Brightpearl to Shopify.
3. Self-Service for B2B
Sticky B2B customers who used to rely on manual orders can now log in and place orders themselves, freeing up the sales team.
** The Impact
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The results went beyond just saving time. By stabilising their core operations, they were able to enter a previously inaccessible market which has now become a significant part of their growth plan.
But perhaps the most valuable metric is confidence.
"I feel like we've got a stable base now that we just trust and rely, which to me helps me sleep at night." - Gary Murray, CTO, Leader Online
** The Takeaway
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* Audit before you break: Don't wait for the wheels to fall off. If your current manual processes are just about managing today's volume, they will likely break during your next peak season.
* Integration is everything: The best tech stack isn't just about having powerful tools; it's about how those tools talk to each other. ERP, inventory planning, and operations need to work in sync.
* Scale requires stability: Marketing brings the sales, but operations builds the brand. You cannot scale a business on a shaky foundation without damaging the customer experience.
* Choose partners, not just platforms: It’s vital to work with teams that truly understand your brand and goals. You need partners who can adapt to your changing needs, not just sell you a fixed solution.
https://www.brightpearl.com/commerce-conversations/leader-onlines-tech-stack-secrets?utm_source=dtc
** COMMERCE CONVERSATIONS
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** Get the Full Story on Commerce Conversations
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Leader Online’s story is the focus of the very first episode of Commerce Conversations, a new webinar series hosted by Brightpearl and Inventory Planner by Sage.
If you are reviewing your own systems this year, this is a golden opportunity to learn from a brand that has been through the trenches.
Moderated by Chloë Thomas (eCommerce Masterplan), the session features Gary Murray (CTO at Leader Online) alongside the partners who helped build the stack, diving deep into:
* How to evaluate your current ecommerce technology.
* Where ERP, inventory planning, and operations need to intersect.
* Practical lessons on what to change as you scale.
Watch the episode now! (https://www.brightpearl.com/commerce-conversations/leader-onlines-tech-stack-secrets?utm_source=dtc)
https://2aahovc9gzu.typeform.com/to/irKeSTwP
** Join the conversation about everything eCom!
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We’re opening up the conversation inside the DTC Live Community Slack, sponsored by Brightpearl by Sage. Share what’s slowing you down and how you’re handling it, whether it’s inventory, reporting, fulfillment, or finance.
Sign Up Now (https://2aahovc9gzu.typeform.com/to/irKeSTwP)
** About Our Partner
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Brightpearl by Sage (https://www.brightpearl.com/) is a Retail Operating System built for fast-growing eCommerce and omnichannel brands. It connects everything from Shopify and marketplaces to warehouses, accounting tools, and 3PLs, so orders, inventory, and finances all run from one place.
It’s designed to flex as you grow, whether that’s adding new sales channels, expanding internationally, or handling peak trading without things breaking.
On average, retailers using Brightpearl’s automation engine save 352 hours a year (that’s two months of work!), reduce human errors by 65%, and cut labor costs by 50%.
As part of the Sage group and a founding Shopify ERP partner, Brightpearl powers millions of orders every month for brands that need their operations to keep up with their growth.
Explore more (https://www.brightpearl.com/dtc-live-ecommerce-inventory-management-software)
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