MarketTech nabs fulfillment contract with California clothier

The company, founded by sole owner Mary Stevens in 2001, was awarded Ooh La La Mama’s e-commerce fulfillment contract in July.

“The orders come in on their Web site, they send them to us, we package them and ship them out,” Stevens said, noting that the relationship developed because both companies are members of Vendorseek.com, which provides leads for jobs to bid on within members’ industries.

Ooh La La Mama Founder Cindy Parker said her company shipped more than $20,000 in sales last month via MarketTech.

“We pay her per shipment … for boxes, wrapping paper, ribbon (and) we pay her individually depending on how big the shipment was and how much work she has to do to get it ready for us,” Parker said, though she declined to disclose the dollar value of her company’s contract with MarketTech.

Stevens said Ooh La La Mama’s California ad agency found MarketTech’s information online and contacted Stevens directly.

E-commerce fulfillment is just one avenue of business for MarketTech, and within that segment, projects vary. For client Reckitt-Benckiser, MarketTech ships samples of condiments and other products.

MarketTech also does off-set printing and design work and is a distributor of branded merchandise and promotional products for clients such as Cobalt boats.

“(Clients will) call us when it’s their convention time, and say ‘Here’s our theme. Can you come up with an invitation?’” Stevens said. “It could be that there’s special packaging, where we’ll actually package (items) together if they want it in a gift box and gift-wrapped. We do a lot of gift-wrapping around Christmastime for clients who send out gifts.”

While MarketTech does its printing in-house at 1241 Robin St. in Nixa, the company doesn’t manufacture other promotional products. Instead, the company locates the desired products for the clients.

Promotional product buys are done through MarketTech’s membership in the Advertising Specialty Institute.

“ASI is a network of local product suppliers, and we’re the distributor,” she said.

Stevens describes MarketTech as a full-service marketing company.

“We thought of ourselves as the architects of marketing,” Stevens said. “(Customers) may think, ‘We’ve got a golf tournament, and here are our items,’ but they want them packaged. We do the packaging part of it, coming up with creative packages (or) simple packaging, depending on their budget and their needs.”

A recent project entailed attaching header cards – cardboard labels that are attached to enable products to be hung on retail shelves – to 3,000 Goodyear Blimp models.

Stevens averages four employees, including her parents. MarketTech offers flex-time, which is often a recruiting tool for area college students.

“If we don’t have a project … they don’t have to work,” she said.

Flex-time is key, considering that unlike other companies in her industry, Stevens doesn’t make customers pay extra for what others would consider rush jobs.

“(Similar companies) work 8 to 5, and if it’s past 2 o’clock and you need something sent out, then you’ve got to pay a rush fee,” Stevens said. “There are companies out there that … maybe 9 o’clock at night, they need something, and it’s very expensive (because) a lot of companies charge … maybe $25 to get something sent out. Every project’s a rush to us,” she said.

Fees fluctuate based on the job. Bulk mail, where the same packages go to multiple addresses, is cheaper than specialized contracts where each request could be different. That flexibility was key in Parker’s decision to move Ooh La La Mama’s shipping to Nixa.

“All of the companies that I found in California were just charging these ridiculous prices,” Parkers said. “I got no personal service … but with Mary, I called and I got her right away (and) she gave me much more competitive pricing and tailored our package to be what we needed.

Growth expectations

Stevens said that MarketTech’s year-to-date sales are $1.2 million, and she expects to close the year out at about $1.5 million. In 2006, the company posted about $783,000 in sales.

Stevens said more growth could come via a contract with Germany-based Rossler Papier. “It’s a high-end stationery company with plans to move its fulfillment program to the United States in 2008,” Stevens said, noting that MarketTech is one of two companies vying for the project. “It would more than double our business.”

If that happens, Stevens said she’ll have to find more room for her operation.

“Right now, we only have about 3,000 square feet. I would be looking toward 10,000 (square feet) or more,” she said.

Beyond that, she’s also in the process of becoming certified by Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, with completion expected in the next couple of months. [[In-content Ad]]