How Bloem reduced marketplace management costs by over 50% with ChannelEngine

About Bloem

Founded in 2012, Bloem is a US-based manufacturer of planters, watering cans, and gardening accessories. The company develops products for indoor and outdoor spaces and works with retailers across the US.

As its ecommerce business grew, Bloem saw opportunities to reach more customers through new online sales channels. To support its expansion plans, the company wanted to bring more marketplace operations in-house, gain greater control over its channels, and keep management costs from rising with every new connection.

For Kristopher Nickolaus, Channel Director, National Accounts + Ecommerce at Bloem, this meant finding a marketplace management platform that could support the company's expansion plans.

The challenge: A marketplace setup that no longer matched Bloem's ambitions

Bloem had traditionally outsourced much of its ecommerce operations, including managing marketplace connections through an external provider.

The arrangement initially worked well. But as the company explored more sales channels and took greater ownership of its ecommerce activities, its requirements changed.

Three factors prompted Bloem to consider switching providers: price, scalability, and communication. 

Rising costs made expansion more expensive

Under Bloem's previous setup, adding marketplace connections often meant paying additional fees or upgrading to a higher service package. Even connecting a second Shopify store increased costs.

For a company looking to explore new sales channels, these charges made it more expensive to test opportunities and adjust its marketplace strategy.

Bloem wanted the flexibility to expand without increasing marketplace management costs every time it added a connection. 

Limited flexibility to scale independently

Expanding across marketplaces also meant managing different channel requirements and taking on more operational responsibilities.

Bloem was developing its internal ecommerce expertise and wanted to configure connections, understand how they worked, and manage future launches directly. However, its existing managed-service model kept many of those activities dependent on external teams. 

Slow communication when technical issues arose

Technical issues highlighted another limitation of the existing arrangement.

When connection problems occurred, Bloem depended on its provider to investigate and resolve them. A support request could receive an overnight response from an outsourced team, followed by several days of back-and-forth communication before the cause was identified.

Even when the team had already investigated the likely problem, it still needed external assistance to move toward a resolution.

Reflecting on how the company's needs had changed, Kristopher explained:

"Our previous provider served us well in the early stages. But as we scaled and our needs became more complex, it became clear we needed a different approach."

Kristopher Nickolaus
Channel Director, National Accounts + Ecommerce

This prompted Bloem to look for a platform that offered more predictable costs, greater independence, and responsive technical support.

The solution: Switching to ChannelEngine and taking greater control

ChannelEngine offered Bloem a marketplace management approach that better matched its evolving needs.

Under its new setup, Bloem could continue adding connections using the same platform tools without the additional per-connection fees it had previously encountered.

The self-service model also gave the team direct access to configure connections, manage channel-specific requirements, and investigate technical issues without depending on an external team for every adjustment. 

Making the switch with hands-on onboarding support

Switching marketplace integration platforms involves more than connecting to a new system. Teams need to establish their sales channel connections, ensure product data meets marketplace requirements, and become familiar with new tools and processes.

For Bloem, the transition also involved moving away from a managed-service model and taking greater responsibility for its marketplace operations.

ChannelEngine's onboarding team worked closely with Bloem throughout the setup process. Rather than configuring every connection on Bloem’s behalf, the team provided guidance while encouraging Bloem to work directly with the platform.

This helped Bloem learn how to set up connections, understand the available tools, and develop a process it could repeat when launching additional channels. The experience helped the team become more confident using the platform independently, while keeping expert support available when needed.

Making the most of existing product data and marketplace expertise

Bloem's existing technical knowledge and product data readiness also contributed to its implementation speed. The company uses Salsify to manage its product information. That data flows into ChannelEngine, where it is processed and distributed to connected sales channels according to their requirements.

This allowed Bloem to retain its existing product data system while using ChannelEngine to manage marketplace connections and the different requirements of each sales channel.

For sellers switching integration providers, product data readiness can have a direct impact on how quickly new connections go live.

Each marketplace has its own required product attributes. Teams that understand those requirements and have the necessary information available are better prepared to configure connections efficiently.

Kristopher emphasized this point:

The results: Lower costs, faster expansion, and greater independence

Within five months of switching to ChannelEngine, Bloem had reduced its marketplace management costs, established connections across multiple sales channels, and changed how its team managed day-to-day operations. 

Over 50% savings while continuing to expand

So far, cost savings have been the biggest financial benefit of the move.

Eight connections across six platforms in five months

Since going live with ChannelEngine, Bloem has launched eight connections across Amazon, Walmart, Target, Lowe's, and multiple TikTok Shop and Shopify stores.

For Kristopher, who has extensive experience managing marketplace operations, the implementation speed was a standout achievement.

More independence in everyday operations

Beyond launching new connections, Bloem has also changed how it handles technical issues.

With direct access to its marketplace connections, the team can identify potential problems, investigate their causes, and resolve many of them internally.

When further assistance is needed, ChannelEngine's support specialists can provide guidance or direct the team to relevant resources.

More flexibility to explore fulfillment options

Bloem is also adapting how it fulfills orders across its sales channels.

The company initially relied mainly on Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and Walmart Fulfillment Services (WFS). More recently, it has increasingly used its own facility in Florida to fulfill orders directly.

The team also piloted Walmart Multichannel Solutions (MCS) and is exploring Amazon Multi-Channel Fulfillment (MCF) for TikTok Shop orders to speed up delivery to customers.

📖 Additional reading: Amazon MCF vs. Walmart MCS: A complete multichannel fulfillment comparison

What's next: More channels and international opportunities

With its initial connections established, Bloem is continuing to explore where its products could reach new customers.

Meijer is among the next planned channel connections. ChannelEngine's compatibility with Mirakl-powered marketplaces also creates opportunities to explore additional retail channels without adopting a separate integration platform for each one.

Looking further ahead, Bloem is considering international expansion through Amazon and Walmart's international marketplaces, alongside platforms such as Rakuten and Coupang.

As its marketplace presence develops, the company also plans to refine its fulfillment approach and explore additional capabilities within ChannelEngine.

Considering switching marketplace integration providers?

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