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November 18, 2024

How Versus Socks Scaled Global Shipping and Slashed Costs by 30%

Brett Flugel

About Versus Socks

Versus Socks is a South African premium sportswear brand founded in 2015. Known for their vibrant, high-performance socks, Versus blends style, comfort, and durability and is loved by athletes and fans worldwide.

The Challenge: Costly Expansion and Unoptimised Logistics

Versus aimed to grow globally, starting with the UK where they had a loyal customer base. They went all in to make it work and set up a UK-based company with local directors, customer support, warehousing, and ocean freight logistics.

But international expansion the old-school way came at a price:

  • High operational overheads

  • Inventory headaches across multiple countries

  • Difficulty updating product designs due to batch shipping

  • Expensive, admin-heavy shipping to countries outside the UK, relying on manual paperwork from South Africa

The Solution: Simpler International Shipping with TUNL

Versus reimagined their fulfilment model by shifting everything back to South Africa. No more juggling warehouses abroad. They went all-in on DTC (direct-to-consumer) international shipping with TUNL.

With TUNL’s Shopify integration and automation tools, Versus:

  • Centralised fulfilment locally

  • Streamlined label generation and shipping workflows

  • Made international orders as easy as local ones
Table comparing warehousing in the UK versus direct-to-consumer (DTC) fulfilment from South Africa
“With TUNL, we centralised fulfilment in South Africa, saved 30% on operational costs, and launched new socks globally with ease,” - Fredri Gunter, Head of Operations at Versus Socks.

And here's the kicker...

“Sometimes, we deliver to the UK faster than to some outlying areas in South Africa.”

The Results: Global Growth Without the Growing Pains

Since switching to TUNL:

  • Versus cut operational costs by 30%

  • Handled international orders with local-level efficiency

  • Crushed Black Friday with 600+ international orders fulfilled in just one day
graph showing Versus Socks’ operational costs decreasing and operating margin increasing after switching to TUNL for international fulfilment in October 2023

Take the Shortcut to Global Shipping Success

If you're a South African business looking to scale globally without the hassle, TUNL makes it simple.

Affordable international shipping from South Africa✅ Shopify integration with automated fulfilment
No warehousing abroad required

Ready to ship like Versus? 👉 Get started at tunl.to or chat to us at support@tunl.to.