Integrating new order fulfillment systems with Patch

Overview

Following its acquisition by arena.online, Patch needed to integrate its order fulfillment operations with Arena’s more established infrastructure. Patch partnered with Lambert Labs to design and implement a new microservice architecture on AWS, enabling seamless communication between Patch’s systems and Arena’s APIs. This integration streamlined processes, reduced costs, and, most importantly, ensured a smooth transition for Patch’s customers, with no disruption to service.

There is no other way of saying it – we just liked the
people we worked with from Lambert Labs.
Katherine Suddaby, Managing Director Patch / COO Arena Online

Opportunity / Customer Challenge

After its acquisition by Arena, Patch faced the complex challenge of integrating its order fulfillment operations with those of Arena. While the acquisition presented significant opportunities for synergy and scale, consolidating fulfillment into Arena’s larger, more established warehouse infrastructure required a significant overhaul of Patch’s existing systems.

This meant not only migrating away from Patch’s network of third-party logistics providers and integrating with Arena’s bespoke fulfillment platform, but also coordinating a large-scale operational shift with numerous moving parts. The technical challenge involved adapting Patch’s e-commerce platform and back-office systems to seamlessly communicate with Arena’s order management and warehouse systems. The human challenge lay in managing the transition for Patch’s customer service team, warehouse staff, and other stakeholders, ensuring minimal disruption to operations and maintaining a positive customer experience throughout the integration process.

Solution

To ensure a seamless transition and minimize disruption to Patch’s operations, a comprehensive integration plan was developed and executed in close collaboration with the Patch team. Leveraging the scalability and reliability of AWS, a new microservice architecture was built using Amazon EventBridge, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), AWS Lambda, and Amazon API Gateway to enable efficient communication between Patch’s systems and Arena’s fulfillment APIs. This involved careful data mapping and process standardization.

The migration prioritised maintaining a positive customer experience, requiring rigorous testing and coordination. The technical implementation was designed with future scalability in mind, using scalable services such as Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS) and AWS AppSync, allowing Patch to handle anticipated growth.

There is no other way of saying it – we just liked the people we worked with from Lambert Labs. They were honest, straightforward, never over promised, made sensible compromises and provided sound advice throughout the duration of the project. (Katherine Suddaby, Managing Director Patch / COO Arena Online)

Outcome

The successful integration of Patch’s order fulfillment with Arena’s has yielded significant benefits. By consolidating supply chains, Patch has achieved substantial cost reductions through economies of scale, including shared facilities, transportation, and bulk purchasing. The streamlined supply chain has increased efficiency and improved coordination across procurement and distribution, leading to faster order fulfillment. Enhanced inventory management through better visibility and control has lowered carrying costs and minimized stockouts.

Critically, the transition was seamless for Patch’s customers, with no disruption to their experience. The project’s key milestones were well planned and meant deadlines were met on time and within budget.

The integration process also fostered strong collaboration between the Patch and Arena engineering teams, ensuring a smooth transfer of knowledge and maintaining the high technical standards that both Patch and Arena had previously set out.

This was an excellent example of how native AWS services can be combined to create a modern, event-driven serverless architecture. It also demonstrated how, with sensible planning, significant AWS infrastructure can be deployed to production without adverse impacts while realising management’s strategic goals (George Lambert, Founder & CEO, Lambert Labs)

About Patch

Patch specialises in delivering plants and accessories to customers’ homes. The company was the UK’s first online plant business and was founded in 2016. They sell a range of both indoor and outdoor plants, pots, and plant care products, offering consumers a convenient one-stop shop for all things related to plants. Their growth since 2016 has been impressive, with a total of over 2 million plants sold to over 500,000 customers.