eVitamins

Great Vitamins and Nutritional Supplements at Great Prices

eVitamins logo How does a leading supplier of top vitamins and nutritional supplements better fulfill the needs of its customers? By using Endicia to streamline its shipping – that is how.

In business since 1999 and operating as eVitamins since 2002, eVitamins is a multi-channel retailer of vitamins and nutritional supplements. With over 300 different vendors at its disposal, eVitamins offers a wide selection of the best vitamins and nutritional supplements at prices up to 70% off retail. Plus, with a nutritional consulting staff of doctors, nutritionists, dieticians and certified personal trainers, eVitamins empowers individuals to make informed purchasing decisions about the management of their health.

Background.  Founded and headed by Thomas Wick, eVitamins has quickly become a chief provider of the best vitamins and nutritional supplements. Its offerings not only include vitamins and nutritional supplements but also home healthcare products, such as blood pressure monitors and cholesterol test kits, natural organic household items, including shower filters, corn-based plastic water bottles, wood preservers, and water filter kits, and soon, even organic clothing.

Sampling of eVitamin products

In addition to priding itself on its vast array of very-well-priced, quality merchandise, eVitamins also prides itself on providing the latest health information, research, unbiased customer reviews, and opinions to educate consumers about their daily health decisions and nutritional shopping. Believing that knowledge is the key to health, it vows to do its best to be a nutritional resource for individuals and their families. A free health encyclopedia, free health recipes, and free health news are just a few ways that eVitamins enables people to become more active in the management of their health.

eVitamins sells online, via its website, as well as through a mail-order catalog and a few retail stores in the Detroit, Michigan area. Its biggest sellers are vitamin supplements, including multivitamins, herbs, and antioxidants, plus bodybuilding items (protein powders, supplements, amino acids, weight gainers, and the like). Some 350 orders are placed per calendar day, with approximately 500 shipments occurring on any given Monday through Friday. About 75% of the shipments go via the Postal Service.

Endicia’s Role. An Endicia customer since April 2004, eVitamins is nearing $1 million in postage printed, taking advantage of Endicia Professional to streamline its shipping done via the Postal Service. It prints shipping labels for most single-piece Postal Service mail classes, with the exception of the flat rates, postcard rate, Express Mail International, and Global Express Guaranteed.

Screen Shot of the eVitamins website

eVitamins employs in-house, proprietary software to bridge its order database with Endicia Professional. Upon scanning a barcode on the picking slip, the order information, including the shipping method, is retrieved. The shipper then generates the complete, postage-paid shipping label and posts back the shipping information – tracking data, weight, shipment method, among other – to eVitamins’ order database. Once the post-back has occurred, eVitamins updates the customer’s account information and, at the time the order has shipped, sends an e-mail to the customer.

eVitamins particularly likes Endicia Professional’s ease of integration and the quickness and accuracy that it brings to its shipments. Retrieving shipping information via a barcode scan saves eVitamins time and money and improves shipping accuracy, while posting back the shipment details updates its database.

eVitamins further benefits from Endicia Professional via its bulk acceptance scan. The scan enables eVitamins to provide proof-positive to customers that their orders bearing electronic Delivery or Signature Confirmation have shipped. eVitamins simply goes online to its Endicia account management pages and prints a single-barcoded bulk acceptance form. The postal carrier or postal clerk then scans the barcode on the form, and all the shipments embedded therein are immediately inducted into the mail stream. Customers tracking their orders see the date, time, city, state, and Zip Code of acceptance by the Postal Service. The result is fewer customer calls to eVitamins, fewer “trust me” statements for its customers, and peace of mind for all involved.

In addition to the bulk acceptance scan, eVitamins uses most Endicia’s Stealth Postage (hidden postage value). By hiding the postage amount on shipping labels, Stealth Postage makes the disparity between shipping and handling charges and postage fees no longer apparent to customers, enabling eVitamins to protect profit margins and keep customers smiling. Plus, when used in conjunction with the integrated label layouts for Priority Mail International, eVitamins saves 5% off the retail rate for Priority Mail International.

Thomas Wick of eVitamins states:

“With Endicia, we have enjoyed a 30% reduction in shipment costs, which has amounted to thousands of dollars in savings. The savings alone on delivery confirmation has more than paid for Endicia.”

The Future.  In addition to growing its existing markets, eVitamins plans to expand into other markets, particularly international ones. It will increase its presence in the healthcare market, selling durable medical equipment, medical supplies, and healthcare equipment for senior citizens.

To learn more about eVitamins, visit www.evitamins.com.



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