Brightpearl lights up long-term success

Atlantic Cigar Company is a forward-thinking business with a long and impressive history. The family-run tobacco brand started out in 1996 with a single retail store in Tarrytown, New York.

Just 12 months later, the brothers behind the business decided to launch a website. In the context of modern times, that’s no big deal. But in 1996, the internet had yet to become mainstream and ecommerce was in its infancy. There were only around 100,000 websites and most people could only get online using slow dial up connections. 

But the gamble quickly paid off for Atlantic Cigar. Within months, the online business revenue overtook that of the retail store – and the brothers realized ecommerce was the foundation upon which the success of their brand could be built.

Stubbing out slow systems

Fast forward to 2018 and Atlantic Cigar had established a strong online reputation as a premium supplier of top brand cigars – such as Padron and Arturo Fuente – delivering outstanding service and prices. It had also expanded its retail stores and opened numerous cigar lounges in PA, CT & NY under the name The Cigar Republic. 

The company required a scalable, built-for-retail digital operations platform to simplify and streamline the operational complexity that had come with rapid growth. And they needed it fast. 

There was only one platform that was up to the task: Brightpearl. And, after being referred by agency Eventige they haven’t looked back.

“It was essential the operations platform we chose could integrate quickly and easily with BigCommerce,” said Paul Scipioni, CEO and President at Atlantic Cigar. 

“Brightpearl came highly recommended for being able to provide a ‘plug and play’ integration with BigCommerce, so we were eager to sign up.

“It was also really important to us for the software to be deployed quickly – we didn’t have months – or years – to wait for a legacy ERP to get set up. Brightpearl went live for us in about a month without any interruption to our day-to-day business, which was really impressive. 

“Brightpearl even sent a team out to our HQ to provide training for our team, so that we could make the most of the platform’s functionality from the very start.”

Smoking hot solutions

The business was enjoying steady growth until the coronavirus pandemic took hold. Demand surged overnight and growth jumped to 40% year-on-year.  

Luckily, Brightpearl is designed to be scalable, flexible and able to streamline everything from shipping and inventory management to accounting and CRM. 

“There’s simply no way we could have handled the volume of orders during the pandemic without Brightpearl,” added Paul. 

“Despite a huge increase in the volume of sales, we’ve been able to keep our same-day dispatch promise to customers.

“The platform has also saved us hiring up to 10 people to cope with the sustained spike in demand since 2020, saving us a significant amount of money.” 

Because Brightpearl is designed by experts especially for retail, it offers a dynamic ecosystem that grows as businesses do. As well as being intuitive and straight-forward to use, it’s packed with time-saving features that transform the day-to-day operations of brands like Atlantic Cigar.

From its market-disrupting automation engine to its best in class demand forecasting tool, Brightpearl is built to free up owners like Paul to spend less time managing back office systems and more time focussing on growth. 

“It’s not just BigCommerce that Brightpearl seamlessly syncs with,” Paul said.  

“It integrates well with lots of other apps we use to run our business, such as ShipStation and NoFraud, which we use to ensure our customers are over the legal age for buying cigars.

“It might seem like a small thing, but one of the main reasons we love Brightpearl is because it lets us quickly change prices. Tobacco is a crop – and prices can fluctuate frequently and at short notice. We offer a huge range of products so changing prices was previously a real headache. Brightpearl enables us to do it dynamically with just a few clicks. It means we are able to protect our margins.”

“With Brightpearl, we’ve been able to ship orders faster – and even order faster with manufacturers. The platform doesn’t just save us money, it helps our team make fewer mistakes. We wouldn’t be without it.”

With a growing following of loyal customers, Atlantic Cigar is now looking forward to a brighter-than-ever future. 

There are plans in place to grow wholesale operations and explore new channels, including marketplaces like eBay and Amazon for its cigar accessories and other non-tobacco products. 

“We’ve got big plans for the future, including a brand new warehouse,” Paul added. 

“With the Brightpearl on our side, we feel we can reach our full potential.”