ScrubDaddy are a household staple, initially throughout the US and now around the world. Founder Aaron Krause initially conceived of the idea whilst running a manufacturing business, patenting the sponge with one smooth and one grooved side. The idea was shelved and didn't gather steam, until Aaron used it to clean his own lawn furniture and realised the potential.
Lori Greiner, too, saw the potential when Aaron took pitched the idea on Shark Tank, and the idea has since become one of the most profitable products taken onto the show. With a huge increase in interest and tons of spin off products to boot, the Scrub Daddy team needed a solution to help them seamlessly ship their products, both within the US and around the world. Hear how Shiptheory helped Scrub Daddy set up a process beyond their wildest shipping dreams.
Click here to learn more about Scrub Daddy or get some for yourself!
Michael Caruso
eCommerce Manager
If we got bombarded with 5,000 orders, it would probably take me 4-5 days to assign all those boxes and create all those batches. Now, I don't touch them at all.
Scrub Daddy Interview
We visited Scrub Daddy HQ to get the lowdown on how Shiptheory and TikTok Shop have helped them scale their business and increase efficiency.
Scrub Daddy Interview
Here's all that Michael Caruso, eCommerce Manager at Scrub Daddy, had to say about how Shiptheory has transformed their process.
Q: Give us a little background on the Scrub Daddy story.
Aaron created the prototype whilst running his old business, but it never took off then. It wasn't till his wife tasked him with cleaning the lawn furniture that he decided to try the old hand scrubbing foam, which he'd stored away and was slowly collecting dust.
It worked shockingly well and didn't scratch as he continued cleaning. Aaron noticed the cold air temperature was causing the foams texture to change becoming firmer. The the more rigid consistency delivered an extra inch of scrubbing power. Each time he dunked the foam back into the soapy water, it softened and conformed more easily.
After the furniture was clean, he brought the scrubber to the kitchen sink with little effort and some running water, the mucky scrubber look practically unused. When he tried it with its new test subject, the dishes, it was a match made in heaven.
Q: Walk us through the process of taking the product onto Shark Tank.
While watching Shark Tank, Aaron realized partnering with one of the sharks would be the key to opening those retail doors. He applied to the show after three long months of auditions and filming finally took place in July 2012.
Aaron's presentation grabbed the attention of Lori Greiner, who secured the winning deal. In May 2020, ABC aired a special entitled Swimming with the Sharks, looking back at some of the most successful ScrubDaddy investments, and Scrub Daddy was named Shark Tank's most successful product to date, a title which holds true to this day. Lori was actually here around two months ago and even she was taken aback at how successful we've been.
Q: Before Shiptheory, how were you booking shipments?
We were using a software called ShippingEasy. The major problem that we were having with them was that every time we got an order, we would have to go into ShippingEasy and myself or someone else had to go into each order and assign them a box based on the size of the order.
When we first started out at eCommerce, the site was built totally to assist with our QVC sales. It was mainly so we could say our QVC sales were cheaper than online.
Enter the world of Influencers. We had a cleaning influencer named Vanessa Amaro. To say that we call lightning in a bottle would be an understatement. We didn't go from 0 to 60 - we went from 0 to 240 miles an hour. The day she posted about our our Soap Daddies, we went from doing 3-5 orders a week to doing 11,000 orders in that day. We knew then that the process had to change.
Q: How did you hear about Shiptheory, and was there a reason you chose Shiptheory over other options?
So now you can see we had 11,000 orders come in, and literally had to assign a box to every order. It was taking weeks, and it was absolutely horrible. So we experimented doing it with ShippingEasy, and with a couple other shipping software systems, such as PirateShip. Shiptheory was recommended for our international shipments, but as soon as I got on the phone with Josh that conversation became secondary.
Our main problem was assigning the boxes, and I asked, ShippingEasy if there was any way they can do it and they said we'll put it on the list. And I felt that that once the phone call was over that list was crumbled up and thrown in the trash because I never heard back.
But Josh said "Mike, that is a phenomenal idea. I don't care what it takes. We're going to get this to work for you." I thought 'there's no way that these guys are going to do it.' Shiptheory proved me wrong and we got it working to where you and you guys made my life a hundred times easier.
Q: Can you give any indication of the amount of time you've saved using this process?
I'll use the number 5,000 as an example. If we got bombarded with 5,000 orders, it would probably take me 4-5 days to assign all those boxes and create all those batches. Now, I don't touch them at all.
So it literally went from 5 days to nothing now. Granted, we still have to get them out of our warehouse and everything else like that. But that portion of my job pretty much went away, so now I can concentrate on the more important things.
Q: What does your process currently look like, and how does Shiptheory complement your carriers and other technology?
We try to make it very, very easy. Our orders come from WooCommerce, and Shiptheory books in our orders with UPS. We see we ship with UPS Surepost for everything over a pound, and anything under a pound we ship with UPS Innovations.
Shiptheory has been so good so far. We haven't really had any hiccups, other than tiny things that all it takes is a phone call saying 'Hey this isn't working' and I get an email back within 10-15 minutes and it's fixed. The integration between the two systems, everything, it's been great.
Q: What's your growth been like? Do you have any proudest moments?
On the eCom side, I'm proud of how when I started we were doing around $300,000. The first year I took over we went from 300,000 to 3 million. The second year we went from 3 to 6 and this year we're probably on pace to do 12 million again. So that's my proudest moment.
For Aaron, out of the box it'd probably be partnering with Lori on Shark Tank, or another big proud moment is when we moved into our new building, which he pretty much had built from scratch. We went from a small warehouse to a huge one in Philladelphia with waterfalls and koi ponds - it's amazing.
Q: Would you recommend Shiptheory to other businesses looking to streamline their shipping?
In a heartbeat. You guys have really, really been great. And as we grow, I can see Shiptheory growing with us. If there's any kind of issues, or anything that would make the the process easier and better, I know you guys will take care of it for us.