HeroBracelets.org
Live Oak Automates Web Site Supporting Families of Military
The Challenge
When Chris Greta, owner of HeroBracelets.org, started the Web site to sell bracelets commemorating individual fallen, wounded or currently serving heroes of the Iraq War, he knew he had a good idea. Visitors to the Web site could pay for a bracelet with a random hero’s name inscribed or request a bracelet dedicated to a specific serviceperson. 100 percent of the profit would go to the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, which supports the families of the war dead. “I believe the best way to support and honor these brave men and women is to support the families they may leave behind,” explains Greta, also owner of the Ad Ranch advertising firm in Austin, Texas.
What Greta didn’t anticipate is how well his good idea would catch on. Following coverage of herobracelets.org by Fox, CNN, Larry King Live and the Associated Press, orders started coming in by the thousands. But Greta’s fulfillment process was decidedly manual and low tech. He would either fulfill orders out of current stock or send custom orders manually to his supplier, National Band & Tag, and wait for the vendor to return the custom bracelets. What’s more, the Web site wasn’t equipped to accept credit cards, so Greta had to process stacks of envelopes with checks and money orders. He had to recruit family members, friends and employees to help process the deluge of orders.
The Solution
Overwhelmed, Greta turned to Live Oak 360 to automate his Web site and fulfillment processes. Live Oak worked with National Band & Tag and got the vendor to agree to handle HeroBracelet’s orders directly if the process could be automated. Live Oak created an automated system to send a daily batch of orders to the tag vendor. The data file is loaded directly into the tag vendor’s manufacturing system. A search function was also created for the Web site, so visitors can search the list of available heroes by rank, name, town, home state and military branch. The list is updated through a Web-based upload. What’s more, Live Oak engineered the site to accept credit-card payments.
The Benefits
On the front end, visitors to the Web site can now use the site’s advanced search functions to easily find specific hero names. Custom orders used to be only 10 percent of the site’s sales. Now, they’re 60 percent. On the back end, direct, automated fulfillment means that orders are filled faster and more accurately by the manufacturer. And credit-card capabilities further streamline the fulfillment process, freeing Greta to focus on promoting the site. In fact, HeroBracelet’s ability to handle greatly increased sales volumes means that the site can add the names of fallen heroes from other wars like Vietnam. "e;The new Website and production system have allowed us to serve a higher volume of customers than we originally imagined,"e; says Greta. "e;Our ultimate goal is to be able to send bracelets to every family member that has ever lost a soldier they loved."e;
