How Cart.com powered Underwear Expert’s growth through fulfillment optimization

June 13, 2025

5%

On-time shipping

Ensured that customers received their subscription boxes as expected, which kept engagement high and helped prevent cancellations.

99.12%

Full order fulfillment

Achieved an impressive order fulfillment rate, guaranteeing that every subscriber received the exact items they selected for their box.

99%

Same-day shipping for B2C orders

Surpassed expectations for same-day fulfillment, improving efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Before partnering with Cart.com, Underwear Expert, a men’s underwear and lifestyle company with a custom curated underwear subscription, faced challenges in its operations, particularly with shipping inconsistencies, rising costs and inventory management complexities. These challenges, typical in subscription-based businesses, were compounded by the brand’s dynamic, fully customizable subscription orders, which require near-perfect inventory accuracy. With Cart.com’s tailored solutions—including optimized shipping, real-time inventory management and the flexibility to handle specialized packaging—Underwear Expert was able to streamline operations and improve customer satisfaction, setting the company up for continued growth and long-term success.

The visionary behind Underwear Expert: Michael Kleinmann

Michael Kleinmann, founder of Underwear Expert, is a seasoned ecommerce entrepreneur with more than two decades of experience in building and scaling online businesses. Prior to founding Underwear Expert, Michael spent a decade as President of Freshpair, a
direct-to-consumer retailer that started out of his NYC apartment that offered over 30,000 SKUs and became one of the largest online retailers of underwear and other related products. His deep understanding of 3PL partnerships and logistics helped him successfully scale Freshpair which was acquired, and ultimately paved the way for him to launch Underwear Expert.

Michael’s entrepreneurial journey is marked by his ability to stay ahead of industry trends. In 2003, he launched National Underwear Day, a viral marketing initiative that gained hundreds of millions of impressions, years before social media and long before such strategies became mainstream. His forward-thinking approach has been integral in shaping his business ventures, allowing him to consistently anticipate and leverage emerging trends.

His experience has been pivotal in shaping the brand’s success. His ability to balance strategic vision with tactical execution has allowed Underwear Expert to overcome challenges inherent to the subscription-based model, setting them apart from the competition. By combining his expertise with the tailored solutions provided by Cart.com, the partnership has been instrumental in driving the brand’s growth, enabling them to scale efficiently while maintaining a premium customer experience.

Key challenges faced by
Underwear Expert

• Ensuring consistency in deliveries and customer satisfaction: Underwear Expert’s advanced, dynamic subscription model depends heavily on timely and reliable shipping. Any delays in fulfillment lead to a negative customer experience, undermining brand loyalty.
• Inventory management & accuracy: Managing inventory for a subscription-based business where customers curate their own orders presented unique challenges. Ensuring 99.9% inventory accuracy was essential to avoid stockouts and improve customer experience.
• Customization & unboxing experience: Underwear Expert wanted to deliver a premium unboxing experience with customized packaging, ensuring every subscriber felt special. They needed a partner capable of accommodating this level of personalization without inflating fulfillment costs.

How Cart.com addressed these challenges

Optimizing on-time shipping & reducing costs
Cart.com helped Underwear Expert implement a flexible shipping strategy that optimized freight rates and ensured 99% of orders were shipped the same day they were received. This improvement led to a 99% on-time shipping rate, significantly reducing delays and enhancing customer satisfaction. By providing tailored solutions, Cart.com played a key role in helping the brand meet its shipping commitments, which was crucial for maintaining subscriber loyalty and engagement.

Improving inventory accuracy
Through Cart.com’s custom integration with Underwear Expert’s proprietary inventory system, the company achieved 99.9% inventory accuracy, a critical factor for ensuring that reserved items were always available when needed. This real-time inventory management solution eliminated stockouts and helped the team deliver the exact products customers had selected, improving operational efficiency and preventing order discrepancies.

As Michael shared, “We’re doing all the real-time inventory reservations in our proprietary software with custom integrations into Cart.com’s APIs. If the items aren’t there, it leads to a bad customer experience, subscription cancellations, increased customer service and lost lifetime value.” This integration plays a pivotal role in maintaining the accuracy and efficiency that Underwear Expert needs to deliver excellence.

Custom packaging & unboxing experience
With Cart.com’s support, Underwear Expert delivers a premium, personalized unboxing experience that sets them apart from competitors. Cart.com’s flexibility in providing custom packaging solutions and the ability to manage personalized inserts allowed the brand to create a memorable experience that reinforces their brand’s commitment to quality.

“Unboxing and presentation are crucial for a subscription-based business,” Michael emphasized. “Cart.com allows us to customize. Other companies just don’t. We’ve worked with Cart.com to optimize packaging and reduce shipping costs as much as possible. This partnership has allowed us to extend the customer experience based on what Cart.com can do.” This customization not only enhanced the customer experience but also aligned with Underwear Expert’s high standards of service and branding.

Key results and impact

Through Cart.com’s solutions, Underwear Expert achieved significant operational improvements:

• 99% on-time shipping: Ensured that customers received their subscription boxes as expected, which kept engagement high and helped prevent cancellations.

• 99.12% full order fulfillment: Achieved an impressive order fulfillment rate, guaranteeing that every subscriber received the exact items they selected for
their box.

• 99% same-day shipping for B2C orders: Surpassed expectations for same-day fulfillment, improving efficiency and customer satisfaction.

• Custom packaging: Enabled Underwear Expert to deliver a premium unboxing experience, enhancing the customer journey and reinforcing brand loyalty.

What it’s like to work with Cart.com

Underwear Expert’s experience with Cart.com has been pivotal in optimizing their subscription fulfillment. The partnership allowed them to focus on their core business—product development and marketing—while Cart.com handled the complexities of inventory management, shipping and customization.

For Michael Kleinmann, having a reliable 3PL partner is essential. As he puts it, “A good 3PL partner takes you out of the warehouse management business so you can focus on what matters. Partnering with Cart.com allows us to focus on growing the business and delivering an excellent customer experience.”

Cart.com’s strategic impact on Underwear Expert’s growth
The partnership between Underwear Expert and Cart.com has successfully enhanced the brand’s operational efficiency. By addressing critical challenges in inventory management, shipping and customization, Cart.com has enabled the company to streamline operations, reduce costs and elevate the customer experience. Through its focus on innovative fulfillment solutions, inventory accuracy and personalized packaging, Cart.com has provided the support needed for Underwear Expert to sustain growth in the competitive subscription-based market.

This partnership highlights the value of leveraging strategic logistics and technology solutions to optimize subscription-based businesses, ensuring long-term success and customer retention. Underwear Expert’s ability to scale while maintaining a high level of customer satisfaction is a testament to the power of collaboration with a reliable 3PL partner like Cart.com.

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