Bliss Direct, the UK & Ireland’s largest supplier of UV tanning lotions and beauty wholesale products, is saving up to 25 hours per week in peak periods and processing up to 300 orders per day after implementing Forterro’s Orderwise, the ERP and warehouse management solution.
The business has streamlined order processing, forecasting and stock control while sustaining consistent year-on-year growth of around 5% since the pandemic — all with a lean team of just 13 employees managing thousands of SKUs.
Founded in 1996 as a single-catalogue supplier, Bliss Direct has grown into a leading wholesale distributor serving more than 2,500 salon customers. As the business expanded, manual processes — including handwritten orders, paper-based picking, and finance-led systems — began to limit efficiency and visibility across operations.
“Before Orderwise, everything was manual — handwritten orders, picking by memory and paper-based dispatch admin. It worked when we were small, but as we expanded it became increasingly inefficient,” said Mark Tillotson, Managing Director at Bliss Direct. “Orderwise has given us the tools to automate our processes, save valuable time and continue growing without increasing complexity. During peak periods, we’re saving up to 25 hours a week in sales order processing alone and we have increased year-on-year order growth by 5%.”
Since adopting Orderwise, Bliss Direct has achieved:
- Up to 25 hours saved per week in peak periods
- Capacity to process up to 300 orders per day
- Around 5% year-on-year order growth since the pandemic
- Automated forecasting saving more than two hours per week
With a newly expanded warehouse adding 200m² of space, Bliss Direct is now further investing in operational efficiency to support continued growth across the UK and Ireland’s professional beauty sector.
Carrie Tallett, Senior Product Manager, Forterro’s Orderwise, said:
“Bliss Direct demonstrates how the right ERP platform can unlock both efficiency and sustainable growth. By replacing manual processes with Orderwise’s integrated capabilities, they’ve created time savings, improved visibility and built a scalable operational foundation.”
Part of Forterro’s portfolio of industrial midmarket software solutions, Orderwise is designed specifically for wholesalers, distributors and trade-focused retailers, helping organisations simplify complexity and scale with confidence.
