Optimizing Print and Fulfillment: How Whirlpool Transformed Its Retail Marketing Operations

About Whirlpool

With headquarters in Benton Harbor, MI, Whirlpool Corporation is a preeminent kitchen and laundry appliance company with a rich history spanning over a century. The company manufactures a wide range of appliances and promotes several brands, including its namesake brand Whirlpool, Maytag, KitchenAid, Jenn-Air, and Amana. The company is deeply invested in its core values of integrity, innovation and quality, sustainability, and inclusion that drive its customer-centric approach.

Whirlpool Corporation continues to innovate and adapt to changing consumer needs, focusing on smart home technology, energy efficiency, and sustainability in its product development. The company continues to focus on improving life at home through innovative home appliance solutions.

The Challenge

Whirlpool had grown frustrated with the difficulty managing multiple print marketing vendors and coordinating schedules through disparate communication channels. They faced problems getting their product kits and marketing collateral consistently to their network of national retailers due to delays in issue resolution and hurdles integrating operations throughout an environment of proprietary systems, data silos, and fragmented tech stacks.

When Whirlpool determined to undertake greater control of their product marketing campaigns in the retail environment to promote their products, they turned to Marketing.com.

The scope of the project required a company that could oversee the large volume of print materials needed, and deliver consistent quality, specialty finishes and hand bindery, for their large product lines. They also needed a fulfillment partner to distribute the marketing collateral to thousands of Home Depot, Lowes, Menards, Best Buy, and other retail store locations across the nation.

Whirlpool also wanted a company that could provide diverse kitting solutions and tailor kits to meet the unique needs of each retail establishment with efficient order processing and scalability to adapt to changing market conditions. They sought a way to make it easy for Whirlpool’s retail partners to order, replace, and track marketing materials and to ship the orders cost-effectively to them.

Our Solution

Inspired by Whirlpool’s “Every Day, Care” slogan, Marketing.com designed a customizable, scalable, integrated print and inventory management solution with a focus on critical quality control, product integrity and on-time delivery for product marketing materials at a retail level

We initiated a full-service print, kitting, and fulfillment program that streamlined operations and significantly reduced points of contact with outside vendors to meet daily shipment requirements. Our facilities in South Bend, IN, which include a full-service print center and a warehouse with 1,954 skid locations to handle kitting and fulfillment, manages all of Whirlpool’s print and shipping needs. We also introduced an intuitive, customized ordering portal that lets reps in the field search products by model number.

Our national network of print and fulfillment centers gives us the flexibility to determine the most streamlined processes for our customers, and in this case both facilities are only 40 miles from Whirlpool’s headquarters. This proximity adds a special element to our relationship and has allowed us to grow more responsive as the scope of the company’s marketing programs have increased. Like Whirlpool, we share the belief that it’s the simple acts of care we perform every day that are important, and we value the relationship with them that’s developed.

The Result

Over our twelve-year relationship, Marketing.com has become the primary print supplier for Whirlpool’s in-house marketing agency that works with clients like Lowes, Menards, and Home Depot. We print and ship catalogs printing, brochures, price books, technical guides in addition to sales kits for washing machines, dryers, microwaves, standing mixers, and other appliance displays.

We collaborate closely with daily communications that include phone calls and emails to: