Kendra Scott is more than a jewelry company—it’s a lifestyle brand that’s been expanding rapidly across retail and wholesale. In just one year, the team opened more than 25 new stores, launched the Yellow Rose concept, and deepened wholesale partnerships with major retailers like Target.
Behind that growth is a supply chain dominated by parcel shipping. For more than two decades, the company relied almost entirely on a single parcel carrier. That model worked when the business was smaller, but as volumes grew and new distribution nodes were added, it quickly became a liability. Expanding into a multi-carrier network was essential. But it introduced new complexity, just as expectations from finance and operations were rising.
The transportation team found themselves buried under escalating fees, opaque invoices, and siloed data. “Brilliance was being spent on clerical work,” said Kevin Chen, Outbound Supply Chain Manager. Instead of focusing on strategy, the team was reconciling invoices, chasing errors, and struggling to translate transportation data into what finance needed. Or, as Kevin put it, “small parcel invoicing is complicated and confusing—almost by design.”
The reality was clear: if Kendra Scott wanted to continue scaling, they needed a partner who could help them modernize their freight audit and pay (FAP) processes—not just another provider promising features that were “on the roadmap.”
Choosing partnership over promises
As the incumbent FAP provider’s contract came to an end, the transportation team launched a vendor search. They spoke with eight potential providers. Most fell short in the first meeting.
The team wasn’t looking for another “provider.” They were looking for a partner.
“To us, a provider gives you a tool and hopes it helps,” Kevin reflected. “A partner gets in the trenches with you, flagging issues you didn’t even know to look for, helping you see around corners.”
Loop stood out for three reasons:
- Multi-carrier readiness. While other platforms talked about future capabilities, Loop already supported the diversified network Kendra Scott needed.
- Accurate, granular, allocated data. Loop provided visibility the company had never had before—highlighting hidden carrier fees, surfacing discrepancies, and equipping the team with leverage for negotiations.
- Partnership mindset. Loop didn’t stop at dashboards. The team rolled up their sleeves to build customized reports, integrate with Kendra Scott’s broader data ecosystem, and deliver value on a tight onboarding timeline.
Within just 43 days of signing, Kendra Scott was live.
The transformation: visibility, accountability, and collaboration
With Loop in place, the difference was “night and day,” said Rose Hernandez, a supply chain analyst at Kendra Scott.
Carrier accountability. Loop flagged processing fees the team hadn’t noticed— insights that equipped Kendra Scott to have clearer, more confident conversations with both internal teams and carrier partners. With independent data in hand, they gained a new level of visibility and control over surcharges, discrepancies, and spend.
Finance alignment. During implementation, Loop uncovered a hidden pain point: finance was spending hours manually coding parcel spend in spreadsheets. Loop’s AI cost allocation engine automated this process, normalizing addresses, coding charges, and allocating spend with 99% accuracy. “Look how beautiful this is,” the finance team said when they saw the results.
Cross-functional value. Transportation and finance weren’t the only teams to benefit. Operations began using shipping data to analyze store-level performance. Merchandising tapped into regional demand patterns. IT integrated Loop’s normalized data into broader business intelligence tools. As Kevin put it: “Data became the nervous system of the company.”
“It’s not silo work anymore. We’re moving in the same direction, with real intersection.” - Rose Hernandez
AI that empowers people. Kendra Scott’s team was candid: “AI is a means, not an end. The end is better human work.” Loop stood out because its AI was foundational, built with domain expertise, far from the all too common bolt-on buzzword. Routine tasks like coding spend and catching hidden fees were automated, freeing people to focus on negotiations, strategy, and collaboration.
“AI only matters if it empowers your people, solves the right problems, and comes with domain expertise. Otherwise, it’s just noise.” - Kevin Chen
Looking ahead: continuous innovation
With Loop, Kendra Scott has transformed how its teams collaborate. Transportation decisions now flow seamlessly into finance. Finance insights loop back into contract strategy. And other departments are plugged into the same single source of truth.
But the partnership doesn’t stop there. Together, the teams are shaping the next wave of innovation: Loop’s contract intelligence. Earlier this year, Kendra Scott came onsite with our team to preview the new offerings, giving candid feedback to ensure the tools fit real shipper needs.
For Kendra Scott, the appeal was clear: contract negotiations are no longer a once-every-few-years procurement exercise. They are a strategic lever, directly tied to margin, competitiveness, and long-term growth.
As a large parcel shipper, Kendra Scott has seen firsthand how complex carrier agreements are today. Without deep visibility into their own shipping profile, even the most sophisticated shippers are at a disadvantage. Kendra Scott’s leaders saw that Loop’s contract intelligence capabilities could change that equation:
- Full transparency. Logistics-trained AI that can translate dense contract language into instant, actionable insights.
- Proactive savings monitoring. Real-time dashboards to track contract compliance, highlight missed discounts, and surface savings opportunities throughout the life of the agreement.
- Scenario planning. The ability to run “what if” models before signing, simulating the impact of new discounts, surcharge caps, or rate structures against actual historical data.
- Negotiation strength. Independent, accurate data to prepare targeted asks and walk into carrier conversations with confidence.
For Kendra Scott, this means they are no longer flying blind when contracts come up for renewal. They can enter negotiations with clarity, leverage, and a strategy rooted in their own data. And because Loop pairs this intelligence with decades of human expertise, the outputs are usable, actionable, and trusted.
As Rose summarized: “We’re not just users, we’re collaborators in product evolution. As we continue growing, having a partner that grows and adapts with us is invaluable.”
The bigger picture
The Kendra Scott story isn’t just about automating GL codes or catching hidden fees. It’s about what becomes possible when data is trustworthy, accessible, and shared across the business.
Diversification becomes manageable. Carrier negotiations become fair fights. Finance and transportation stop speaking different languages. And the brilliance of people gets unlocked from spreadsheets and redirected to strategy.
That’s the heart of Loop’s partnership: Loop provides the tools, but more importantly, the partnership and expertise to turn transportation data into a source of clarity, accountability, and collaboration.
In the words of Kendra Scott’s team: “That’s what we needed on our team to fight the good fight—and that’s what we found with Loop.”
If you're looking for a partner, not just a provider, get started with Loop today.
