Open six months a year, eight times the orders in four weeks: how Doux Cachemire fits a whole year into one season

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Doux Cachemire's shop is only open for around six months a year, and almost everything happens in that window. Over the last twelve months the brand shipped 11,200 orders. Its entire collection arrives in a single delivery, and at peak, weekly volumes go from 240 to more than 2,000 orders in just four weeks. Since 2021, Bigblue has picked, packed and shipped more than 40,000 Doux Cachemire orders, with a 93% delivery satisfaction rate and a return rate of just 2.6%.

Behind the brand is one person: founder Julie Gauderon, who handles the collections, sales strategy, marketing, website and customer service herself. It's a model that only works if logistics can open, absorb and close a whole season, at the same pace, every year.

A solo brand built around one hero product

Six and a half years after launch, Doux Cachemire is heading into its seventh winter season. It started with a single product, a cashmere scarf offered in around thirty colours from day one, and later added beanies, gloves and jumpers. The positioning is clear: a luxury fibre, a product made for gifting, and an average order value of around €90.

For the first few seasons, Julie packed and shipped every order herself while also running the website and customer service.

“I started the brand in my grandmother's garage, packing every order myself. Eventually volumes grew to the point where I had to hand over fulfilment, and that's when I called Bigblue.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

Since 2021, Bigblue has run all of her e-commerce logistics: receiving the collection, storage, pick and pack, shipping and returns. It's a 100% DTC operation connected to Shopify, shipping to France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Switzerland and many other countries.

One production run a year, six months of trading

The shop reopens for pre-orders in mid-September, just as the new collection lands at the warehouse. This year that meant 22,000 units in a single delivery. The first orders go out on 1 October.

“What makes Doux Cachemire different is that I'm only open for about six months a year. Things start gently on 1 October and build up to Black Friday at the end of November. Then Christmas is the big rush of the season.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

The constraint is built into the model. All the stock arrives at once and has to last the whole season, with no second production run to fall back on. Everything depends on an accurate sales forecast and on how quickly the warehouse can receive the collection, check it and get it into the picking zones before opening day.

From 240 to more than 2,000 orders a week

At the start of the season, the brand ships around 240 orders a week. Four weeks later, in the run-up to Christmas, that figure passes 2,000. That's eight times the volume, and the brand hasn't had to take on a single extra member of staff.

“We go from 240 orders a week in October to 2,000 in December. There's no way I could handle that volume myself.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

The ramp-up is planned well in advance. The forecasts the brand shares are used to plan warehouse staffing and resources ahead of each peak. Then comes Christmas, when delivery times make or break the whole season.

“Christmas is my biggest period, and delivery times are everything. Knowing that Bigblue is shipping around the clock to get orders to my customers before the holidays is a real weight off my mind.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

Cashmere comes with its own requirements

A luxury fibre can't be stored like a standard product. It needs protective packaging, a dry environment and a dedicated area prepared before the stock arrives. Before the season starts, hundreds of boxes arrive at the warehouse at once, and every item has to be checked, identified and put away in the right location in time for opening day.

“What impresses me about Bigblue's warehouse is how organised it is. There are hundreds of boxes, and each one is scanned on arrival and stored in a specific location. You know exactly where every product is.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

The work carries on after the shop closes. The leftover stock, around a dozen pallets, goes into long-term high-bay storage until the next season, then comes back down into the picking zones when the shop reopens.

“When the shop is closed, Bigblue stores the stock on pallets up in high-bay racking. It's secure and it keeps my costs down, and everything comes back in perfect condition when we reopen.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

Running it solo, hundreds of miles from her stock

Julie runs the brand without an in-house logistics team. She manages day-to-day operations through the Bigblue app, where she tracks stock levels and orders, and which connects to all her tools, from Shopify to Gorgias.

“I'm hundreds of kilometres from the warehouse, but I'm still in control of my stock and shipments. The Bigblue app gives me real-time visibility.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

For customers, tracking runs automatically. They get branded emails when their order is picked and when it ships, plus a self-service portal for returns and exchanges. When a gift has to arrive by a specific date, that visibility can matter as much as the product itself.

“Customers get an email when their order is being prepared, then another when it's dispatched. It all happens automatically, and I get very few ‘where's my order?’ messages.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

Five years on: a seasonal model that's become predictable

For the brand, the real value of the partnership is less about the volumes Bigblue handles and more about how predictable each season has become. Every year follows the same pattern: receive the collection, get the stock ready before opening, scale up, then close and move stock into long-term storage.

“I wouldn't dream of going back, or of moving my logistics to another provider. Every year we know what to expect. The processes are tried and tested, and that takes a lot of the stress out of it.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire

That long-term support has let the brand grow season after season without having to rethink its logistics each time volumes step up.

“We've worked together for five years, right from the start of the brand, so it's really grown up alongside Bigblue. It's a relationship built on trust, and a very human one.”Julie Gauderon, Founder, Doux Cachemire