Case Study: Desk Plants achieves 40% shipping cost savings and scalable fulfillment during COVID-19 with ShipStation

How Desk Plants Pivoted and Found Success During COVID-19

Desk Plants, founded in 2018 by Lawrence Hanley, supplies low-maintenance live plants to improve workspaces. When COVID-19 hit, the company pivoted from direct-to-consumer sales into corporate gifting—fulfilling orders for clients like Apple, Deloitte, and PepsiCo—which created a sudden surge in volume and exposed shipping and fulfillment problems (poor Shopify integration, lost orders, and inefficient local vs. large-shipment handling).

Desk Plants adopted ShipStation to automate fulfillment, integrate cleanly with Shopify, and enable bulk, three‑click label printing and automation rules. The switch also gave access to discounted carrier rates (about 40% shipping cost savings), eliminated manual friction, and let the team scale smoothly—freeing time to focus on product development, partnerships, and growth.

Desk Plants

Lawrence Hanley

Founder