How Beauty Bay moved a large China shipment on time and on budget with a mixed-mode freight solution

Founded in 1999 in Manchester as Fragrance Bay, Beauty Bay grew from a niche fragrance retailer into one of the UK's leading online beauty destinations — over 10,000 products across more than 200 brands, plus their own cruelty-free line By Beauty Bay. With a large product range sourced globally and customers who expect consistent availability, getting goods from origin to UK warehouse on time and on budget is critical — and when a significant volume of stock needed to move quickly from China, Beauty Bay needed a freight partner who could think beyond a single-mode solution.

Last updated 22 July 2026

3-mode

Freight solution

air, rail & sea combined

On time

All cargo delivered

every delivery window met

Lowest

Blended freight cost

vs a single air-freight option

At a glance

Industry: Beauty & Cosmetics, eCommerce
ICP: International Freight
Market: China → UK
Service: Mixed-mode freight (air, rail & sea)
Key Feature: Split-mode shipping to meet multiple delivery windows
Result: All cargo arrived on time, at the most cost-effective rates

The stack behind this story

Shipping

Freight

The Challenge

Beauty Bay had a large volume of goods ready to leave China within a short window, but the stock was needed in the UK across several different time frames. Not everything was required at the same time, and not everything justified the same freight cost. A single air freight solution would have been fast but commercially inefficient across the full volume; sea freight alone could not meet the tighter delivery windows on part of the cargo. Beauty Bay needed a flexible freight solution that matched each part of the cargo to the right mode of transport, at the right cost, arriving at the right time.

The Solution

ITD Global designed a mixed-mode freight solution that split the cargo across three modes: air, rail and sea. The most time-sensitive stock was moved by air freight, ensuring it arrived in the UK ahead of the earliest required date. The second tranche was routed via rail freight from China, a cost-effective and reliable alternative for stock needed within the mid-range window. The remaining volume, where lead time allowed, was shipped by sea freight, keeping costs at their lowest. Each mode was selected not just for speed, but for commercial logic — every part of the cargo matched to the most cost-effective option that still met its delivery deadline.

The Result

Every part of the shipment landed in the UK within its required window — no delays, no shortfalls, no compromises on availability. By routing each tranche through the most commercially appropriate freight option, ITD Global kept overall freight costs significantly lower than a single air freight solution would have allowed.