Case Study: SERPENTINE

How a landmark London gallery transformed its art-logistics
partnership to support rapid Shopify growth

Service
eCommerce Fulfilment / Art Logistics

SECTOR
Art

CHALLENGE
Fast growth led to fulfilment pressure

OUTCOME
Fulfilment for fluctuating demand

SCALING CULTURE

– THE BRAND
FREE ART FOR ALL, SINCE 1970

Serpentine displays contemporary art across two sites in Kensington Gardens, Serpentine South and Serpentine North, either side of the Serpentine Bridge. Each site hosts around three exhibitions a year, spanning art, design, architecture, performance and community projects, and every summer a different architect creates a new Pavilion.

Alongside its programme, Serpentine produces publications, limited-edition artworks and a growing luxury retail offering, bringing art into visitors’ everyday lives. A free public art institution since 1970, its sales fundraise directly towards keeping exhibitions open to all.

– THE CHALLENGE
A GROWING SHOP, A FULFILMENT PRESSURE

There was a need to create a more integrated and automated fulfilment system ahead of the blockbuster summer shows of 2026.

01. SPACE
Space at a premium

Two small sites in Kensington Gardens left
very limited capacity to hold stock on site
as the range grew.

02. STAFFING
A stretched team

As a charity with a small Enterprise team, picking, packing and shipping every online order by hand simply did not scale.

03. VOLUME
Surging order volumes

Popular shows drove demand well beyond what the Enterprise Team could book in, pick and pack.
.

04. SHIPPING
Complex global shipping

Fast-changing US regulations put pressure on in-house despatch teams making it complicated to manage.
.

– THE SOLUTION
ONE TRUSTED PARTNER, END TO END

Building on years of specialist art logistics and eCommerce fulfilment, Flight Logistics deepened the partnership through full Shopify Integrations with our own systems, allowing orders to be synced, real time confirmations and tracking information to be sent to the buyer and for the stock position of any product to be actively monitored & managed live. As stock levels had increased organically by 1000%, moving to a fully integrated paradigm was essential.

01. HERITAGE
ShipArt expertise

Years of handling, packing and shipping limited editions and fragile, culturally significant works, worldwide.

02. PLATFORM
Seamless Shopify

A direct integration with Serpentine’s online shop syncs stock and orders for an automated, streamlined flow.

03. FULFILMENT
Storage & despatch

Off-site storage across two warehouses, pick and pack, global shipping, returns and inventory oversight.

04. PACKING
Value-matched care

Packing matched to each item, protecting high-value works while keeping lower-value pieces cost-effective.

– THE RESULTS
SCALING THROUGH THE PEAK

When the David Hockney exhibition drove a huge surge in orders, the model held. Flight Logistics absorbed the workload while Serpentine’s team remained
focused on production and in-person sales.

900%
GROWTH ORDER VOLUME
IN A SINGLE DAY

Fulfilled by Flight during the Hockney surge, with minimal delays.

1
SERPENTINE EMPLOYEE TO
OVERSEE FULFILMENT

Subbu/Shopify integration,
freed up team members
to focus on other things.

24/7
ONLINE
AVAILABILITY

Off-site stock keeps online sales running even when on-site sells out.

SPACE
Onsite pressure lifted – Off-site storage removed the constraint of two small sites, freeing room for the in-person shop while online sales continued uninterrupted.

REACH
Smoother global shipping – Long-standing issues shipping to North America eased, and returns, exchanges and replacements became far simpler to manage.

FOCUS
Freed to create – With fulfilment handled, the team refocused on new products and boosting in-person sales, helping meet the gallery’s fundraising goals.

THE CLIENT’S VERDICT

“Serpentine as an institution values the long-term partnership with Flight Logistics due to its consistently reliable fulfilment, shipping and storage services which are easy to navigate and work extremely well.

On a personal level I value working closely with the team at Flight Logistics, being able to develop good working relationships with Justin, Mike and Simon specifically over the years has been such a pleasure. Everyone I work with at Flight is always so friendly and positive and it makes my job that bit easier and more enjoyable day to day!

As I have mentioned before there is a real can-do attitude which makes any issue we encounter feel solvable, leading us to often bring new projects and opportunities to Flight as they so often can lend a hand.”

ISOBEL ADDERLEY | SERPENTINE

New trees we have funded since May 2022 = 4,900

C02 saved from our electric delivery vans since Nov 2022 = 12,896kg

To discuss your UK & global distribution requirements

“I am so happy to let you know that we had a very successful sale on Friday and raised £262,700!! This money will go to help thousands and thousands of people all across the world. We really couldn’t have done it without you guys- it has been such a pleasure to work with you on this. We can’t express how grateful we are to have Flight’s support. Have a wonderful week and hope to be able to catch up in person soon.”

Migrate Art

“Excellent logistics company – they have always met our needs as a customer and shipper. Friendly staff, flexible and proactive to our requirements.”

Bloc Eyewear

“Huge thanks to Andrew Page & Hussain Ahmad and the entire team at Flight for helping to make our first event run so smoothly! Day in, day out they pick, pack and ship our orders around the world and they really are an integral part of our team. It’s “the last mile” to the customer that makes it all a reality! Aside from the excellent service, we love the fact we have a fulfilment partner that shares our sustainable credentials. If you’re looking for a new ecomm fulfilment partner, we’d highly recommend Flight Logistics!”

Counter Culture

“Flight Logistics have been excellent at delivering all my artworks safely and in a timely manner. I’ve been using them for a few years now and have never been disappointed and they handle my artwork correctly and package it really well so I’m super impressed with their service. Wonderful communication and a good price. Thank you so much Flight Logistics. I’m looking forward to working with you again for my next shows!”

Gina Soden (Artist - Photography)

“Just wanted to say a massive thank you for everyone’s part in getting these samples to us so quickly, cheaply and in one piece – Hooray!! They look absolutely amazing, my most favourite range we’ve ever developed, we will definitely use them at the showcase as a great example of teamwork.”

QVC

“The ShipArt^TMteam are so lovely at Flight Logistics! I wish I could use them all the time. I always feel safe sending my paintings with them. Thank you!”

Lisa-Marie Price (Artist)

“With Flight you are guaranteed a great customer service. Their daily collections are made by very helpful drivers, our products are always handled with care.

Flight’s office support is excellent, super helpful staff at the end of the phone to support us with our UK and international shipments. No question is too small, and our enquiries are always handled very promptly which means our workflow is never delayed. Thank you, Flight!”

Guy Goodfellow

“When you’re dealing with a whole museum exhibition’s worth of art, you need to know the work is in a safe pair of hands, and there’s no safer hands than Flight Logistics-ShipArt^TM!”

Vanguard Street Art