How Gymshark Built a Global Fitness Brand by Mastering Fulfillment
“A logistics engine with good taste will always outperform a hype machine with bad infrastructure.”
When people talk about Gymshark, they talk about the branding. The influencers. The aesthetic. But none of that works without the machine underneath.
I’m more interested in how a 19-year-old pizza delivery boy turned a DTC fitness apparel brand into a global operation with over £500M in revenue, a community-driven marketing engine, and some of the tightest logistics execution in e-commerce.
Most brands talk about going viral. Gymshark built a system that can scale it.
The Infrastructure Behind the DropS
Gymshark’s early wins came from viral moments—Ben Francis creating handmade gymwear, leaning into the YouTube and social media fitness community, and building hype through limited product releases. But what separates Gymshark from 99% of other brands that go viral is what they did next. For the first 5 years, they built infrastructure.
Gymshark started off with a website aiming to sell supplements to gym goers. After a while, Francis noticed that people at the gym were not wearing clothing they really liked, rather they wore whatever was around to get the job done. Gymshark shifted its focus to designing and manufacturing its own fitness apparel.
In 2013, after some pilot testing and a proof of concept, Francis and Lewis Morgan (Gymshark co-founder) began working from Francis's parents' garage, initially using a sewing machine and screen printer purchased for £1,000. Gymshark exhibited at the BodyPower fitness trade show, selling out all their stock in the first day. Following the show, a Luxe tracksuit went viral on Facebook, generating significant sales in a short period.
At the beginning of 2014, Gymshark made a staggering $330,000 revenue figure, prompting the co-founders to pursue it full time. Gymshark continued to scale, outgrowing its initial space and relocating to a dedicated headquarters in Solihull.
Lewis Morgan partially exited the business in 2016, retaining 20% ownership. Gymshark aimed to create high-quality, stylish fitness apparel that resonated with its target audience. It fostered a sense of community among its followers, encouraging them to share their fitness journeys and connect with the brand. This was being done from day 1; and Gymshark needed to align its supply and demand, which was growing exponentially.
In 2017, Gymshark partnered with Bleckmann to cater to its European demand. Bleckmann worked out of a 11,000 sq ft facility to cater to Gymshark needs. (huge for softlines)
In 2021, it partnered with GXO Logistics to operate a U.S. fulfillment hub in California.
In Europe, they restructured post-Brexit fulfillment to maintain consistent delivery and customs reliability.
For global freight and distribution, Gymshark partners with DSV, a global 3PL that helps optimize intercontinental transit.
These aren’t just outsourcing decisions—they’re part of a clear operational thesis: to own customer experience, you have to control product flow.
And at peak, Gymshark’s fulfillment stack can handle tens of thousands of orders per hour. That’s how you go from drop to doorstep in two days—even when half your catalog sells out in 15 minutes.
Product R&D That Feeds the Supply Chain
Gymshark doesn’t just design products and ship them out.
At its Solihull headquarters, the company has invested heavily in an on-site product testing and R&D facility, where teams can design, prototype, and physically test apparel before launch. Fabric testing, stretch analysis, fit checks—they’re all done in-house. Gymshark built a facility called “Gymshark IQ”, which is on their now 3-building campus (Gymshark HQ, Gymshark Lifting Club, and Gymshark IQ). This building is the home for branding, product development, and marketing. Having this in-house and so close to HQ reduces internal feedback loops, leading to quicker decision making and product release. This is very similar to what fast fashion brands like Zara, Uniqlo, and Topshop do to ensure quick market movement; in addition to quick “idea-to-market” releases. For Gymshark, this means:
Shorter feedback loops between design, sampling, and production
Better alignment between product marketing and actual performance
Faster go-to-market timelines with fewer returns from sizing issues
It's not just about creating better gear—it’s about reducing fulfillment risk and increasing repeat purchases.
Scarcity with Precision: The Engine Behind Gymshark’s Drops
Gymshark’s limited drop strategy is more than marketing—it’s a logistics play that maximizes margin, minimizes waste, and reinforces brand equity.
Unlike traditional fashion brands that bet on breadth, Gymshark bets on tightness: limited SKUs, high sell-through, and clean exits. Their drops are intentional and data-driven, often selling out within hours. And that’s by design.
Here’s how they make it work:
They operate on short 6–8 week design-to-launch cycles, giving them agility most legacy brands can’t match.
They preload inventory near demand centers, using CRM and drop performance data to allocate units across U.K., U.S., and EU fulfillment sites before a launch even begins.
Inventory volumes are set against sell-out targets, not just marketing hype—so markdowns are rare, and sell-throughs stay high.
Because of this, they carry less excess inventory, which keeps warehousing lean and avoids end-of-season clearance dilution.
The logistics team works hand-in-hand with product, campaign, and growth—meaning demand forecasting isn’t siloed, it’s synchronized.
What this creates is a tight feedback loop between hype and inventory. They can spot a trend, spin up a new collection, and get it in front of customers in under two months—without compromising delivery speed or margin.
That’s not just brand control. That’s supply chain velocity as a competitive advantage.
Scaling Without Breaking: Global Ops Designed for Flex
Gymshark’s international growth has been deliberate, with logistics as the pace-setter—not just the follower.
Before they went heavy on performance marketing in a new region, they built out the backend to match. The result is a system that scales volume across continents without buckling under demand surges.
Here’s how it works:
In the United States, Gymshark’s partnership with GXO powers a U.S.-based fulfillment center that enables 2–3 day delivery to most ZIP codes. It’s their largest DTC market outside the UK, and they’ve engineered it to match Prime-level expectations—without needing Amazon.
In Europe, they redesigned their warehousing and customs architecture to prevent post-Brexit disruptions. Orders don’t get stuck in clearance. Customers don’t get surprise VAT bills. The shipping experience feels local—even if the warehouse isn’t.
For returns, Gymshark localizes its partners, especially in the U.S. and EU. Customers get fast refunds, low-friction workflows, and localized support. This protects both conversion rates and lifetime value, especially in high-return categories like apparel.
And powering it all is a flexible freight model anchored by DSV, which manages cross-border and intercontinental shipping:
For new campaigns, they can ramp up air freight to meet time-sensitive drops.
For stable SKUs, they rely on ocean freight to reduce landed cost.
For seasonal overflow, they have cross-docking capabilities that allow them to balance excess inventory across DCs.
This balance lets Gymshark flex without breaking. They can absorb volume spikes from flash sales or new territory launches without stockouts, long transit delays, or abandoned carts.
It’s not just efficient. It’s adaptive logistics built to protect brand momentum.
A Tech Stack That Knows Its Role
Gymshark doesn’t brag about its tech stack—but that’s part of the point. The brand didn’t waste years building flashy tools for vanity. It focused on building tools that move product, reduce friction, and support real growth.
At the core is Shopify Plus—a flexible, scalable e-commerce engine that handles front-end transactions, payment flows, and localized checkout across global markets. But Shopify is just the storefront. The real orchestration happens behind the scenes.
Here’s what makes Gymshark’s tech stack quietly powerful:
Gymshark’s Order Management System (OMS) is custom-integrated to bridge Shopify, their 3PL partners (like GXO), and their ERP. It synchronizes:
Live inventory levels across fulfillment centers in the U.K., U.S., and EU
Order routing logic based on destination ZIP/postcode, SKU availability, and delivery promise
Returns tracking that feeds into customer service and CRM workflows
This means a customer in New York ordering during a drop sees accurate stock, a realistic delivery window, and instant tracking once it ships. No manual overrides. No batch syncing.
Customer data isn’t just for marketing. Gymshark uses it to inform fulfillment decisions:
High-LTV segments get priority fulfillment windows during drops
Repeat buyers in key geos influence pre-drop allocation
Purchase behavior feeds into restock alerts, cross-sell logic, and in some cases, warehouse proximity triggers
Their CRM system doesn’t just personalize email—it helps place inventory in the right warehouse before demand hits.
Feedback Loops That Adjust Inventory Logic - During each campaign or drop, Gymshark monitors performance in real time:
If a product sells faster than expected in the U.S., inventory rebalancing decisions are triggered
If a SKU underperforms, future reorders are reduced or shelved entirely
Returns data feeds into sizing and fit reviews, which loop into design and forecasting for the next collection
They’re not using AI to reinvent the wheel. They’re using clean systems and live data to build tighter, faster feedback loops.
No Tech for Tech’s Sake
Most brands chasing scale go down one of two paths: overbuilding proprietary platforms too early, or duct-taping too many third-party apps together.
Gymshark avoided both.
They built just enough tech to support fulfillment velocity, added layers as complexity grew, and prioritized operational visibility over dashboard flash.
That’s what makes the stack work: it’s there to serve the logistics—not distract from it.
The Regent Street Store: Physical Retail as Logistics Infrastructure
In 2022, Gymshark opened its first-ever physical store on London’s Regent Street, one of the most expensive and high-footfall shopping corridors in the world. What looked like a branding play from the outside was actually a multi-dimensional investment in customer experience, community, and micro-fulfillment—and it works because it’s deeply aligned with how the brand runs its backend.
The Regent Street space was previously home to J.Crew, known for a neutral, quiet retail environment. Gymshark took the same footprint and completely reengineered the energy. From the moment you walk in, it feels like you're stepping into a physical embodiment of the Gymshark app—only more immersive.
The changing room lighting? Probably the best I’ve seen in any retail environment. It’s angled, dynamic, and flattering—optimized for photos and videos, which matters in a brand where customer-generated content drives reach.
The ceiling? Decorated with barbell weights—subtle but on-brand. It’s not an apparel store. It’s a training space that happens to sell clothes.
The café downstairs? Partnered with Joe & The Juice. It adds dwell time, hospitality, and health alignment to the retail experience.
This is logistics through the lens of brand control. Every moment is optimized. Every touchpoint—from the mirrors to the espresso—is part of how the brand delivers value offline.
The stores are also community event spaces cleverly disguised as a retail stores. What most people missed in the press releases is that this store isn’t just for shopping—it’s a hub for live events, athlete meetups, and grassroots community engagement.
Gymshark hosts fitness classes, brand athlete Q&As, and content creation workshops in the space.
It’s built with modular zones that can be flipped from retail to event mode in a matter of hours.
This isn't an afterthought—community activation is a core part of Gymshark's growth engine. The store extends that into the physical world.
That creates a new flywheel: foot traffic becomes digital engagement, which becomes CRM enrichment, which loops back into fulfillment targeting.
Beyond brand and community, there’s a hard logistics angle here too.
The B&M stores function as mini urban fulfillment hubs, with inventory on hand for key SKUs and sizes.
It supports click-and-collect orders, reducing last-mile shipping costs while increasing in-store upsell potential.
It can also act as a micro-fulfillment node for express delivery within central London—potentially routing from store inventory to local dispatch for same-day drop-offs.
This model isn’t just for show. It’s a pilot for what could become a distributed urban logistics layer in key cities, where real estate doubles as both brand surface area and fulfillment infrastructure.
This physical presence introduces new complexities to Gymshark’s supply chain—like in-store inventory balancing, local restock triggers, and reverse logistics for walk-in returns. But it also offers a new advantage: real-time product feedback, tested at scale, in the real world.
Leadership, Funding, and Growing Up Fast
In 2020, Gymshark accepted a minority investment from General Atlantic, reportedly valuing the company at over £1 billion. The funding helped fuel international expansion, warehousing upgrades, and headcount growth.
Around that same time, founder Ben Francis returned to the CEO role, after stepping away years earlier to let more experienced operators lead.
Francis has been public about the decision—he wasn’t ready for the job early on. But stepping away gave him time to learn, and stepping back in has made him a more grounded, long-term thinker.
His leadership now reflects that: slower to scale, faster to execute, and more focused on infrastructure than hype.
What Gymshark Gets Right
They don’t just sell product. They sell a promise: You’ll get the product, and you’ll get it fast.
Scarcity drives demand
Fulfillment sustains loyalty
Infrastructure scales growth without burning cash
R&D and logistics are part of the brand DNA
Final Thought: Speed Is the Real Brand
You can’t market your way out of operational failure. And you can’t build a brand on hype if your logistics can’t keep up. Gymshark didn’t just build a fitness brand. They built a fulfillment engine optimized for short-term demand spikes and long-term trust. That’s what makes it a case study—not in fashion, but in logistics-first brand building.
In the world of DTC, logistics isn’t the backend—it’s the moat.
