As a runaway teen in Paris, Christian Louboutin became fascinated with women's shoes after visiting a museum of African art. There he saw a sign forbidding women from wearing stilettos into a particular building, which he later said inspired him. "I wanted to defy that," he said. "I wanted to create something that broke the rules and made women feel confident and empowered." When he returned to Paris after spending time in Egypt and India, he became an apprentice to the shoemaker who claimed to have invented the stiletto, and in 1991, at the age of 29, he opened his first shoe store.

Thirty years later, business is booming. The company Christian Louboutin now operates 150 boutiques across 30 countries in Europe, North America, and Asia. The shops sell high-end women's and men's shoes, as well as bags and other accessories.

The company's primary shipment flows are completed by its master distribution entity, CL International, which follows a specific process. But merchandise is also frequently transferred from one store to another. "A client might enter a boutique in Madrid, for example, wanting a specific model of shoe, but the shoe might not be available in her size in that particular boutique," explains Annabella Lopes, senior treasury manager for credit risk and netting. "So the boutique in Madrid might request that the boutique in Paris transfer the product in the size the client needs. Those types of transfers happen very often."