Pet products company moves beyond traditional pallet- and case-load distribution as TikTok Shop and ecommerce create new fulfillment demands.
The rapid growth of direct-to-consumer ecommerce is continuing to change what happens inside the warehouse (and giving supply chain decision-makers something to chew on! Starmark Pet Products, an Austin, Texas-based manufacturer of pet toys and treats, has partnered with Davinci Micro Fulfillment to establish a forward-stocking micro-fulfillment operation supporting orders from TikTok Shop and other online marketplaces. The arrangement is designed to shorten delivery times, improve inventory flow and help Starmark expand its ecommerce business.
The partnership offers a useful example of a transition taking place across many consumer product businesses. Traditional distribution built around pallets, cases and retailer replenishment increasingly has to coexist with a second model built around individual ecommerce orders, rapid picking and packing, distributed inventory and parcel delivery.
From pallet loads to individual orders
Starmark’s distribution model was originally much more conventional. Its products are sold through more than 7,000 brick-and-mortar retailers in the United States and a network of about 30 domestic and international distributors. Those channels typically involve shipments moving in pallet loads or case quantities.
As online purchasing grew, however, Starmark saw an opportunity to sell directly to consumers. “We were not set up to handle direct-to-consumer. It was clearly a growth opportunity we needed to explore,” Emily Benson, Starmark marketing director, said.
The challenge was not simply opening an online storefront. Direct-to-consumer sales required a different fulfillment infrastructure capable of storing inventory, accepting individual orders, picking and packing products, and arranging final-mile shipping. Starmark also wanted timely data on inventory movement, order accuracy, merchandising, delivery performance, and landed cost. That requirement led the company to Davinci Micro Fulfillment, already a preferred partner of BellNova, the agency helping Starmark develop its social-commerce strategy.
A forward-stocked fulfillment model
Davinci established what the companies describe as a micro-site fulfillment operation for Starmark. The operation handles the process from electronic order receipt through product selection and shipment.
“Davinci allowed us effectively grow into online sales opportunities, specifically selling to new customers in the TikTok Store,” Benson said. “They provided the resources, technology and expertise so we could grow our direct-to-consumer sales.”
Initially, Starmark is selling its Bento Ball and Everlasting Treats products through TikTok Shop. Once a customer completes an online purchase, the order is transmitted directly into Davinci’s fulfillment system. Davinci says its AI-enabled, rules-based decision engine determines a fulfillment and shipping plan, after which orders are picked, packed and shipped either the same day or the following day.
“We could not have launched this without Davinci providing all the back-end product handling, order management and shipping,” Benson said. “It’s efficient and reliable; it’s helped us effectively grow the products we can sell online direct to consumer.”
What the shift means for warehouses
The Starmark example illustrates how ecommerce can fundamentally change the material flow requirements facing a manufacturer or distributor. A traditional wholesale operation may be optimized around receiving, storing and moving full pallets or cases. Direct-to-consumer fulfillment breaks those larger handling units into much smaller transactions. Warehouses must accommodate more frequent picking, more stock-keeping locations, smaller outbound orders and a much greater emphasis on speed and accuracy.
That shift can influence everything from warehouse layout and racking to picking equipment, lift trucks, conveyors, automation and warehouse management systems. The Starmark announcement does not specify what material handling equipment is being used inside the Davinci operation, but the underlying change in fulfillment strategy is one increasingly familiar to warehouse operators.
Rather than building that capability internally, Starmark has effectively outsourced the ecommerce fulfillment layer while continuing to support its established retail and distributor channels.
Davinci describes its broader model as an end-to-end fulfillment network that determines what products should be positioned in its micro-fulfillment centers, where inventory should be located and in what quantities. Orders are then fulfilled from those locations with the goal of reducing both lead time and cost. That type of distributed fulfillment network offers another route into ecommerce without requiring every brand to build a direct-to-consumer warehouse operation from scratch.
