How Hemper Streamlined Multi-Brand Wholesale Operations

Before Hemper began their journey with Fulfil, they needed operational infrastructure that could match the pace of their rapidly expanding business. 

Their rapid growth exposed operational bottlenecks across the business: Their New York warehouse was managed separately from their LA marketing team, their existing software platform didn’t fit their needs, their CTO was pulling long extra hours printing labels, and their systems limited batch processing to just 100 orders. 

Their business now encompasses both DTC and B2B operations, manages complex BOMs for subscription boxes with thousands of component parts each month, and leverages Fulfil's technology to turn what was once a 12-hour purchase order process into an automated workflow completed in minutes.

Breaking Through Operational Barriers

When Angel Ferrer, CTO and CMO, joined Hemper, the company was facing a critical juncture. Operations were based in New York, entirely separate from their LA-based marketing and content teams. This geographical divide created a communication chasm that left the company flying blind.

"When we were trying to get things done, we had no real transparency into what was going on," Angel recalls. "We were constantly struggling to answer basic questions: Did we have enough inventory? Was inventory being shipped out on time? How many boxes were being produced? Without KPIs or metrics, we had no way to understand our operations or figure out how to scale the business."

The existing software platform only added to their frustrations. Limited to processing just 100 orders at a time, the system had no capabilities for order routing, splitting orders, or supporting their subscription box requirements. The situation became so dire that Angel found himself working marathon shifts in the warehouse.

Wholesale operations were equally cumbersome. The team relied on paper-based systems with highlighters and pens to track orders, while fulfillment could take up to two weeks. In the warehouse, inefficient picking routes had staff zigzagging across the floor, wasting precious time and energy.

New Location, New System, New Warehouse Operations

By December 2019, Angel and the CEO made a decisive move: relocating operations from New York to Las Vegas and implementing a new ERP system that could support their growing ambitions. After evaluating numerous options, they selected Fulfil for its flexibility and scalability.

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The decision paid off. "We started printing out labels. The batching process was great. The support that we had during our onboarding time was amazing," Angel says. "We didn't have any lack or needs of anything that they couldn't resolve or that we couldn't figure out ourselves."

The transformation of Hemper's warehouse operations was impressive: "When I moved to the wholesale fulfillment coordinator, the position was a team of about six people that were in charge of operating the entirety of Fulfil while all of the associates were handling a paper-based system, marking things with a highlighter, marking things with pens," Gable, Supply Chain Coordinator explains.

Over six months, they reduced that team to just two members fully on computers and one or two pickers using digital scanners. The impact on productivity was immediate and substantial. "My team at the time went from finishing 10-15 orders in a day to about 40-50. And these orders are roughly 300 items long," Gable notes.

The secret to this efficiency lay in Fulfil's optimized picking process. Eli Perez, Wholesale Manager at Hemper, contrasts this with previous systems: "I've dealt with other picking systems. You would have to put the cart in the middle, and you would just be going around in circles and circles, which just takes more time."

"With Fulfil, when it comes in, we scan the location. The system organizes an efficient picking route so when we're picking, it won't throw you across the whole warehouse," Eli explains. "Just by looking at the picker to see where they are, it lets you know how far they are in the order and how long it will take to finish." 

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This intelligent routing, combined with batch processing capabilities, transformed Hemper's fulfillment operation. Orders that once took 1-2 weeks now shipped in just three days, even for large orders exceeding 1,200 items. "We have a promise to our customers to get every order out between 24-48 hours," Eli proudly states, "and we wouldn't be able to do that without Fulfil."

Streamlining an International Supply Chain

With a complex international supply chain, including manufacturing in India, Hemper needed a system that could manage globally distributed operations. Fulfil's automation capabilities considerably simplified their purchase order process.

"We've been able to streamline the process with Fulfil from a sales order being developed to purchase requests being done and a draft PO being generated within a matter of seconds," Angel explains. "They were spending about 12 hours per transaction to run through that whole process. Now that process gets done with less than 15 minutes of work."

This automation extended to their subscription box business, allowing for just-in-time production. "It's allowed us to have better inventory controls on our subscription boxes," Angel notes. "Instead of us sitting there and building a thousand subscription boxes in one day, we're developing and producing them based on the actual orders that have come through."

The result? No more pallets of pre-produced boxes gathering dust – just efficient, demand-driven production.

Returns Management: From Days to Minutes

Customer service operations saw similar improvements through returns automation. Before implementing Fulfil, Hemper's team spent days manually processing returns and contacting customers about undeliverable packages.

Now, when a package is returned due to an incorrect address, the process is largely automated. Once customer service marks an item as returned in Fulfil, the system automatically emails the customer, explains the delivery issue, and presents options for resolution.

"We've streamlined that process from days lagging behind on dealing with returns to probably within 30 minutes a day," Angel says. This automation saves significant staff time while ensuring customers receive prompt communication about their orders.

Technical Innovation: Building on Fulfil's Foundation

As both CTO and CMO, Angel particularly valued Fulfil's technical architecture, which enabled custom solutions for Hemper's unique challenges. While Fulfil provides an intuitive interface, it also offers advanced capabilities that grow with a company's technical sophistication. This scalability made it the perfect fit for Hemper as they evolved.

"We use the data warehousing to push into Google Sheets for a lot of our reports," Angel explains. "We have a report that's basically a shareable inventory management report that we share with a lot of our customers to let them know how much stock they have of their own product here or how much stock we have of our own product."

They recently expanded their use of the API: "We use Fulfil's API integrations into a Google Sheet document to see how we're doing on inventory, how we're doing on sales, how we're doing with stock intervals," Gable adds. The team has also leveraged Fulfil's API to connect with other business tools like Slack and ClickUp, enabling them to access purchase orders and track inventory movements through these platforms without needing to log into Fulfil directly.

With Hemper's strong technical expertise, the ability to build on top of the platform proved invaluable. Angel even created custom Python scripts to automate order processing from customer CSV files, saving countless hours of manual data entry for wholesale orders. This flexibility ensures that businesses can start with Fulfil's core functionality and progressively tap into more advanced features as they grow, without needing to switch platforms.

Building a Wholesale Powerhouse

Through their implementation of Fulfil, Hemper has transformed from a DTC subscription box company to a multi-brand wholesale powerhouse with over $16M in wholesale revenue. This transition wouldn't have been possible without a system capable of supporting their evolving business model.

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The freed capacity allows the team to focus on growth and development rather than getting bogged down in day-to-day operational challenges.

The transformation has delivered significant financial benefits beyond time savings. By streamlining warehouse operations with Fulfil's WMS, Hemper reduced their warehouse team size by 67% while tripling productivity. The automated purchase order process alone saves them approximately 11.75 hours per transaction, translating to thousands of labor hours saved annually across their business.

These efficiencies have directly contributed to their ability to scale wholesale revenue while maintaining their subscription business, all without proportional increases in operational costs. The improved inventory control has also reduced carrying costs and minimized the risk of obsolete inventory, which is particularly important for their monthly changing subscription box products.

The manufacturing and production module, in particular, has been a standout feature. "I have worked with so many different software to say they can do BOM management," Angel notes. "I've heard everyone say they can do it, but no one does it as good as Fulfil has for us."

Looking to the Future

As Hemper continues to grow, they're expanding their use of Fulfil to support new initiatives. The production module will be central to their future growth: "The production module is going to allow us to have full-on transparency on what's being developed and produced and how we can actually further the business, how we can invest more time, how we can speed things up," Angel says. "Speed to market is super important for us. Our customers need their products now, not tomorrow."

With plans for continued wholesale growth, international expansion, and new brand development, Hemper views Fulfil as an essential partner in their journey. The platform's flexibility and continuous evolution align perfectly with their own growth trajectory.

As Angel summarizes: "Fulfil has seen plenty of transactions, plenty of different businesses, different sizes and different models. They've been able to service us in every way possible."

From marathon label-printing sessions to a streamlined operation handling thousands of orders with ease, Hemper's transformation with Fulfil showcases how the right technology partner can enable not just operational efficiency but fundamental business evolution.

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