Summary

Hiyo makes a non-alcoholic social tonic selling through subscriptions, DTC and retail at once. Subscription orders are predictable and recurring; retail orders are lumpy and large. Both draw from the same inventory, and that's the problem worth solving.

The situation

Hiyo caught a real shift in consumer behavior (non-alcoholic alternatives moving from a niche to a category), and the demand arrived faster than the operation behind it.

What made it complicated wasn't volume. It was that three channels with different rhythms were pulling from one stock pool.

Subscriptions are predictable and recurring, which sounds easy and isn't. A subscription ships on a promised date. Miss it and you don't lose an order, you lose the recurring revenue behind it.

DTC is variable and immediate, spiking around promotions and press.

Retail and wholesale arrive as large orders on their own schedule, and a single retail PO can consume stock that subscriptions were counting on.

On top of that, packaging and presentation mattered more than for most beverage brands. For a product positioned around experience, an inconsistent subscription box undermines the thing the customer subscribed for.

Without centralized visibility across the three channels, allocation becomes guesswork and something stocks out.

What we did

Put all channels on one fulfillment framework. DTC, retail, wholesale and subscription orders processed through one operation with channel-specific routing, so allocation is a decision rather than a race.

Established real-time inventory visibility across channels and both facilities, which is what makes forecasting possible and stops the stockout-overstock cycle.

Standardized subscription box assembly. Consistent kitting so every box matches the last one, with secure packaging to prevent transit damage on a liquid product.

Built for peaks rather than averages. Warehouse capacity across Orlando and Las Vegas, order management integrations, and processes that hold through demand spikes rather than only on normal weeks.

Results

Faster, more consistent order processing across all channels.

Inventory accuracy that supports forecasting, rather than reacting to what already went wrong.

Subscriptions fulfilled on schedule with consistent kitting, which is what protects recurring revenue.

Packaging quality maintained at volume, so the unboxing stays consistent as order counts rise.

Room to keep expanding channels without the fulfillment model needing a rebuild.

Why this one matters

Subscription fulfillment looks like the easy channel and behaves like the hardest one.

The volume is knowable, which tempts brands to treat it as background work. But a subscription has a promised date, and missing it doesn't cost one order. It triggers a cancellation, which costs every future order from that customer. The lifetime value makes a late subscription box far more expensive than a late one-off purchase.

Running subscriptions alongside retail makes it harder still, because retail POs are large and arrive on someone else's schedule. Without deliberate allocation, a retail order eats the stock subscriptions were counting on, and the channel with the highest lifetime value is the one that stocks out.

One inventory pool with visibility into what each channel has committed is what prevents that.

Questions this raises

Can you handle subscription fulfillment? Yes, including recurring box assembly with consistent kitting. Subscriptions are treated as date-committed rather than as routine volume, because a missed ship date costs the subscription, not just the order.

How do you stop retail orders eating subscription stock? One inventory pool with visibility into what each channel has committed, and allocation decided rather than left to whichever order processes first.

Can subscription boxes stay consistent at volume? Yes, through standardized assembly. Consistency is a process question: it slips when kitting depends on who is packing that day.

How do you prevent damage on liquid products in transit? Packaging built for the product rather than generic boxes. On beverage, damage in transit is a returns and replacement cost as well as a customer experience one.

Should a growing beverage brand split inventory between coasts? Usually yes. Liquid is heavy, so freight is a large share of landed cost and shipping from the closer facility cuts zones on a significant share of orders.

Want to learn more?

Read about how TCB can help your subscription and retail fulfillment!