Receiving the unexpected notice, “You have 3 weeks to vacate,” from your 3PL provider can be quite unsettling, especially when running a sizable D2C and wholesale pet supplement operation like Prana Pets. Finding a new third party logistics provider promptly became their top priority.
Through their search, Cart.com emerged as an ideal choice, checking all the company’s ecommerce fulfillment and B2B fulfillment boxes, no pun intended.
Helping pets and the people who love them
Prana Pets was founded in 2016 by two Yoga Instructors from Florida, Brad Solomon and Brad Noonan on the premise of promoting healthy living for both humans and animals. That special bond between pets and their owners led the founders to develop a range of products aimed at improving the lives of aging and ailing pets.
Derived from Sanskrit, the word “Prana” signifies the life force present in every living being, underscoring their commitment to enhancing and preserving pets’ longevity, stamina, and overall well-being.
What’s special about Prana Pets products is their emphasis on long-term solutions for pet health and wellness. Proprietary blends are meticulously crafted for dogs and cats using only the best ingredients, which go through rigorous testing to ensure their safety and effectiveness.
Prana Pets offers a natural treatment for Cushing’s disease in dogs, along with other holistic supplements designed to alleviate stress, joint discomfort, and allergy symptoms in pets.
Rapid growth and the need for omnichannel fulfillment
In 2021, Joel Morrow assumed the role of CEO at Prana Pets, spearheading efforts to expand their team and drive success in the pet supplement product market.
What was a small natural pet supplement company witnessed remarkable growth from 2021 to 2023, with Prana Pets gaining recognition on the 2023 Inc Top 5000 List, which recognizes companies with notable revenue growth.
While all this growth put Prana Pets at the forefront of the pet supplement industry, the company was now facing challenges in having the warehousing, fulfillment, and distribution to keep up.
Given their presence in both the direct to consumer and wholesale markets, they required an omnichannel fulfillment solution to ensure swift and efficient delivery to Amazon warehouses, small merchant centers, and direct to customers doorstep.
Finding advanced capabilities in Cart.com
When faced with the news of their 3PL going out of business, Prana Pets CEO, Joel Morrow, formulated a list of essentials for a new fulfillment center. The strict three-week deadline initiated an operation called “Project Speedy”. Armed with refined criteria, his team of professionals embarked on a search to evaluate services offered by the leading omnichannel fulfillment companies with a national footprint in the US.
With a commitment to ensure timely product delivery for their valued customers and a rapidly approaching deadline, Project Speedy was in full swing. In addition to finding a 3PL with omnichannel capabilities with the ability to scale with Prana Pets growth, it was essential that the fulfillment warehouse could strictly maintain a temperature-controlled environment for their inventory. Upon evaluating the caliber and attentiveness of Cart.com toward clients and their products, Prana quickly realized they had found their new 3PL partner that would be able to grow alongside them across all channels; ecommerce, retail, and wholesale.
“With tight exit timelines Prana Pets was in a very tough spot with their current 3PL. Cart.com worked vigorously to ensure a smooth transition, delivering on their brand promises to customers,” adds Lars Anderson, Vice President of Fulfillment at Cart.com.
Temperature control in the Midwest
Cart.com’s newest Midwest facility in Ohio perfectly aligned with Prana Pets temperature requirements and customer base, allowing for decreased delivery times and cost reductions by providing a more strategic, customer-centric, location for their product distribution. While the Ohio facility was still months away from becoming operational, and in the aftermath of Prana Pets’ expulsion from their previous 3PL, they initiated operations at Cart.com’s Dallas, TX facility, bridging the gap until the Ohio site was fully functional.
“Our products can’t get above a certain temperature, so we’re really pleased that Cart.com has been able to work with us in finding solutions to that really important requirement,” explains Joel. Cart.com representatives quickly assisted the Prana Pets team with a seamless onboarding process. Operations were up and running within days after their former 3PL closed its doors, while ensuring product temperature requirements were met. Before summer arrived, and Texas temperatures rose, Prana Pets operations were fully relocated to their new fulfillment home in Ohio.
Flawless wholesale distribution
Efficient and accurate order fulfillment and distribution are crucial for any operation. Given the vitalness of the products, and the lovable pets that they support, this process is even more critical for Prana Pets. For wholesale shipments to major ecommerce centers like Amazon, Chewy, and 1-800-Pet-Meds, strict packaging and kitting guidelines are essential. Prana Pets relies on Cart.com to ensure flawless execution in transporting goods to the intricate fulfillment operations of Amazon and Chewy, always striving for nothing less than perfect.
Cart.com’s technology offers a significant advantage over its competitors through its enterprise-grade, all-in-one commerce technology. The unified inventory management system of Cart.com encompasses the capabilities of an Order Management System (OMS) and a Warehouse Management System (WMS). Prana Pets seamlessly integrates Cart.com technology into their Shopify ecommerce platform, ensuring smooth fulfillment of their orders through Amazon’s Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service. Moreover, they have successfully optimized their fulfillment by merchant (FBM) process for orders destined for their brick-and-mortar clients.
Multiple nodes on the horizon with Cart.com
As part of their expansion strategy, Prana Pets plans to establish a second node at the Cart.com Salt Lake distribution center in the coming future. Leveraging Cart.com’s extensive nationwide network of 14 fulfillment centers, spanning over 7M+ square feet of warehouse space, Prana Pets aims to further scale their brand.
The Prana Pets team relies heavily on Cart.com for tailored solutions to help support their growing fulfillment and logistics requirements. “We are in close collaboration with the Prana Pets team to update and implement any new SKU and kitting needs that pop up in their fulfillment journey,” says Ashley Ritter, Client Service Manager in Columbus OH.
The exceptional service provided by the Cart.com team, from seamless onboarding to the temperature-controlled warehouses to flawless omnichannel fulfillment, showcases their unwavering commitment to helping brands grow.
Joel, expressing his satisfaction, says, “Cart.com is our go-to fulfillment partner that can make it happen when we need it to happen.”
