Retail Order Size Disruption
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A story about how entering retail disrupted their existing inventory management system.
"I didn't understand how hard it would be until Native got into retail. We scaled from making 500 units of deodorant a week in 2015 to making 21,000 units a day by 2017. We were still selling out - if you bought your deodorant on a Thursday, it was either made the day before or the day after.
But once you sell into Target and Walmart and large brick and mortar stores, their first order could be 300,000 units or 50,000 units. All of a sudden, the just-in-time inventory model we had always been reliant on was no longer sustainable. Retail is a different beast - you're planning a year in advance at all times."
This story was shared by Moiz Ali, describing how his company Native's entry into retail forced them to completely rethink their inventory management approach.
Moiz Ali
Moiz Ali is the Founder of Native. Launched in 2015, Native is the fastest growing CPG company in the United States, and has over 1 million customers nationwide. The company was acquired by Procter & Gamble for $100 Million in November 2017, the first acquisition by P&G in nearly ten years. Prior to founding Native, Moiz was the Founder and CEO of Caskers, a flash sales site for spirits. Moiz graduated from Harvard Law School in 2009. In addition to his work at Native, today he is an active investor in over 100 startups, and a speaker on stages across the world.