Case studies

How HyVIDA Tripled eCommerce Sales by Consolidating their Fulfillment

March 19, 2021
7 min read
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HyVIDA’s segmented fulfillment solution was inhibiting their multichannel sales strategy. By moving away from Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) and consolidating fulfillment through Ware2Go’s network, HyVIDA drove traffic to their more profitable sales channels and increased their Average Order Value (AOV) to triple their ecommerce sales year over year.

HyVIDA is the world’s only hydrogen-infused carbonated beverage and contains no sweeteners or caffeine, just natural energy and organic flavors. Co-founders Rick and Kasey Smith are both health nuts and avid sparkling water drinkers. While they both believed in the health benefits of hydrogen water, they saw a gap in the market.

Hydrogen waters were marketed solely as health products, and in the store were primarily stocked in the pharmacy aisle alongside Pedialyte and other medicinal products. HyVIDA’s goal is to be stocked at the checkout line next to energy drinks.

They saw a huge consumer movement in beverage toward wellness was driving two key trends:

  1. Growth in clean sparkling water as consumers eliminate sugars, sweeteners & calories from sodas 
  2. The infusion of functional ingredients, such as antioxidants, proteins, vitamins, and electrolytes to enhance their hydration with immunity, clarity, recovery, and energy.

With just 4 natural ingredients: Carbonated Water, Organic Flavor, Magnesium & Hydrogen Gas, HyVIDA is uniquely positioned as a Functional Clean Sparkling Water.  

By integrating hydrogen into fun, engaging lifestyle products, all health minded consumers would embrace hydrogen.

Scaling Across Multiple Sales Channels

They found early success in ecommerce sales and on Amazon Prime, using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) for Amazon sales and a 3PL for their ecommerce channel. As their sales increased, HyVIDA quickly could see the limitations of their segmented fulfillment solution. The added operational burden of managing multiple fulfillment, coupled with the distributing redundancy, increased supply chain and logistics costs, and the lack of connectivity between their sales channels put undue strain on their internal processes and limited their ability to scale their business.

Customers loved their product, but items often arrived damaged, leading to negative reviews. In fact, all negative Amazon reviews were based on damages, and reviews based on the product alone averaged an impressive 4.9 stars. In addition to damage issues, Rick and Kasey knew that they needed a fully streamlined fulfillment solution to diversify their multichannel selling strategy. Their goal was to leverage the visibility of their Amazon listings to funnel traffic to their more profitable channels like their growing ecommerce storefront. 

They also bolstered their multichannel strategy by listing on additional marketplaces and wholesale channels. In order to simplify their multichannel fulfillment, they needed a provider that could integrate all of their sales and fulfill both large wholesale orders and direct to consumer small parcels through a single platform.

A Streamlined Fulfillment Solution – for All phases of growth. 

After vetting multiple fulfillment providers, Rick and Kasey found Ware2Go’s flexible business model to be the best fit for their multichannel growth strategy. The onboarding process was simpler and more accommodating to their current ADV (average daily volume) than many competitors, and they knew they would be able to scale up quickly as their sales ramped up across both their ecommerce and wholesale channels.

They were also refreshed by Ware2Go’s proactive approach to solving their damage issues. Ware2Go’s packaging SOP’s reduced their damages to zero and even garnered them positive reviews on Amazon noting that while orders previously arrived with at least one dented can, their last several orders had been in perfect condition.

HyVIDA

A Healthy eCommerce Ecosystem

One major change HyVIDA made within their ecommerce strategy was giving up their Prime badge when they moved fulfillment away from FBA. They knew that by giving up their Prime status they risked decreasing their overall Amazon sales, but they also knew that to take the future of their business into their own hands, they would need full visibility into their supply chain and the ability to manage all of their channels through a single provider. With Ware2Go, however, they were still able to offer the greatest benefit of Prime to their customers: free 2-day delivery. This kept them high in the search rankings even without the Prime badge, but with Ware2Go their margins on Amazon sales were higher, and with time, they grew the overall profitability of their ecommerce sales by directing traffic away from Amazon to their ecommerce storefront.

When inventory ran low on their Amazon listing, shoppers clicked through to their website to make a purchase, allowing HyVIDA to gather essential re-marketing information that they never received on Amazon sales. Higher margins due to decreased fulfillment costs also allowed them to offer more promotions through paid marketing and social media. Their promos were always limited to sales on HyVIDA.com, pushing even more traffic to their website where they could offer services like four payments on purchases over $50 through a Shopify app, which raised their average order value (AOV), driving up the profitability of each sale even more.

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Ultimately, by giving up their Prime badge and moving their fulfillment to FBM, HyVIDA actually grew their Amazon sales by 75% and when including all all of their channels 200%. This is in direct contradiction to many ecommerce experts who projected a 30% decline.  They now also have true flexibility in their supply chain to fulfill orders to any retail store or wholesale distributor in the country and can focus on a true omnichannel strategy as they expand their retail partnerships.

What’s Next for HyVIDA

As a strategic company focused on increased market share and decreased operating costs, HyVIDA has opened a direct B2B wholesale model through their ecommerce website where their unique wellness beverage can touch many health seeking consumers at spas, fitness studios, corporate offices, and wellness centers. 

They have also seen a general shift in the beverage industry away from traditional energy drinks towards healthier options like theirs and see an opportunity for HyVIDA to be carried by gas stations and convenience stores. To support these new channels they plan to enter 5-7 Ware2Go facilities to distribute their inventory even closer to their end customers and eventually feed their retail partners full truckload shipments to realize even further cost savings in their supply chain.

To learn how Ware2Go’s flexible solution can help grow your multichannel ecommerce business, reach out to one of our fulfillment experts.

HyVIDA

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