A wholesaler adds a consumer store in weeks, in time for the holidays

The Challenge

Selling to consumers without disturbing the wholesale business

Primitives by Kathy is a giftware and home-decor wholesaler whose systems are built around trade customers, with retail alongside it.

A consumer store was wanted quickly, with the holiday season approaching — and consumer orders had to reach the back office without being confused with wholesale ones.

Elsewhere the business faced inventory, backorder and receiving problems, and was weighing a warehouse management system, while a separate new website launch showed redirect and URL problems that would have cost it search traffic.

The Strategy

Separate the channel, not the business

PeakBeyond's design kept one back office but gave the consumer channel its own store within it, so orders land separately for reporting and fulfillment while inventory stays shared.

Speed mattered more than sophistication for the first release: a hosted platform, a prepared product import, and clear advice on tax and payment capture, so the store could take orders in weeks.

On the wider estate, we gave advice rather than projects where that was the right answer — warehouse options, back-office customization and inventory investigations — plus an audit of the new website before it launched.

The Solution

A fast consumer launch and steady advisory work

PeakBeyond has worked with the business on and off for years, doing what each moment called for — a fast launch when speed mattered, advice when that was the right answer.

• Separated the channel, not the business — Designed the consumer channel with orders inserted into a separate back-office store, so reporting and fulfillment stay clean while inventory stays shared.
• Launched in weeks, not quarters — Prepared the product import, advised on tax handling and payment capture, and ran the integration rollout through to first orders.
• Protected the search traffic — Crawled the new website before launch and listed the missing redirects and problem URLs for the developer and the search contact.
• Kept the wholesale side steady — Advice on warehouse system options and back-office customization, investigations into inventory, backorder and receiving issues, and security headers added to the site.

Speed mattered more than sophistication for the first release, and the consumer store was taking orders in time for the holidays.

The Results

Taking consumer orders for the holidays

The consumer store was taking orders in November 2020, weeks after the work began, with orders landing in their own back-office store.

The pre-launch audit caught redirect and URL problems on the separate website before they could cost search traffic.

Ongoing advice on warehouse options and inventory questions has kept the wholesale side steady alongside the new channel.

A wholesaler reached consumers directly without unpicking the business behind it.