Tomlinson's Feed - How Tomlinson's Cut Delivery Costs 15% With Shopify ERP Integration

Overview

After 75 years in business, fourth-generation, family-owned Tomlinson's Feed faced a critical challenge: their legacy systems couldn't support the omnichannel retail operations needed to compete in modern pet retail.

When this Austin-based retailer with 18 store locations, a growing eCommerce presence, and 18,000+ SKUs needed a modern eCommerce ERP solution, they discovered how the right retail ERP with native Shopify ERP integration could transform their entire operation - cutting delivery costs by 15% and pick times by 50%.

The company's existing point of sale and inventory management systems had created significant operational bottlenecks:

Manual Purchase Orders: Buyers spent hours daily creating POs manually based on minimum stock levels across 18 locations
Limited Visibility: No real-time view of inventory across stores and the warehouse
Fragmented Systems: Data lived in disconnected systems, making reporting and decision-making difficult
Special Order Complexity: Customer special orders required manual tracking and coordination
Scaling Challenges: Unable to support planned growth and operational improvements

Kate Knecht, Owner and Vice President, knew the company needed a robust solution. But after spending two years interviewing providers before their previous implementation, she wasn't taking any chances. "You can't underestimate the magnitude of a mistake," she noted.

The Challenge: Outgrowing Legacy Systems

Manual Ordering Consuming Valuable Time

"The automation of ordering is the number one priority," Kate stated. Every day, buyers manually created purchase orders for each of Tomlinson's 18 locations, checking minimum levels and vendor schedules.

This process was:

Time-intensive and prone to human error
Unable to account for sales velocity and seasonal trends
Creating inefficiencies as the business grew
Preventing buyers from focusing on strategic vendor relationships and product selection

Inventory Visibility Gaps

With operations spanning 18 retail stores and an internal warehouse, Tomlinson's lacked a unified view of inventory. This created:

Out-of-stock situations at stores which required inventory transfers from other locations, as the inventory wasn't where it needed to be to fill demand
Difficulty planning replenishment from the distribution center
Manual stock counts and reconciliation
Inability to optimize inventory allocation across locations

Special Order Workflow Challenges

Tomlinson's prided itself on customer service, including the ability to special order products not regularly stocked. However, tracking these orders manually created:

Coordination challenges between stores and purchasing
Difficulty ensuring products reached the right location
No systematic way to track fulfillment status
Risk of orders falling through the cracks

Unreliable Technology

Kate recalled: "Our team would be scanning in inventory, we would receive a shipment of 1000 items and would be 800 items in to scanning that shipment, and the app would crash, and we would lose all of that product. All that product had already been put out on the shelf. They had no record of having ever received it. That's pretty frustrating and demoralizing for a team when they're trying to scan in that shipment, serve customers, and handle online orders. Too much is going on, and all of that progress is lost. That's an example of a big pain point that made it clear to us we needed to find a new system."

Slow Fulfillment Processes

In the distribution center, the team was operating using pen and paper when picking orders. As Kevin, Warehouse Manager, noted, "I was getting a lot of emails from stores constantly asking about what we had on hand and what we could supply for them. They didn't have the ability to see what we had here". This led to:

Slow pick times
Risk of human error
Regular inventory discrepancies
Lack of inventory visibility for other departments

The family had built a 75-year legacy, and they needed a technology partner who could support the next 75 years.

The Decision: Why Choose Fulfil Over NetSuite and Other ERPs for Retail ERP

Tomlinson's evaluated several ERP solutions, including Fulfil vs. NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics, Acumatica, and Brightpearl. After extensive evaluation, they chose Fulfil for several critical reasons:

1. Seamless Shopify ERP Integration Benefits

Tomlinson's needed a new point of sale partner and a new ERP partner. As Kate noted, "Shopify had done such a good job with our e-commerce that it made sense to unify and use Shopify for point of sale. We needed an ERP that integrated well with Shopify. We took Shopify's input, and they said 'You need to talk to Fulfil.'"

Fulfil's direct Shopify integration without middleware would:

Automatically sync orders, inventory, and customer data
Sync product data, including updated pricing, from Fulfil to Shopify
Map POS users to sales people for tracking
Eliminate manual data entry and reconciliation

2. Purpose-Built ERP for Omnichannel Retail

Unlike generic ERPs that require heavy customization for retail operations, Fulfil was designed specifically for modern merchants managing multiple sales channels and fulfillment locations.

Paul Skrovan, Director of Digital Operations, with extensive ERP implementation experience from his eight years as Director of Global Supply Chain at Nike, recognized the difference immediately. Having previously implemented NetSuite, he understood that Fulfil's retail-specific functionality would eliminate the need for extensive customizations that plagued traditional ERP implementations.

Paul noted: "I've worked in 12 different ERPs and done six implementations. As you go through the ERP evaluation process, you start to develop a relationship with the company, understanding how they work and the types of questions they have for you. You start to build trust between the company you feel best with, and for us, we felt like Fulfil was a company we trusted growing with."

3. Modern, Out-of-the-Box eCommerce ERP Automation

Fulfil's native capabilities for automated purchase requisitions based on reorder points, sales velocity, and multi-location inventory management addressed Tomlinson's top priority without requiring custom development.

The platform could automatically:

Generate purchase orders when inventory falls below reorder points
Account for MOQs and vendor schedules
Route orders to appropriate locations
Handle special order workflows through native backorder functionality

Kate noted: "Many of the other providers we evaluated felt dated, as if we had to adapt our business to fit their older technology, rather than the other way around. It became very clear to us pretty early in the process that these other providers were legacy providers, and Fulfil was the future. Fulfil's interfaces, processes, and the way they thought about their product felt newer, more up-to-date and more agile."

4. True Multi-Location Inventory Management

Managing 19 locations required more than basic inventory tracking. Fulfil provided:

Location-specific reorder points and purchasing rules
Internal transfer management between distribution center and stores
Zone and bin-level inventory at the distribution center
Unified visibility across all locations in real-time

5. eCommerce ERP Implementation Speed and Confidence

The Fulfil team's track record with similar omnichannel retailers provided confidence in a smooth implementation. While enterprise ERPs like NetSuite often require 6-12 month implementations, Fulfil estimated a 3-month ERP implementation timeline for Phase 1, critical for Tomlinson's business needs.

Paul noted: "Compared to other ERP implementations I've worked on, Fulfil's Open API makes it easier to do things faster on your own without going to external programmers."

6. eCommerce ERP Total Cost of Ownership

Beyond licensing costs, Tomlinson's evaluated:

Implementation costs: Lower customization needs meant lower implementation costs
Maintenance overhead: Single integrated platform vs. multiple systems requiring middleware
Training requirements: Retail-specific workflows meant easier onboarding

7. Long-Term Partnership Approach

Having spent two years evaluating their previous system, Kate and her team valued Fulfil's consultative approach. Rather than simply selling software, the Fulfil team demonstrated understanding of Tomlinson's specific workflows and challenges, providing guidance on best practices for implementation.

Kate noted: "Several members of the Fulfil team came to see us in person before the implementation started, while we were still in the sales process, walked through our workflows and pain points and showed they were interested in and understood our business. When I broke down our high-touch special order process to Fulfil's CEO, ST, he didn't look at me like I was crazy; he immediately understood and said, 'wow, you really care about your customers,' and that showed me that he knew what we were trying to build with a partnership with Fulfil."

The Retail ERP Implementation

Having made their decision, Tomlinson's embarked on an implementation journey that would transform their operations across all 18 locations. Unlike traditional ERP vendors who hand off implementations to third-party consultants, Fulfil's team managed the entire process in-house, aligning incentives with a fixed-fee ERP implementation. This direct partnership approach meant the same people who built the system were guiding Tomlinson's through their transformation.

Kate noted: "What really stood out to me with Fulfil is that somebody came on-site during the implementation process and again after we were live using the system."

The implementation became more than a software installation; it was an operational overhaul. Kate's team approached it with a growth mindset: "Why would you move to a new system if you just want to keep doing things the same way that you've always been doing them? Then you'll never improve. When we bring in a new system, we want to identify what the things are that we could be improving, what are best practices that we should be adopting and being open to changing those processes and procedures to fit the new system."

The Impact of an eCommerce ERP for Shopify Merchants

1. Streamlined eCommerce ERP Order Routing

Fulfil's native sales channel and marketplace integrations enable seamless order management and order routing across operated warehouses, 3PLs and retail stores.

Paul noted: "With Fulfil's help, we developed a routing system with Google's API inside a Fulfil Channel Script to route delivery orders to the store closest to the customer. Since implementing Fulfil as our ERP, we've seen miles per delivery and minutes per delivery down 12% and overall delivery costs down 15%".

2. Efficient Warehouse Operations

Implementing Fulfil's Warehouse Management System has enabled store employees to see exactly what inventory the warehouse has on hand, freeing up the Warehouse Manager to spend less time responding to emails at the computer and more time on the floor.

Kevin, Warehouse Manager, noted: "Using Fulfil, we're operating a lot faster. Our pick times decreased, and we're able to get trucks on the road an hour earlier than before. We're also spending less time with cycle counts, and our inventory tracking is significantly more accurate, which has been helpful for buying."

3. Ease of Retail ERP Reporting

Fulfil offers several reporting options, including 100+ out-of-the-box reports, custom reporting using AI or SQL, an MCP server to connect your Fulfil data to LLMs like Claude, and a Google BigQuery Data Warehouse.

Nicholas, IT & Systems Manager, highlighted: "One of the great things that we utilize is Fulfil's data warehouse. We don't have to go to five different systems and try and pull in multiple different sheets to try and get data and match it with other data. It all lives in Fulfil, so when I need to generate a report for somebody, if I need to look into that data for somebody, I can just go into Fulfil and access our data warehouse and pull any sort of information I need. We can access and run any sales numbers or product information to generate reports on recent sales trends. We can also get up-to-the-minute numbers for generating our next purchase orders for our different suppliers."

4. Store Picking Times Reduced

Fulfil's web-based ERP software enables users to access Fulfil on mobile scanners or iPads in retail store locations, eliminating the need for pen and paper and leading to faster, more accurate pick times when fulfilling orders from retail stores.

Nicholas noted: "We offer same-day delivery for our customers. Fulfil's ERP has a report that shows us the average pick times across each store location. With Fulfil, our fastest pick times are 50% faster."

5. Robust Shopify ERP Integration

Nicholas mentioned: "In previous systems, we used to see 15-minute-plus delays, and now with Fulfil, orders immediately come from Shopify into Fulfil with no delays. Having things flow into the system as they happen means we can respond to customers even faster."

Paul highlighted: "We used to have big issues editing orders, from one system to the other, and everything matching. Now, it's pretty much seamless. We edit orders in Fulfil, and it flows very easily to Shopify back and forth, so we can make changes to things without worrying about what's going on from system to system. That's definitely made things a lot easier."

6. Reduction in Inventory Transfers

When a customer orders a product that is not in stock at the store closest to them, Tomlinson's will transfer it from a different location to the store nearest the customer to deliver it to them. Fulfil's reporting data has helped Tomlinson's reduce inventory transfer by 39%.

7. eCommerce ERP-Enabled Agility

As a fast-moving retailer, having an ERP that enables agility is crucial to delivering an exceptional customer experience.

Kate noted: "One thing for us that's been really impactful with Fulfil is the tools that Fulfil gives us to be nimble and agile and adapt to the market. One example is phone orders. We have a high clientele approach to our customer service, and one service that we offer is that customers can call our store and say, 'Hey, I need this product delivered to my house today. Can you make that happen?' We can make that happen, in part thanks to Fulfil. We worked with channel scripts in Fulfil to build out this feature, where the staff at Point of Sale can drop that order, hit a few buttons in Point of Sale, and ship that order. It goes directly into our delivery system, and our delivery drivers are able to deliver that order, just as if we had taken it online."

8. Self-Sufficient Growth

Since Fulfil is purpose-built for retail brands, adding new channels or locations doesn't require an army of consultants or extensive customization.

Nicholas shared the experience when opening a new store: "We opened a new store and didn't even really have to contact Fulfil. We were able to set it up in Fulfil on our own and connect it to Shopify and Onfleet. There were maybe two messages between our team and Fulfil to make sure everything was in line."

9. AI-Native eCommerce ERP: Speed of Innovation

Nicholas recalled: "When Shopify shipped that feature to enable routing our phone orders through our delivery app, Fulfil had support for it the same day. Our stores loved it."

Kate noted: "We appreciate that Fulfil is very forward-thinking and trust Fulfil to be the bleeding edge of the market and help support AI initiatives. My favourite new feature is the MCP that lets us integrate Fulfil with Claude or other LLM tools, and then using that interface to get different reports has been super fun."

10. Responsive Retail ERP Support

While legacy ERPs often outsource customer support or charge for premium support tiers, Fulfil's customer support is handled in-house and included within the ERP subscription.

Kate noted: "There have been times in the past with other partners where I'm on a call with them, and I'm trying to explain a problem, and I feel like I'm speaking to a wall because either they don't understand or they're just not interested in helping me solve the problem. I'm not kidding when I say, and I'm not biased when I say, every person that I've spoken to at Fulfil has always shown a quick understanding of what I'm trying to get to, and a real interest in solving my problem."

Looking Forward: Building for the Next 75 Years with the right ERP

For a family business entering its fourth generation, choosing the right technology partner wasn't just about solving today's problems; it was about building a foundation for sustainable growth.

With Fulfil's implementation, Tomlinson's has established:

Automated Operations: Eliminating manual purchase order creation across 18 locations
Unified Visibility: Single source of truth for inventory across all channels
Scalable Foundation: Cloud-based platform ready to support future growth
Financial Integration: Complete operational and financial management in one system
Modern Technology Stack: Purpose-built for omnichannel retail operations

Paul highlighted: "After moving to Fulfil as our ERP, we've automated a ton of our processes, freeing up our group to not focus so much on systems issues, but focus more on revenue-generating activities as we're able to automate much more than we were before in the old ERP."

As the company continues to grow its eCommerce presence and optimize retail operations, Fulfil's Retail ERP provides the operational backbone needed to compete in modern pet retail while maintaining the personalized service that has defined Tomlinson's Feed for 75 years.

Kate noted: "I'm excited about the prospect of growing to fit Fulfil's expanded capability. As much use as we get out of Fulfil today, I know that there are other modules in Fulfil that we have runway to grow into. If we're looking to add stores or get into manufacturing ourselves or things like that, Fulfil will be able to support that."

What Tomlinson's Successful Shopify ERP Implementation Means for Multi-Location Retailers

Tomlinson's journey demonstrates the challenges facing traditional retailers in adapting to omnichannel operations. By replacing fragmented legacy systems with Fulfil's integrated platform, the family-owned business achieved:

Purpose-built retail functionality without heavy customization
3-month implementation vs. 6-12 months typical for enterprise ERPs
Automated purchasing replacing manual daily work
Real-time inventory visibility across 19 locations
Foundation for continued growth and operational excellence
50% faster pick times
39% fewer inventory transfers needed
15% decrease in delivery costs

For multi-location retailers managing complex inventory across stores, warehouses, and eCommerce, Tomlinson's experience shows how the right retail ERP can eliminate operational bottlenecks and create sustainable competitive advantages.

Ready to see how Fulfil's retail ERP can transform your Shopify operations? Schedule a demo of our eCommerce ERP today.

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How Tomlinson's Cut Delivery Costs 15% With Shopify ERP Integration