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Case study

From wholesale warehouse to eight-figure marketplace seller.

A Southern California pet products distributor with 25+ years of brick-and-mortar wholesale experience used Acenda to take its 10,000-SKU catalog direct to consumers on Target Plus, Amazon, Walmart, and beyond.

Pet products distribution warehouse with forklifts, pallet racking, and trucks loading at the dock
10,000+
SKUs made marketplace-ready
~1 month
from kickoff to first sales
25%+
of gross revenue from marketplaces within 6 months — mostly incremental
8 figures
in annual marketplace revenue today
01 · The customer

A wholesale operation built for retailers, not shoppers.

For over 25 years, the distributor supplied brick-and-mortar retailers across Southern California — food, treats, toys, grooming, and everyday pet care, more than 10,000 SKUs in all. The team knew vendor relationships, pricing, purchasing, and warehouse operations cold.

What it didn't have was a catalog, systems, or process built for selling online. In 2021, the company came to Acenda with a clear goal: use its product selection, supplier relationships, and cost position to reach shoppers directly on marketplaces like Target Plus, Amazon, and Walmart.

02 · The challenge

10,000 SKUs of B2B data that marketplaces would reject.

The product data came from vendors and was built for purchasing and warehouse operations — not consumer-facing listings. Items were missing required attributes, names were inconsistent, and variations needed normalizing. Each marketplace added its own rules for titles, images, categories, dimensions, and compliance fields.

At that catalog size, reviewing rejected listings by hand would have stalled the launch and created permanent busywork. And the wholesale-era order and inventory systems weren't designed to handle marketplace orders across multiple channels.

03 · The work

Connect what exists. Clean once. Publish everywhere.

Acenda restructured the wholesale catalog into a marketplace-ready product database — titles, descriptions, images, identifiers, dimensions, pricing, categories, and channel-specific attributes mapped per marketplace.

Nothing was ripped out. Acenda connected the order and inventory systems the client already ran, standardized the data flowing between them, and gave the team one place to send product data, receive orders, sync inventory, return tracking, and work through marketplace feedback.

Catalog cleanup
B2B data normalized for consumer channels
Field mapping
Per-channel attributes, validated pre-submit
System integration
Existing order & inventory tools connected
Order flow & sync
Orders, inventory, and tracking in one loop
04 · The results

A new revenue channel — without touching the old one.

Within about a month, the client was selling on Target Plus, Amazon, and Walmart. Within six months, marketplaces drove more than 25% of gross revenue — most of it incremental, layered on top of the existing wholesale business rather than replacing it.

Today the company sells as a third-party seller on Target Plus, Amazon, Walmart, Overstock, eBay, Google, and others, with marketplace revenue grown to eight figures. The wholesale roots became the advantage: broad catalog, supplier relationships, competitive pricing, and fulfillment that already worked.

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Case study FAQ

Can a wholesale distributor sell directly on marketplaces with Acenda?

Yes. Acenda restructures wholesale catalogs built for purchasing and warehouse operations into marketplace-ready product data. Titles, descriptions, images, identifiers, dimensions, pricing, categories, and channel-specific attributes are mapped per marketplace.

Do I have to replace my order and inventory systems?

No. Acenda connects the order and inventory systems you already run and standardizes the data flowing between them. Your team gets one place to send product data, receive orders, sync inventory, return tracking, and work through marketplace feedback.

Which marketplaces can a distributor sell on through Acenda?

Acenda connects to 100+ marketplaces and dropship programs, including Target Plus, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Google. Each channel's rules for titles, images, categories, dimensions, and compliance fields are mapped and validated before submission.

How does Acenda handle rejected listings in a large catalog?

Acenda validates listings against each marketplace's requirements before submission, so fewer come back rejected. Marketplace feedback is worked through in one place instead of channel by channel.

How long does onboarding usually take?

A typical new launch takes 32 calendar days, and migrating from another channel partner typically takes 14 days. Onboarding covers verified integrations, a catalog mapped to each channel's requirements, and 1:1 training for your team.

Sitting on a catalog that could sell everywhere?

Book a demo and we'll map your path from where you are to marketplace-ready.

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