What 3PL Does Hill House Home Use for Warehousing & Fulfillment?
Hill House Home uses Outerspace as their primary third-party logistics (3PL) and fulfillment partner.
Introduction to Hill House Home
Founded in 2016 by Nell Diamond, Hill House Home started as a direct-to-consumer bedding and home goods brand before becoming widely known for their viral sensation, the Nap Dress®. What began as a small, bootstrapped business focusing on bedroom essentials like bedding, pillows, and sleepwear has transformed into a multi-category fashion and lifestyle brand with a devoted following.
Hill House Home's product range now extends beyond their signature Nap Dress to include:
- Apparel and fashion items
- Home goods and linens
- Baby and children's essentials
- Bridal wear
- Swim and outerwear collections
The brand has experienced remarkable growth, with 275% year-over-year revenue growth in 2020 and a staggering 1,120% increase in Nap Dress sales alone. Over the past few years, Hill House Home has grown from a team of 5 to over 30 employees, expanded from one store to nearly six retail locations, and has sold over a million Nap Dresses since the product's introduction in 2019.
Why Hill House Home Needed to Optimize Fulfillment
As Hill House Home's popularity surged, particularly during the pandemic when their Nap Dress became a cultural phenomenon, the brand faced significant fulfillment challenges:
- Demand surges: Product drops routinely sold out within minutes, with one collection selling $1 million worth of inventory in just 12 minutes
- Supply chain complexity: Manufacturing across multiple factories in diverse locations including Madagascar and Turkey
- Inventory management: Constant sell-outs despite increasing order sizes
- Rapid growth: The business transformed from "low and slow and careful growth" to experiencing exponential demand requiring scalable fulfillment solutions
- Omnichannel requirements: Need to support both e-commerce and expanding physical retail operations
- Customer experience expectations: Growing need for personalized touches like monogramming and special packaging
These challenges required a logistics partner that could handle high-volume product drops while maintaining the brand's premium customer experience standards.
Partnership with Outerspace and Results
Hill House Home partnered with Outerspace, a 3PL provider founded in 2019 specifically designed to serve high-growth e-commerce brands. With Outerspace's specialized services, Hill House Home has been able to successfully manage their explosive growth and maintain their high standards for customer experience.
Notable results from this partnership include:
- Handling massive sales events: Successfully processing 20,000 orders in the first 12 minutes of a Nap Dress drop, with sales exceeding $1 million within 30 minutes
- Supporting peak season volumes: Processing over 10,000 orders in the first hour during Black Friday sales
- Facilitating continued growth: Supporting Hill House Home's seven-fold year-over-year growth over a three-year period
- Enabling business transformation: Supporting the brand's evolution from primarily home goods to a fashion-forward business
The Outerspace Solution
Outerspace provides Hill House Home with a comprehensive fulfillment solution specifically tailored to the needs of high-growth, premium direct-to-consumer brands. Their services include:
- Omnichannel fulfillment: Warehousing, picking, packing, shipping, and kitting to support both e-commerce and retail operations
- High-volume order processing: Same-day order processing for both domestic and international shipments, critical for handling Hill House Home's product drops
- Returns management: Complete returns processing and on-site refurbishment programs
- Advanced technology: Mission Control™ order management system and shipping optimization
- Customized customer experiences: Support for special services like embroidery, laser engraving, and custom packaging experiences that align with Hill House Home's premium brand positioning
- Strategic fulfillment network: Access to Outerspace's bi-coastal facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, enabling 2-day shipping to 85% of the United States
This comprehensive fulfillment infrastructure provides Hill House Home with the operational foundation needed to scale their business while maintaining their brand standards.
Lessons for Other eCommerce Brands
The successful partnership between Hill House Home and Outerspace offers valuable insights for other growing eCommerce brands:
- Choose logistics partners that understand your brand: Hill House Home benefited from working with a 3PL that was specifically designed to serve premium DTC brands and understood their unique needs.
- Prepare for success beyond your projections: Having fulfillment infrastructure that can handle unexpected growth is crucial—Hill House Home's ability to process thousands of orders in minutes during product drops was essential to their success.
- Don't compromise on customer experience: Even as they scaled, Hill House Home maintained their premium unboxing experience and personalization options by partnering with a logistics provider that offered these capabilities.
- Develop a strategic fulfillment network: By leveraging Outerspace's bi-coastal facilities, Hill House Home can offer fast shipping to most of their customers, enhancing satisfaction and reducing shipping costs.
Is Outerspace Right for Your Business?
When considering whether Outerspace might be the right fulfillment partner for your eCommerce business, consider these factors:
- Business stage and growth trajectory: Outerspace is particularly well-suited for high-growth brands that need a partner that can scale with them.
- Product type and complexity: With specialization in Home & Garden, beauty, health, and fashion products, Outerspace is equipped to handle a diverse range of product categories.
- Customer experience priorities: If your brand values premium unboxing experiences, custom packaging, or personalization options, Outerspace offers these specialized services.
- Order volume patterns: Brands with high-volume product drops or significant seasonal fluctuations will benefit from Outerspace's ability to handle surge capacity.
- Geographic distribution of customers: With facilities in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Arizona, Outerspace can provide efficient nationwide delivery.
For brands similar to Hill House Home that prioritize both operational excellence and brand experience, Outerspace offers a compelling fulfillment solution.
Final Thoughts
The partnership between Hill House Home and Outerspace demonstrates how the right fulfillment strategy can support explosive growth while maintaining brand integrity. As Hill House Home transformed from a small home goods brand to a fashion phenomenon, having a logistics partner that could scale with them and understand their unique needs proved essential to their success.
For eCommerce brands experiencing rapid growth or planning for future expansion, selecting the right fulfillment partner is a critical business decision. Working with a 3PL like Outerspace that specializes in serving high-growth brands can provide the operational foundation needed to turn logistics from a potential bottleneck into a competitive advantage.
To find a 3PL that aligns with your specific business needs and growth objectives, consider using a matchmaking service that can connect you with vetted providers based on your unique requirements.