The vacation rental market has exploded into a $250 billion industry, accounting for nearly a third of global lodging. As demand soared, so did the need for professional procurement solutions to streamline the furnishing and restocking of rental properties. Ashley Ching, Founder and CEO of Inhaven, recognized this need. “This is no longer a small industry. It’s a $250 billion industry, and they need to have a professional supply chain.”

Ashley set out to create Inhaven, a B2B e-commerce platform dedicated to supplying top-quality home goods specifically for vacation rentals. But with clients managing anywhere from 20 to over 1,000 properties, she knew Inhaven needed a robust e-commerce platform that could handle complex B2B requirements, alongside an efficient dropshipping solution that would allow for quick, reliable vendor partnerships and streamlined inventory management.

After evaluating options like Shopify Plus and Magento, Ashley ultimately chose BigCommerce for its strong B2B features, customization potential, and ease of integration with essential tools like Flxpoint. “At Inhaven, we are on a mission to transform B2B purchasing,” Ashley said. “I really felt like BigCommerce had the best B2B offering.”

Inhaven’s journey wasn’t without challenges. Initially, they partnered with a dropshipping provider who promised a fast six-to-eight-week onboarding. However, the process took closer to six months, delaying their website launch and incurring extra costs. “It actually took us about six months to onboard when they had said that it would take six to eight weeks,” recalled Ashley.

This delay forced Inhaven to seek a faster, more reliable solution, leading them to Flxpoint.

Flxpoint’s reputation for robust automation, user-friendly interface, and reliable integrations made it the perfect fit. “We ended up switching to Flxpoint, and it has been a much smoother process,” said Ashley. “Where it took us six months to get onboarded with the other company, we were up and running in a week or two with Flxpoint.”

The transition to Flxpoint was seamless, even with a tight holiday timeline. Inhaven’s Head of Merchandising, Niki Antonelli, shared, “We actually kicked off the move from our previous provider a week before Christmas,” Niki explains. “Thanks to the support team and your customer success team, we finished the transition in just under two weeks.”

This switch allowed Inhaven to onboard 50 vendors in record time, cutting down onboarding time, reducing costs, and eliminating delays.

Switching to Flxpoint not only streamlined Inhaven’s operations but also improved relationships with vendors and customers. Vendors who were familiar with Flxpoint were thrilled.

The ease of integration and supportive customer service from Flxpoint set a new standard for vendor relationships. One vendor highlighted the quick integration process, saying, “We did an EDI integration in a day… I’ve never seen such great support in my 30-year career.” Vendors found Flxpoint simpler than other platforms, and with quick response times and hands-on help, Inhaven built stronger vendor relationships, which strengthened their supply chain.

The improved integration process with Flxpoint meant Inhaven could sync real-time inventory data, ensuring customers saw only accurate stock levels, making their purchasing experience smoother. Ashley noted the importance of real-time inventory, “It’s really important that our product information is correct, that we have visibility into inventory.”

In addition to Flxpoint, BigCommerce was critical in helping Inhaven develop a customized B2B shopping experience.

Inhaven collaborated with their agency partner, Cronix, to launch an e-commerce site that maximized BigCommerce’s native features.

By integrating BigCommerce with Flxpoint and other tools like Searchspring and Zoho CRM, Inhaven could provide property managers with a streamlined, efficient way to furnish and restock multiple rental locations. Searchspring allowed customers to find products based on specific criteria, while Zoho CRM enabled Inhaven to manage customer and vendor data effectively.

To simplify the shopping process, Inhaven implemented checklists to help customers quickly purchase essentials for each room in bulk or individually. 

BigCommerce’s flexibility allowed Inhaven to create these customized checklists and add other features to tailor the B2B shopping experience.

BigCommerce’s API capabilities enabled Inhaven to build a customer portal with tailored functionality for property managers. This portal allows users to place purchase requests quickly, ensuring that the specific items approved for each property are always on hand. Inhaven even developed a progressive web app that connects with BigCommerce, allowing users to submit restocking requests with a simple one-click checkout.

The request goes directly to the purchasing manager, creating a fast and efficient process that ensures vacation rentals maintain high standards for quality and consistency.

With BigCommerce’s API-first approach and flexible B2B features, Inhaven was able to enhance the portal’s search functionality, enabling users to search by reference number, comments, or property. This improved order accuracy, eliminated errors, and helped Inhaven’s clients streamline their purchasing processes.

Since launching on BigCommerce, Inhaven has experienced double-digit revenue growth each quarter. The speed with which they were able to go live made a significant impact on their bottom line. “The number one impact was being able to launch so quickly,” shared Ashley.

Not only did BigCommerce’s platform enable Inhaven to launch quickly, but its customization capabilities allowed the brand to expand offerings within the customer portal, improving operational efficiency and meeting the unique needs of the vacation rental industry.

Inhaven remains committed to staying at the forefront of e-commerce innovation, exploring new technology to further support its clients. With BigCommerce continuing to invest in AI, Inhaven sees exciting opportunities to help clients make smarter, faster decisions.

Through its partnerships with Flxpoint and BigCommerce, Inhaven has built a scalable, user-friendly platform that meets the complex needs of the vacation rental market. From onboarding vendors seamlessly to enhancing customer experience with advanced B2B tools, Inhaven has become a trusted partner for property managers across the industry.

By leveraging the strengths of Flxpoint and BigCommerce, Inhaven has streamlined B2B procurement, strengthened relationships, and set the stage for future growth.