How Peace Collective grew its on-demand product range by 50% with Katana

From a single Toronto storefront to a dynamic lifestyle brand with a presence across North America, Peace Collective manages an expansive range of product lines, including licenses from the NBA and NFL, and collaborates with TikTok influencers with the help of Katana.

Increase

In the on-demand product range

120+

Product licenses managed

Website

peace-collective.com

Integrations

Shopify Plus, DataAutomation

Industry

Fashion and apparel

Location

Canada

About Peace Collective

Peace Collective, established in 2014 in Toronto, has grown from a local apparel brand into a lifestyle powerhouse known for its commitment to sustainability and social causes. The brand has built a mission around making fashion sustainable and giving back to communities, focusing on supporting food banks, human rights foundations, and mental health centers across North America.

If I didn’t have Katana, I would be drowning in spreadsheets, which would all break at some point. Because of Katana and our pre-order methods, we can make sure our hero products are always in stock.
Lisa Diep Chief Operating Officer

Before settling on Katana, they had plans to expand further into the US market. However, they lacked the software to support scaling their production while minimizing waste, enabling omnichannel selling, and giving them complete visibility over sales and production.

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What was stopping their growth?

Peace Collective faced the complex challenge of managing growth while staying true to its sustainable ethos. With a vast array of products and a mixed manufacturing approach, the brand needed to evolve its operations to keep up with demand without generating excess waste — a notorious challenge for the fashion industry.

We carry licenses for most major league teams, from the NBA to the NFL. You’re looking at a total of 120+ teams, and carrying physical inventory for that amount is obviously not very feasible space-wise or economically without automation

Adopting on-demand manufacturing became a strategic move to mitigate the environmental impact typical of the fashion industry. However, traditional inventory management tools like spreadsheets and a basic warehouse management system (WMS) fell short of supporting this transition efficiently. Their WMS only collected orders for picking, packing, and fulfillment and didn’t allow them to monitor production or track different stages of an item or order that comes in.

How they scaled their business

After extensive research into inventory and manufacturing software, Peace Collective chose Katana as the best solution for their needs. Katana provided a seamless integration with multiple Shopify stores and a visual, real-time overview of manufacturing and sales orders. This allowed the brand to manage its made-to-order and made-to-stock workflows effectively. The move to Katana was further facilitated by DataAutomation, a partner that helped customize workflows to ensure efficient order processing and manufacturing tracking.

Doing on-demand manufacturing allowed us to cut down on holding costs. Now we’re able to avoid over and underproducing.

With the help of Katana, Peace Collective successfully expanded its on-demand product range by over 50%, significantly increasing the number of licenses and enabling expansion into the US market with branded merchandise for sports teams and influencers. With Katana and support from automation partner DataAutomation, they were able to build a tech stack that pulled orders in depending on the sales channel and how they would be manufactured — made-to-order or made-to-stock.

The results they achieved

Adopting Katana’s platform transformed Peace Collective’s operational capabilities, enabling the brand to significantly reduce waste and costs by adopting an on-demand manufacturing model. This strategic shift, aligned with their sustainability goals, supported their expansion into the US market and made managing an increased number of licenses easier. The integration with Shopify Plus and the customization provided by DataAutomation allowed Peace Collective to streamline its operations across multiple web stores, ensuring efficient order fulfillment and inventory management.

Katana allowed us to strategically manage our capacity and increase how many orders we could get. So I’m very grateful that Katana is there. They have been a great partner since and have helped us every step of the way.

Apparel brands use Katana to manage sales order fulfillment from made-to-order and made-to-stock workflows in tandem. Native integrations with key ecommerce platforms keep their inventory, production, and sales aligned, allowing them to streamline operations from sales to production. Learn more about Katana’s features and how they help manufacturers get a live look at their business.