The Beginning of Alabaster
Alabaster’s success began with a marketing textbook.
It was 2007, and Brian Chung was flipping through pages of his university textbook, mesmerized not by the content, but by the design—clean lines, engaging visuals, the kind of layout that made learning feel effortless.
Across the room, a leather-bound Bible sat heavy on his desk, its pages dense with text, the kind of book you approached with reverence but not necessarily enthusiasm.
The contrast struck him: Why couldn’t the Bible look like this? Why couldn’t something sacred also be visually captivating?
Brian didn’t act on the idea right away. Ten years later, he found himself sitting with a friend who shared his passion for faith and design—another Bryan, but spelled with a “Y”—and that long-held idea came back to life.
"I think we can redesign the Bible," said Brian.
“Let’s do it,” answered Bryan.
A few months later, they launched Alabaster on Kickstarter with the launch of the Gospel books, blending scripture with art. Their campaign took off like a rocket, blowing by its funding goal within 30 days.
By 2017, they were shipping their first orders, packing boxes by hand in a small Los Angeles warehouse. It wasn’t glamorous work, but it was exciting, the beginning of something bigger than they’d ever imagined.
But as their business grew, so did the logistical challenges. Brian vividly recalls the back pain of packing hundreds of boxes himself.
"Never again," he swore as he hefted another Bible onto a shipping table.
It wasn’t long before Alabaster scrapped packing boxes themselves and moved to their first 3PL. Still, that, too, would prove to be only a stepping stone. The business was evolving, and the demand for their visually stunning Bibles was only growing, generating a new, unexpected source of attention.
Startup to Scaling on TikTok
In 2019, opportunity came knocking for Alabaster.
They had been growing steadily, relying on a mix of Instagram influencers and Meta ads to drive awareness, but the business was still mostly a side project for Brian. Then, an investor entered the picture with an offer that would take things to the next level.
The catch? They had to go all in.
“When we got an investor, he just catapulted us into a new direction,” Brian Chung recalls. “We were all still doing this on the side, but he said, ‘I want to invest in you guys, but you have to be full-time.’”
From there, the vision for Alabaster expanded. They invested in ads and influencers, reaching a wider audience—and growth followed.
But just as the company found its groove, they were hit with a major stumbling block.
The iOS 14 privacy updates in 2021 disrupted their core marketing strategy, leaving Alabaster scrambling to find a new path forward.
“We relied heavily on ads, and when iOS 14 changed everything, it forced us to pivot. We had to find a new way to gain traction,” Brian explains.
Alabaster jumped into experimentation mode, including launching their products on Amazon Marketplace, and testing the waters on TikTok, a platform quickly gaining momentum for its visually-driven, short-form content.
Brian started small, experimenting with his personal TikTok account, learning what resonated with the audience. He tested different types of videos, figuring out how to capture the attention of TikTok’s users. As Brian honed his approach, the Alabaster team decided they’d give TikTok Shop a try.
All of these efforts began to pay off, and by 2023, Alabaster recognized it was time to level up several areas of their business to match their growth trajectory, including bringing on Shipfusion as their 3PL.
Little did they know, however, just how critical that decision would end up being.
Meeting the Challenges of Going Viral: Lessons from the Alabaster Team
Fast forward to 2024. Brian and the expanding Alabaster team hadn’t expected their TikTok Shop to blow up like it did. Orders weren’t just pouring in—they were flooding. And with this tsunami of interest, the company was trying to stay afloat amidst newfound operational surprises.
The steady pace Alabaster had established was suddenly a sprint, rushing to restock and get orders out the door or risk being just another TikTok one-hit-wonder. What came next was key to turning a viral moment into long-term success.
Inventory Shortages: A Race Against The Clock
Alabaster's inventory plans were prepped for the usual post-holiday sales slowdown. But as January and February ticked on, orders kept flying out the door at peak season levels. It didn't take long for them to realize: They were heading straight for a stockout.
And no stock would mean the momentum they’d built on TikTok would plummet…and possibly never return.
“We didn’t have enough inventory to support the growth,” Emaly says. “We went immediately back to our manufacturers and said, ‘Can we get all of this new inventory, and how fast can we get it?’”
As Alabaster quickly worked to restock their shelves, Shipfusion’s adaptable fulfillment model kept pace with the rapid surge in sales, serving up smooth operations during this unexpected growth.
Shipfusion’s per-pick pricing structure and automatic carrier rate shopping helped Alabaster manage the surge in demand without a spike in costs. This freed up the resources they needed to keep riding the TikTok wave and scale their brand to unbelievable heights.
TikTok SLAs: Staying in the Algorithm’s Good Graces
Everyone has heard about the addictive nature of TikTok’s algorithm. But there’s more to it than just who makes the best videos, as Alabaster quickly learned.
The stakes on TikTok Shop are high. Missing a shipping deadline isn’t just a customer service issue—it can have a cascading effect on a brand’s visibility on the platform. TikTok’s algorithm favors sellers who meet their strict two-day shipping service level agreement (SLA).
If a brand misses that window, TikTok can impose penalties that lower the brand’s ‘shop score’; a number that’s invisible to shoppers but has a direct impact on how often a product shows up organically, or through search. In severe cases, violations can even cause TikTok Shops to be suspended or shut down.
"Because customer information is anonymized, we have no way to track or re-engage TikTok Shop customers off of the platform," Emaly explains, although they are able to retarget customers on TikTok itself. "Without the ability to bring customers into multi-channel funnels, it’s critical we keep up the pace with what the TikTok audience demands."
Without TikTok’s algorithm continuing to push products, that initial spark of interest that would normally be nurtured through ads or emails can quickly die out.
Missing the two-day shipping window wouldn’t just mean a slower delivery. It could mean disappearing from TikTok altogether.
"TikTok has a very strict turnaround time. We get dinged like crazy if orders don’t go out on time," Emaly adds. And with more than double their expected order volume coming in, the pressure was relentless.
But Shipfusion ensured every order met the deadline.
“We’ve never had an issue with the two-day SLA with Shipfusion. When an order comes in, it’s shipped the same day or the next day. So that’s definitely helped us with maintaining a high score on TikTok Shop,” Emaly says.
That positive score has been good for business.
“TikTok makes sure that you’re getting rewarded for adhering to a lot of the things that they want you to do. The algorithm pushes you more because it recognizes you’re a trusted brand,” she adds. “That was a learning curve too, but Shipfusion was right there alongside us, helping us to make sure that we could handle being seen more, and driving more orders.”
Alabaster didn’t just survive the surge—they thrived, maintaining their shop score, keeping the algorithm happy, and staying in front of TikTok’s vast, fast-moving audience.
Customer Service: Building a Dedicated Team for TikTok
The viral surge didn’t just test Alabaster’s fulfillment—it put pressure on their customer service team. TikTok’s audience expected faster responses and more engagement across multiple channels, from comments to direct messages and the TikTok ticket center, unlike the typical email or chat-based inquiries they managed through their DTC website.
“One of the biggest challenges was on the customer experience end,” Emaly notes. “It was a whole new customer, a whole new channel.”
To manage the growth, Alabaster hired a dedicated TikTok customer support specialist, with plans to add more for peak seasons.
TikTok’s strict rules meant every customer service issue went directly through Alabaster’s team, and missing responses could result in penalties that would also impact their TikTok Shop score.
“We can get violations for everything you can think of,” Emaly says.
With TikTok’s complex engagement channels, Alabaster needed a team agile enough to keep up and avoid infractions.
The good news? Alabaster’s customer service team has handled customer challenges like pros, thanks to full visibility on every order through Shipfusion 360—from the moment inventory arrives to when it hits a customer’s doorstep.
Reinvesting in the Future: Alabaster’s Growth Plans
As the initial surge leveled off, Alabaster had one big question: How to turn this momentum into long-term, sustainable success
Every dollar earned from TikTok was being funneled back into the business—growing the team, improving operations, and a more aggressive approach to releasing new products they felt would be received well across the new channels that were working for them, including TikTok.
Shipfusion’s data-driven insights are another critical piece of the puzzle for Alabaster to plan for future peak seasons, allowing them to anticipate inventory needs, forecast trends, understand top sellers, and keep up with demand before it becomes overwhelming.
With lofty expectations to grow peak season sales by 50%, the goals for Alabaster have only accelerated—and so have the expectations for their partners, like Shipfusion.
“We’ve been talking to the Shipfusion team about the order volume that’s going to be coming in. We have inventory inbounding almost every day, every week,” Emaly says.
And Alabaster’s increased order volume has them looking at expanding into more of Shipfusion’s warehouses, too.
“Anything that we need help with from a 3PL standpoint, Shipfusion has always been like, ‘Yes, we’ll figure it out,’ which we’ve loved," Brian says.
With growth beyond their wildest dreams, Alabaster’s ready for whatever comes next.
Lessons for Brands Preparing for Their Viral Moment
For Alabaster, TikTok was a springboard, not just a sales channel. Their success wasn’t just about capitalizing on a viral moment—it was about setting up the systems that would turn that moment into long-term momentum.
Here’s what other brands can learn from Alabaster’s journey:
1. Prepare for Inventory Surges: Virality can happen fast, and when it does, your inventory will fly off the shelves. Make sure you have a strong relationship with manufacturers and a fulfillment partner that can scale with you (and won’t penalize you for growth!)
2. Stay on Top of SLAs: TikTok rewards sellers who meet their shipping deadlines. Missing your SLAs can hurt visibility on the platform, so ensure your fulfillment partner can handle sudden surges in orders.
3. Reinvest in Your Business: When the sales flood in, make sure you’re reinvesting that money into expanding your product line, improving customer service, and building the infrastructure for future growth.
4. Create Products that Reflect What Audiences Respond To: TikTok makes it easy to spot product winners. From viral videos to getting followers in on the action—votes, comments, feedback—customer engagement is key to figuring out your next move.
5. Learn from Others and Build a Support Network: TikTok is a unique platform with its own set of challenges, and it helps to connect with others who are already navigating it. "We’re still learning things daily about TikTok," says Emaly. Brands can benefit from networking with other businesses in the same space, joining groups, and seeking advice from those who’ve experienced similar growth. Having advisors or a community to lean on can make all the difference as you figure out TikTok’s rapidly evolving systems.
Make Sure You Have Your TikTok Fulfillment Covered
Scale without limits—even when your brand goes viral. Let Shipfusion handle your fulfillment while you focus on turning your 15 seconds of TikTok fame into lasting growth. Our scalable fulfillment team and in-house dedicated Account Managers have your back, so you can focus on building your brand. We’ve got the logistics covered—no stress, just success! Partner with us today and stay ahead of the surge
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