Case Study: How Happy Hounds Solved Their Batch Allocation Challenge with TIDE + Shopify Flow

TIDE helped us solve a tricky POS batching challenge with a smart, efficient solution. They always go above and beyond to make sure our tech works for our business — not the other way around.

The Problem: POS Orders vs FIFO in Unleashed

Happy Hounds, a South African fresh dog food company, cooks meals in small batches and sells them both online and in-store using Shopify. They rely on Unleashed for inventory and batch tracking, where FIFO (first-in-first-out) allocation ensures older stock gets sold first.

While FIFO worked for online orders, it was clashing with their POS sales. In-store customers often prefer the freshest batch, but Happy Hound’s integration would automatically fulfil all orders in Unleashed, including POS orders, so staff couldn’t reassign batch numbers that the system had automatically assigned. This left the Happy Hounds team frustrated, risking their batch tracking and increasing operational busy work.

The Solution: TIDE + Shopify Flow

The answer came from combining TIDE and Shopify Flow.

TIDE is a powerful integration & automation platform that connects eCommerce systems like Shopify and Woo with inventory management solutions such as Unleashed or Linnworks. Its core strength lies in flexibility: sellers can automate routine tasks like order syncing, stock allocation, and fulfilment, while also customising workflows to suit unique business processes. Unlike rigid integrations, TIDE adapts to the way each business operates—whether that means supporting strict FIFO batch tracking, giving staff manual control over POS orders, or layering in conditional logic via Shopify Flow and its own internal logic engine. This balance of automation and adaptability makes TIDE a trusted choice for merchants managing complex operations across multiple platforms.

Here are the steps taken to meet Happy Hounds’ requirements:

  • TIDE interfaced with Shopify Flow’s HTTP Request node, enabling Happy Hounds to filter and delay updates instead of relying on the less the granular webhooks.
  • Shopify Flow identified POS orders and stopped their fulfilment status updates from syncing to Unleashed.
  • TIDE then managed all other order updates as usual, respecting FIFO for online sales but leaving POS orders open for manual batch allocation.

This setup meant online orders remained fully automated, while POS sales gave staff the flexibility to assign the newest batches manually.

The Result: Flexibility Where It Matters

With the new workflow in place, Happy Hounds gained:

  • Automation for online orders — FIFO batch tracking continued in Unleashed without interruption.
  • Control for POS orders — staff could reallocate batches before completing sales.
  • Time savings and fewer errors — no more fighting against auto-dispatched shipments.
  • A better customer experience — in-store buyers got the freshest stock.

Here’s what Happy Hounds had to say:

We recently faced a tricky challenge with our POS batching. Some of our customers love shopping fresh off a cook rather than receiving frozen, which threw our FIFO process out.
As always, the TIDE team partnered with us to craft a really neat solution that keeps our fulfilment accurate and efficient. What we love most about working with TIDE is that they never let tech dictate how we operate — instead, they design solutions that work for our business.
We’re grateful to have such a collaborative, committed team by our side.

Kerry Petrie, COO Happy Hounds

This project proved that TIDE’s flexibility and integration with Shopify Flow can solve complex order management problems. By working alongside Unleashed’s powerful batch tracking, Happy Hounds found the balance between automation and human control.

Why This Matters for eCommerce Sellers

For any Shopify merchant managing perishable or batch-tracked goods, the lesson is clear: automation doesn’t have to mean rigidity. With TIDE, you can integrate Shopify, Unleashed, and Flow in a way that respects your business rules—whether that means strict FIFO, fresh batches for POS, or both.

Read more about our Unleashed & Shopify integration here.