Technology Infrastructure Supporting iHerb’s E-commerce Operations

iHerb’s e-commerce operations are supported by a sophisticated technology infrastructure that integrates automated order fulfillment, advanced inventory management, and real-time data processing systems.

Key components include:

• Automated Order Fulfillment Facility: iHerb uses a highly automated pick-to-order and material-handling system that significantly boosts labor efficiency by 300% compared to previous batch-processing methods. This system employs Allen-Bradley POINT I/O racks distributed throughout the facility to simplify wiring and uses an Ethernet network for machine control, I/O, and HMI communications. This setup enables iHerb to process orders rapidly—fulfilling 15,000 to 20,000 orders per shift with about 99% accuracy and order processing times as fast as 15 minutes from induction to shipping.

• Inventory and Supplier Management: iHerb collaborates with over 800 suppliers and manages a large inventory of around 50,000 high-turnover products. The company leverages Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) through partnerships like SPS Commerce to optimize inventory management, improve supply chain efficiency, and enhance supplier collaboration. This system enables real-time data use for demand forecasting, replenishment, and streamlining receiving and distribution processes, which is critical for maintaining fast global shipping and customer service standards.

• Data Analytics and Logging Infrastructure: To handle massive data volumes (2-3TB of weblogs daily), iHerb transitioned from an in-house observability pipeline to using Cribl Stream. This tool supports multiple logging sources and destinations, enabling efficient routing and storage of logs in systems like S3, Elastic Stack, Loki, and Splunk. This infrastructure reduces engineering overhead, ensures no critical data loss, and supports security monitoring and troubleshooting.

Together, these technological elements—automated fulfillment, integrated supplier and inventory systems, and advanced data analytics—form a robust infrastructure that supports iHerb’s scalable, accurate, and efficient e-commerce operations.