Why we almost „finished” our client - case study from Allegro

We started working with this client at the end of last year. The nature of his business is largely seasonal - as many as 60% listings have the highest sales potential in the March-June period. We knew this was a key time of year, but despite solid preparations, we were one step away from serious problems in April - including the threat of blocking his Allegro account.

The start was promising...

From January, we started to roll out a new line of seasonal products - up to 220 items in total. We prepared complete descriptions, titles, photos and graphics. The products went on several platforms simultaneously: Allegro, Amazon, Kaufland and eMag.

The customer already had experience - he had been in the market for years, so he knew that spring was his golden time. The entire assortment was sourced from Polish manufacturers and the declared delivery time from the manufacturers was up to 7 working days.

The action plan looked solid:

• Maintain stock levels of 15 units for each SKU (approximately 900 SKUs),
• Regular complementary deliveries - once a week,
• Automation in Baselinker: dynamic extension of delivery times when stocks fall,
• Implement repricing on selected products to maximise turnover.

The first weeks looked great - the offers were converting well and the warehouse was processing up to 350 orders a day. It is worth adding that these were bulky goods - packed in 60x40x40 cm and 80x40x40 cm boxes, which took extra time.

...until problems arose

In mid-April, demand started to increase rapidly - in all channels simultaneously. The warehouse was not prepared for this scale of orders, especially after the weekends. On Mondays and Tuesdays, the tension reached its zenith.

The situation was exacerbated by further delays:

• Suppliers were falling behind in production,
• Admissions to the warehouse were postponed,
• Shipping times were increasing - up to 1.5-2 weeks.

What was logistically challenging for our client was unacceptable for customers - especially those abroad. Negative reviews started to appear on Allegro. That's when we realised we were one step away from disaster. At its peak, the number of orders (orders that are waiting for the product to be delivered from the manufacturer), was as high as 700 orders.

13 days of intensive work

It took us almost two weeks to rescue the situation. During this time:

• We reorganised the work of the warehouse, thanks to the trust of our client,
• We have changed the way offers are displayed - lead times,
• We have modified the advertising campaigns,
• We focused on proactive communication with customers
• We have maximised profit by actively monitoring prices and adapting them to the demand of the range

All this to avoid account blocking and rebuild trust.

What did we take away from this story?

This case confirmed something we often say: Even the best offers and descriptions cannot save a sale if operational processes fail. You can scale sales in a matter of days - but scaling logistics and the warehouse is a completely different story. And that's often where the real challenge lies.

The season is still going on. We hope that there will be no more situations like this. But if the need arises again - we are ready to rescue the client. Because cooperation is not only about results, but also about responsibility in difficult moments.

Author: Adrian Śmigiel

Date of publication: 26.05.2025r.