Complete Ops & Fulfilment System

Overview

As soon as Dansu started shipping internationally, four predictable problems hit at once: shipping costs eating margin, stockouts killing growth at the moment ads were scaling, packaging damage and dimensional weight surprises, and duty and VAT confusion generating refunds and support contacts. I built the operational system from scratch to make fulfilment reliable, predictable, and margin-safe across UK, EU, and US.

The problem

Every ops decision had knock-on effects — higher per-order shipping cost to reduce lost parcels, bigger safety stock to prevent stockouts when paid spend scaled, packaging changes that affected both damage rates and carrier rates. I had to design a system that balanced all of these deliberately rather than improvising per order.

What I built

Shipping architecture

Mapped shipping lanes (UK domestic, EU, US) and negotiated and selected carriers and services by lane. Set clear rules for free-shipping thresholds, tracked vs untracked defaults, and expedited options. Redesigned packaging as part of this to reduce dimensional weight charges.

Estimated impact: ~10–25% reduction in average shipping cost through service selection, packaging changes, and threshold optimisation. Tracked shipping as the default for all lanes reduced "where is my order" support contacts.

Stock forecasting and reorder model

Built a demand forecasting model using:

• Trailing sales velocity (7, 14, and 30-day windows)
• Seasonality and festival peaks
• Marketing calendar (expected ad scaling or drops)
• Supplier lead times per lane

Created reorder logic with minimum stock thresholds, reorder points, safety stock buffers, and "risk window" alerts showing projected stockout dates. Planning shifted from reactive ("we're out") to proactive ("reorder in 12 days").

Tradeoff I managed: safety stock ties up cash, but stockouts are worse when you're scaling paid media and losing sale opportunities.

Packaging redesign

Tested packaging options against real shipping constraints — dimensions matter more than most founders realise. Redesigned to optimise product protection, brand presentation, and shipping efficiency simultaneously. Estimated outcome: ~5–15% reduction in per-order packaging cost and a small but meaningful reduction in damage and returns.

Duties and VAT logic

Defined pricing and checkout logic to eliminate surprises: when duties and VAT are charged, what the customer sees at checkout and in confirmation emails, and how returns and refunds work when duties are involved. Standardised these rules across UK, EU, and US so fulfilment wasn't improvising per order.

Estimated outcome: ~20–40% reduction in operational exceptions once the rules were locked and documented.

Automation layer

Automated inventory signals so the business didn't rely on manual spreadsheet checking:

• Low-stock alerts
• Reorder point triggers
• Projected stockout date warnings
• Reorder task creation and reminders

Connected the logic across systems — store data synced to the ops tracker, feeding automated alerts.

Systems I built

• n8n workflows for stock alerts, reorder triggers, and fulfilment exception flagging
• Supabase for inventory tracking and supplier lead-time data
• Forecasting model built on rolling sales velocity with seasonality and marketing inputs
• Supplier scorecards and QC workflow to surface consistency issues before they hit customers

Impact

• Shipping and packaging costs reduced through deliberate service selection and packaging redesign
• Fulfilment exceptions dropped significantly once duties and shipping rules were standardised
• Planning moved from reactive to forecast-driven across UK, EU, and US
• Customer service load from "where is my order" contacts fell after tracked shipping became standard across all lanes
• Business became operable and sellable without the founder managing ops day-to-day