How Solis Grew
on Marketplaces
With Ecommerce Fulfillment

The Challenge: Pallets Are Not Parcels

Solis of Switzerland makes top-of-the-line kitchen and beauty appliances and built its business through retail. Its move to selling direct started on marketplaces: Amazon, Cdiscount in France and Bol in the Netherlands, using their own fulfillment services.

“It is all about creating scale, step by step.”

As the number of marketplaces grew, Solis compared revenue and cost per product per marketplace. Fulfilling everything through Fulfillment by Amazon and its equivalents did not add up, and key marketplaces such as MediaMarkt and Kaufland in Germany and Darty in France offer no fulfillment of their own.

Solis's warehouse partner at the time was a reliable B2B specialist, built for pallets, not parcels. Both sides tried to make it work, with a later cut-off and even a new team. Carrier dependency broke it: during a holiday peak the only carrier was overloaded, Solis missed its delivery promises, and Amazon suspended its merchant-fulfilled account for a couple of months, in the middle of peak season.

The Approach: A Specialist Partner, Live Before Peak

Solis's key markets are the Benelux, Germany and France, where Salesupply's local network and carrier contracts were a direct match. So was the size of both companies.

“We were looking for a partner that was big enough but not too big. A partner to whom we are just as important as they are to us.”

The integration with Solis's ERP went smoothly and the operation went live with a month to spare before peak season, enough to test and fine-tune. It was the first peak Solis came through without problems.

“Since the start of our partnership we have always stayed within the set delivery limits of each online platform. That is especially important for marketplaces that work with strikes. These strikes can lead to a temporary, very costly, suspension of your account.”

Optimizing Together: More Orders, Fewer Costs

Since go-live, Solis and Salesupply have kept tuning the fulfillment across marketplaces and direct sales. Bestsellers stay with the marketplaces' own fulfillment. Everything else increasingly ships through Salesupply.

“For us there’s no discussion around bestsellers, it’s very interesting to have those stored and delivered by the marketplaces. Apart from these bestsellers, we are delivering more and more products ourselves. First and foremost for financial motives, but also to stay in control and to reduce organisational complexity.”

Three changes made the biggest difference. The order cut-off moved to midnight, which led to 25% more orders on Dutch marketplaces. Bulk stock levels were optimized so more stock is available online, and orders follow. And all seasonal products ship through Salesupply, so Solis avoids costly stock returns from the marketplaces.

The Result: Ready for the Future

• 25% more orders on Dutch marketplacesAfter moving the order cut-off to midnight.
• A peak without problemsThe first one in Solis's move to direct sales.
• Within every delivery limitOn every platform, since the first day.
• No costly stock returnsSeasonal products ship from Salesupply, not from marketplace stock.

“With a fulfillment partner like Salesupply, we are ready for the future.”