MARIA
E-commerce / Retail Operations — USA
Client Profile
Industry
E-commerce / Online Retail (USA)
Size
Mid-sized online store with 3,500+ SKUs, processing 800+
orders daily, $8.5M annual revenue
Business Model
Direct-to-consumer across 4 marketplaces (Shopify,
Amazon, eBay, Walmart)
Challenge
Manual order processing, inventory chaos, 12+ hours
daily on repetitive tasks
Business Problem
→ Order processing required 12+ hours daily across 4 sales channels
with manual data entry
→Inventory sync issues caused overselling – average 18 cancellations
daily, customer complaints
→ Customer service inquiries (tracking, returns, product questions)
averaged 120+ daily with 8-hour response time
→ Shipping label generation and tracking updates manual for 800+
daily orders
→ Product listing management across 4 platforms required duplicate
effort for each new item
→ No automated reordering – stockouts costing $35K monthly in lost
sales
→Returns processing manual – 45-minute average per return (80+
monthly)
→Weekly inventory reports required 6+ hours of spreadsheet
consolidation
Objective
Automate order processing across all 4 sales channels
Achieve real-time inventory synchronization to eliminate overselling
Reduce customer service response time from 8 hours to under 30
minutes
Automate shipping label generation and tracking updates
Enable one-click product listing across all marketplaces
Implement automated reordering based on sales velocity
Reduce operations team time from 70 hours to 15 hours weekly
Save $120K+ annually in operational costs
Automation Details
Order Flow Automation
New orders from any channel trigger
automatic inventory reservation, payment verification, packing slip
generation
Inventory Synchronization
Real-time inventory updates across all 4
platforms within 60 seconds of any sale
Overselling Prevention
System reserves inventory during checkout,
releases if payment fails within 15 minutes
Smart Label Generation
Automatically selects cheapest shipping
method based on weight, destination, delivery speed
Tracking Updates
Shipping updates pushed automatically to all
marketplaces and customers via email/SMS
Customer Service Automation
AI chatbot handles order status,
shipping ETA, return policy, product availability (75% deflection rate)
Multi-Channel Listing
Upload product once to PIM, automatically
formats and publishes to all 4 marketplaces with platform-specific
requirements
Predictive Reordering
Analyzes 90-day sales velocity, current stock,
lead times to generate automatic purchase orders when inventory hits
reorder point
Returns Processing
Customer initiates return via portal, system
generates RMA, creates shipping label, processes refund upon receipt
confirmation
Automated Reporting
Daily inventory snapshot, weekly sales by
channel, monthly P&L automatically generated and emailed
Solution Overview
→ Deployed comprehensive e-commerce automation platform
integrating all sales channels
→ Central inventory management system with real-time sync across
Shopify, Amazon, eBay, Walmart
→ Automated order processing workflow from purchase to fulfillment
→ AI-powered chatbot handling 75% of customer service inquiries
→ Automated shipping label generation via ShipStation integration
→ Product Information Management (PIM) system for one-click multi-
channel listing
→ Smart reordering system using predictive analytics for inventory
replenishment
→ Returns portal with automated RMA generation and refund
processing
Technology Stack
Integration Platform
Zapier Enterprise for workflow automation
Marketplace APIs
Shopify API, Amazon MWS, eBay API, Walmart
Marketplace API
Inventory Management
Custom system with PostgreSQL database,
real-time sync
Customer Service
Zendesk with AI chatbot (GPT-4), automated
ticket routin
Shipping
ShipStation API for label generation, multi-carrier rate
shopping
PIM
Akeneo for centralized product data management
Analytics
Google Sheets with automated reporting, Looker Studio
dashboards
Notifications
Twilio SMS for low stock alerts, SendGrid for customer
emails
Automated Reporting
Daily inventory snapshot, weekly sales by
channel, monthly P&L automatically generated and emailed
Outcome & Impact
→ Time Savings: Operations team time reduced from 70 to 12 hours
weekly (83% reduction)
→ Order Processing: 800+ daily orders now processed automatically
with zero manual data entry
→ Overselling Elimination: Cancellations reduced from 18 daily to 0.8
(96% improvement)
→ Customer Service: Response time from 8 hours to 18 minutes (96%
improvement), 75% inquiry deflection via chatbot
→ Inventory Accuracy: 99.7% accuracy across all channels (up from
87%)
→ Stockout Reduction: Lost sales from stockouts reduced from $35K to
$4K monthly (89% improvement)
→ Shipping Efficiency: Label generation automated, saving 3 hours
daily, 15% shipping cost reduction through smart carrier selection
→ Returns Processing: Time per return from 45 minutes to 8 minutes
(82% improvement)
→ Cost Savings: $142K annual savings in labor costs (2 full-time
positions through attrition)
→ Revenue Impact: $380K additional annual revenue from eliminated
stockouts and improved customer experience
→ Scalability: Now processing 1,200+ daily orders with same 12-hour
weekly operations time
Why This Matters for Similar Clients
E-commerce Stores
Online retailers with 500+ SKUs and multi-
channel presence can automate 80-90% of operations
Dropshipping Businesse
Manage 5,000+ SKUs across 10+
suppliers with automated order routing and inventory sync
Amazon FBA Sellers
Automate listing optimization, inventory
replenishment, customer service for 1,000+ ASINs
Wholesale Distributors
Process 2,000+ daily B2B orders with
automated EDI integration and invoicing
Print-on-Demand
Manage 10,000+ designs across multiple
platforms with automated order fulfillment
ROI
E-commerce businesses typically see 6-10 month payback with
400-600% ROI over 2 years from reduced labor costs, eliminated
stockouts, and improved customer satisfaction enabling higher order
volumes
Operations Time Reduction
Faster Customer Respons
Additional Annual Revenue