DealDonkey transformed from a ‘daily deal’ site into a successful online discount platform with a wide range of products. With a small and close-knit team, it serves the Dutch market. Thanks to Optiply’s data-driven purchasing, DealDonkey now has better insight into trends and seasonal influences, making purchasing more efficient and strategic.

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A collection of special, useful and original products

One deal per day. That is the formula that DealDonkey started with in 2011. Meanwhile, the website of Rogier de Veer, founder and owner of DealDonkey, and his team has grown into a collection of special, useful and original products that make life more fun and easier.

Rogier talks about the start of DealDonkey. “I was employed as a purchaser for a similar company as DealDonkey but decided to quit my permanent job in 2011 to start my own platform. I found two investors, hired an intern and started DealDonkey". What he offered? One 'deal' per day for a very competitive price.

Rogier explains that he and his intern did everything themselves. “When the bidding block closed after eleven o'clock, we purchased the products so that we could process and ship them the next day.” In addition, they also staffed customer service and placed the deals online for the next day and handled all purchasing matters.

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From 'daily deal' to fixed range

Rogier explains that he adjusted his purchasing approach while working. “After a while, we saw that it was often a lot cheaper to purchase a pallet rather than 30 pieces of a product. The inventory in our warehouse gradually grew. We then converted the 'daily deal' website into a website with more than 500 products.”

Rogier saw that customers often bought not one, but several products. “They came in for the toothbrushes, but also took a toaster, for example. That worked very well.”

Rogier emphasises that DealDonkey has grown quite naturally as a company. “Ok, during the pandemic we did go 'times two', but those were exceptional circumstances. I do not pursue rapid and extreme growth as an entrepreneur.” Rogier states that stable growth suits him and DealDonkey better.

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From bed linen to LED lamps

Despite the growth of the company and the range, a 'deal of the day' still opens DealDonkey's homepage. Rogier emphasises that in most cases these products were already part of DealDonkey's inventory and will remain so - including the competitive price.

DealDonkey's range is wide, from kitchen supplies to electronic gadgets and from bed linen to LED lamps. Rogier purchases the products himself. “I speak to my regular group of suppliers every day and am therefore offered many products.” Besides that, Rogier himself also searches for products that could be interesting for DealDonkey’s range.

DealDonkey's purchasing process

Rogier explains that DealDonkey's purchasing process was originally as clear as their 'daily deal' formula.

“When we had an offer per day, we sent out a mailing in the morning so that we knew when the bidding block ended what had been sold. We could then immediately inform the supplier how many products needed to be delivered. That was super easy and clear from a purchasing perspective. At that time we hardly received any returns - customers were a lot less critical.”

“The moment we started working with a larger range, our purchasing approach changed, but it remained guesswork. We looked at sales and then estimated how much needed to be purchased. Initially, we didn't work with stock locations either - products were scattered in the warehouse. We didn't count inventory either. When you look back on it, it was ludicrous, but it worked for us at the time.”

The first step for DealDonkey towards structured inventory management was starting with Picqer as a WMS system. The data from Picqer was initially also used for purchasing.

A diverse range is a strength and an obstacle

The diverse range is DealDonkey's strength, but it also turned out to be an obstacle for accurate purchasing.

“We have many different products and sometimes we order twenty different items in a purchase order. That is very difficult to manage manually. And, if you make forecasts via an export, you can quickly overlook things. Then you order too many or too few products.”

“In Picqer we quickly saw the option to link with Optiply.” Rogier emphasises that he hesitated for a long time about working with Optiply because of the price. “I found the tool very pricey. We were then able to test the app for about three to six months. That made all the difference.” But once the connection was made, Rogier was quickly convinced of Optiply's strength.

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Order everything in just four clicks

Optiply and Picqer turned out to be a perfect match. Rogier: “The integration was 'easy'. Optiply was a perfect fit for Picqer. I quickly discovered that working with Optiply would save me a lot of time. I was suddenly able to bring all my purchases together and literally order everything in just four clicks.”

“We now order everything on time and can look a lot further ahead. We have much better insight into trends and seasonality. In addition, we are less vulnerable if products are temporarily sold out at a supplier. These parameters can be adjusted in Optiply and the purchasing advice is also updated immediately.”

In addition to the time savings, it is also important for Rogier that he no longer has to remember everything himself. “I don't have to think as much about purchasing tasks and when I purchase I can do it within fifteen minutes.”

Rogier purchases twice a week, but checks the Optiply dashboard daily. “If Optiply suddenly gives advice that I did not expect, I want to be able to respond to it in time.” Because DealDonkey sends out an email every day, it can happen that products suddenly pop out and for Rogier it is reassuring to know that Optiply is picking this up.

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Finding a good balance

When Rogier is asked about his favourite Optiply function, he is very adamant: “Actual purchasing.” He adds: “Of course, we also look at the ABC dots with which Optiply categorises products."

Optiply's ABC analysis is also an important indicator for DealDonkey when organising its inventory. "Certainly the A-products are very important to us when we work towards busy periods such as Christmas. However, I must honestly admit that the space in the warehouse also plays a part. For that reason, we check with our Optiply customer success manager whether we can reduce products in the B and C categories slightly. We have to find a good balance.”

Rogier clarifies that because of his purchasing role he is well-informed about product performance. “I know how products perform, but now that I work with Optiply I am one step ahead when ordering. We simply overlook less and I can now prevent us from selling out on a certain product.”

Manually or via export, Rogier never had such a clear insight into when he should stock up on soup pots or duvet covers, for example.

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Opportunities for everyone

Rogier looks to the future with positivity and praises his team. “We are a young team and our employees stay with us for a long time. The first intern I hired still works for DealDonkey and three warehouse employees have now moved on to office positions. I think team spirit is very important. There are opportunities for everyone within DealDonkey.”

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Responding more efficiently to trends

The collaboration between DealDonkey and Optiply has proven successful. Data-driven purchasing provides more insight, time savings and strategic inventory management within Rogier's company. Thanks to Optiply, DealDonkey can respond more efficiently to trends and seasonal influences, without unnecessary risks.