Travelbags is running at full speed with over 16,000 products and more than 100 brands. Thanks to Optiply, automating the purchasing process has increased from 70% to almost 100%, resulting in less manual work and more control over inventory management.

Read on to understand how Optiply helps Travelbags move quickly and always have the right amount of stock on hand, even during unexpected peaks in demand.

The need for a data-driven and dynamic purchasing strategy

Travelbags is one of the largest online retailers of suitcases and bags in the Netherlands. With more than 16,000 products actively being sold in its assortment from a total of over 100 brands, an effective buying strategy is crucial to the company's success.

The demand for products significantly fluctuates due to seasonal trends such as summer holidays, back-to-school periods and Black Friday. This requires a data-driven but also dynamic and responsive purchasing strategy.

Travelbags has been working with Optiply for about 5 years. In 2024, Tygo Bril was hired as the new buyer. We spoke to him about his new role, the challenges Travelbags is currently facing and how Optiply is helping him overcome these. 

From manual purchasing to the first optimizations with Optiply

Before the team at Travelbags started using Optiply, their buyers manually placed orders each day based on sales data, internal supplier and product reviews, brand-level forecasts, and general gut feeling.

Purchasing is a mission-critical operation that directly influences Travelbags' growth. To improve their replenishment strategy, a former Travelbags buyer reached out to Optiply. After an initial call and consultation, it became clear there was huge potential: reducing inventory levels while improving product availability.

After just two months of working together back in 2020, the first results were already clearly visible. Within a few weeks, product availability for A and B products had increased by 20%, while the total inventory value in euros dropped by over 22% — giving the team a significant cash flow boost.

‍

From 70% to 96% purchasing automation

Travelbags had been successfully working with Optiply for years, but last September Tygo Bril was given full responsibility of the purchasing strategy, and optimizing the use of Optiply.

Tygo talks about his early days at Travelbags: “At Travelbags, I’m mainly responsible for reorders of our brands, and I also have an additional role as a process improver within the logistics department. It’s a nice mix of purchasing and process optimization, and I work with Optiply daily to keep everything running smoothly.”

When Tygo just started at Travelbags, he was immediately thrown in the deep end to work with Optiply, as it was a completely new tool for him. But what stood out immediately was that, despite positive results, only 70% of the buying advice coming from Optiply’s software was actually being followed. 

Before Tygo's arrival, Travelbags' procurement process still had some bottlenecks:

• A service level of around 80% for A-products, causing popular high-margin items to often be unavailable.
• A lot of manual work on reorders, taking more time than needed.
• An imbalance in inventory levels, driven by limited warehouse space and sharp fluctuations in demand caused by seasonal trends.

With a fresh perspective and strong determination, Tygo began exploring further automation opportunities. By optimizing processes and working more closely with Optiply’s Customer Success team, he was able to increase the automation rate from 70% to 96%.

“In the past, we were still manually checking and updating orders. Now we can arrange reorders for our A and B products in just a few clicks. Our next objective is to fully automate the remaining 4% of our C products as well,” says Tygo.

This focus on automation has significantly reduced the time Tygo spends on purchasing. “Automation has freed up 3–4 hours a day that were previously spent manually creating orders. That makes a huge difference in my daily schedule.”

The current focus is on automating the remaining percentage, not only to eliminate the last bit of manual work, but also to tighten the overall inventory strategy.

Increased product availability and sales thanks to dynamic purchasing advice

In addition to automation, there’s continuous improvement through regular check-ins with the Optiply Customer Success team.

Tygo explains: “I have a check-in call with Joren, our Customer Success Manager, about once a month. We go through what’s going well and what could be improved. If I have questions in between, I just send him a message. He’s easy to reach, and that helps us keep improving at a fast pace.”

In the past, many manual overrides were made to the software’s purchasing advice, but Tygo now fully relies on Optiply’s recommendations, and it’s paying off:

• A-product availability increased from 80% to 95%,
• B-products availability went up from 71% to 84%,
• C-products availability improved from 72% to 77%.

These improvements were made possible by conscious decisions around inventory levels and cash flow. By using warehouse space efficiently and focusing on A and B products, sales in these categories increased by as much as 10%.

Smarter workflows, stronger results

Every morning, Tygo logs into Optiply to review the purchasing recommendations. He checks which brands need to be reordered and, on most days, places all the necessary orders within 1 to 1.5 hours.

“Optiply clearly shows which brands are up next, which SKUs are needed, and the quantity required for the upcoming period. The best part is that I no longer have to think about what needs to be ordered. The suggestions are so accurate that I can rely on them almost entirely.”

The time saved is now spent on more valuable activities, such as negotiating with suppliers and selecting new products. It’s a clear example of how automation not only lightens the daily workload but also contributes to the strategic growth of Travelbags.

John Horstra, owner of Travelbags, is also very positive about the collaboration:

“We look back on the partnership with great satisfaction. Aside from the well-functioning system, the communication lines are short. Optiply has brought more structure to our purchasing moments, helping us buy the right products at the right time and keep them in stock.”

He adds: “We’ve also gained better insights into which products are most important for our revenue and margin goals. Optiply has supported our growth by giving us more control — and we rarely have to say ‘no’ to customers anymore.”

It’s a strong result built over the past five years. Now that the day-to-day purchasing process runs so efficiently, the team is looking ahead to the next steps and new opportunities to continue growing Travelbags.

A peek into the future: smarter automation, and growth 

The current focus is on strengthening the replenishment strategy and future-proofing Travelbags.

One of the biggest opportunities lies in automating the management of C-products. These items are often less predictable and still require manual checks. By automating this part of the process as well, Tygo aims to create better inventory balance and reduce the risk of excess stock.

Tygo also sees opportunities to use Optiply’s promotional modules during major sales events like Black Friday:

“The system can help us scale up quickly during seasonal promotions, so we know exactly which products to order more of to meet increased demand.”

The biggest step toward full automation would be an EDI integration. This would allow Optiply to not only provide purchasing recommendations, but also to place orders directly with the suppliers.

Tygo: “We’re exploring how to integrate EDI to automate even more processes. In the future, we may not need to submit any orders at all — Optiply will take care of it for us.”

The collaboration between Travelbags and Optiply shows how data-driven inventory optimization leads to higher product availability, greater efficiency, and measurable revenue growth. We’re proud to have earned our customers’ trust over the years — and we’re excited to keep building on that partnership in the future.

Want to get started with fully automated, data-driven purchasing? Schedule a free demo or calculate your own savings today using Optiply.