Illustrative Case Studies

Examples of What an Audit Can Surface

The case studies below are representative composites based on the kinds of findings, fixes, and engagement workflows we use with $15M–$50M e-commerce distributors. Individual outcomes vary by operation.

Illustrative Case Study 1

$28M Pet Supplies Distributor

The situation: Margins were eroding even as sales climbed. The owner was working weekends just to keep up.

An audit of this kind of operation can surface things like hidden dropship markups and dead inventory drag.

What we deliver in this kind of engagement: Full 9-area embedded audit, rebuilt vendor SOPs, prepared and ran every negotiation, and Lean Six Sigma margin-tracking training for the leadership team.

Dropship Markups
Quantified per vendor and prepared for renegotiation
Dead Inventory
Carrying-cost drag mapped to specific SKUs
Outcome Pattern
A clear, dollar-quantified roadmap
Specific results vary by operation

Representative example. Individual results vary by operation.

Illustrative Case Study 2

$19M Specialty Food & Beverage Distributor

The situation: Freight costs and chargebacks were invisible money leaks. The CEO was spending many hours a week chasing numbers.

An audit of this kind of operation typically surfaces things like freight overcharges (the kind software misses) and undocumented chargebacks.

What we deliver in this kind of engagement: Embedded in their systems, build new receiving & returns SOPs, train the team on daily leak detection, and sit in on vendor calls with them.

Freight Overcharges
Invoice-level audit of carrier billing accuracy
Chargebacks
Root-cause patterns, not just one-off fees
Outcome Pattern
Visibility into where every dollar goes
Specific results vary by operation

Representative example. Individual results vary by operation.

Illustrative Case Study 3

$41M Health & Wellness E-Commerce Distributor

The situation: Multi-location and cross-border complexity was quietly eroding margins. The CEO felt out of control.

An audit of this kind of operation typically surfaces things like inventory leakage across warehouses and process gaps at the seams between locations.

What we deliver in this kind of engagement: Complete embedded audit, full SOP library, carrier contract renegotiations, and Lean Six Sigma training so the team catches leaks themselves going forward.

Inventory Leakage
Mapped across multi-warehouse and cross-border flows
Process Gaps
Identified at hand-offs between locations and partners
Outcome Pattern
An operation the owner can see clearly again
Specific results vary by operation

Representative example. Individual results vary by operation.

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