Authority Magazine Feature

Implement Fulfillment Solutions at Scale: Collaborating with large e-commerce fulfillment centers enabled Max Retail to efficiently handle high volumes of inventory. This allowed for seamless logistics and fast delivery, enhancing the customer experience and solidifying long-term growth.

E-commerce giants sometimes get a bad rap. But the truth is much more nuanced. E-commerce giants like Amazon, Ebay, Temu, Alibaba, Target, and Walmart have revolutionized the way we shop, sell, and interact with our communities. We would like to feature and interview entrepreneurs, business owners, and community leaders who have successfully utilized these platforms to expand their businesses or make a positive impact on their communities. As a part of this series, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Melodie van der Baan.

Melodie van der Baan‘s journey began as a distributor and independent retailer, where she developed a unique understanding of excess inventory across SMB retail businesses. This hands-on experience unveiled the complexities of inventory management, motivating her to pioneer solutions that bridge the gap between online and offline retailers and drive industry-wide progress.

Early on in her career, van der Baan’s ingenuity earned her the title of winner in the Fast Company & Mercedes-Benz Drive Your Business Forward contest, underscoring her position as an innovator in the retail industry. She launched Max Retail following Steve Blank’s ‘The Lean Startup’ with her co-founders while still owning a retail store, finally selling it in 2021 prior to raising their first capital investment. Today, Max Retail helps over 2k independent retailers nationwide recoup their wholesale cost on unsold inventory. Her pragmatic approach and clear communication resonate in industry discussions on esteemed platforms like Shoptalk and podcasts such as Rethink Retail, Retail Wire, Inc, SupplyChainBrain, and Management One.

Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Can you tell us a story about what brought you to this specific career path?

My journey began as an independent retailer, where I quickly learned the importance of adaptability in a rapidly changing market. As consumer expectations evolved from simple Facebook pages to sophisticated websites, I witnessed the challenges of digital marketing and customer acquisition in an increasingly crowded e-commerce landscape. This experience led me to identify a critical industry problem: the disconnect between physical retailers with excess inventory and successful online marketplaces seeking to minimize unsold inventory. Dedicated to solving this issue, I founded Max Retail at the perfect moment to bridge the gap between these two needs. Our company’s success stems from being in the right place at the right time, while leveraging my retail background and market insights to create a solution that benefits both traditional retailers and e-commerce giants.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began at your company?

One of the most eye-opening experiences since starting Max Retail was our work with a sophisticated omnichannel retailer. We were helping them sell on several marketplaces, and we saw their sales increase fourfold on platforms where they were already present. This dramatic improvement wasn’t due to selling different products, but because of how we were listing them. Our core technology, which optimizes inventory for each specific channel, was the key differentiator.

This experience revealed that each marketplace has its own unique algorithm, and customers on different platforms have distinct ways of searching and discovering products. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to online selling. Many retailers, especially independent ones, lack the time and resources to tailor their strategies for each platform effectively. Our technology navigates these complexities efficiently, resulting in significantly improved sell-through rates. This story perfectly illustrates how Max Retail’s innovative approach can transform a retailer’s online performance, even on familiar platforms.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

When I first started Max Retail from the back room of my store, I had this utopian vision that quickly proved to be my funniest mistake. I imagined a world where brands would eagerly sign up for our solution, understanding its importance for their authorized retailers. In this idealistic scenario, I thought retailers would be acutely aware of their overstock issues in real-time, allowing them to take proactive measures. I genuinely believed this was how our company would solve the problem of excess inventory.

Reality, however, painted a different picture. Physical retailers, I soon discovered, were far too busy managing day-to-day operations to notice inventory issues until it was too late — like realizing they had too many flip-flops when October rolled around and winter boots were already being shipped in. My initial concept also wrongly assumed brands would be our primary customers when they were actually secondary. Thankfully, I was bootstrapping the company without investor money, which allowed me the flexibility to understand these realities and pivot our approach. This experience taught me the invaluable lesson of validating assumptions and understanding the true pain points of our target market before building solutions. It reinforced the importance of staying grounded in the practical realities of retail operations rather than getting carried away with idealistic visions.

How have platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Alibaba contributed to the growth of your business, and what key advantages have you experienced from leveraging these platforms?

First and foremost, it’s critical to understand that there will never be an online experience as meaningful as a physical in-store experience. The scent of the store, the ambient music, the warm greeting from a familiar face, and the tactile experience of browsing cannot be digitized, regardless of how far AI advances. This is why e-commerce should be viewed as a complement to, rather than a replacement for, brick-and-mortar retail. However, physical stores are inherently limited by foot traffic, while the profitability of a retail business hinges more on inventory turnover than on price points. At Max Retail, our mission is to ensure that retailers maintain a constant flow of desirable, fresh assortment in-store, along with the financial means to sustain it.

This is where platforms like Amazon, eBay, and Alibaba become invaluable tools in our strategy. These e-commerce giants, with their vast consumer bases numbering in the hundreds of millions, provide an unparalleled opportunity to monetize unsold or less desirable inventory. Max Retail leverages these platforms to your advantage, turning your excess stock back into cash as quickly as possible. This approach allows you to reinvest in new, appealing inventory for your core, loyal customer base. Remember, if your customers see the same products month after month, they’re less likely to return. By partnering with Max Retail and utilizing these e-commerce platforms, you’re not just clearing out old stock — you’re fueling a cycle of constant renewal that keeps your in-store experience fresh and exciting, ensuring that your physical retail space remains a dynamic and aspirational destination.

What challenges did you face when first starting to sell or engage with e-commerce giants, and how did you overcome these obstacles?

Engaging with e-commerce giants presented significant challenges, primarily revolving around aligning with their meticulously crafted brand identities. Each platform has specific requirements for product imagery and descriptions, an extensive list of product attributes, fulfillment protocols, seller performance metrics, and most importantly, the customer support experience. Overcoming these obstacles required us to develop a robust toolkit of innovative solutions. We built systems that gave our suppliers of dropship inventory seamless access to these tools, enabling them to meet the specific standards of each e-commerce platform. One particularly challenging aspect was adapting to the extensive list of product attributes demanded by different marketplaces. This level of detail proved to be a pain point initially, but by creating comprehensive data management systems, we were able to efficiently collect, organize, and distribute this information across various platforms. Our success ultimately came from recognizing that each e-commerce giant’s unique brand requirements weren’t just hurdles to overcome, but opportunities to refine our processes and enhance our value proposition to both suppliers and platforms alike.

In what ways have you been able to maintain or strengthen your brand’s identity while working with large e-commerce platforms that often prioritize mass-market appeal?

Max Retail has carved out a unique position in the e-commerce ecosystem — not as a brand itself, but as a powerful behind-the-scenes secret merchandising weapon for major platforms. Unlike traditional dropship suppliers who typically specialize in specific categories or brands and risk inventory depletion, we offer an unparalleled breadth of over 9,000 brands available for drop shipping. This diversity allows us to strategically fill inventory gaps and respond to the evolving needs of e-commerce giants. We leverage their data on high-demand categories, sought-after price points, and even null search results to curate an inventory that precisely aligns with their growth strategies and customer demands. Our ability to provide fresh assortments daily sets us apart from most suppliers, ensuring that these platforms can continually offer new and exciting products to their customers. By positioning ourselves as a dynamic, data-driven inventory solution rather than a competing brand, we’ve strengthened our value proposition and become an indispensable partner to these e-commerce platforms, enhancing their market appeal without compromising our own identity or mission.

Based on your opinion and experience, what are your “5 Ways I Leveraged E-Commerce Giants to Grow My Business” and why?

1. Partner with Established Marketplaces: By integrating with major e-commerce platforms, Max Retail expanded its reach to millions of shoppers. This provided instant access to a larger audience, enhancing visibility and increasing sales velocity for our clients.
2. Tap into Core Distribution Networks: Partnering with local and national e-commerce platforms allowed Max Retail to extend its reach and grow within our core markets. This core distribution network opened new revenue streams and diversified our customer base, resulting in accelerated growth and greater brand exposure.
3. Utilize E-Commerce Marketing Tools: E-commerce giants offer robust marketing tools like targeted ads, sponsored product listings, and SEO-optimized storefronts. By tapping into these resources, Max Retail enhanced its online presence, driving more traffic and increasing conversion rates across all retail partners.
4. Leverage Data-Driven Insights: E-commerce giants provide invaluable data and analytics on customer behavior and market trends. By utilizing these insights, Max Retail was able to refine its inventory management processes and optimize sales strategies, driving higher conversions and customer satisfaction.
5. Implement Fulfillment Solutions at Scale: Collaborating with large e-commerce fulfillment centers enabled Max Retail to efficiently handle high volumes of inventory. This allowed for seamless logistics and fast delivery, enhancing the customer experience and solidifying long-term growth.

Can you share an example of how using a platform like Walmart, Temu, or Target has allowed you to reach a global audience or create new business opportunities that weren’t previously available?

Absolutely! One of our core missions at Max Retail is to advocate for the collaboration between e-commerce giants and the independent retail community. Traditionally, these entities have been viewed as competitors, but we’ve seen incredible value in fostering ‘coopetition’ — a model where competitors collaborate for mutual benefit. By bridging the gap between supply and demand, we’ve unlocked new opportunities for small retailers to thrive alongside these giants. For example, through partnerships with these platforms, independent retailers gain access to global distribution networks, enabling them to reach customers they couldn’t before, while the e-commerce giants benefit from offering a wider variety of unique products. It’s a win-win that empowers both parties to grow and succeed together.

Looking forward, how do you see the role of e-commerce giants evolving in your industry, and how do you plan to adapt your business to stay competitive and innovative within these ecosystems?

Looking ahead, I see e-commerce giants playing an increasingly pivotal role in shaping the retail landscape, not only as marketplaces but as technology-driven ecosystems that drive innovation and efficiency. At Max Retail, we’re already implementing advanced technological features, such as AI-driven inventory optimization and personalized shopping experiences, to make our platform an even more valuable partner to these giants. Additionally, we’re aggressively expanding our global distribution network, ensuring that the inventory of our retail partners reaches a broader audience faster than ever before. By increasing the number of e-commerce partners we collaborate with, we’re enabling faster sell-through rates and unlocking new growth opportunities for independent retailers, ensuring that we remain competitive and innovative within these evolving ecosystems.

Because of the role you play, you are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I would say that I would love to encourage brands that champion words like “sustainability” to consider the significant impact of unsold inventory on their independent retailers. Many brands place restrictions on where and at what price their products can be sold, causing this inventory to sit longer than necessary. This not only puts retailers at greater financial risk but also leads to products being discarded in ways that are far from sustainable. I believe true sustainability should encompass the full lifecycle of products, including addressing unsold inventory in physical retail. By embracing solutions like Max Retail, we can reduce waste, support small businesses, and create a more responsible retail ecosystem.

This movement would not only empower independent retailers but also hold brands accountable to the values they promote.

PS: Shoutout to all the brands who get it and are working with Max Retail today.

This was really meaningful! Thank you so much for your time.

About the Interviewer: Dina Aletras boasts over 20 years of expertise in the corporate media industry. She possesses an in-depth understanding of growth, strategy, and leadership, having held significant roles at some of the UK’s largest media organizations. At Reach PLC, the UK’s largest tabloid publisher, she served in various director capacities. Additionally, she held leadership roles at The Independent Magazine Group and DMGT. Her extensive knowledge spans editorial, digital, revenue, sales, and advertising.

Upon relocating to Switzerland, Dina took on the responsibility of managing and promoting the international section of Corriere del Ticino — CdT.ch pioneering the English page “onthespot.” She also was the Co-Editor of Southern Switzerland’s first official Italian and English bilingual magazine.