Nelly.com was founded in Borås, Sweden, in 2004 and has become a leading online player for young adults interested in fashion and beauty. With an impressive journey, the company has gone from being an internet startup to one of the most well-known and loved e-commerce platforms in fashion in the Nordics.
With Nelly.com, customers can find clothes, shoes, underwear, swimwear, accessories and sportswear for any occasion. This includes both global brands such as True Religion, Adidas Originals, Neo Noir and New Balance, and Nelly's own unique brand.
As order volumes grew, so did shipping complexity. Hidden costs were eroding margins in ways that weren't immediately visible. Oversized locker fees here, penalty charges there — small inefficiencies that added up to significant annual expenses.
The challenge wasn't just about offering great delivery options. It was about protecting profitability while maintaining the customer experience that built Nelly.com's reputation.
Nelly.com identified an opportunity to reduce shipping costs by limiting certain delivery options. Specifically, the largest parcel locker size from a certain carrier was significantly more expensive than others. Nelly.com’s objective was to avoid shipments using these costly locker sizes.
They also aimed to eliminate unnecessary penalty fees for a specific delivery method where dimensional limits were frequently exceeded. These fees primarily resulted from shipments slightly surpassing the standard parcel size limits.
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Nelly.com conducted a comprehensive analysis of over 300K invoiced shipments over a two-year period. By leveraging the invoiced shipments and Ingrid’s Shipment Export data, they identified filter rules that could exclude the expensive parcel locker option when specific criteria were not met. Ingrid's user interface allowed the company to quickly and flexibly adjust these rules, enabling optimization within minutes.
Based on the analysis, the company implemented filter rules within Ingrid to redirect shipments away from the largest and most costly locker sizes. This adjustment did not impact delivery times or customer satisfaction, as customers continued to receive similar delivery options without noticing any change.
The next stage of business analysis focused on the physical characteristics of the shipments and the conditions that triggered the penalties. Nelly.com transitioned from static three-dimensional rules to a more flexible model that considered the shipment’s shape and contents. This helped them minimize fees without violating product terms.
Again, using Ingrid’s filter rules, Nelly.com implemented flexible criteria that evaluated each shipment, ensuring the shipping option was only displayed when the calculations indicated it would not result in a penalty fee. Ingrid enabled quick testing and fine-tuning of these rules. Not only did it minimize penalty fees but also significantly improved customer satisfaction — customers started receiving those parcels as requested instead of being redirected to pick-up points.
Beyond negotiating carrier rates, significant shipping cost savings exist in how delivery options are presented and filtered. Quick implementation and flexible adjustment of filtering rules means optimization happens continuously rather than in lengthy development cycles. The ability to test and refine within minutes accelerates results.
Saved from automatically restricting cost-inefficient parcel locker dimensions
Saved from preventing penalty fees for parcels exceeding dimensions
"By leveraging Ingrid’s checkout system, we efficiently implemented, tested, and optimized rules, resulting in substantial cost savings while enhancing the customer experience. This demonstrates how data-driven decisions can easily be implemented with an agile system like Ingrid."
