Tl;dr: This case study shows how Tannico scaled its catalog by 50% while maintaining operational efficiency and high service levels through AI inventory planning and catalog management software.
Tannico has grown to become the largest Italian online wine shop, shipping over 1.5 million bottles annually worldwide. The company’s success is rooted in fast delivery, expansive selection, and exceptional customer service. As the company expanded, scalable inventory management and efficient catalog management became critical to maintain in order to keep the growing customer base happy.
By 2018, Tannico was managing 10,000 SKUs with strong seasonal patterns, promotions, and vintages across multiple labels. As demand grew and the catalog expanded, the team recognized that scaling inventory efficiently was essential to maintain service levels, maximize returns on stock investments, and support continued growth.
Co-Founder Cristiano Pellegrino led the effort to build a sustainable, scalable inventory planning process that could handle a rapidly growing catalog without slowing down operations or compromising delivery performance.
The Scaling Challenge
As Tannico scaled, the company faced several operational constraints:
- Increasing catalog size from 10k to 15k SKUs required smarter allocation of inventory
- Manual planning processes were no longer sufficient to manage thousands of SKUs efficiently
- Seasonal spikes, promotions, and vintage-specific products added complexity
- Risk of overstock, understock, or delayed delivery increased with growth
The core challenge was maintaining operational efficiency while expanding the product range, ensuring the company could meet customer expectations without tying up unnecessary capital.
The AI-Powered Inventory Strategy
To support this growth, Tannico adopted AI inventory planning to manage increasing complexity without sacrificing efficiency. The company leveraged Intuendi’s AI-powered demand planning platform to build a scalable and data-driven inventory strategy:
- Generated accurate forecasts for each SKU, including long-tail and seasonal products
- Prioritized stock allocation across categories to maximize service levels
- Enabled buyers to manage a growing catalog efficiently, balancing inventory investments with customer satisfaction
- Created workflow and visualization tools for real-time, proactive planning
“Our buyers use Intuendi every day to estimate inventory needs, so we know what and how much to buy to keep our standards high and make customers happy.”
— Cristiano Pellegrino, Co-Founder
With these tools, Tannico transformed inventory management from a reactive task into a strategic, scalable process.
The Results: Growth Without Operational Complexity
- Catalog expanded 50% (10k → 15k SKUs) while maintaining short delivery times
- Units in stock grew 89%, supporting higher availability without over-investment
- Service levels improved, with immediate delivery availability rising from 88% to 94%
- Operational efficiency was enhanced, allowing buyers to manage more SKUs without increasing workload
The Advantage Gained: From Manual Planning to Scalable Systems
By combining visionary leadership with AI-driven planning, Tannico scaled its catalog and inventory operations efficiently. The company now manages a larger, more complex SKU base without sacrificing speed, service, or profitability, turning growth into a strategic advantage rather than an operational constraint.
