A leading multi-brand retailer needed a consistent, scalable way to onboard third-party brands quickly for a seasonal range while keeping ESG and product-compliance risks under control.
Traditional onboarding – email forms, scattered documents and ad-hoc checks – couldn’t keep pace with the volume, and decisions weren’t easy to evidence.
What we did
We set up a desktop risk assessment flow in Optimus to manage onboarding end-to-end.
New brands completed a guided intake covering company details, product scope, factories, and existing evidence (recent audits, test reports, core policies). Optimus checked completeness, flagged gaps, and applied clear rules to produce an acceptability decision:
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- Low risk: auto-approved for go-live with standard conditions.
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- Medium risk: targeted follow-ups within an agreed timeframe.
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- High risk: paused pending corrective actions and formal approval.
Buyers and compliance worked from a single dashboard showing status, missing evidence and next steps. Suppliers could update documents directly, reducing email back-and-forth.
Where needed, short remote verifications confirmed the most critical items before approval.
Outcomes (first 8 weeks)
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- Faster onboarding: median time from application to approval improved from 10 to 6 weeks.
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- Throughput at pace: roughly 65% of new brands approved on first submission.
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- Better control: clear exceptions and escalation paths meant fewer last-minute surprises before listings went live, and decisions were fully evidenced in one place.
Why it worked
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- One workflow uniting buyers, compliance and suppliers – no duplicate requests.
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- Clear criteria and guidance helped brands “get it right first time.”
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- Risk-based triage focused attention on real issues.
What’s next
Expand the desktop assessment to more categories and introduce scheduled repeat assessments for higher-risk brands.
