From Listing Faster to Selling Smarter: EnviroMedia’s Inventory Control Breakthrough

EnviroMedia is a UK-based company that operates where reuse, recycling, and ecommerce come together. The company handles large volumes of used physical media, including CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, video games and books.

These products come from charities, local authorities, recycling centres, and trade-in customers across the UK. The  items in perfect condition are reused and sold again. Some need checking or refurbishment. Others are sent for responsible recycling.

In the first part of this case study series, we looked at how Prolisto helped EnviroMedia speed up the listing process. That was an important step because more products could move into the ecommerce system faster. More live listings meant more physical stock to control. Every online listing had a real item behind it. That item had to be stored, tracked, found, picked, packed, and dispatched.

This second case study deals with inventory control and looks at what happened next. As EnviroMedia’s catalogue grew, the challenge was no longer only about getting products online. The company also needed stronger inventory control behind every listing.

For EnviroMedia, the next breakthrough was about making stock easier to track, locate, manage, and fulfil at scale.

The Challenge: The Spreadsheet Could Not Scale

Before Prolisto, EnviroMedia used Excel spreadsheets to track product locations, stock levels, product condition, and quantities. This worked when the operation was smaller. But as the company grew, the spreadsheet became harder to manage.

Before Prolisto, EnviroMedia was managing around 80,000 individual items. Today, the company manages approximately 270,000 individual items.

At that scale, small errors can quickly become serious problems. A wrong location in a spreadsheet could mean staff had to search for a sold item. A duplicate record could make stock appear available when it was not. A missed update could lead to inaccurate stock levels and overselling.

The main problems were errors and faults in spreadsheets, misplaced stock, duplicate records, inaccurate stock levels, overselling and manual data entry. EnviroMedia needed a system that could follow the item as it moved through the warehouse, not just record it in a spreadsheet.

The Warehouse Reality: Products Arrive as They Come

EnviroMedia’s warehouse workflow is not as simple as placing one product on one fixed shelf forever. Products arrive continuously from different sources. A delivery might include a mixed batch of CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and video games. Some items are ready to sell. Some need checking. Some need refurbishment. Some are not suitable for reuse and must be recycled responsibly.

The same title can also arrive at different times. For example, one copy of a DVD might pass quality control today and be placed into the drawer that is being built or filled at that time. Two weeks later, another copy of the same DVD might arrive. By then, the first drawer may already be full or closed.

Before Prolisto, this kind of movement was difficult to manage. EnviroMedia either had to keep updating manual location records or spend time trying to keep the same products together. Both options created extra work. EnviroMedia needed a system that could keep track of each item, even when the same product was stored in different places.

The Turning Point: Dynamic Item Locations

Prolisto helped EnviroMedia manage stock in a more flexible way. When a product passes quality control, it can be scanned and assigned to a location. The location is assigned when products are placed in a drawer that is being built or filled at that time.

This means the same product can exist in multiple locations in the warehouse. One copy of a DVD could be placed into one drawer because that is the drawer being filled when it passes quality control. Another copy of the same DVD could arrive later and be placed into a different drawer because that is the most convenient available location at that time.

Both items are still connected to the same product record. But Prolisto knows where each physical copy is stored. This is the value of dynamic item locations feature. EnviroMedia does not have to store every copy of the same product in one fixed place. The warehouse can stay flexible, while Prolisto keeps the inventory record accurate.

How Prolisto Connects Listings with Physical Stock

Prolisto connects products to marketplace listings through a combination of identifiers, including SKUs, listing IDs, ASINs, SKU mapping, and barcodes. This creates a clear link between the online listing and the physical item in the warehouse.

The online listing connects to the product record. The product record connects to identifiers such as the SKU and barcode. The barcode connects to the physical item. The physical item connects to its warehouse location. That connection is important because EnviroMedia sells through channels such as eBay, Amazon, and WooCommerce.

When an item sells, Prolisto helps keep stock levels accurate through centralized inventory control, real-time stock synchronization, API connections, and marketplace integrations. This reduces the risk of overselling and helps the team trust the stock information they are working from.

A Typical EnviroMedia Item Journey

For example, a FIFA 23 PlayStation 4 game disc might arrive at EnviroMedia in a mixed batch of physical media. The same batch could also include CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, and other video games.

The team first sorts the items. Then they check whether each item can be reused and sold again.If the game passes quality control, its barcode is scanned. The team records its condition and product details.

The game is then placed into the drawer being filled at that time. Another FIFA 23 PlayStation 4 game disc may already be stored in a different drawer because it arrived earlier. Prolisto records the location of this item and connects it to the product record.Later, if that item sells online, the team can see exactly where it is stored. They pick it from the recorded drawer, move it into fulfilment, pack it, and dispatch it.

Prolisto keeps a clear record of each step. The record starts with the first barcode scan in quality control and continues until the final scan at dispatch.

From Searching to Smarter Picking

Before Prolisto, finding sold items could take longer than necessary. If a spreadsheet location was wrong, staff had to search. If a record was duplicated, the team had to check what was actually available. If stock had moved but the spreadsheet had not been updated, orders could be delayed or overselling could happen.

Prolisto made picking more organised. One important improvement was order clustering for picking. Prolisto can group orders with items located near each other. This allows staff to pick as many items as possible from a single sector, bin or drawer

For example, if several sold items are stored near the same drawer or sector, they can be grouped together on a picking list. The picker can collect them in one route instead of walking back and forth across the warehouse. This reduced unnecessary movement and made picking faster. The convenient picking list and batch order fulfilment option also helped the team save time.

Before Prolisto, EnviroMedia could fulfil around 200 orders per 8-hour shift per staff member. After Prolisto, that increased to around 600 orders per 8-hour shift per staff member. That is a threefold improvement in order fulfilment capacity.

Scale and Improvement at a Glance

A Word from EnviroMedia

“Before switching to Prolisto, our work produced errors because of constant typing and copying data. Now that much of the human error factor has been removed, our colleagues can work more easily and feel less pressure. EnviroMedia has also reduced costs linked to errors and inefficiencies.”

~ EnviroMedia operations team

The Result: From Faster Listings to Smarter Stock Control

The first breakthrough was listing speed. The second was inventory control.

Prolisto gave EnviroMedia a more reliable way to manage growth after products entered the ecommerce system.  This changed the way the team worked. Stock information became easier to trust. Warehouse movement became easier to manage.

For EnviroMedia, this made growth feel more controlled. More usable physical media could move through the business with fewer avoidable delays, fewer errors, and less pressure on the team. That stronger control helped support the company’s wider reuse and recycling mission.