Duration: 25:33
PART 1 — Analytical Summary 🚀
Context 💼
This session, delivered by Yaroslav (Head of Support at implementation partner SelfP) at Odoo Experience, chronicles the real-world rollout of Odoo for Dnipro-M, a fast-growing European retail chain for construction tools. The talk focuses on how Dnipro-M scaled into Spain—with an ambitious target to open a first store in Madrid—and what it took to operationalize retail at speed using Odoo’s standard modules plus targeted customizations. The story matters because it shows how a retailer with 630+ stores in 10 countries, 2,000+ employees, and 1,800 SKUs (including 250 tracked by serial numbers) can transition to a unified, data-driven operating model without losing control of inventory, costs, or customer experience.
Core ideas & innovations 🧠
SelfP framed scaling challenges around product proliferation, multi-channel expansion, inter-warehouse logistics, price management, KPIs, localization, and training. Their roadmap mirrored Odoo’s methodology: go live fast with standard apps, train users, validate processes, then layer in customizations and integrations. For Spain, they centered on Odoo Inventory, Point of Sale, Sales, Barcode, Accounting (Spanish localization), and analytics—backed by a disciplined inter-warehouse design and data flows to BI.
Inventory integrity was treated as first principle. The team introduced a virtual “in-transit” location per warehouse so internal transfers are only recognized as received when the destination confirms. Returns were decoupled from stock by routing them to a dedicated quarantine location; store staff can send items back to stock or hold them for central processing in two clicks. To keep operations smooth with limited staff, Odoo Barcode on mobile scanners enabled one person to receive, pick, and count from a handheld device. Serial number tracking was scoped to only the operations that truly required it—reducing overhead without sacrificing traceability.
E-commerce coexisted with an existing website through a connector that synchronized orders, inventory, payments, and delivery methods. Stock and pricing updates flow via cron jobs and webhooks so both systems stay aligned. Carrier integrations (domestic and international) were centralized inside Odoo: confirm a delivery, print the label, and share a tracking link—no external portals. For store openings, Odoo IoT Box and plug-and-play guides cut technical friction: teams can stand up a new shop in about two hours, connecting printers and scanners with step-by-step instructions stored in Odoo Knowledge (multilingual).
On the commercial side, unified pricing and discounts used Odoo Pricelists across POS and website. Sales Teams segmented results by channel (B2B via Sales, retail stores via POS, web) to isolate KPIs and coach performance. In-store associates capture a brief customer questionnaire right in POS to feed marketing profiles and campaigns. For management reporting, Dnipro-M consumed Odoo data in Power BI via app endpoints/APIs, while inside Odoo they used improved cycle counts (scheduled by category and assignee, with newly added categories highlighted) and custom cash-flow and P&L reporting to compare performance across stores and the broader chain. Intercompany operations supported the Spanish franchise shop, and for cross-country operations Dnipro-M maintained a two-way link between Odoo (Spain) and an external ERP elsewhere.
Impact & takeaways ⚙️
The first Madrid store went live in one month (project start: May 2024). In month two, Dnipro-M scaled into additional channels; by September 2024 new offline shops were running; by January 2025, the full inventory and operational processes were mature and stable. The retailer can now:
- Maintain SKU transparency across 1,800+ products, with serial tracking where it matters.
- Minimize inventory losses via in-transit controls and structured returns quarantine.
- Operate stores with lean staffing thanks to Barcode-driven handheld workflows.
- Synchronize e-commerce, pricing, refunds, and stock in near real time.
- Launch new shops rapidly using IoT Box and Knowledge-based playbooks.
- Segment sales by channel and feed marketing with store-level customer data.
- Centralize shipping workflows and provide customers with end-to-end tracking.
- Push clean operational data to Power BI for chain-wide analysis.
- Use localized Accounting for Spain and custom analytics (cash flow, P&L) to compare store performance.
In short, SelfP leveraged as much standard Odoo as possible, added precise customizations where necessary, and built the connective tissue (connectors, carriers, BI) for a scalable retail backbone.
PART 2 — Viewpoint: Odoo Perspective
Disclaimer: AI-generated creative perspective inspired by Odoo's vision.
What I love in this story is the discipline of staying close to standard. When you start with Inventory, POS, Sales, Barcode—and make them sing together—you get results quickly. Then you add small, surgical extensions: in-transit locations, returns quarantine, category-based cycle counts. That balance creates speed without sacrificing control.
Retail is about simplicity at the point of action. If a store can open in two hours with an IoT Box and a playbook in Knowledge, we’ve done our job. The community and partners like SelfP amplify this by solving real problems—pricing coherence across channels, handheld workflows, and data that flows to Power BI. Integration is not a buzzword; it’s the daily reality of a better user experience.
PART 3 — Viewpoint: Competitors (SAP / Microsoft / Others)
Disclaimer: AI-generated fictional commentary. Not an official corporate statement.
The strengths here are clear: fast time-to-value, cohesive UX across POS, inventory, and e-commerce, and a partner-led model that respects standard functionality before customizing. For country launches like Spain, that can be a winning formula. The data path to Power BI is pragmatic and keeps analytics flexible.
The challenges will surface at scale: multi-country compliance (including fiscalization in certain EU markets), enterprise-grade governance, and master data synchronization across hybrid ERP landscapes. Intercompany complexity, omnichannel pricing, role-based controls, and upgrade discipline across customizations are areas to watch. The story is impressive; sustaining it across 20+ new stores and beyond Europe will test scalability and operating rigor.
PART 4 — Blog Footer Disclaimer
Disclaimer: This article contains AI-generated summaries and fictionalized commentaries for illustrative purposes. Viewpoints labeled as "Odoo Perspective" or "Competitors" are simulated and do not represent any real statements or positions. All product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.