How Vakre Vene Transformed Fulfillment with Pio

When growth gets messy

Vakre Vene started as a small family store. Back in 2010, founders Richard Bendiksen and his wife ran everything themselves, from the shop counter to the stockroom. Ecommerce wasn’t part of the plan.

Then COVID hit, and everything changed overnight. Suddenly, almost all their sales came from online orders. As demand spiked, the team struggled to keep up. Orders piled up faster than they could be packed, and shipping times stretched far beyond their goal of next day delivery.

Growth was good, but it was also messy. Stock was spread across multiple buildings, picking was manual, and the pressure kept rising. To keep up, they needed an in-house fulfillment automation system that could bring control, speed, and peace of mind.

Bringing in Pio

Vakre Vene discovered Pio. Their first Pio system was installed right inside their physical store to help manage online orders and stock. The difference was clear, and as the business grew, they added a second system in their new warehouse.
From planning to going live, it took only three months, and everything changed.

“Before Pio, it could take us four or five days to ship out during big sales campaigns. Now everything goes out the next day and we’re doing it with just one third of the people. That's a winner.”

Richard Bendiksen
Owner and CEO of Vakre Vene

Smarter Fulfillment Starts In-House

For Vakre Vene, keeping fulfillment in-house meant control. With Pio’s automated warehouse system, they could scale operations without outsourcing, maintain accuracy, and meet their promise of next day shipping.

What began as a single system in a small retail shop has become a fully automated warehouse capable of handling more than 1,000 orders a day even with a small, focused team.

Here’s what changed once automation took over:

• Next day shipping, even during peaks
  Big campaign or not, orders are now picked, packed, and shipped the day after purchase.
• Three times the efficiency with one third of the staff
  Fewer hands, fewer errors, and no late nights.
• Scalable growth made simple
  Expanding from one Pio to two was fast, smooth, and is future-proof.
• Happier teams, calmer days
  With the robots doing the heavy lifting, the team can focus on customers, creativity, and campaign planning instead of running behind.

From Manual to Automated Fulfillment

Before Pio, Vakre Vene’s fulfillment relied on manual picking, multiple storage locations, and long lead times. Today, every order moves through an automated flow, from receiving to picking to shipping, inside a single optimized system.

With automation in-house, Vakre Vene gained:

• Predictable fulfillment even during campaign spikes
• Improved order accuracy across every channel
• Real-time control of stock and order status
• A consistent customer experience that builds loyalty

Faster fulfillment is just part of the story. The real benefit lies in control, the ability to plan, scale, and deliver with confidence, just like in Make Fulfillment Predictable with Smarter Automation.

Calm Growth, Real Results

For Vakre Vene, automation was never about replacing people. It was about working smarter, keeping control, and creating space for what matters most.

With Pio running behind the scenes, fulfillment flows, campaigns stay on track, and the team heads home on time.

What started as a small store in Harstad is now a fast-moving brand built on calm, in-house control. It proves that when automation works with you, growth feels good. 

Read the full Vakre Vene case study.

Straight answers from the warehouse floor

Buyers considering automation ask the same things: is it reliable, how long does training take, what happens when something breaks. Here's what the Vakre Vene team said after their first 18 months of running Pio.

1. Has the system ever broken down?

   "In a year and a half, we've had about ten instances of system malfunction due to improper storage of items by our employees, so we take ownership over that. Once, there was a battery issue with one of our robots. Pio sent a replacement and we got it sorted within two days, and with five robots total there wasn't any system downtime. One time, the system was down for about an hour while we reoriented the robots, and Pio's customer team was there to make sure things were back up and running. For us, it's been pretty perfect."
   
   

2. How long does it take to train the team?

   "After the system was installed and integrated, we used about one week to get everyone settled. For new employees, we take about 30 minutes. There's really no adjustment period, it's actually hard to make a mistake. I could probably teach you in ten minutes and you'd be as good as any member of our team."
   
   

3. How big does the space need to be?

   "Not tall at all. About 3.5 meters. Our system is 2,000 bins. Our space isn't big, but we've been able to expand and grow with Pio without needing more room for additional inventory."
   
   

4. What does a peak weekend look like?

   "One weekend we had around 1,000 orders, and we got everything out the door with four people. Without Pio, we would have needed up to ten employees, and probably double the time. In 2023, we sent about 120,000 orders."

   More questions? The Pio FAQ covers the rest.

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