Customer story · Skincare
A skincare brand’s EU orders were leaving the UK. So we split the stock.
A UK skincare brand moved its fulfilment to Warehouse Box with one problem to solve: its European customers were being served from Britain, across a customs border. Here is what we did, and what it would look like for a brand doing the same today.
| Stock held in | Customers in |
|---|---|
UK | UK and EU |
| Stock held in | Customers in |
|---|---|
UK | UK |
Poland | EU |
When the brand joined us, it was sending around 100 orders a week. It later grew to around 500 orders a week.
- Sector
- Skincare
- Markets served
- The UK and the EU
- Stock held in
- Middlewich and Poland
- The change
- EU orders ship from inside the EU
What was the problem?
The brand’s EU orders were being sent from the UK, so every parcel to a European customer crossed a customs border on the way, with the delays and costs that brings.
Since the UK left the EU’s customs union, a parcel from Britain to an EU customer is an import. It needs customs data, it can be held for checks, and the customer can be asked to pay charges before it is handed over. For a brand sending orders every day, that is friction on every single parcel.
What did the move to Warehouse Box involve?
We transferred the stock from the brand’s previous provider and set its orders up in our system, so UK orders shipped from our warehouse in Middlewich.
That is the same handover we run for any brand moving provider: product records and stock counts agreed before the move, every delivery booked in, counted and checked on arrival, and the first orders checked out before fulfilment becomes routine.
Why split the stock between the UK and Poland?
Because the UK and the EU are separate customs territories, so the only way to give EU customers domestic delivery is to hold stock inside the EU.
We moved part of the brand’s stock to our fulfilment centre in Poland. That stock was imported into the EU once, in bulk, and from then on every EU order was an EU delivery: no customs border, no clearance data per parcel and no charges at the customer’s door. UK orders carried on shipping from Middlewich.
What changed for the brand?
UK orders leave from the UK and EU orders leave from Poland, under one agreement and with one point of contact.
When the brand joined us it was sending around 100 orders a week. By the time its orders had grown to around 500 a week, both routes were running as routine: the same stock records, the same reporting, two warehouses.
Could the same approach add the US?
Yes. The logic that put EU stock in Poland puts US stock in New York: import once, in bulk, then deliver every order domestically.
Since 29 August 2025 every parcel from the UK or Europe to a US customer clears customs and pays duty, whatever its value, so a brand with regular US orders faces the same choice this brand faced with the EU.
FAQ
Questions brands ask about this
Can we start in one market and split the stock later?
Yes. This brand started with UK fulfilment and split its stock once its EU orders justified it. Adding Poland, or New York, later means the same provider, the same agreement and the same contact.
What do you need from us to split stock between the UK and the EU?
Your recent orders by country, so we can size each warehouse’s stock, your product records with barcodes and dimensions, and the registrations for holding stock in the EU: a VAT registration in Poland and an EU EORI number, which specialist partners we introduce you to can set up.
Is there a minimum order volume?
We don’t publish a minimum. We quote each operation from your products, stock and order volume, and tell you upfront whether we are a fit.
Who was the brand?
A UK skincare brand. We don’t name our customers, which is why this story describes the setup rather than the company.
Serving EU or US customers from the UK?
Tell us what you sell, roughly how many orders go to each market and where your stock is now. We’ll tell you whether a split suits you and send a written quote.
Prefer email? hello@warehousebox.net