Customer

Moldovan food retailer Verde Local, operating 83 stores with over 4,000 employees, has seen rapid growth fueled by a diverse range of 9,000+ SKUs. In 2021, the company launched a long-term digital transformation, upgrading its demand forecasting and merchandise management systems to support continued expansion. The supplier network includes over 30,000 companies and continues to expand.

Bargaining with suppliers

Challenges & solutions

Problem

Like many companies with large-scale procurement operations, Verde Local faces challenges in managing negotiations with its extensive supplier base of over 30,000 companies. Roughly 40% — primarily small suppliers — sign standard agreements with little to no negotiation, leading to inefficiencies. However, expanding the procurement team to handle these talks would outweigh the potential gains. To address this, Verde Local set out to automate negotiations with smaller suppliers using AI-driven technology.

Solution

Verde Local launched an AI-driven pilot program aimed at optimizing supplier negotiations by adjusting payment schedules. The goal was to secure early payment discounts or extend payment terms without discounts, while offering suppliers expanded assortment and sales opportunities in return.  

The company invited 300 suppliers to join the trial, with 249 agreeing to participate. Internal buyers handpicked participants and collaborated with tech partner Plavno to develop machine learning-based negotiation scripts. These structured dialogues allowed suppliers to respond at their own pace.  

Verde Local projected the system would deliver a positive return on investment if just 20% of the participating suppliers finalized deals through the chatbot.

For the 249 suppliers selected for its AI-powered negotiation project, Verde Local had detailed payment data and identified clear opportunities to improve terms and secure additional discounts. When a supplier requested higher prices, the AI system analyzed historical data, competitor benchmarks, and key product price trends to recommend a maximum acceptable price — guidance procurement officers could adjust if needed.  

The results exceeded expectations: the AI chatbot successfully closed deals with 78% of participating suppliers — far surpassing the 20% target — within an average of 17 days. Verde Local achieved an average cost saving of 12% and extended payment terms to an average of 45 days.  

As the system learns from each negotiation, it continues to boost efficiency and reduce onboarding time for new categories. Today, the AI can manage up to 1,500 simultaneous conversations, significantly enhancing procurement productivity.

process

Crystal clear process

Agile methodology forms the cornerstone of our work philosophy. Through a seamless blend of innovative practices, including regular demos, comprehensive progress tracking, and a unique pay structure based on hours invested, we've constructed a workflow that ensures optimal outcomes and client satisfaction.

discovery

design

development

Testing

Launch

Maintenance

Conduct market research

UX Research

Components

Perform integration testing

Address issues in staging environment

Audience analysis

Moodboards

Develop UI components

Test personalized algorithms

Monitor customer satisfaction

Identify key features

Prototyping

API integrations

Deploy to production

Gather user feedback

Define project scope

UI Design

Implement custom features

Address and fix bugs

Updates and improvements

project team

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Dmitry

Frontend

Expertise

Fullstack Developer with more than 5 years of experience in React and Node.js.

TypeScript

Node.js

Express

Next.js

React

Yan

Expertise

Experienced QA Engineer with a strong background in Cypress and Selenium automation testing.

Postman

Selenuim

Bamboo

Python

ADB

Aleksandr

DevOps

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Lead DevOps with 6+ years of experience in implementing the entire infrastructure and architecture.

Dart

Terraform

Kubernetes

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Azure

Testimonials

“They really understand what we need. They’re very professional.”

The 3D configurator has received positive feedback from customers. Moreover, it has generated 30% more business and increased leads significantly, giving the client confidence for the future. Overall, Plavno has led the project seamlessly. Customers can expect a responsible, well-organized partner.

Sergio Artimenia
Commercial Director, RNDpoint

FinTech

Project description

Plavno has developed a web application for a product development company. They’ve built a 3D configurator that allows clients to design a unique final product by choosing colors, materials, and other options.

“The quality of their work speaks for itself.”

Plavno has completed the project within five months and helped to save $400,000 on client’s crypto startup launch. The client has also recorded one million onboarded users in a year. Moreover, Plavno provides high-quality codes, offers 24/7 interactive support, and communicates well.

Margarita Gushchina
Recruiter, Expert Soft

Blockchain

Project description

Plavno has created a multi-layered ecosystem designed to accelerate the ownership economy and address a software development firm's main paradigm shifts. They've used Node.js, Solidity, and PostgreDB.

“We are very satisfied with their excellent work”

Through the partnership with Plavno, we built a system used by more than 40 million connected channels. Throughout the engagement, the team was communicative and quick in responding to our concerns. Overall, we were highly satisfied with the results of collaboration.

FinTech

Project description

Plavno was hired by a YouTube network to develop an internal portal for bloggers that handled Google reports for their company. They also built an e-wallet and a system where users' information was collected.