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"After graduating from the 91. German Language High School in Sofia, Ivaylo Daskalov and Alexander Dreischuh left for Germany, where their paths diverged. Daskalov began pilot training and lived between Germany and the US before his career took him to various countries, most recently spending three years in South Korea. At that time, Dreischuh graduated from the Technical University of Munich, and then developed as a successful consultant and reached the Boston Consulting Group, where in eight years he climbed to the highest levels of the company. Although they don't share their daily lives as they did in their school years, the two maintain not only their friendship, but also their desire to develop their own business.
Even before their planned return to Bulgaria, the two started looking for the field in which they would achieve good results. After a period of experimentation and deep research, Alpi Investment was born in early 2019, which is a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) based merchant. The FBA method allows merchants to store their goods in Amazon warehouses, which take over all customer service activities afterwards. From the communication with the customer, through the assembly of the delivery, to the process of returning goods, if necessary.
In just a few years, Alpi Investment generated turnover of over BGN 1 million and fulfilled over 50,000 orders in the Amazon Marketplace every month. "We're talking month-to-month volumes because our development continues to be month-to-month," Dreischuh says. This places the company among the top 0.2% of Amazon merchants in terms of turnover globally. Alpi Investment products are available in over 15 markets, including all Amazon markets in Europe, the US, Japan, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
Despite its short history, the company managed to quickly stand out as an example of a successful business worthy of Amazon's attention. Today, Alpi Investment is the face of the Amazon Selling Partner 360 program, which supports successful merchants to be able to work in larger volumes. For this purpose, an Amazon team comes to Bulgaria to shoot a video about their business, the reason being their good results. At the end of last year, Dreischuh participated in the official podcast of Amazon Marketplace "Entrepreneurs of the Future", in which he tells the story of their success.
When they tell their story, Daskalov and Dreischuh sound as if the development of their business happened by itself - easily and completely naturally. However, the truth is that the two manage to skillfully take advantage of the opportunities to build a successful business on Amazon, thanks to their knowledge of the benefits of the platform, but also successfully dealing with the many very specific challenges that come with it. On the one hand, about 60% of Amazon Marketplace's turnover is realized by external merchants, and the tendency is for this share to increase. According to Dreischuh, this steady growth represents a great opportunity for growth.
On the other hand, however, this platform is constantly changing and is filled with specific requirements. "It cannot be compared to a classic business. - says Daskalov - If you don't work and develop constantly, you will very quickly fall behind, because at this time all competitors are working hard." The awareness of this fact is the starting point in the decisions with which Dreischuh and Daskalov manage Alpi Investment from the first day of the company. This affects both the production processes and the selection of products, external partners and the selection of personnel.
In the beginning, the two work completely alone and deal with everything from the creation of the listings and the optimization of the content, through pricing and advertising, to the organization of the shipment of the goods from their warehouse, which is outside Sofia. Gradually, they began to form specialized teams that deal with advertising, content development, design and pricing. “These are areas that are specific to Amazon, and it makes more sense to train people who are aware of these specifics. - says Daskalov - Even the photographer for the product photos must comply with specific requirements." Today, these teams have a total of 15 people, based at Alpi Investment's headquarters in Sofia, while around 30 people work in their warehouse, and they also have a network of freelancers. In total, about 50 people are busy with their business, all of whom are based in Bulgaria. "We have considered working with foreign agencies on topics such as content and advertising, but we don't think this leads to an optimal result." says Dreischuh.
The company's specialization in working with Amazon is one of the key elements of their success. Alpi Investment's warehouse is designed to meet specific requirements, which include details such as the type and dimensions of the cartons, the contents on the packages and even the specific printers used to print the labels. Advertising, data analysis, and every other element of working at Amazon is specific, making recruiting more complex. "There is no ready-made staff for this business." says Dreischuh, but nevertheless the company is constantly looking for people, and their goal is not to have a large team, but to have it built with the right people.
Based on this knowledge, the company has built a business with 95% of its turnover generated by its own brands. In their rich portfolio there are over 1300 listings on the German Amazon alone, with their products focused in several areas, selected on the basis of market analysis. Their main products are food - herbal teas, superfoods, spices, nuts, flours, etc., and they plan to launch coffee as well. In addition, the company has dabbled in handmade products, bought a gift brand, and has registered brands for furniture, pets, and home textiles. What all categories have in common is that there is potential for growth.
The remaining 5% of Alpi Investment's business is based on Amazon distribution of products of external brands. "Our business model is distinguished by the fact that we rely on a careful choice of which segments to target. - says Dreischuh - We are not an aggregator who takes ready, but an accelerator, because we combine our knowledge with their good products to grow together." The driver of this part of the business is the combination of the accumulated experience, the built infrastructure, including the possibility of warehousing in all the markets in which they operate and the strong account that helps the product ranking in better positions..."
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