From solo founder to growing business: Daily Retail Supply took its imports into its own hands

Daily Retail Supply introduction

A well-presented store starts with the details. Daily Retail Supply (DRS) makes those details to measure for large retailers and brands in Europe. At its core are clothes hangers made of wood, plastic, acrylic and, these days, paper. DRS also supplies POS materials, such as logo blocks and displays, and shop fixtures: the complete fit-out of a store, from tables to racks and cabinets. Customers include fashion chain Shoeby, fashion department store Van Tilburg from Nistelrode, menswear brand Dstrezzed from Badhoevedorp, womenswear brand Nukus from Rotterdam and baby brand Jollein from Assen.

Remon previously worked at similar companies before founding DRS in 2024 in Bergschenhoek, just north of Rotterdam. Today he focuses on the front end of the business: sales, customer contact and new customers. Since January 2026, Desiree Koster Karsten has joined as Operations Manager and takes care of everything behind sales, from booking transport to administration and customer updates.

Every project starts with the customer. DRS discusses what's needed, has samples made and comes back with a price. Once approved, production starts in Asia or in Europe, depending on timing and budget. As soon as production is finished, DRS books the transport through Cargoplot.

The challenge: doing everything yourself, transport included

In the first year, Remon did everything alone, including transport. A world he didn't really feel at home in.

"Transport always seems really complicated, because people throw terms around," Remon Koster, Owner & Founder

At first he tried other forwarders, but that was too slow for the way he wanted to work.

"Then everything had to go the traditional way, by email, and it would take a while again before you got a response."

For DRS, that's more than an inconvenience. The company wants to give its customers the product price and the transport costs in one proposal, so the customer knows where they stand. Waiting a day for a price slows down the entire sales process. DRS also works without its own warehouse: the goods go straight to the customer. That makes it essential that the logistics are completely right.

Why Cargoplot

At previous employers, transport was arranged for Remon. Now that he was doing everything alone, he was looking for something he could manage himself. A Google search led him to Cargoplot.

"I think I mainly went looking for something that felt easy and accessible. Where you could also enter a few things yourself," says Remon.

He found that in the platform. You enter where a shipment needs to be picked up, where it's going and what the dimensions are. "You see a price upfront. That really helped in the sales process towards my customer, because I could already include the transport costs in the proposal."

For Remon, it mainly came down to one question: what can I do myself? "So that the sales process goes much faster and more efficiently. In the beginning, you're a one-man show."

Being able to make changes yourself also comes in handy when a customer wants to adjust something during the sales process. "What if I order this much more?" DRS then adjusts the request in the platform and immediately sees the new transport price. Once the shipment is on its way, the team follows on the map where it is and how long it will take.

Over the past few years, DRS sometimes heard from customers that transport could be cheaper elsewhere. "Okay, fine. Then give us the name of your forwarder, so we can check that," says Remon. In those comparisons, it often turned out to be a bare container price.

"But there are all kinds of hidden costs underneath that," such as costs for HS codes and customs clearance, which are added afterwards. "With you, it's all clearly visible in one overview."

The partnership: never a no

For Desiree, personal contact is the most important reason to work with Cargoplot. DRS always speaks to the same people, who respond quickly via the chat and are always reachable. The current dedicated contact is account manager Sanne.

"That gives you the feeling: I don't have to do this alone. It'll be fine," says Desiree.

That flexibility showed when DRS had three orders with the same supplier that needed to go to three different addresses in the Netherlands. Instead of three separate LCL shipments, everything went in one shipment, which was split up in the Netherlands using coloured stickers on the boxes. "You never get a no. The intention is really always to just fix it together."

On larger projects, Cargoplot thinks along in advance. For Jollein's shop fixtures, the question was whether two or three containers were needed. Together with the supplier and the loading plan, the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. And when there's a deadline, DRS makes a conscious choice: "Then we choose a premium carrier instead of the cheapest party, and with you that's transparently visible."

Not everything in logistics can be controlled, and both sides say so openly. Part of the process lies outside the influence of both DRS and Cargoplot: with the large parties that actually carry out the transport. A ship can be delayed, unexpectedly dock somewhere else or take a different route. "You don't have influence over everything either," says Desiree.

What counts for DRS is what happens next. "Your reason for existing is that, when things don't go well, you keep going and look for a solution. And don't turn your back on someone."

When something goes wrong within the partnership, it's discussed and picked up as constructive feedback. There are regular check-ins, and a new contact person comes with a personal handover. "We've never really been at the point of looking for another party."

"From the start, it has felt like a real partnership, where we're in it together."

The result: time for growth

• An instant price: where a request used to start with an email and a day of waiting, DRS now gets a transport price instantly for FOB bookings. "Five minutes writing that email and then waiting a day. I think that's where your biggest time saving is," says Remon.
• Complete proposals: transport costs go straight into the quote to the customer, so all costs are clear upfront.
• From LCL to full containers: around 100 shipments and 36 containers in two years.
• Room to grow: from solo founder to a growing team. DRS keeps growing, is bringing more and more activities together and is looking to strengthen the team.

Remon sums it up: "It's efficient, it's a pleasant way of working together and you feel like you're not just a number."

"It's mainly partnership, transparency and efficiency. And being open to feedback: we simply grow together."