Kanban for e-commerce sellers: products, suppliers and peak season on one board
Running a small online shop means wearing every hat: buyer, photographer, copywriter, marketer, customer service and warehouse. Work arrives from all directions, and a lot of it depends on someone else: a supplier confirming stock, a freelancer delivering photos, a platform approving a listing. When peak season arrives, the gaps show.
A 2D board keeps the shop's moving parts visible.
Rows for the areas of the business
Set up rows like:
- New product launches
- Supplier orders
- Listings and photography
- Marketing and email
- Customer issues and returns
- Peak season prep
Columns for who has the ball
- Mine: what you need to do now.
- Other: what you are waiting on, such as a supplier's delivery date or a designer's files.
- Next: what comes after.
- Done: finished.
Supplier delays are the classic Other item. When a purchase order has waited a week for confirmation, Axtio turns it red so it does not slip quietly. See the waiting-on-someone problem.
Planning Black Friday and December
Black Friday falls on 27 November in 2026. Work backwards and add actions to the peak season row:
- Confirm stock levels with suppliers (Other)
- Plan the offer and write emails (Mine)
- Update product photos and listings (Mine or Other if a freelancer does them)
- Prepare packaging and shipping supplies (Mine)
- Publish carrier cut-off dates (Mine)
Anything still in Other in early November is a risk worth chasing now.
Customer issues need their own row
Returns, damaged orders and complaints are small but urgent. Keep them in their own row so they do not get lost among launches. Clear Mine every day in peak season.
Do not track every order
A board is for work, not for every order; your shop platform already tracks orders. Use the board for the actions that need a decision or a follow-up.
After the season
In January, use the board to review what went wrong and what to change. Anything that sat in Other for weeks shows where a supplier relationship or a process needs work. See how to run a Q4 project review on one board and, for more on small business operations, operational excellence for small teams.