Mystery Box Operations & Management Platform
An internal web platform that replaced Excel-based operations with a unified system for product management, WooCommerce order sync, mystery box assembly with real-time margin tracking, automated winner draws, and a customer CRM.
Client
TCG Mystery Box
Product
Internal Operations Platform
Service
Product Engineering
Engagement
Custom Internal System Build
Client Overview
TCG Mystery Box is a Dutch e-commerce brand selling personalised Pokémon trading card mystery boxes. Founded by collector Martin Looij, the business curates each box to the individual customer's preferences across six price tiers ranging from €75 to €1,600 — operating under Keep Exploring Games in the Netherlands.
All operations ran on Excel spreadsheets. Products were tracked in separate sheets, margin calculations were done manually per box, and order data had to be exported from WooCommerce into spreadsheets to work with. As order volume grew, the process became slow, error-prone, and gave no visibility into overall profitability.
Build a single internal platform where the team can manage all products and inventory, sync orders and customers from WooCommerce on demand, assemble mystery boxes with live margin tracking, run promotional winner draws, and see overall margin performance over time.
Problem & Challenges
Business Problems
- All product inventory and mystery box operations managed across disconnected Excel spreadsheets
- Margin calculations done manually per box — slow, inconsistent, and prone to error
- No way to distinguish one-time-use products from reusable stock or enforce that distinction
- Order and customer data siloed in WooCommerce with no live connection to internal operations
- No visibility into total margins or profitability trends across weeks, months, or the full year
Technical Challenges
- WooCommerce REST API integration for on-demand order and customer sync into MongoDB
- Two product inventory types with different lifecycle rules — one-time-use products must lock on assignment
- AWS Lambda function deployed separately, triggered on demand from the UI without a scheduled sync
- Real-time margin calculation per box as products are added or removed during assembly
- Date-range-based random winner selection with client-side confetti animation on reveal
Objectives & Success Criteria
Our Objectives
Success Criteria
Replace Excel Entirely
Move all product, order, and box operations into a single web platform
Success Criteria
Zero Spreadsheets
All operational workflows handled exclusively inside the platform
Inventory Control
Track two product types with automatic status enforcement for one-time-use items
One-Time-Use Enforced
Products assigned to a box are locked and unavailable for any future box automatically
WooCommerce Sync
Pull orders and customers from WooCommerce into the platform on demand via AWS Lambda
Margin Per Box Live
Team can see exact profit margin on every box before it is packed and shipped
Live Margin Tracking
Show real-time buy price, sell price, and margin per box during assembly
WooCommerce Sync Working
Orders and customers available inside the platform within seconds of pressing sync
Profit Analytics
Dashboard showing total margin performance per month and per year across all boxes
Dashboard Analytics Live
Monthly and yearly margin trends visible and up to date across all completed boxes
Our Solution
We built a Next.js internal platform on Vercel backed by MongoDB. The product catalog supports two inventory types — reusable and one-time-use — with automatic status locking on assignment. An AWS Lambda function deployed on AWS and triggered by a button in the UI pulls the latest WooCommerce orders and customers into the system on demand. Box assembly links directly to synced orders, calculating buy price, sell price, and margin in real time as products are added. A separate draw module lets the team pick a date range, filter eligible customers, and reveal three random winners with a confetti animation. A Recharts dashboard surfaces margin performance over any time period.
Product Management
Full add, edit, and delete for two product types with inventory status tracking and margin data per item
One-Time-Use Enforcement
Products automatically lock after box assignment — unavailable to any future mystery box
WooCommerce Order & Customer Sync
AWS Lambda triggered on demand via UI button to pull latest orders and customers from WooCommerce REST API
Mystery Box Assembly
Build boxes against synced orders with searchable product selection and real-time buy/sell/margin calculation
Winner Draw System
Date-range customer filter with random winner selection and animated confetti reveal for promotions
Margin Analytics Dashboard
Recharts visualisations showing total margin trends per month and per year across all boxes
Implementation & Delivery
Scope of Work
Vantagon delivered the complete platform — Next.js frontend, API routes, MongoDB schema, WooCommerce integration, AWS Lambda deployment, and Vercel hosting. We designed the data model around the two product types and the box-to-order relationship from the ground up.
- Next.js application with NextAuth.js authentication
- Product catalog with two inventory types and automatic one-time-use locking
- AWS Lambda function for on-demand WooCommerce order and customer sync
- Mystery box assembly interface with real-time margin calculation per box
- Margin calculation engine covering buy price, sell price, VAT (21%), and net margin
- Winner draw module with date range selection, random customer pick, and confetti reveal
- Customer CRM with full order history and spend breakdown synced from WooCommerce
- Recharts analytics dashboard for monthly and yearly margin reporting
- Cloudinary integration for product image management
- Vercel deployment with AWS Lambda on separate AWS infrastructure
100% Excel Eliminated
Every spreadsheet workflow replaced by structured platform operations from day one
One-Time-Use Logic Live
Product inventory enforcement working correctly — assigned items locked automatically on box creation
Lambda Sync Operational
WooCommerce orders and customers syncing into MongoDB on demand via single button press
Per-Box Margins Live
Real-time margin visibility during box assembly active from launch
Draw System Live
Winner selection with animated confetti reveal running for customer promotions
Technology Stack
Next.js
React
TypeScript
Tailwind CSS
MongoDB
NextAuth.js
WooCommerce REST API
Cloudinary
Recharts
VercelResults & Impact
The platform replaced every Excel spreadsheet the team relied on. Products, orders, customers, box assembly, margin tracking, and winner draws all run through one system — with full profitability visibility that did not exist before.
100%
Excel Workflows Replaced
500+
Products in System
Per-Box, Real-Time
Margin Tracking
2,500+
Mystery Boxes Created
Evolution & Long-Term Value
With all operations now centralised, the TCG Mystery Box team has full visibility into which products deliver the strongest margins and how overall profitability trends across the year. The platform is actively used for every order that comes through WooCommerce, and the winner draw system has become a core part of their promotional strategy. Additional features — automated restock alerts and deeper per-product analytics — are planned for the next phase.