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at the door,” she added. “The benefits are there for the business by maximising capacity, but also for the customer in maximising service levels.” Going live with a newly integrated digital


presence last summer, the company saw a 75% increase in pages seen per visit and 49% via mobile, as well as a 25% increase in visit duration and 17% on mobile. Bounce rates dropped by 48% overall and 38% on mobile, while online restaurant bookings grew by 32%.


CASE STUDY — EAST Fashion retailer East is overhauling its supply


chain systems as part of a strategic move to support an omnichannel business strategy. With over over 100 stores and concessions,


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plus an international e-commerce presence, the company already operates successfully across multiple channels. Alison Lippiatt, East trading director, told echnology the overhaul was prompted by


the impending end of its current supply chain system contract. “The legacy system has been used successfully


for some time,” she said. “But the end of contract encouraged us to look at a review rather than renewal. “The company has significant growth plans, where we were already collecting customer transaction data for example, but we weren’t using the legacy system to full capacity.” Lippiatt also said that the supply chain


overhaul would provide a catalyst for change in embracing an omnichannel approach. “We talk about having ‘one view’ of the


customer, so we get a transactional view no matter where the transaction was conducted,” she explained. “We also want to make sure the customer


also has one, consistent view of East and that their experience is always a positive one. A really powerful part of that is having one view of stock.” The retailer chose to implement the Merret


integrated retail merchandising and warehousing supply chain system from Retail Assist. Lippiatt said the system was able to satisfy a number of different functional needs, across its web, store and distribution channels. “In the warehouse, we no longer need to have


split stock locations,” she said. The merchandising team was also given an integrated view into product information, while


www.retailtechnology.co.uk Spring/Summer 2014 25


Fashion retailer East gains omnichannel advantage


echnology


the cloud-based nature of the Merret system, hosted through its infrastructure partner Blue Chip, means the IT team were freed up to focus on adding strategic value. At the same time, a networking partnership


with specialist supplier Vodat is enabling new connectivity and disaster recovery (DR) assurance across the business, offering new levels of monitoring capabilities and resilience. The new system has also enabled the roll out


Triquestra UK’s Infinity electronic point-of-sale (EPoS) system, which will develop East’s ability to collect customer transactional data and further develop its click & collect functionality through its integration with Merret. “We already offered click & collect and our


customers could order directly from the website in the store via a separate terminal,” added Lippiatt. “Now we’ll be able to do these transactions on the till. And the supply chain system looks for the best place to source that stock.” With the deployment due to go live this


summer, Merret will enable East to provide a consistent consumer experience its across multiple channels regardless of geographical location due to its central stock pool, making it easier for East customers to shop anytime and anywhere. “These changes are allowing us to fully


embrace omnichannel retailing,” Lippiatt concluded.


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