We have got more time to sell!
“Now salespersons can just look forward to getting new goods into the shop. Previously it was a labour intensive process, where all goods had to be coded in and price marked. They can now use their time on selling instead of spending time on administrative tasks”.
That's what Peter Høyer says, as does his cousin Christian Høyer, who nine years ago opened the first Wunderwear shop. Today it is a shop chain with nine lingerie shops in Greater Copenhagen.
Employees in the nine shops now have got more time to sell, which is due to Wunderwear in 2002 changing to a Retail-solution supplied by Columbus IT Partner. In the first years, the chain managed with C5 at the head office in Holte and a DOS based POS-system out in the shops. They are now replaced by the IT system Axapta and the Windows based POS-system Centara – bound together by Columbus Retail Chain Manager.
Overview lacking
“Our old systems were not integrated, so we produced a lot of vouchers out in the shops, which were posted to the head office and entered manually. Our concept is built up on that we sell what the customers demand. That is why every shop manager is responsible for purchasing for their shop, and each shop has its own stock. As long as we operated without integration, the shops could not make use of each other's stock and here at the head office we did not have an overall overview of the chain's stock – only once a year when we prepared the balance sheet. Similarly we only got an overview of purchases when we subsequently received invoices from the suppliers. It was completely untenable”, says Peter Høyer.
Three crucial requirements
When Christian and Peter Høyer in 2000 started to look for a new IT-solution, they had three crucial requirements: stock control, purchasing management and integration.
“And to achieve optimal stock control, we wanted a system which could contain information on colours and sizes. There are very many article numbers to manage within lingerie”, notes Peter Høyer. “We could not get a solution with C5 or XAL, but Columbus IT Partner presented to us their Columbus Retail Chain Manager, where the Axapta module gave us just the tools we needed. Perhaps Axapta is just a little more than a business of our size needs, but it can handle what we required. And we will want to continue to grow. Previously we have opened a new shop each year”.
Employees learned how to use it quickly
The contract with Columbus IT Partner was signed at the very start of 2001. The first year was partly used on pilot studies to adapt Retail Chain Manager to Wunderwear's requirements, partly to move from C5 to Axapta. In 2002 the system was implemented out in the shops.
Peter Høyer - “Even the implementation took more time than we had estimated, because some adjustments difficult. In return, the sales employees very quickly learned how to use the new POS-system and Axapta. Many retail traders are worried about this training, which is necessary, but it went very painlessly for us. We made a test shop with an IT knowledgeable shop manager. Then she travelled around to the other shops and trained them.”
Now we are harvesting the benefits
With the Retail solution, the employees in the Wunderwear shops have got many more options – they can set up orders, add to stock etc..
“We do you use all facets not by a long way in Retail Chain Manager yet, but we are in an exciting period where we are harvesting the benefits of our investment. Every morning we can see sales from each shop in detail, see what they have earned on the individual goods. We can also see stocked sizes in detail, and what is ordered for delivery. That's what we wanted”, says Peter Høyer with satisfaction.
Precise purchases and smaller stock levels
“We can reduce stock holding, because the shops can use each other's stock, as it is in principle one large stock. On the purchasing side, we can ensure that we purchase the goods which customers demand. Precise purchasing gives fewer write-downs and therefore better gross margin”.
It is liquidity demanding that each shop has its own stock, but it is important to Wunderwear to maintain the concept of allowing the shop manager to buy in. In addition to that it gives precise purchasing, it also increases commitment and motivation in sales, when goods have been purchased by the individual shop itself.
New possibilities
After Columbus Retail Chain Manager is set up, Wunderwear and Columbus IT Partner are now working with the chain's largest supplier, Triumph, on a solution so that the shops can use Triumphs bar codes.
Peter Høyer - “We receive around 100,000 goods from Triumph each year. We have to mark them with our own bar codes and prices. If we can use Triumph's bar codes, we can save both time and costs. And we also can get the goods up on the wall on the same day, as we receive them. Today it can take up to a week before goods are ready for sale”.
“We can also avoid some input work at head office, as when Triumph sets up an order in their system it will automatically be transferred to our system. In return, we can give them limited access to our sales reports, so they quickly can see what is selling. They can keep track of what we sell and have goods ready when we order”.
More time to sell
“We would like similar solutions with the other suppliers, as a major part of the administrative work can be moved from the shops to the suppliers. It releases resources to sales, and this benefit is also passed onto the supplier…”
Peter Høyer also looks forwards to getting automatic reordering integrated, so the system can order goods when stock levels fall below a set minimum. This is a function which also releases energies from sales personnel, so they can use time on that which they would rather do - sell beautiful underwear etc..!
WUNDERWEAR A/S
Wunderwear A/S is owned by Christian Høyer, Peter Høyer and Bent Høyer. The chain sells lingerie, night garments, swimwear and stockings from well known manufacturers. Together with other distributors they also have own production of lingerie, nightwear and swimwear using the brand Fleur Bodywear.
Wunderwear has nine shops in Greater Copenhagen – located in Fisketorvet Shopping Center, Ballerup Centret, Frederiksberg Centret, Hørsholm Midtpunkt, on Strøget and Østerbro and two in Copenhagen Airport.
There are five employees at the head office in Holte and 65 full and part-time employees salespersons in the shops.