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White Stuff, the multichannel clothing retailer, has signed a deal with Island Pacific to implement a complete planning solution, to incorporate budgetary, assortment, store and merchandising planning. The contract was signed in mid-July 2009, and roll out is planned for December.  

White Stuff, the multichannel clothing retailer, has signed a deal with Island Pacific to implement a complete planning solution, to incorporate budgetary, assortment, store and merchandising planning. The contract was signed in mid-July 2009, and roll out is planned for December.

 

The software will interface with the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP), and will be used across all channels, including retail, web, mail order and wholesale. It will help to manage inbound stock, freight times and allocations – providing the retailer with a ‘one view’ system.

 

White Stuff, which was founded in 1985, now has 60 stores across the UK. The retailer is currently opening – on average – one shop each month, and Island Pacific’s appointment is intended to help underpin its aggressive growth strategy.

 

The Island Pacific Planning system consists of Merchandise Planning (incorporating Price Points and Category Mix Analysis and Key Item Planning), Store Planning (incorporating Store Clustering and Grading) and Assortment Planning.

 

White Stuff grades its stores to see what option counts are required (including men’s, women’s and accessories). The retailer currently operates a manual, Excel-based system, to support its planning and merchandising activity, and relevant information is keyed in by the merchandising team for the options to be allocated.

 

Venn Luscombe-Mahoney, head of IT at White Stuff commented: “Given approximately one week per month is dedicated to manually updating the spreadsheets, and that this is likely to increase with our planned growth, we realised that system needed to be updated with a sophisticated planning tool.

 

"We started to look into planning systems some time ago, and have since followed a comprehensive due diligence process, which covered off areas including functionality, support, supplier experience, site visits and price performance."

 

Mike Dotson, Island Pacific European managing director added: "The Planning solution will not only remove the manual processes, but it should also help to minimise issues related to human error.

 

"Over the coming months and years, we will work with White Stuff to improve business intelligence, accuracy and efficiency – helping the retailer to maintain its ‘best of breed’ status."

 

Luscombe-Mahoney said of the new appointment: "The team has been very reactive, and transparent in their approach. They are proud of their product and confident in the service they provide, and this was corroborated by a number of their clients.

 

"One of the main reasons we opted to work with Island Pacific was down to its ‘follow the sun’ support system. If we log a fault at any time of the day or night, we can rest assured that the company will work to correct this with immediate effect."

 

www.islandpacific.com