Apparel retailer uses rapid deployment model to support business expansion across multiple sales channels
Apparel retailer uses rapid deployment model to support business expansion across multiple sales channels
Luxury holiday wardrobe specialist heidi klein has selected CIMS from Prologic to support business growth across a number of channels including retail, e-commerce, wholesale and pop-up stores.
The company has chosen opted to roll CIMS out using a software-as-a-service (SaaS) deployment model, hosted by Prologic, and the system is now fully operational across the business just twelve weeks after contract agreement.
Keeping pace with the business
Heidi klein has grown rapidly from a single shop into an multichannel retail operation. But the pace of this change and the business model complexity it presented meant its systems were failing to keep up and a piecemeal approach to system changes had become unsustainable.
Having considered building an in-house solution and following a thorough search of the market, heidi klein selected Prologic’s multichannel, fashion-specific business system. Chris Powell, operations director at heidi klein, explained: “Heidi klein has experienced significant growth over the last few years and we have aspirations for this to continue.
“We needed a system to support us today but also to scale with us a long way into the future. Prologic’s multichannel expertise and modular, continual-upgrade software model made it the obvious choice. Prologic also has an impressive list of successful fashion retail customers who it has supported on similar business journeys.”
Simplifying deployment process
Mindful of the disruption that a lengthy and complex system overhaul could have on staff focus and business momentum, Powell and his team chose to deploy Prologic’s ‘Up&Running’ rapid deployment model to remove time, complexity, cost and risk from the implementation.
Powell said that Up&Running provided the retailer with an 80% pre-configured version of CIMS, developed based on process and configuration best-practices taken from other customer engagements: “This gave us a great deal of confidence, while also providing a sufficiently adaptable solution to be tailored to our specific business needs. Up&Running achieved the right balance between rapid deployment and flexibility, and staff engagement and positive change management. Achieving all that we have in just twelve weeks is really impressive.”
He added: “CIMS provides us with one, fully integrated and centrally controlled solution for all our business channels, including the website. We now have a much greater degree of visibility and control over key business areas and activities.
"CIMS is also equally strong at supporting the retail and wholesale side of our business, both of which present important opportunities for growth. We’ve already seen a major change to the management of the wholesale operation and the customer experience, including uplift in efficiency, detail and accuracy through all elements of the wholesale transaction."
