Multichannel shoe retailer adopts new retail management software to identify its customers and understand their behaviour anywhere and anytime
Hotter, UK shoe maker and multichannel retailer with 46 stores, has implemented a retail omnichannel solution with a vision to create a single view of the customer whether they shop in one its store, online or through its mail order service.
Hotter chose K3 Retail, a UK-based provider of Microsoft Dynamics NAV enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, to streamline the business and deliver a clear view of customer behaviour across all channels.
Integrating business around customer
David Ainsworth, head of IT at Hotter, stated: “As an increasingly multichannel retailer, we understand how important it is to have a single solution across the entire business which is integrated around the needs of our customers. With Microsoft Dynamics NAV, we know we have a solution that can meet our requirements, and in K3 Retail, a partner that we can work with to achieve its full potential.”
The new ERP system covers all off Hotter’s operational systems across both its instore and online operations and, since implementation, the business has grown significantly through both these channels with the mail order business continuing to stay strong.
A central finance ERP and Dynamics NAV system allows it to effectively manage item creation and pricing and promotion for all sales channels. The Dynamics warehousing functionality gives visibility across all operations and a real-time view of the inventory held within the business and expected delivery date of that on purchase order.
Managing customers across channels
Hotter is also using a number of sales channels systems, including K3’s 120-operative strong call centre, which provides transactional and customer interaction services.
Ainsworth added: “The system identifies the customer through all channels, tracking their spend, the items they’ve bought and which channel they’ve bought them from; be it online, instore or through mail order. This functionality will increase our understanding of our customers.”
Additionally, the new IT provision has enabled Hotter to better manage its customer transactions following the successful go-live of a new electronic funds transfer (EFT) managed service provided by K3 and payment provider VeriFone. The EFT terminals offer a tokenised and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant, managed payment service.
