Case Study

Achieving Best in Class Retail Operations for a Clothing Chain Using the Zoku POS System fully integrated with NetSuite ERP

Introduction

Our customer, a retail clothing operator with stores in Asia and the Middle East, decided to implement NetSuite as its Cloud ERP in 2017. At the time they were using a server based off the shelf POS System connected to a bespoke Order Management System. During the implementation of NetSuite, they realized that their Store Operations as well as Digital Channels were completely disconnected from their back office operations powered by NetSuite.

Business Objectives

The customer wanted to achieve consistency across all sales channels, with full visibility and control of all store and digital channel operations from the Headquarters. They came to realise that they had no other option but to complement their investment in NetSuite with a solution that would allow them to streamline and accelerate the transaction processes, while also delivering personalized customer service.

Their objectives included:

  • Business data to be updated in real time and at the same time eliminating unexpected errors from manual data entry across functions

  • Offer a true omnichannel experience to customers

  • Increase Employee Satisfaction by reducing unnecessary and cumbersome tasks, while also reducing mistakes and discrepancies

  • Eliminate manual processes to maintain inventories and ledgers

  • Maximize sales productivity: Faster checkout, personalized service

  • Better reporting with the ERP data being the single source of truth

  • Connect internal and external data sources such as 3PL Systems, Warehouses and Suppliers

  • Centralise and control operations such as PO Receiving and Ordering

Zoku with NetSuite as the Solution

By implementing the Zoku POS for Retail, our customer achieved an all-encompassing view of the entire company’s processes, not simply store sales but also forecasting, inventory, supply, distribution management and stock analysis. Sales and Inventory data is now updated in real time, eliminating unexpected errors from manual data entry across functions within a company, while consumer experience was significantly enhanced.

Easy Migration to the New System

The modern, tablet-based user interface with touch or mouse input allowed our customer to train their staff from the old POS to the new system in a matter of hours. They were also delighted to know that they did not have to change any of their existing hardware. In fact the operator was able to use the software on both Windows and Tablet Hardware. The Zoku solution runs on the cloud, however, if the network is down it can operate in offline mode as well, providing the best of both worlds.

Operational Excellence

By combining the power of NetSuite and the Zoku POS, our customer managed to achieve several key operational efficiencies that would not be possible with legacy systems, including:

  • Optimizing Inventory Cost: Setting up re-ordering business rules; Depending on the product, either reminding managers when to stock up or automatically re-stocking or providing alerts when inventory is approaching the safety stock level. Especially for higher value items, automating and controlling inventory spend yielded significant financial results

  • Inventory Control: Serial Number or Lot Number assigned per item to uniquely trace each item as well as details when products were received and from where. These features have proven very valuable for high value individual clothing products and

  • Intuitive Settlements (shift close), on the POS screen without having to use print-outs. A visual confirmation is used to match system/amended values and actuals, and any discrepancies are intuitively displayed on screen where the store manager can check and resolve.

Unparalleled Omnichannel Consumer Experience 

Consumer Experience was also an important area of improvement. Consumers have the option to pay with a combination of card(s) and cash. Also, with the new system, our customer is now able to retrieve transactions from NetSuite for any channel, making the returns and exchanges process between all channels, physical and digital, a possibility. Additionally, cross-channel processes such as buy online/pickup in store, buy online/return to store and order in store/fulfill from anywhere were made possible. This omnichannel retail experience is what todays’ consumers are looking for.

Also, customers looking for a specific item at one store, for example a certain size of a clothing item that was out of stock at the store, could walk to the shop representative who would check the central inventory and either order the item from a different store or warehouse for in-store pickup, or guide the consumer to the store that has the item in stock.

Our CRM and Loyalty system enabled store and marketing personnel to access customer’s purchasing histories, offering rewards to improve customer satisfaction and loyalty. The consumers were delighted to be able to earn and redeem loyalty points across any channel at any time, and check their balance at the store or online. They were also excited to receive personalized communication and member only promotion and benefits.

Designed for GROWTH

The powerful features of NetSuite, supporting multi-country and multi-subsidiary setup are beautifully complemented by the Zoku POS multi-currency, multi-menu and multi-country and subsidiary as well as franchise management features. This enabled our customer to rapidly expand in multiple countries with direct as well as franchise operations.

Next Steps

After establishing best practices in the back and front end with NetSuite and Zoku POS, our Retail Customer identified that there were additional modules available in the Zoku Integrated Commerce Suite to enable them to grow and beat the competition. Ongoing enhancements include the replacement of the disconnected and hard to customize existing eCommerce engine with Magento and Zoku’s native NetSuite Magento Connector, seamlessly connected the store and eCommerce with NetSuite and enabling consumers to use the same loyalty points, vouchers and promotions across channels.