Lush Longboards is one of the world's leading brands of long skateboards; Their HQ is based in the UK with distributors spread across the globe. Products are made in a number of places including Taiwan, the Middle East and the US, and then shipped direct to distributors in Europe, Australia, and North America as well as to the main warehouse in the UK. It's very much a b2b business model, and yet being a lifestyle brand, end-consumer marketing is also vital - for this reason Lush are very much on the ball with their social media, email marketing and newsletters.
Lush have been running their entire operation on Brightpearl since 2007; including website, purchasing, inventory management, CRM and accounting. Their journey to Brightpearl is typical of many other similar distribution and wholesale businesses.
The Lush Longboards story
The business was started in 2001 as a small cottage industry, building boards in a workshop and selling them to the end user. It wasn't long before there was a regular stream of sales coming in via the OSCommerce-powered website. Accounting was done on Sage, and stock control was handled with Excel due to the intricacies of the product.
In 2003, the business was starting to grow up; manufacturing costs were coming down which opened up the trade channel; boards were now being sold to a network of retailers around the UK - which in turn meant that strong relationships with a few key customers was an important part of driving a successful business. Lush implemented ACT! CRM software in an attempt to share the communication knowledge around the team, but even though this was touted to work seamlessly with the Sage accounts, it really was hopeless.
Ross, the main sales rep, was based out of London, the factory was in Sheffield, and the small team of 8 staff was working around the clock to keep on top of everything. Much of the time was spent copying information back and forth between systems; making sure the website was up to date with stock levels; inputting trade sales off the website into Sage for itemised invoicing, credit chasing. The sales rep had limited visibility of stock levels (on a dusty computer in the corner of the Sheffield office) - and likewise did not have visibility of customers' accounting information, which meant that on-stop customers were still placing orders and opportunities to take payment were missed when Ross managed to get through to customers on the phone.
Man in charge Rich Auden picks up the story:
A single integrated solution
"It was clear that the systems needed to be upgraded. We decided that a single, web based business system would be the ultimate solution; everything would be online, all the time, for everyone in the company and also selected customers via a b2b-only section of the Lush Longboards website. Brightpearl was the answer; at the start of the 2007 financial year we migrated accounting information from Sage and imported all contacts and communication history from ACT! - and the business took another leap forwards. Having everything on the same database means that there's now only ever one place to update prices, customers and stock.
From purchasing to credit chasing
I can pull up a report in Brightpearl to tell me what items are low on stock, compare that against sales waiting on the system and on pre-order, and make intelligent buying decisions. Purchase orders are placed formally with the factory, with every communication noted against the PO for the record. Everyone in the company knows what's due to come in, so customers are given up to date and accurate information when they phone in. Inventory is updated as soon as Purchase Orders are received, sales orders are pushed efficiently through a pick/pack/ship process, and invoices go directly into the accounting system at the end of the day. It's one system, so detailed information can be linked between sales products and accounts.
The bookkeeping is handled off-site by a firm in Bath, who log on to the same system that Brightpearl use to chase down customer debt using the quick and effective batch email and SMS tools. I can check in to see exactly what my bank balance is, what I owe suppliers and customers.
Multi tiered pricing
Selling online is always a challenge for distributors; you want to ensure your brand is represented in the best way possible, yet you don't want to undermine your retailers. At Lush Longboards we make use of the powerful price lists feature in Brightpearl to list only a certain subset of our products online at RRP, whilst also supporting per-country and per-customer pricing for our distribution network. I easily manage hundreds of SKUs and prices, changing the system regularly to benefit from currency fluctuations.
Online, anytime, anywhere
Now that the brand is truly global, My product manager Darren and I are often on the road. Whilst the sales team are still back at base taking calls and shipping stock, it's easy for Darren and I to keep a handle on what's coming in or going out. We can still maintain a close relationship with key customers as well as with the rest of our staff, all through a collaborative online set of notes and tasks within Brightpearl.
Connected to customers
We run our website on the Brightpearl platform - and incorporate Smartforms to capture information directly into the CRM system. The site pulls feeds from YouTube, the Blog, Flickr and other social channels to be a smart, cohesive collection of the brand online.
Selling online, all the time
Lush also run a b2b portal, which lets our trade customers place orders online whilst the team are busy getting on with other business. It gives information about stock levels, order history, tracking information and even a customer service ticketing system; better than email since it's shared as part of the main CRM, and doesn't let us drop the ball when we're juggling a whole load of stuff."
