It’s never easy to break free from tech that’s become part of the furniture, but that’s exactly what brands who are signed up with ERPs and other outdated operating systems are currently doing — and they’re reaping the rewards.
The truth is that ERPs have had their day. They were built for the age of e-commerce when people logged on to desktop computers to buy things – not for the Hyper-Scalable Era where consumers want to shop where they hang out, in newly-formed ‘digital neighborhoods’.
In fact, ERPs and other monolithic architecture is so inflexible, difficult to scale and ill-suited to modern commerce that many leading brands now admit that their ERP is getting in the way of their success.
ERPs are holding brands back
Our research revealed that 65% of UK brands turning over £5-50M and 56% turning over £50M above agreed that being locked into their current ERP makes it nearly impossible to integrate new, better e-commerce technology at the pace they’d like. In the US, 71% of those turning over $5-50M and 52% of those bringing in $50M+ said the same thing.
Even more shockingly, 71% of UK brands with a £5-50M revenue 56% of those with a revenue of more than £50M say the approach to e-commerce from their ’single vendor’ limits their ability to quickly deploy better shopping experiences, keep up with customer expectations and sell more. In the US, 89% of businesses turning over $5-50M and 72% of those with a revenue of $50M+ agreed with this.
Brands that break free from the shackles of their ERP and instead opt for a flexible, built-for-retail operating system are smashing their goals and enjoying their best ever success.
Let’s look at three examples…
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Snap Supply
Online appliance parts specialist Snap Supply ditched clunky ERP Microsoft Nav after getting fed up with its slow, manual workflows and even slower approach to adding new features.
The brand switched to Brightpearl for a purpose-built ROS that has hyper-scalability at its heart. Here are a few of the benefits that happened as a result…
- Lightning quick deployment compared to ERPs
- Tripled profits
- Automated workflows – saving 240 hours a month of data entry
“Microsoft Nav took six months to upgrade, but Brightpearl was set up in a matter of weeks. We now save 60 hours per week on order entry alone. Brightpearl is the only solution that could easily extend to the other apps and services we use to run our business.” – Nick Ernst, co-founder of Snap Supply.
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Jimmy Lion
Multichannel sock brand Jimmy Lion was struggling with the operational challenges that go hand-in-hand with rapid growth. Desperate for a solution, the brand signed up with ‘open source’ ERP, Odoo.
However, it quickly became clear that they needed a more robust, flexible and scalable operating system – and, after weighing up the competition, they switched to Brightpearl. These are a few of the results achieved since then…
- THREE times faster processes
- 120-day go live time
- 100% YOY growth
“We needed more than an ERP – we needed a ‘brain’ that could bring everything together. With traditional ERPs, you have to wait for integrations to be built – and usually pay extra for it. With Brightpearl, all the apps and connections we could ever need are already there – out of the box, ready to use from day one.” – Alvaro Gomis, Co-Founder, Jimmy Lion
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Goose & Gander
Within just a couple of years of launching, unisex clothing brand Goose & Gander had established a solid reputation as a leading online fashion fashion retailer, with thousands of orders coming in every day.
To ease the back office chaos, the brand signed up with one of the larger ERP providers — but it ended in disaster (which isn’t uncommon — around 50% – 75% of ERP projects fail). They also tried two cloud-based business software suites, which also didn’t work out. Finally, they found Brightpearl – and they haven’t looked back…
- 500% increase in order processing speed
- Live on Brightpearl in eight weeks – perfectly timed for peak season
- Boosted brand reputation with speedier than ever customer service
“Working with a larger ERP provider was a terrible experience. Actually, it was a complete nightmare because these software companies aren’t built for retail, and we found that out the hard way. Working with them felt like a never ending experience – and one that was extremely expensive, too. Brightpearl was an absolute breath of fresh air and has totally transformed our business.” – Olly White, Director, Goose & Gander
