Fast growing established retailers are always looking for new ways to improve their business’ efficiency and one technique retailers must consider is automating manual processes. The decision to adopt automation comes with the inevitable concern about the difficulty of transitioning to new technology.
Multichannel retailer, Arthauss Furniture, has recently introduced automation into their business and managed to implement their retail management system in just 24 days. We caught up with Kasia Konwinska, Managing Director, from Arthauss to find out:
- Why the business chose to invest in technology
- How they managed to get implemented so quickly
- How automation is impacting their business operations
Arthauss Furniture sells high-quality flat-packed living room and bedroom furniture both online and in store via their showroom in Lincolnshire, UK. They began their software search as they spent too much time on manual admin tasks and not enough time concentrating on growing the business.
Technology Investment
Before Brightpearl, Arthauss used resources such as Excel spreadsheets and notebooks to register important data related to purchases, invoices, and receipts. Kasia shared how this manual process was just not scalable for a growing business like Arthauss, which was inevitably leading to human error.
In February 2017, Arthauss took the plunge and decided to implement Brightpearl’s retail management system to shift their resourcing from data entry into growth activity. The technology investment has allowed Arthauss to streamline their day-to-day processes, optimize their supply chain and improve their customer-service experience.
Arthauss also opted to integrate with STREAM to improve their delivery process. Delivering furniture is more complicated than your typical delivery of clothes, gifts or toys. STREAM is a transport management application for retailers who have complex delivery needs. STREAM has shortened the time that drivers spend on the road and has minimized the risk of unforeseen delays. STREAM send Brightpearl a tracking reference number for each delivery, allowing customers to track the driver’s route, and it transfers the driver’s delivery notes to Brightpearl so Arthauss can keep track of everything. Kasia shared that “Brightpearl and STREAM has allowed us to save so much time and energy”.
Fast Implementation
If you’re thinking of implementing a new system in your retail business, you may find yourself asking only natural questions such as “how long will it take?” and “how do I move systems without disrupting my day-to-day business?”. Arthauss is a great example of how migration can actually be quick and easy!
Compared to an industry implementation average of 6-12 months, it took Arthauss just 24 days to get their business up and running with Brightpearl. Kasia Konwinska from Arthauss shared:
“Brightpearl was very easy to implement, we got up and running in just 24 days. Our implementation consultant was amazing and helped us make a smooth transition. We found the training process both efficient and professional.”
Arthauss’ implementation consultant, Bethan Rowe, assisted them through every step of the migration journey and built a tailored project plan, which fits the business’ requirements and allowed them to get implemented efficiently and effectively.
Kasia shared how Bethan was always there whenever they needed her with an amazing response time and immense patience. “Without Brightpearl’s support, I don’t think we would have been able to get implemented so quickly. Everybody was so kind and supportive.”
Automating Arthauss
Automation has been a game changer and time saver for Arthauss as Kasia claims that the business has managed to save 40 hours per week with automation technology. It’s allowed them to eliminate the unnecessary costs of having staff perform repetitive and manual admin tasks.
Before implementing Brightpearl Automation, Arthauss were seeing many human errors during the sales order workflow, but now the process requires less human touch as it allows the staff to manage orders by exception, rather than as a general rule.
They’ve adopted both auto-invoicing and auto-allocation from the Brightpearl Automation feature, which has given the staff time back to focus on the post-sale customer service including encouraging customers to leave reviews and building up the customer loyalty that every retailer strives for. Kasia shared that both the Arthauss staff and customers are now happier!
Could you benefit from Automation? Take the assessment today to find out if automation could improve your business’ efficiency and how your business would cope with peak demand.
