Going live with a new technology solution one week before Black Friday may put off some retail businesses, but with Brightpearl, fitness lifestyle brand Rep Fitness didn’t break a sweat.
Based out of Denver, Colorado, Rep Fitness sells REP branded fitness equipment through a mix of offline and online sales channels including an ecommerce website, Amazon, eBay and a brick and mortar store.
For this ERP success story with a twist, we caught up with Alida Sholl, Director of Technical Operations at Rep Fitness, to find out:
Why the business chose to implement new retail operations technology so close to Black Friday
How they managed to get implemented so quickly
What impact Brightpearl has had on their business
The uphill climb that prompted Rep Fitness’s decision
Before Brightpearl, Rep Fitness were hitting problems with their previous system, which was slow and clunky and resulted in cumbersome workflows.
“We couldn’t use it during the point of sale. We were writing sales down on paper and entering them into the system manually at the end of the day – or sometimes, waiting until the end of the week. This meant that our inventory was often not up to date so our sales team didn’t know what was in or out of stock,” explains Alida.
“Dispatching our orders was really slow too. Our old system couldn’t create a consolidated pick list so we had to get someone to add up all the products by hand. We knew this wasn’t the way to run a successful business.”
Rep Fitness made the decision to change their system – but that’s when they encountered a new problem to deal with.
“We initially went with a different solution, but two weeks before we were supposed to go live, we realized it wasn’t going to work for us,” notes Alida. “It wasn’t user-friendly and we were finding that the software had some big limitations that had not been discussed during the sales process.”
The challenge that got Brightpearl working out against the clock
With just two months to go until Black Friday, Rep Fitness was really under pressure.
Alida reflects: “Time was running out. We went back to the drawing board and drew up a new shortlist of solution providers. Brightpearl’s scalability, in addition to its greater accounting and reporting functionality, made it a more all-in-one solution we could trust.”
With seven weeks to Black Friday and a new system to set up and train on, Rep Fitness had a challenge for Brightpearl.
“We told Brightpearl we needed to go live in six weeks!” Alida tells us. “We said, ‘these are all the things we need to be able to do on day one’ and Brightpearl built our plan around what we needed so we could be operational. They also sent someone down to be onsite with us for a whole week, and together, we powered through the training and setup.”
Photo finish: the risky move that paid off
Fast forward six weeks and Rep Fitness went live with Brightpearl – one week before Black Friday, as planned.
Looking back on their Brightpearl launch, Alida tells us: “It went extremely well. From day one – all the functionality we needed was there. I guess it was a risky move, but it paid off and we had a very successful holiday season. Having the fantastic training and implementation that we did from Brightpearl meant that we were able to manage the holiday spike without breaking a sweat. If you can go live one week before Black Friday, you could do it at any time!“
“We now know at any time how much we have of any product so we never have stock-outs or over-order. For the first time ever, we have real visibility into our inventory – we know what we’re carrying and also what we’re selling, so we can forecast accurately like we haven’t been able to do before. Previously, we had to pull our sales out of our various channels and merge that data together.”
Alida continues: “We’re also using Brightpearl Automation to allocate and fulfill orders automatically – we’re now processing them 30% faster! It’s put our business firmly back in control – while also leading to happier customers.”
Building momentum and a healthy future
Two years on and with their operations running more efficiently across the board, Rep Fitness can now set their sights on expanding their reach.
Alida says: “We are opening multiple third-party logistics (3PL) locations across the US to help support our growth, and have also started to distribute product in Canada and Europe. The 3PL network is so much more achievable now that we have Brightpearl because we can use automation to allocate to any new warehouse locations automatically, wherever they are. It gives us the scope to flex our muscles on a global level.”
Could you benefit from a new system? Rep Fitness proves it’s never too late to get your business back in shape. Get in touch with us today to find out how we can help you.
Or click here to read Rep Fitness’s full Black Friday ERP success story.
