Orbico
Implementation of LS Retail system is international trading and distribution company in fashion industry
LS Retail implementation project involved not one, but several different companies and brands. Store chains to use the new software were selected from a group of companies. At that time, they were owned by Amersport sp. z o.o. (later Orbico Style sp. z o.o.) and Orbico Beauty sp. z o.o. Since 2020 both companies have been merged into Orbico sp. z o.o.
LS NAV was implemented in:
Converse stores,
multi-brand stores,
Chanel store in Warsaw,
and Converse store in Prague.
A total of 21 store licenses and 32 device licenses were used in stores.
“Since implementing LS NAV we have been able to better monitor our daily sales and margin and make business right decisions relating to promotions and level of discounts needed, this has become invaluable during the recent difficult retail trading periods.”
Eddy Malky, Managing Director at Orbico Style
Challenges in the retail industry
The main challenge faced by retail chains is the need to ensure high product availability, in all possible variants. It is important for customers to have choices. However, on the other hand, a high volume of goods in stores entails rising costs and lower product turnover. LS NAV provides functionalities facilitating effective product management both at the POS and at all stages of the supply chain – from warehouse to logistics.
The stores where LS NAV has been implemented sell shoes and sportswear, which involves the offer of products in many sizes and colors. The system lacked a feature to handle these types of products. However, to enable all the necessary activities to be carried out in the organizations within the capital group, the project team introduced extensive size matrices (variants sizes) in the Master Data Management System. It can facilitate the management of items and price lists – distinguishing between various sales channels, that is stationary stores and e-commerce.
One of the strongest trends in the retail industry is customer experience. In order to provide the highest standards of customer service, it was crucial to organize all stages of the sales process so that customers feel more satisfied and the entire process runs more smoothly. The primary goal of the project was to facilitate daily work of store staff. This has been done successfully by implementing POS functionality, integrating the system with a fiscal printer or running warehouse management functions in stores, such as receiving goods for stock, shipping products and conducting physical inventory. As a result of implementing additional features, such as standard day closing procedure or the window for scanning in-stock items, everyday work of store employees improved.
During the implementation, the need for functionality supporting up-selling strategy was predicted. In Orbico Style sports and clothing stores discount and promotion configuration features were implemented. However, they were not implemented in Chanel stores as there was no need to do so.
What is more, we work with distinctive international brands that define the differentiation so there is little that we do in this respect, we try to differentiate by level of service that we offer to wholesale partners and to retail consumers.
Orbico chose LS Retail solution
For many years, Orbico Beauty and Orbico Style have based their operations on an ERP system – Dynamics NAV. They needed an additional solution that would fully integrate with the ERP system and fill the gap of functionality responsible for retail management.
When looking for the right IT solution what convinced us was a wide range of LS NAV features. We knew that by choosing LS NAV, we decide to rely on a proven software solution used by many global businesses, a product that is constantly developed and updated. For the organization it was a key priority to implement a solution that would provide all the necessary functions, enable optimal sales management and the adjustment of functionality to specific business processes, and be open for integration with other tools. Of all available software solutions, LS NAV met all these criteria.
System implementation
LS NAV implementation project was initiated in February 2018. The go-live phase was conducted in January 2019. During this time various challenges appeared, but thanks to close cooperation between IT.integro specialists and Orbico employees all the obstacles could be eliminated.
What made the project different from other projects of this type was the very deployment process. In compliance with the requirements of Orbico stores, installations in several stores were launched simultaneously, rather than as a roll-out, as is usually the case.
Implementing the system in Orbico Style store in Prague was another exciting challenge. It had to be integrated with the software of the Polish company as well as with the Czech local functionality application and the fiscal module. Legislative provisions in the Czech Republic are very different from the Polish ones, which necessitated the creation of functionality for receipt printing, according to the needs of the store.
Taking into account the international scope of Orbico’s business activity and its presence on the market of 20 European countries – a certain standard of POS configuration has been prepared, so that, if necessary, the roll-out to other locations could be carried out smoothly and seamlessly. The analyses included research with specialists from many countries, such as Serbia, Bosnia, and Croatia.
Systems integration
To increase productivity in trading companies, implementing automation is a must. However, the value chain in this case is complex and many entities are involved. To ensure the flow of sales data as well as information on demand and inventory levels, etc., it is necessary to select the right system integrating all these areas. Activities that generated the most benefits after implementing LS NAV and integrating it with ERP Microsoft Dynamics NAV included the implementation of workflows, development of new and more efficient processes and achieving higher automation level.
The integrated sales system has increased the efficiency of various units. Store employees were equipped with a comprehensive tool that allowed them to perform their repetitive duties more efficiently than before. They can now work faster and better and devote more time and attention to personalized customer service. The quality of customer service has also been improved as the order processing time was reduced. Positive changes have also taken place in warehouse and supply chain management
Positive business effects
The implementation of the new system and its integration with the ERP system streamlined the work of individual employees in the first place. Not all of these positive changes are fully measurable. However, the most significant changes took place in the retail chain stores. With LS NAV implementation, sales teams’ way of working has evolved considerably.
Despite the system change, employees were able to implement their tasks very easily using the intuitive software. They received support in carrying out daily processes such as sales, customer service, order processing, receiving goods in stock and inventory management.
“As Orbico is a distribution company as well as a retailer the ability to have a single inventory shared across the different parts of the organization created big efficiencies, we now have visibility across all our inventory level irrespective of the channel of sales (retail/e-commerce/wholesale).”
Eddy Malky, Managing Director at Orbico Style
LS Retail supports Orbico’s growth
Today’s customers are conscious consumers who are knowledgeable about the quality of products and brands. They have high expectations with regard to the product and the service itself. They don’t want to adjust – they expect brand owners to adjust the consumer journey to their needs and preferences. Orbico is just one of these innovative companies, observing its customers, getting to know their needs in order to adjust the purchase journey and meet these expectations. LS Retail solutions allow us to streamline everyday work of store employees, improve customer service (e.g. by reducing order processing time), win new customers and increase sales volumes.