Furniture & Homewares | Multi-Store | 2 Stores | AU
How multi-store brand The Furniture Trader switched to cloud POS software, gained stock visibility & saved $300K a year
Return on Investment Summary
Aussie retailer The Furniture Trader abandoned their outdated books system for retail express POS software and enjoyed:
$300K saving per year in printed catalogues – By switching to email marketing using Retail Express loyalty features
Centralised data – Providing clear reporting and visibility of stock across the warehouse and all stores for safer buying decisions and better management
Live stock levels visible for sales staff – Allowing staff to sell more accurately at the POS and keep stock levels up-to-date
The Company
Melbourne-based retailer The Furniture Trader was established in 1999. For over two decades, they’ve sourced popular designs and themes to suit the contemporary or classic home, describing their buying choices as an intersect of affordability, quality and sophistication.
The Furniture Trader has showrooms in Victoria’s Epping, Dandenong and Hoppers Crossing with a huge warehouse supplying all stores and enabling immediate delivery.
The Problem
Before The Furniture Trader moved to Retail Express, they were running their entire store off a book system.
“It was hard to have accountability with staff as they could easily sell products that we didn’t have in stock” says Sam.
There was no way of checking inventory levels or stock availability and other stores — let alone competing with rivalling furniture stores who were quickly turning to digital and celebrating their new omnichannel success stories. The pressure was on.
The Results
This Australian retailer Case study has highlighted the importance of real-time stock visibility. And, by completing this digital transformation for their retail business, not only did they streamline their business processes, but by embracing omnichannel, they reach massive financial savings by digitalise in the customer base.
Accurate inventory lets them sell more – With an accurate inventory management system, staff can sell more accurately at the point of sale, keeping their inventory accurate up to date.
Centralised data allows for safer buying – Live, visible stock numbers across all of stores make it easier and economically safer for the company to buy high-cost inventory.
Loyalty features save $300K in annual marketing expenses – using Retail Express loyalty features, the company has now abandoned the practice of printing expensive catalogues each year. Instead, every season, they design a new catalogue and distribute it to their mailing list from Retail Express via email. This has resulted in significant savings in terms of time and printing costs. With Google AdWords their only other advertising source, the company has saved $300K in one year on advertising costs.