Background
Pure Fishing is a leader in outdoor and recreational lifestyle products representing over 30 internationally recognised brands, sold all over the world. The business has operations in 19 countries and a dedicated workforce conversant in 28 languages.
“We run a dynamic business with a lot of moving parts from a brand, product and customer perspective,” said Mitch Birt, ANZ Manager. “Our bespoke B2B was being used by our sales team but lacked the capacity to be a customer-facing solution that our Retail partners could comfortably engage with”.
The Australian fishing industry was still in its infancy with respect to B2B adoption and was still heavily reliant on a Sales Representative based model, centred on a high level of in-store engagement.
“Our sales team were accustomed to the nuances of the current tool and how it dealt with pricing, product filtering and general ordering but it was a big concern pushing it onto our somewhat anti-tech customers, many of whom did not even have POS systems”.
There was the option to invest in internal system updates to make it more palatable to its target audience, but there was still the burden of constant Retailer training and ongoing IT investment to maintain the system’s market viability.
“We also wanted to rid the business of printed catalogues and better manage Retailer requests for digital marketing assets, basic product information such as barcodes and inventory checks. We knew that a customer-facing solution could help with this.
“Our focus really needed to be on building our brands and looking after our customers and consumers,” recalled Mitch, “so a pure-play B2B system that had the capacity to deal with our complexities, be easy to use and known to our Retailers was an attractive option.”
Solution
The Brandscope B2B e-commerce platform was already well established in the Australian and New Zealand fishing markets due to its penetration into the outdoor, sport and leisure retail channels. The system’s unique capacity to manage multiple brands with complicated segmentation and pricing structures, multi-level product filtering across Brand/Division/Segment/Category and the ability to directly integrate with our ERP (SAP) suited the Pure Fishing business model.
The complete stable of brands was loaded onto the Brandscope system under a single release and then segmentation, filtering, pricing and territory allocation tools were applied to coordinate retail views according to Pure Fishing’s business requirements.
“Out of the box, Brandscope could do the vast majority of things that we required from an operational perspective,” recalled Mitch, “but they also worked closely with us on some key custom updates to further refine the functionality to suit our complex wholesale business model”.
“But the real attraction was that the majority of our customers already used the platform for other brands so were very accustomed to logging in, viewing and ordering products, downloading marketing assets and general navigation. Once the SAP integration was in place it was literally a plug-and-play situation and we simply springboarded off Brandscope’s growing market presence.”
The other significant resource draw on the business was the design and printing of catalogues which Retailers were beholden to in the absence of a B2B option.
“Moving away from catalogues was a big concern for us, given everyone’s historical reliance on them for so many years,” stated Mitch. “Brandscope was a valid solution, enabling us to present a live range of constantly changing products to our customers 24/7. Making adjustments at the back-end was also super easy, ensuring that our customers were always looking at accurate product information.”
Outcome
The engagement from Pure Fishing’s retail customer base was instant due to their familiarity with the Brandscope platform and its intuitive flow, making it easy for them to view products, inventory levels, marketing assets and then place refill and pre-book orders.
“It’s been great for our business in that it’s connecting us with remote and smaller format stores that we couldn’t service on a regular cadence due to distance and time restraints”, stated Mitch. “It’s almost like we’re there in-store, working on ranging, whether it’s St Helens, Tasmania or Broome, Western Australia. Customers are also buying with renewed confidence because they can see the inventory levels, know that the product they buy will arrive and are open to trying something a little different simply because it’s so easy to find and order.”
Pure Fishing has also stopped printing catalogues and has invested heavily in maximising the digital environment on Brandscope with informative marketing and educational information that Retailers can also export from the system as required for their POS, B2C and social media platforms.
“Our sales representatives still work intimately with our customer base but we’ve added a whole other level of engagement by providing our customers with a tool that awards them access to an incredible amount of accurate information and immediacy but is also very easy to use.”
“There’s still a lot to do and we’ll always have challenges that push back on new and different ways of doing things which is fine,” stated Mitch. “Our Sales Representatives are seeing the benefits of the system and the incremental benefits of having Brandscope in their sales toolkit as well.”
Testimonial
“Brandscope has provided our Retail customers with a new level of independence in dealing with Pure Fishing. The autonomy has led to greater operational efficiencies and increased sales, especially for our smaller independents who are now revelling in a 24/7 connection to our business across sales, marketing and product education. It’s been a great experience for everyone.”
Background
Brand Collective had recently secured the Reebok brand from the Adidas group and had sold in two seasons using legacy systems comprising printed selling tools such as importable order forms, catalogues and looks books. The preparation of these tools was drawing deeply on limited in house resources and also impacting the operational efficiencies in launching collections and collating orders, in essence impeding the brands growth.
“The Reebok brand was a newcomer to the Brand Collective stable” advised Staurt Conlan, Head of Reebok Wholesale, “and still beholden to legacy systems which was impeding growth potential. It was becoming increasingly obvious that the “new” Reebok needed something far more dynamic and user-friendly for our Retailers to Agents to really capitalise on the brand’s potential”.
“Our business model is heavily oriented towards pre-booking”, outlines National Sales Manager, Stuart Wright, “and the corporate ERP module we had access to did not provide the functionality to cater for the nuances this type of selling demanded. It’s a very visual and collaborative process between our internal and external sales team and our Retail partners. We also wanted to adopt a more sustainable wholesale model and divert the need for traditional sampling and cataloging to something more digital. We began the due diligence process to find a suitable vehicle and Brandscope emerged a solid contender based on market feedback and review of alternate options, both domestically and internationally.”
Solution
The Brand Collective parent company, PAS Group, had already implemented the Brandscope platform across the entire brand stable with a full integration into the companies AP21 ERP system, so had already experienced considerable operational efficiencies for both pre-book and refill selling. This established and proven technical structure offered an opportunity for Reebok to quickly migrate across and launch the next seasonal collection.
“We were in an enviable position,” said Stuart, “in that there was a myriad of real market case studies that we could review, proving Brandscope’s capacity to both launch and maintain fast growing brand’s across a diverse independent retail base. It was literally a ‘plug and play’ situation where we folded into the systems that the PAS Group already had in place”.
The pre-existing processes allowed Reebok to quickly load and launch the Apparel and Footwear pre-book collections for Second Summer 2024 to over 180 independent Retailers.
Outcome
The improvements in operational efficiencies in order receipt and processing were the obvious impacts, with orders flowing directly into the AP21 ERP, thereby eliminating order forms and the inevitable complications around importation.
“Everything was just so much more streamlined, easy and accurate,” recounted Stuart, “which made the entire pre-book process faster from an administrative perspective. Our team works on very tight timelines and we saved about two weeks across an eight week period which gave us more time to analyse orders and place early manufacturing PO’s. I’m sure we’ll see an improvement in our inventory holding as a result.”
The system was also quickly adopted by Reebok’s independent sales team who found the platform considerably more intuitive than the legacy system, allowing them to collaborate efficiently with Retailer customers.
“Our Retailers also found the platform very easy to use, which meant that we could gravitate away from legacy systems with minimal push-back and energise the pre-book process even more,” said Stuart. “Now that our Retail partners have used the system for pre-book and enjoyed the experience, we’re in a strong position to launch in-season collections”.
The stronger connection that Reebok now has with their Retailers and Agents will backbone the launch of injection collections into the market to drive newness and further fuel the brand’s increasing popularity.
“Immediacy is the key for Reeboks current profile,” shared Stuart, “and we’re in a very good position to consistently offer customers new injections off the back of high performers and capture a high volume of orders quickly and in a more streamlined manner. There’s a great deal of upside in adopting the Brandscope platform for pre-book and refill.”
Testimonial
“The Brandscope B2B e-commerce platform has been instrumental in stimulating and managing Reebok’s growth potential in the independent wholesale marketplace. It’s delivered considerable operational efficiencies, was a streamlined rollout and has been embraced by our Retailer and Agent partners as an intuitive and effective sales and marketing tool.”
Background
Hectic is an established UK and European distributor with a sophisticated network of Agents, specialising in incubating and fostering growing American brands into the complex UK/EU market. Historically, Hectic has incubated brands such as O’Neill, Stance, Sun Bum, Arcade, Florence Marine and Simple. Yeti was an exciting and dynamic addition to the stable and presented a challenge with respect to a very broad distribution channel across Action Sport, Lifestyle, Outdoor, Sport and Leisure compounded by multi-lingual and multi-currency requirements. Compounding this was commercial pressure from the US parent company to maintain an aggressive sales growth profile similar to that experienced domestically, and manage the inventory challenges as a result of fast growth and stressed supply chains due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hectic management knew that a reliance on the traditional sales methods of catalogues, spreadsheet order forms and countless onsite showings would present a challenge in achieving the set targets.
“There’s comfort in trodding the same beaten path”, said Hectic Managing Director, Peter Caldwell, “but in this situation I was dubious that we could achieve the aims of our parent company. Digitisation was a possible solution but it was early days and still somewhat unproven.”
Solution
Hectic adopted Brandscope as the primary online B2B sales portal to support Sales teams and Retailer collaboration in launching, viewing and trading an array of products across a dynamic and sophisticated market throughout the UK and Europe. The platform was integrated into the Bright Pearl ERP to automate the flow of orders and inventory between the two systems ensuring that all parties could seamlessly trade 24/7 in any territory knowing that what they ordered would be delivered. The Brandscope system was initially used to facilitate refill but, as supply chain tightened, it was then used to capture pre-book orders to eliminate inventory risk.
“Brandscope was presented to us by people that knew the industry and just spoke our language”, related Peter, “and there was an intuitive flow to the system that just made sense. As an old school kind of guy, if I felt comfortable then I was sure that my Retailers and Sales team would be comfortable as well. We bit the bullet and went for it”.
Outcome
Yeti’s growth through the UK and Europe was steady from the onset, with Retailers embracing the tool as the only way to work with their Sales representatives and place orders for the brand. The elimination of spreadsheets resulted in a significant reduction in human order error and the capacity to easily access the Brandscope platform, and know exactly what was available and when, heralded a new level of Retailer independence in growing the brand. The high level of Retailer and Sales Representative engagement allowed Yeti to accelerate the release process, reduce sampling and present the brand to the market with greater immediacy and reach. Greater accuracy in order capture also facilitated more accurate buying allowing for more refill and lower stock obsolescence rates.
“Seeing the team and our Retail partners embrace the Brandscope platform was exhilarating” said Peter, “and we were able to fortify the processes and protect the brand’s growth against the pressure of an increasingly challenging world brought on by Covid-19 pandemic. More to the point, we were able to grow the brand quickly and efficiently across the UK and Europe and achieve our goals as a business. It was a decision that really paid off”.
Testimonial
“Brandscope has been a critical cog in our brand incubator business model. It’s helped us to effectively manage rapid expansion of our brand set and collaborate with our sales team and Retail partners with greater immediacy. It’s a tool that has enabled us to sell more and reduce costs simultaneously which is the perfect commercial outcome.”
Background
XTM was born when a handful of influential friends put their heads together. During a 1999 brainstorming session, Peter Forras, Gary “X” Rae and Bill “The Uncle” Dalton sat down in a spirit of competitiveness, irreverence and deep respect, to explore what their combined lifetimes of snow expertise could teach them. The three decided to create a brand that would change the face of Australia’s snow sports industry and show the world that Australia is a country to be taken seriously in Winter sports.
The brand’s value proposition was high quality product at an affordable price resulting in a massive clientele base from on-mountain stores to city based boutique Retail outlets. They also had their sights set firmly on the overall outdoor market which offered a product synergy and global aspirations to distribute into North America and Europe.
“We wanted to extend our global reach” says XTM founder Peter Foras ” but also to better service our more isolated customers that were close to the mountains. We needed to tell people our story and make it super easy for them to support us. As we grew, I also wanted to be mindful of our headcount to ensure we expanded in an efficient and streamlined manner”.
Solution
XTM engaged with Brandscope and loaded consecutive pre-book and in-season releases onto the platform along with a magnitude of marketing and technical product information to drive brand awareness. Brandscope was then integrated into the SAP Business One system to deliver greater backend efficiencies with ordering and inventory control. Sales Agents and internal staff were then educated on the system and Retail partners prepped in readiness to pre-book launches. As a latter step, international catalogues were loaded at specific currencies to service a growing network of global distributors.
“The onboarding process was very well executed and you could tell very quickly that Brandscope was going to be a solid long term partnership”, recalls Peter. “Implementing new technology into a traditional business full of old heads was daunting but the structures were there to guide the team along, which resulted in a quick update by everyone involved”.
Outcome
The new online ordering process was immediately embraced by a solid portion of the Retailer clientele with pre-book orders quickly flowing into the SAP ERP. Refill orders soon followed as the system continued to entrench and the more isolated accounts began to increase order volumes because “it was easy to use and access” (some accounts grew by over 400%).
“By giving our trade partners the ability to see our stock availability and allow them to order 24/7 as opposed to office hours has been the main refill driver. It has also been a perfect marriage for those retailers who prefer to buy without sales rep input directly from the screen, they have effectively quadrupled their budget with us as it is their preferred way to buy”.
Marketing campaigns were later launched to further incentivise brand and specific categories. Distributors also rallied behind the system to place bulk future orders for respective territories.
“Embracing the platform into the business created true win/win benefits for our old and new customers, agents, distributors and our bottom line in broad cost savings’, said Peter. “Everyone found the system to be very intuitive and effective, and it’s consequently evolved into a essential part of our business in an effort to sell more, reduce costs and expand our domestic and international distribution.”
Testimonial
“We chose Brandscope first and foremost after consultations with leading retailers that use a combination of multiple online ordering platforms and traditional methods. It became clear to us that they placed all their Brandscope orders first due to the speed and ease of using the platform.”
Background
Unify Brand Partnerships (UBP) is a UK based distributor of sport, outdoor and lifestyle brands throughout the UK.
Management formulated a high growth strategy which included the addition of an online B2B system capability to market and sell our products.
The B2B needed to:
- easily provide product and marketing information to Customers
- support the pre-book and refill sales process
- enable Customers to place pre orders easily and review real time stock availability to purchase in season stock
- support Internal Teams in processing the increased volume of orders more efficiently
The UBP business needed to introduce automations that would protect against the expected parallel costs in taking on additional resources to support the growth.
Taking on new brands to drive growth is a big commitment, outlined Dominic Flanagan, Head of Finance at UBP. “Our systems need to be able to deal with the associated challenges to deliver the desired growth. Automation and delivery of efficiencies was required to support the management of increased Customer Service workload, the generation of catalogues, samples and showrooms that really ate into the profit of each new acquisition.
We’d never engaged with B2B before but were impressed with Brandscope’s functionality, intimate knowledge of the nuances around the wholesale process and overall capacity to deliver cost saving automations and more streamlined procedures.”
The other challenge was collating, analysing and formulating bulk purchase orders to support manufacturing and pre-book demands within a very tight window, a situation expected to worsen as the brand volumes grew.
“Due to the high volume of pre-booking, we needed to get the final bulk orders completed within deadlines,” recalled Dominic. “If we could secure and process orders faster we would have more time to review the buy, resulting in greater ordering accuracy, with better and faster decision making on additional inventory purchases.”
Solution
UBP considered a number of B2B options and identified Brandscope as the right solution to support the targeted growth.
UBP engaged with Brandscope and spent ten weeks integrating their Orderwise ERP to automate order, inventory and product information data flows between the two systems, while loading the seasonal pre-book releases for their first four brands. Due to the complicated nature of the territory set-ups, pricing and segmentation modules were also introduced to ensure correct views for Retailer partners at product level.
“The onboarding process was very fluid and we found the Brandscope team to be highly efficient and supportive in the overall process, from a technical and non-technical point of view”, said Dominic. “They spent a lot of time with our internal team workshopping our processes and market interaction to ensure that pricing, market segmentation, territory structures and information feeds were all optimised by implementing the right modules. Management, Marketing, Sales, IT and Customer Service departments were all involved in this process. Integration, support and ongoing service is great.”
Outcome
The impact on pre-book timelines was dramatic, with orders being received into the Orderwise ERP 200% faster than prior seasons awarding UBC with more time to review and then formulate bulk orders.
“Pre-books came in faster, but we could also report on the orders that were still in motion (buy plans) giving us visibility on popular Retailer styles. By having this information, we were able to order additional stock against trending styles which fuelled in-season refill and gave us greater control over stock obsolescence. This is extremely key in helping to manage inventory exposure and capital risk.”
The administration weight on internal resources also diminished (despite new brands coming online) due to orders being received directly into the ERP from the retailer or sales representatives, and Retailers having greater access to information like marketing assets, barcodes, product specifications to self-manage.
“By engaging the Retailers in the system,” said Dominic, “it’s allowed us to do more with less but also refocus internal energies into areas that really help our partners as opposed to double processing data.”
“Brandscope’s functionality is closely aligned with the nuances of wholesaling and it’s very apparent that the system has been well thought out with respect to real life application,” says Dominic. “This was particularly relevant with pricing, but also in defining territories, product segmentation and custom filtering to ensure that our Retailer buyers were always seeing information that was specifically relevant to their own business. This really instilled confidence in the tool which will continue to equate to greater engagement.”
Overall we are very pleased with the decision to engage Brandscope as our B2B Solution.
Testimonial
“The Brandscope software platform is backed by business processes, as much as it is technology, focussed on streamlining traditional wholesale methods and delivering both profitability and scalability. If your strategy is to grow fast on limited resources and capital, then it’s built for you.”
Background
Stokehouse is a global wholesaler that develops and markets lifestyle brands to independent retailers in the surf and lifestyle fashion channels. The company, with offices in California, France and Australia, has successfully launched Vissla, Amuse Society, D’blanc and Sisstrevolution to over 1000 retailers in more than 40 countries. Stokehouse had implemented a new global ERP platform to support the launch of their first brand, Vissla. The Australian subsidiary was looking for a B2B e-commerce solution to integrate into the ERP and support their sales division.
“Early during the research and analysis phase”, recalled group Partner, John Mossop, “we were being encouraged by our retail account base to connect the ERP to Brandscope, which they described as the best-in-class B2B platform. We spoke to our sales agents about the software and they supported the view of our key retailers”.
Solution
The Isync ERP was linked to the Brandscope B2B system via a simple API connection to facilitate streamlined seasonal catalogue loads. The integration also supported the automated transfer of orders directly into the ERP and inventory (for now and future) back into the Brandscope system. Price Books and Segmentation modules were introduced to ensure that Retailer partners were able to access live, accurate product information that was customised to their environments.
“The wholesale industry can be complicated when you’re dealing with multiple brands across surf and lifestyle channels,” said John. “From a Retailer and Sales user perspective, the system was very intuitive, but it was integral that the tool could also manage an assortment of segmentations across territories, multiple currencies and an array of pricing and discount schedules at the back end. Brandscope facilitated all of this and in a very streamlined and simplistic way”.
Outcome
Since the implementation of Brandscope, Stokehouse’s Australian subsidiary has seamlessly onboarded hundreds of retailers which has helped Vissla become a key, emerging brand in the surf industry. Orders are placed by Retailers and then instantly integrated into the company’s ERP system and distributed directly to the warehouse for fulfillment. It effectively removes the need for any order administration for both sales reps and Vissla’s head office, meaning more quality time can be spent on maintaining the relationship between brand and the retailer. There was also greater collaboration on pre-book orders with Agents taking greater initiative and creating suggested orders by month/category/price/colour to workshop with Retail partners, resulting in deeper and broader pre-books.
“The move to engage with the Brandscope system was widely welcomed by our accounts,” said John, “and it helped facilitate the rapid growth of the brand through both heightened awareness and ease of ordering. The platform entrenched itself within the Stokehouse business and we’re now using it as the primary tool for disseminating digital marketing collateral as well. From a sales perspective, it has become a one-stop-shop for the sales team and our Retailer partners resulting in a much higher level of collaboration and relationship building. The system streamlines and expedites the launch of new brands into the market which complies with our aggressive brand growth strategy”.
Testimonial
“The Brandscope system greatly assists the Stokehouse Limited group to quickly launch and grow brands into the market efficiently and profitably. It’s provided our business with the technical sophistication required to manage a multi-faceted business model with respect to broad pricing, territory and segmentation arrays ensuring that our sales team and Retail partners see customised, accurate information across brand, release and product levels at all times. It’s easy, it’s fast and it’s effective!”
Background
Russell Corporation is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway with a wholesale focus on manufacture and distribution of the Sherrin and Spalding brand. The business was configured towards traditional sales methods based on a network of sales representatives and independent Agents who serviced a high volume of leisure and sporting retail stores and clubs. The product release program supported both pre-book and refill of set lines.
“There was a massive reliance on our sales team to be everywhere at once to drive our sales program”, said Nathan Collins, Sales Director “which impeded our efficiencies to launch quickly into the marketplace and pick up refill orders in between our team’s in-store visits. We also saw value time saving efficiencies that a B2B could bring to our team which would allow them to focus on other projects such as broadening distribution, working closer with major accounts and generally working on brand awareness and dollars per door”.
Solution
Implementation of Brandscope B2B platform into the Russell Corporation wholesale business with a complete integration into Microsoft Navision. The 2019 Spalding and Sherrin in-season catalogues were then uploaded and digital flyers distributed to Retail partners to advise how to use the system to view and purchase. Sales teams were then workshopped on best practices and the system officially launched.
“We were all very committed to getting behind the tool and supporting our sales team as much as possible in the transition”, recalls Nathan, “and Brandscope were very thorough in their support mechanisms. It was obvious that the training team had comprehensive knowledge of the mechanics of the wholesale sales process and garnered support from our team quickly.”
Outcome
The sales team gradually embraced the power of the platform and took more control of the pre-book ordering process by constructing multi-month assortments resulting in deeper and broader commitments. Retailers also engaged gradually and started collaborating with their sales representatives with both pre-book and refill ordering, becoming more independent and taking greater control of their own ranging. Retailer feedback suggested that “shopping on their own terms” resulted in more experimental buying and aggressive replenishment on key selling styles. It also led to greater commitment with clearance given the ease of viewing and ordering.
“There was a real surge of engagement in the brands once retailers started using the tool,” said Nathan. “Giving our partners more control over their ordering process and greater access to accurate information really took their confidence in the Russell Corporation to another level. It was the same for our sales team who suddenly had more time to focus on the business as opposed to constantly being in the business and channel their energies into areas that provided the greatest return. They also had access to live information and could quickly communicate opportunities to many Retailers quickly. It’s been a great move for the business as a whole, which is very mature, and will set us up for a push into New Zealand providing internal efficiencies and growing sales.”
Testimonial
“Engaging with Brandscope was like turning a light on in a dark warehouse. Our sales team and retail partners suddenly had a level of inventory visibility that immediately converted to increased sales. We also saw a much higher level of collaboration between them due to the platforms shared order creation functionality which completely busted the myth that digital B2B inhibits personal relationships. If anything, it fostered commercial relationships.”
Background
Hoka One One had just been introduced into the Australian market off the back of strong growth and brand popularity in the United States. The challenge lay in introducing the brand quickly and efficiently to an array of Australian independent Retailers across a broad spectrum of sporting accounts, and streamlining the pre-book and refill process to maximise fast, profitable growth.
“Having worked in wholesale for many years”, says National Sales Manager, Ian Thomas, “we were quite adept at launching new brands and products into the marketplace, but the situation with Hoka One One was quite unique”. “We knew the opportunity was there, so it was more a matter of shaking up the status quo and doing it differently to maximise the growth profile”.
Solution
Hoka One One worked intimately with Brandscope to load consecutive seasonal releases and supporting marketing assets to drive brand awareness amongst a target audience of independent sporting Retailers. Agents were selected and trained in the use of the platform and a full integration completed with SapphireOne ERP system to minimise human intervention in the order capture and release process. Retailers were then introduced to the system by the Agents and Brandscope training specialists and assisted in a far more streamlined pre-book and refill process.
“We really focussed on using the tool to its maximum” says Ian, “and making it the primary platform for all our ordering… a commitment that paid us back in spades once the product arrived and we started shipping”.
Outcome
Retailer adoption was immediate, as many had already used the system for other brands and the Hoka One One brand quickly grabbed shelf space in a broad sporting distribution channel, ignited by a platform that was accessible and just made business easy for Retailers and Sales Representatives.
“If you were to really burrow down into key success factors”, summarised Ian, “it really came down to our Agents taking more control of the ordering process and collaborating more effectively with our Retailer partners on pre-book orders. And our Retailers being able to dial into the system 24/7 and intuitively view accurate inventory and marketing information and just go shopping when they needed more stock”.
“To a large degree, Brandscope was the glue that brought it all together and the cog that drove the result. It certainly made the whole process a lot easier and more enjoyable”.
Testimonial
“Brandscope was the perfect vehicle to launch a high performing brand into the Australian market as it delivered a direct connection with the buyer and a 24/7 channel to communicate sales and marketing information to assist their buying decisions. It was a level of immediacy and collaboration that we simply could not have achieved using traditional methods. Brandscope was a prime driver in us reaching our aggressive growth projections.”
Background
Amer Sports is a global brand house that promotes an ethos focussed on health, wellness and sustainable consumption and supports over twelve proprietary sport and outdoor brands sold across over 88 countries. The Australian New Zealand subsidiary had implemented an SAP ECC 6 enterprise system which had a B2B module that offered simplistic functionality more suited to refill ordering.
“Our business model is heavily oriented towards pre-booking”, outlines National Sales Manager, Stuart Wright, “and the corporate ERP module we had access to did not provide the functionality to cater for the nuances this type of selling demanded. It’s a very visual and collaborative process between our internal and external sales team and our Retail partners. We also wanted to adopt a more sustainable wholesale model and divert the need for traditional sampling and cataloging to something more digital. We began the due diligence process to find a suitable vehicle and Brandscope emerged a solid contender based on market feedback and review of alternate options, both domestically and internationally.”
Solution
Brandscope was adopted as the primary pre-book selling tool and the Arc’teryx, Wilson, Suunto, Salomon and Atomic seasonal releases loaded onto the platform, accompanied by supporting digital marketing assets. The system was integrated into the global enterprise SAP ERP to facilitate automated flow of orders, inventory and product status to eliminate any manual processing and ensure data timeliness and accuracy. External and internal sales teams were then workshopped by the Brandscope training division in “best practices” and Retail partners introduced to the platform via digital EDM, with links to an array of online supporting materials.
“The onboarding process was well-coordinated,” said Stuart, “and the relevant support mechanisms in place to ensure a transition from a more traditional to digital model of pre-booking, but also refilling. It was quite a learning experience for our older sales guys and Retailers but they were willing to adopt in an effort to be more sustainable and streamlined in interactions. From a back-of-house perspective, we were also excited about the impact on our Customer Service team in freeing them up to invest more time into proactive practices as opposed to just entering orders.”
Outcome
The resulting pre-books illustrated that “old dogs could indeed be taught new tricks” according to Stuart, with pre-book orders coming in faster, ahead of deadline and broader in category representation. The sales team were also more proactive in constructing detailed suggested orders and collaborating with Retailers to control the pre-book process, resulting in budgets being met and deadlines achieved to comply with manufacturing demands. “The aesthetic nature of Brandscope really contributed to Retailer engagement,” stated Stuart, “as they found the buying experience far more interactive and dynamic than the typical spreadsheet and catalogue mix. The feedback was also very positive about the ease of constructing multi-month buys by category with their Sales Representatives and then collaborating to finalise before being sent directly to the ERP for automated processing. We were also able to launch quickly as we’d mitigated the need for every Retailer to be physically visited, contributed to a faster pre-book and reduced travel costs. We now get 100% of orders for Arc’teryx through Brandscope, have eliminated catalogues and vastly reduced sampling (Amer now relies on fabric swatches) which aligns with Amer’s sustainability promise.”
Pre-book orders flowed directly into the SAP system and were bucketed under the relevant retail entities allowing for multiple months, varied product pricing and alternate shipping addresses.
“Though our focus is predominantly on pre-book,” said Stuart, “the platform has also been very effective for refilling as many buyers are in front of their computers and can quickly see and judge opportunities that we communicate to them. It’s a new level of immediacy and intimacy that has benefited us over our competitors. The impact on the internal team has also been marked”, added Stuart, “with the Customer Service team not having to deal with as much information provision as they have prior. Retailers have really been managing themselves which has afforded the team with a greater capacity to be more provocative and communicate opportunities such as best-sellers and new stock as examples. Overall, Brandscope has really helped us get to that next level of wholesale”.
Testimonial
“Implementing the Brandscope platform into Amer Sports has helped us to achieve a new level of collaboration and immediacy with our Retail partners and has been instrumental in our journey to becoming a more sustainable and profitable business. It’s a partnership that we’d highly recommend to any wholesale brand Supplier wanting to achieve similar results.”
Brandscope is a globally recognised B2B wholesale and e-commerce platform with a proven capacity to deliver brands, agents and retailers a more economical, collaborative and sustainable way to conduct wholesale trade.
Harness the power of our enterprise software to trade more efficiently and profitably and ultimately reach the next level of business – whatever that may be!
