Crate & Barrel is an American chain of retail stores, specializing in housewares, indoor and outdoor furniture, and home accessories.
Crate & Barrel partnered with EX2 during the opening of a new store in San Jose, Costa Rica, because they needed an experienced team to implement a combined Point of Sale (POS) and ERP system. Crate & Barrel was seeking a complete retail software solution to support POS transactions, efficient inventory management and purchasing.
We collaborated with Crate & Barrel to build a solution based upon Microsoft Dynamics LS NAV that would help them with all of their business objectives:
- The robust, easy-to-use, Dynamics solution helped Crate & Barrel manage their operations efficiently from the corporate head office all the way to the in-store POS terminals.
- The new back office systems provided efficient control of inventories and intelligent forecasting, which facilitated the structuring of inventory and import process (handling 15,000+ SKUs).
- Crate & Barrel was able to analyze business insights and sync supply-chain processes with their headquarters, which lead to optimized merchandising strategy.
- Crate & Barrel was now able to rely on automation to reduce workload, as inventory replenishment could now be done either manually or automatically.
- The analytic tools powered by EX2 allowed Crate & Barrel to send the right products to the right stores.
- Through increased insight of their business processes, Crate & Barrel gained increased insight into their inventory, enabling them to deliver better service to their customers and faster responses to inventory questions. This also improved inventory turnover and generated a faster return on their technology and systems investment.
By partnering with EX2, Crate & Barrel was able to significantly improve their operational processes, which positively impacted their bottom line in the following ways:
- Reduce inventory levels by up to 35%, and free up cash spend on inefficient inventory.
- Improve agility in taking orders.
- Streamline purchase order communication with suppliers.
- Consolidate local operations, increasing the possibilities for future expansion in the region.
- Reduction of stock markdowns and fewer stock-outs.