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Enabling Growth Through Retail Transformation

  • September 29, 2022
  • 5 Min Read



A dvatix specializes in helping customers grow, and the experts at Advatix know that there is more to growth than just finding new customers and new revenue streams. Growth requires planning and preparation. Growth requires having the right tools, technology, and processes in place to prevent and overcome the challenges associated with an expanding business.

The pandemic ushered in a time of tremendous challenge and change for businesses and consumers. Organizations that were willing and able to adapt during these turbulent times had the option to pursue avenues that could still lead to continued success and growth. One Advatix client was able to secure an incredible new revenue opportunity but found itself in need of a helping hand during implantation to find a smooth and sustainable path forward.

This client was struggling with the new opportunity largely because they were dependent on legacy systems and processes that were not designed or well suited for the new workflow. From the onset, they were facing significant operational difficulties and were struggling to keep their service level agreements, maintain quality, and keep their customers satisfied. To ensure the best possible results for their business, they asked the experts at Advatix for assistance with an overall assessment of their operation that would lead to sustainable growth and smooth operations.

Background

The client has been in business for nearly a century, and operates beer, wine, and liquor retail locations. In recent years, they have been aggressively expanding their retail footprint and have grown to more than a dozen retail locations and associated warehouse space. In 2020, as the laws related to alcohol sales and delivery were relaxed in many locations across the country, the client looked for opportunities to adapt their business and seek out additional sources of revenue.

The Big Opportunity

During this same time, many startups were receiving significant funding to bring new ready-to-drink cocktail products to the market. Due to legal restrictions, these startups were not able to ship their products directly to their customers and were required to partner with distributors who could fulfill and deliver their orders.

As time progressed, many of these ready-to-drink cocktail producers found the distributors were moving away from products like theirs and focusing on traditional beer, wine, and liquor delivery. This resulted in the startup companies being stuck with significant inventory and without options to get their products to customers. The client tapped into a tremendous revenue stream by partnering with these startups to fulfill and deliver their orders.

Due to legal restrictions, these startups were not able to ship their products directly to their customers and were required to partner with distributors who could fulfill and deliver their orders.

Problem – Growing Pains!

During the initial consultation, Advatix discovered that the company was having significant growing pains while implementing their new workflows. To get the new revenue opportunity online quickly, the client was adapting their existing equipment and technology to perform tasks that they were not designed or well suited for. This quickly resulted in the introduction of unnecessary risk and operational inefficiencies.

For example, the client was using a stand-alone shipping software that was not integrated with their inventory management to produce paperwork and shipping labels for each order. When a new order came in, the paperwork was printed to begin the fulfillment process. The customer would immediately receive a tracking number and ship notification even though the order had not yet been shipped, and in some cases the products were not even in inventory.

Additionally, there was a lack of detail and visibility into the status of orders while they were being processed in each location. All of this culminated in late shipments, inaccurate inventory, and incorrect shipments. As a result, returns increased, customers were upset, and unnecessary costs were incurred.

The client also struggled to manage their data across siloed systems, with critical partner and customer information difficult to access. Reporting was limited, manual, and largely spreadsheet based. Orders were tendered manually, often days or weeks after the orders were completed. Overall, the process was disjointed, inaccurate, slow, and highly manual.

1.

Advatix discovered the company’s significant growing pain areas while implementing their new workforce.

2.

There was a lack of detail and visibility into the status of orders while they were being processed in each location

3.

The client struggled to manage their data with critical partner and customer information difficult to access.

4.

Overall, the process was disjointed, inaccurate, slow, and highly manual.

Solution

After the Advatix team conducted a complete operational health check and systems analysis, a thorough plan was developed to implement a full retail transformation. The first stages of the program which focused on empowering the customer’s retail locations to also serve as a network of fulfilment centers – were implemented in approximately 90 days and required little additional capital investment or changes to their existing retail infrastructure.

To support the transformation, the client implemented a fully customized end-to-end fulfillment execution platform (FEP) featuring the Advatix Cloudsuite. This solution brought new tools and technology to the organization and was able to integrate with the client’s legacy systems.

In-house workflows were modernized and became fully trackable at every touch point inside the organization. A dynamic communication webpage specific to each order is now created and made available to the customer; this provides real time WISMO (Where Is My Order?) visibility from order placement to final delivery.

A dynamic communication webpage specific to each order is now created and made available to the customer

Advatix Cloudsuite provides the client cutting edge, accurate and up-to-the-minute inventory management that is fully integrated into the workflow. Cloudsuite enables data to be integrated across platforms and easily accessed, breaks down silos to obtaining critical partner and customer information, and simplifies the ability to access and generate custom reports.

Advatix Cloudsuite provides the client cutting edge,
accurate and up-to-the-minute inventory management
that is fully integrated into the workflow

Results

The customer says that the results speak for themselves! After implementing Advatix’s solution, they have been able to continue to grow this new revenue stream in a simple, sustainable, and profitable way. Their operation runs more efficiently, and they finally have full control of their data. The key metrics that were struggling before have improved, resulting in lower unnecessary costs and higher customer satisfaction. If you would like to learn more about how Advatix can help your organization transform and grow, reach out to Advatix today!

Author

John McGuffin

Vice President of
Operations Execution

About Advatix

At Advatix, we are on a mission to accelerate profitable growth for businesses. We do that with the latest technologies, advanced analytics, and our extensive experience in transforming supply chains, logistics and fulfillment operations. We are strategists as well as your boots on the ground execution team. We help you create the winning roadmap and support you as your partner throughout the journey. As a team of industry experts and thought leaders our goal is to help you always stay ahead of your competition.