Fulfilling orders directly using Sage was hampering/stifling our growth
The Background
This was a £3 million turnover online retail business with a small team who focused mostly on sales growth, and relied almost entirely on Sage operationally. We’re big fans of Sage, but this Client found they just didn’t have the functionality, the transparency, or the simplicity they needed to really scale their business.
Working closely with the Client to evaluate their technology, everyone agreed they needed additional systems.
The Solution
A brief scoping study highlighted the pinch points for users. Modulus 365 reviewed internal processes, recommended change, and working collaboratively we finalised the new system configuration. Staff training took place alongside implementation, while business-as-usual was fully maintained.
Just 6 weeks into the engagement Modulus 365 was installed and operational.
The Client view
“Shiva and his team impressed us from day one with their almost immediate grasp of our business – their experience in the field was evident, and the suggestions they made for process changes based on the new Modulus 365 have helped us grow both sales and profits.
“Specifically, we have increased warehouse capacity by +30% without additional labour or premises costs; we’ve acquired an accurate real-time view of inventory by location, and our pick/pack error rate is now almost zero, and we’re working on improving it!
“I’d say any online SME interested in low-cost business growth should talk to Modulus 365 and see how their system, and their knowhow, can deliver as it has done for us.”
Unable to sell on a subscription basis
The background
This very successful SME was locked into order processing software that didn’t support subscription sales. Customers did repeat buy, but the lack of a systematised solution that was customer friendly meant they were losing out to competitors. Changing the main system was too big a cost and a project, so they talked to us.
The solution
Modulus 365 already has integration with most major systems so it was a relatively easy almost plug-in scenario. Talking to key people within the Client organisation, we quickly established a requirements spec and started work.
We provided the Client with a roadmap initially, and within the first week all the documentation required to set-up their website. After trialling the implementation we undertook staff training, and subsequently revisited the business to look for further improvements Modulus 365 could support.
The Client view
“Moving to subscription sales has been a game-changer for 10 of our top 25 products. Customers love being able to repeat order, but also the control they get to cope with holidays, and fluctuations in their rate of use. Customer value over time has never been higher, which means we can afford to invest more in acquisition, and grow faster.”
Business Challenge: Outdated WMS
The background
The Client determined they needed a new WMS, and after looking at several options were concerned about the complexity of making the change.
The solution
The design ethos of Modulus 365 specifically targeted ease of integration. That design combined with our experience to allow us to define an affordable solution and changeover roadmap that delivered the new system in less than 10 weeks.
The Client view
“To be honest, we were dreading the changeover. In the event, the Modulus 365 had everything planned out for us. The consulted very thoroughly in the scoping stage, and made a number of business efficiency recommendations that we accepted, then they steered us through every stage. It was as close to painless as one could possible imagine. Now our warehouse is thriving: the staff love the system, and our order output rose 30% within 2 weeks. I’m delighted!”
Business Challenge: Black Friday peak will simply overwhelm us
The background
Recovery after lockdown was unexpectedly good for this £15 million online business. However, projections suggested that if the trend continued, warehouse capacity would nowhere meet the likely demand. In our first discussion it was very clear their order processing system was hampering pick/pack throughput. A complete new system was not feasible in the time.
The solution
Happily, we were able to take advantage of Modulus 365’s flexible integration capabilities. Our system architect quickly found a solution to run just the parts of Modulus 365 that were needed to speed-up operations, until such time as a full changeover could be effected, in the quitter summer season.
The Modulus 365 team planned the solution working closely with the Client’s in house team and we were up and running with the new solution fully tested 4 weeks ahead of the peak day.
The Client view
“Every CEO in online retail knows and dreads the knock-on meltdown of a warehouse failure around peak. Customer service becomes swamped, the business loses customers, and potentially suffers very public reputational damage. Modulus 365 gave us a short-term fix that would support 20% more orders than we forecast and we were able to breathe easy again. A few months later we switched entirely to Modulus 365. Its cloud-based capacity means we never again have to face that nightmare scenario of limited scalability.”
The most productive retail companies use Modulus
