Online retailer Layby Services Australia (Layby) has doubled its operating revenue and slashed manual processes by up to 95 per cent with the roll-out of new enterprise software systems.
Layby owns and operates catalogue/online retail company Hamper King, which offers a wide range of gifts, groceries, toys and seasonal products. Customers save via direct debit towards the purchase via a catalogue, products that are then delivered directly to them in a hamper.
Layby has a direct business-to-consumer operating model which cuts out the middleman. Customers organise payment and delivery themselves. With a huge existing and potential customer base and a unique business model, Layby required a customised solution which would help their five staff members with the day-to-day running of the business, including managing and processing customer orders and payments at the close of each business day.
Lodestone was supported by SAP to customise and then implement SAP Business All-in-One software suite to meet Layby’s needs. Working within a very tight timeframe, the new SAP CRM and ERP functionality was implemented within 13 weeks, followed by a new web-based business intelligence (BI) solution in 10 weeks.
“For our business, the biggest limit to growth was technology,” said Toby Poulson, CFO, Layby. “Our new technology platform from SAP has given Layby a huge competitive advantage and we started to see the results after the first few weeks.
“The functionality the SAP Software provided had to be largely automated and linked, so minimal manual intervention was required. Automation was in fact a key requirement for the project.
“We were able to eliminate 90-95 per cent of manual processes which can cause mistakes and delays for customers. This has resulted in a significant and direct return on investment,” said Poulson.
The new CRM solution allows 40 call centre representatives to quickly and easily access and manage customers’ order and payment plans. It also has an automated payment interface, directly linking Layby to its bank, which allows for direct debit, credit card, and manual cheque payments, refunds and dishonours to be calculated, scheduled and cleared daily without manual work.
“The solution provides our customers with the ability to change their own payment schedule and offer them any time layby plans, giving customers the flexibility to choose their own end date,” said Poulson.
Layby’s new BI solution has simplified reporting for sales and forecasting and customer segmentation and has allowed Layby to further integrate its internal operations with outsourcers and optimise overall efficiency.