L-R: Lee Ferris and Lee Hogston
A lifestyle store in Northampton has invested in state-of-the-art software to improve its customer experience.
Bell of Northampton on Kingsthorpe Road has introduced a new retail operating system and advanced inventory planning solution to streamline its outdoor living and fire and stove categories, where stock is shared between e-commerce and retail channels.
Brightpearl automates the administrative side of the business, creating a higher degree of speed and accuracy in everything from stock transparency across channels to data input. Customer service will also be greatly improved as a by-product of Bell using the system.
Now, the platform is seamlessly integrated with the store’s website and assists with the receiving and despatching of goods and generates shipping requests and labels automatically, something that was previously done manually at a great time cost. Bell of Northampton’s accounts package will also be connected to Brightpearl so payments and reconciliation will be easier to manage across all channels.
Key personnel undertook remote training sessions led by Brightpearl and then went on to train their colleagues in the e-commerce and retail departments. Now all staff using the system will have continual ‘on-the-go training’ which allows them to learn practically. It also allows the management team to deal with any issues as they occur.
Bell of Northampton managing director Lee Ferris said: “Previously, the way we did things meant a tripling of data entry for customer information across the systems in play. This amounted to a lot of time wasted in superfluous administration and this has now been brought to an absolute minimum.”
Bell of Northampton, which has been operating in Northampton for 125 years this year, puts its longevity down to constantly evolving and reinvesting in the business. The company has already seen measurable results with speed and efficiency since introducing Brightpearl, with the system freeing up staff to provide an even better experience for customers.
Lee added: “Brightpearl enables us to focus our manpower effectively to where it is needed and allows us to process higher volumes of orders with minimum administration. For online sales, stock is key, and we now have absolute transparency of stock levels across all our warehouse and logistics operations.”
