Retail Apparel Group Case Study
“The Fusion Factory solution matched all our data transformation needs—at the right price. Their in-depth knowledge of the online retail industry, data integration, complex platforms and complete understanding of business requirements is second to none,” said Peter Ratcliffe, Head of Digital at Retail Apparel Group. “We now have a centralised solution to manage the data for our four iconic men’s clothing brands. This also includes managing our variable sale price adjustments—previously handled manually in our POS system. We now have uniform pricing between our bricks and mortar and online sales channels—all in one system.” Peter Ratcliffe, Head of Digital for Retail Apparel Group
RAG ENHANCE CUSTOMERS’ ONLINE SHOPPING EXPERIENCE WITH FUSION FACTORY DATA INTEGRATION & ECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS
Wanting to continually invest in improvements towards the buyers’ online shopping experience—RAG chose Fusion Factory to improve efficiencies in handling complex product data across their point of sale (POS) system, eCommerce platform, multiple brand websites, online sales channels and 3PL service provider.
ABOUT RETAIL APPAREL GROUP
Tarocash, yd., Connor and Johnny Bigg have become synonymous with smart casual menswear—each appealing to specific age and attitudinal market segments. All four brands are renowned for their consistently inspired product ranges, mid-market appeal and strong in-store service.The customer experience is formed by the initial encounter with an organisation’s online or storefront shopping channels—and it is vital to ensure it is an exceptional one.
RAG’s number one priority is the customer experience—the fundamental need for the business was to explore more efficient ways to integrate, streamline and manage complex product data between its POS system, eCommerce platform, multiple brand websites, online sales channels and 3PL service provider.
“To continue to enhance the customer experience across our websites and easily add new online sales channels, we required a solution not only to integrate existing systems, but also allow us to integrate new systems in the future,” said Ratcliffe.“We had the added challenge of managing data inadequacies from our backend systems to transform and enrich the data to be eCommerce ready,” said Ratcliffe.
“One example is pricing—when discounting or promoting across our clothing brands and vast range of product categories our backend systems couldn’t manage transforming that data in an intelligent way for all of our online channels. Fusion Factory deployed Flow Integration software and CommerceConnect. The Flow Integration software synchronises data between our POS system and eCommerce platform. CommerceConnect provides unified data feeds for our existing online channels which include Commission Factory, Google Shopping, Getprice, Rakuten Affiliate Network, Rakuten Display, Bazaarvoice, and Salesforce Marketing Cloud (formerly ExactTarget).”
Designed to Manage Complex Data
“I was in the fortunate position of having worked with the Fusion Factory team in a previous company—on a similar project which achieved great results,” said Ratcliffe. “We had no need to waste valuable time canvassing the market for alternative solutions. I knew that the team and their solution matched all RAG’s data transformation needs—at the right price. Their in-depth knowledge of the online retail industry, data integration, complex eCommerce platforms and complete understanding of business requirements is second to none,” added Ratcliffe.“
With CommerceConnect we now have a centralised solution to manage the data for our four iconic clothing brands. This also includes managing our variable sale price adjustments—previously handled manually in the POS system. We now have uniform pricing between our bricks and mortar and online sales channels—all in one system,” said Ratcliffe.“
Our business is now streamlined and automated—making it easy to integrate data across multiple systems and sell across as many online channels as RAG require,” said Ratcliffe. “Fusion Factory exceeded all our expectations with our implementation—from the functionality of the solution, the ease of configuration and ongoing support.”
Enhancing the Customer Experience
- Providing the online user experience customers demand and making the shopping journey much easier has increased repeat purchases.
- With CommerceConnect the ease in applying different data and criteria to the RAG websites has delivered a large uplift in online sales.
- Time to integrate new systems, partners and channels has more than halved compared to previous complex methods.
- RAG can now launch new products to market within a few hours, not days. The Fusion Factory solution has the ability to manage data centrally—reducing the need for any customisation or development within the RAG POS system and eCommerce platform.
- Significant increase in market share across all brands—driving a competitive advantage for the RAGbrands.
Tailored Solution with the Future in Mind
“As RAG implements new systems, sales channels and service providers, the Fusion Factory solution simplifies our data integration needs and improves operational efficiency,” said Ratcliffe.
