In 2019, Ace Hardware expanded into Vietnam, launching ACE Home Center, with the mission of distributing Ace Hardware products alongside those of reputable local brands. The chain has been steadily growing in cities like Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Can Tho.
Business case
In 2018, as ACE Home Center prepared to enter the Vietnamese market, they sought the help of local LS Retail partner NaviWorld, to oversee the implementation of their business management software solution. NaviWorld was selected for its deep industry knowledge and proven track record of implementing Microsoft and LS Retail software solutions throughout the region.
Solution
After evaluating various software solutions and providers, ACE Home Center chose LS Central, LS Retail’s comprehensive retail management software solution built on Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. “LS Central is a platform already trusted by Ace Hardware in many countries,” says Mr. Allan Rey Lim, Managing Director at ACE Home Center.
In 2024, ACE Home Center completed the transition from on-premises to a Software–as–a Service (SaaS) model to support its growth ambitions. Building on the success of their initial implementation project, ACE Home Center entrusted NaviWorld Vietnam to upgrade their LS Central system and move their data to the cloud. To ensure a successful cloud migration, the team at NaviWorld Vietnam applied the data migration approach following three steps:
- Database migration to SaaS, including master data and transactions
- Streamlined deployment, following three main stages: analysis, development, and go-live
- System improvement based on the current processes
The transition was executed seamlessly, without any disruption or downtime. According to Quang Bui, CEO at NaviWorld Vietnam, the data migration method offers several benefits:
- Reduced deployment time and costs
- Simple and fast implementation
- Ability to use historical data for information retrieval
- Control over data loss issues, ensuring data integrity during migration
- Familiarity with the system for users
Benefits
By implementing LS Central, ACE Home Hardware has been able to standardize internal processes while delivering exceptional customer service. Here are some key benefits they’ve experienced.
- Streamlined inventory management: Previously, ACE Home Center struggled with inconsistent and imprecise inventory from their eCommerce platform, which made it difficult to get an accurate view of their stock. But with the flexibility of LS Central, the company has been able to integrate APIs from their eCommerce platforms and Warehouse Management System (WMS). Now, they get real-time inventory visibility for all channels, ensuring optimal stock levels and reducing both overstocks and out-of-stocks.
- Enhanced customer engagement: LS Central helps ACE Home Center create personalized promotions and offers to customers based on their purchase history, including Line discount, Mix & Match, member discount, and tender type discount. “Our customer care department can fully utilize customer information to better understand their needs,” says Mr. Hoang Minh Nguyen, CFO at ACE Home Center.
- Improved collaboration within the workplace: The Staff Management for LS Central add-on facilitates department coordination, and enables ACE Home Center to communicate tasks to employees more effectively while monitoring performance.
Switching to the SaaS model not only addressed the immediate challenges faced by ACE Home Center but also positioned the company for future growth and innovation. Here is how migrating to the cloud benefited the company:
- Comprehensive, real-time reporting: One key reason for migrating to SaaS was to leverage Analytics for LS Central, which combines the power of LS Retail solution with Microsoft's robust BI capabilities. Analytics for LS Central, built on Power BI, provides advanced reporting tools and analytics, helping ACE Home Center gain insights into sales trends, customer behavior, and store performance to make informed business decisions. The company gets access to optimized data sets and to all Microsoft Power BI reports, without the need to build a custom data warehouse.
- Scalability: LS Central SaaS makes it easier for ACE Home Center to grow their business. As the company opens new stores, the system can easily accommodate increased transaction volumes, additional locations, and larger data volumes when and where they need.
- Lower IT costs: Switching to SaaS eliminates the need for substantial hardware investments and IT maintenance, leading to lower operational costs and better resource allocation. “Migrating data to the cloud reduced our manual operation time by 50% and budget by 30%,” says Mr. Minh.
- Easy, automatic updates: The company doesn't have to worry about staying up to date as with SaaS, they get automatically upgraded to the latest version of the software, ensuring they always have the latest functionality and security improvements to keep their business resilient. “This greatly reduces the risk of vulnerabilities like virus attacks and data loss,” says Mr. Trung, IT Director at ACE Home Center.
Since implementing LS Central and moving to SaaS, ACE Home Center benefits from a comprehensive, scalable system that enhances efficiency and supports their ambitions.
