Queenspark is a South African fashion chain running 60 stores across South Africa, Namibia and Kenya. Founded in 1980, Queenspark specializes in elegant and fashionable womenswear, menswear, accessories and cosmetics. All products are created with an eye for detail, fine fabrics and superior craftsmanship. The company features a wide range of fashion-forward brands and prides itself on having something for everyone’s taste, from formalwear to casualwear to chic shoes.
A disjointed view
Before implementing LS Retail software solution, Queenspark used a number of different disparate systems to manage its operations. The company used Dolphin as their merchandising system, Retailman for the retail operations and AccPac to manage their finances. The systems didn’t communicate in real time, making it impossible for the company to get live information on the business. Queenspark realized they needed to get a modern, centralized software system, which could provide them with a single view of their business. They also decided that the new system would need to be flexible and scalable, to be able to support the company in its future growth.
LS Retail software connecting all the strings
Queenspark looked into a number of systems, and ended up with a shortlist of three solutions. After careful analysis, the company decided to implement the LS Retail software solution, with Microsoft Dynamics as the ERP and the industry add-on Pebblestone on top. The LS Retail software solution was chosen over the other options the company investigated because of its ability to offer the company a single view of the whole business while improving the company’s internal processes and increasing customer engagement. The system was deployed by Just Dynamics, South Africa’s only Platinum LS Retail implementation partner.
A complex implementation
The business required some integrations to external systems such as planning system Pyramid and a Point of Sale (POS) with integrated EFT. The integrated EFT solution provided Queenspark with online authentication integrated with the LS Retail software POS, as well as automated reconciliation abilities through the switching provider. This both reduced the risk of fraud and diminished administrative overhead as regards daily reconciliation. Working on the integration Queenspark required while implementing a whole new system, including a new ERP, proved particularly challenging to the teams involved. Both the Queenspark and Just Dynamics teams persevered through these challenges, and achieved the ultimate go live of the solution.
Streamlined processes, increased loyalty
Since the implementation of LS Retail software, Queenspark has noticed great benefits to its business:
- The company has been able to streamline its processes in and between stores with improved control - something they definitely lacked before.
- Thanks to the system automations, the manual processes in stores were vastly reduced, leading to a saving in time and money.
- The POS is so intuitive to use that there was no need for any change management.
- The new membership management system has improved customer interactions and customer loyalty.
