Founded in 1980, Zone is a Canada-based home goods chain. Zone runs 8 stores in Quebec and Ontario under 3 legal entities: Zone, VdV and Magasin Général Val-David. The brand offers a range of decorative and utilitarian items, combining product variety and quality with affordable prices and outstanding service.
An outdated system that doesn’t support business growth
Zone decided to replace the business solutions they were running as these no longer met their needs. The company was running a host of disparate systems, including a POS solution, a purchasing and inventory management solution, a version of Sage for financials and a custom e-commerce platform. The network also needed to be updated, as much of it, including the web platform, was based on an old version of SQL. As a consequence of the outdated infrastructure, Zone employees were burdened with manual tasks: sales results from each POS and from the webstore had to be entered manually, daily. A manual process was also required to manage the shipment of online orders. The systems also prevented Zone from performing the ad hoc reporting the company needed.
Unifying the IT network
in store as well as online. From a functional perspective, the new solution must help eliminate manual work, and support transfer planning across eight stores, which represented a complex logistics.
A proven retail solution: LS Retail software
After evaluating many options, Zone selected the LS Retail software solution, based on Microsoft Dynamics. Unique in its kind, the LS Retail software solution unites in the same application and database all the necessary elements for a company’s proper functioning, both in managing retail operations as well as accounting and procurement. The solution is proven and tested in the retail industry and highly scalable, making it an ideal choice for a company with ambitious plans. The LS Retail software solution also offers an extended network of partners and an important pool of resources on the solution. LS Retail partner The Createch Group worked closely with Zone’s employees to implement the solution. All levels of the organization at Zone gave the project a high degree of importance, which meant that all necessary means were deployed to accomplish the work.
A user-friendly, complete system
Zone now uses the LS Retail software solution to manage its eight stores and business activities. The company is satisfied with the user-friendliness and simplicity of the system, as well as with its ability to support the company’s processes. Thanks to its new business solution, Zone now has more control over:
- Actions executed in the system
- Tracking layaways and transfer requests
- Discounts and employee purchases
- Accounting and payment of goods
- Inventory planning
- Integration with the online store
Zone also has a better in-store POS system, which is easier to learn for clerks and offers all the tools needed to serve modern customers. Staff members can now apply discounts directly at the cash register and add products or comments on invoices. Zone also has better monitoring over online orders.
