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Cath Kidston's Successful Digital Transformation with Cin7
Technology Category
- Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
- Functional Applications - Inventory Management Systems
Applicable Industries
- Apparel
- Retail
Applicable Functions
- Sales & Marketing
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Inventory Management
- Retail Store Automation
Services
- System Integration
The Challenge
Cath Kidston, a renowned fashion retailer known for its nostalgic, hand-painted floral print fashion, bags, kids wear, and home furnishings, faced a significant challenge in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. The company, which had grown from a single retail store in 1993 to 136 retail outlets worldwide by 2014, was forced to close 60 of their UK and Japanese retail locations in early 2020 due to commercial challenges. This situation could have spelled the end for most brick-and-mortar businesses, but Cath Kidston saw it as an opportunity for a new beginning. The company decided to relaunch the brand as a direct-to-consumer (D2C) ecommerce business while maintaining its B2B franchise and wholesale operations. However, the transition was not without its challenges. The company's existing enterprise resource planning software (ERP) was not only expensive and complex but also lacked technical documentation, making integration difficult.
About The Customer
Cath Kidston is a well-known fashion retailer, famous for its extensive product line of nostalgic, hand-painted floral print fashion, bags, kids wear, and home furnishings. The company was founded by fashion designer Cath Kidston and is headquartered in London. It started with a single retail store in 1993 and grew to 136 retail outlets worldwide by 2014. The company sells vintage and British-influenced fashion apparel and accessories through its own branded outlets and high-end retailers like John Lewis. In 2010, a majority stake in the company was sold to private equity investors, leading to further growth. However, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 forced the company to close 60 of their UK and Japanese retail locations and pivot to ecommerce.
The Solution
Cath Kidston turned to Cin7, an inventory and order management solution, to facilitate their transformation into a full-fledged ecommerce business. After comparing Cin7’s cloud-based feature set to competitor offerings, Cath Kidston implemented the software in April 2020. Cin7 was chosen for its powerful features to manage the company’s sales, inventory, and fulfillment, both for ecommerce and in its remaining global brick-and-mortar locations. Cin7’s wide array of over 700 built-in integrations to other applications specific to retail and fulfillment were instrumental in Cath Kidston’s remarkable transformation. The move to Cin7 allowed Cath Kidston to do cross-channel stock reconciliations, ensuring consistent inventory count across retail, wholesale, and online outlets. It also enabled them to connect to their main fulfillment warehouses in the UK and Hong Kong, providing true end-to-end visibility. Moreover, Cin7 provided a trustworthy source of inventory truth, a feature lacking in their previous ERP software.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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