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Case Studies > BluJay Understands the Retail Supply Chain, and it Showed During Implementation

BluJay Understands the Retail Supply Chain, and it Showed During Implementation

Technology Category
  • Functional Applications - Enterprise Resource Planning Systems (ERP)
  • Functional Applications - Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
  • Analytics & Modeling - Predictive Analytics
Applicable Industries
  • Retail
Applicable Functions
  • Warehouse & Inventory Management
  • Logistics & Transportation
  • Sales & Marketing
Use Cases
  • Inventory Management
  • Fleet Management
  • Predictive Replenishment
  • Supply Chain Visibility
Services
  • System Integration
  • Software Design & Engineering Services
  • Training
The Challenge
With a diverse range of products, Scotts & Co faced challenges in integrating its business units, managing inventory, and ensuring timely order dispatch. The company relied heavily on drop shipping, which accounted for around 70% of customer deliveries. However, the manual processes involved in trading with drop ship suppliers created inefficiencies and delays. The lack of real-time visibility into stock availability and order status led to customer dissatisfaction. Additionally, the rigidity of the fulfillment cycle limited the company's ability to use different carriers, increasing the risk of carrier volatility and reducing service diversity.
About The Customer
Scotts & Co is an independent UK multi-channel retailer operating eleven diverse brands, offering products for the kitchen, home, and garden, as well as gifts. These products are distributed through an integrated network of catalogues, websites, and stores. With annual sales in excess of £60m and over 250 employees, Scotts & Co operates the UK’s largest group of independent specialist catalogues in the country, whilst remaining family-owned and run. The group, whose flagship brand, Scotts of Stow, is a household name, operates some of Britain’s best-known catalogue retailers, including Presents Direct, The Traditional Garden Supply Company, Cucina Direct, The Original Gift Company, Viva, The Verdict, and Renwoods Solutions. Scotts & Co is completely focused on offering excellent customer service and has won more industry awards for its catalogues and websites than any other catalogue group in the UK.
The Solution
Scotts & Co selected BluJay’s Commerce solution, a web-based order management system with extensive workflow functionality and pre-built data integration points. Implemented in 2009, the solution provided complete visibility of the fulfillment cycle for its 1.7 million per annum drop shipped orders. The system allowed Scotts & Co to set rules for carrier and service level, which were automatically included with the order data to the supplier. BluJay’s Commerce also provided suppliers with a user-friendly system to manage orders from initial visibility to dispatch. The system generated branded documentation sets for each order and included a 'Whiteboard' facility for adding comments and a detailed audit trail. The solution was fully integrated with Scotts & Co’s Elucid order management system, allowing larger suppliers to integrate their own warehouse control and accounts packages.
Operational Impact
  • Shorter delivery times for customer orders, reducing the delivery time scale from 14-28 days to 10-14 days.
  • Improved carrier strategy with a revised roster of approved carriers and a more flexible delivery schedule, leading to progressive savings.
  • Enhanced real-time visibility of the direct dispatch supply chain and detailed reporting, allowing for better forecasting and supplier management.
Quantitative Benefit
  • Reduced delivery time scale from 14-28 days to 10-14 days.
  • Progressive savings of 10% of annual carrier costs.

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