Today’s fashion industry is a complex place to do business. Ever changing market conditions mean that for a company to stay on top, an efficient and effective Management Information System (MIS) is essential.

Choosing the right solution to underpin a company's entire business-critical processes is a huge decision. The wrong selection can leave a company struggling to control its business. Select, a large fashion retailer, recently reviewed its IT infrastructure using an intense and rigorous process covering all aspects of the business. Choosing an IT supplier to meet their business requirements was no easy task but with careful consideration was ultimately successful.

Background

Select was founded in 1983 as a value fashion retailer with an edge for responding quickly to trends. Over recent years, the company has experienced rapid expansion with a new store opening every week. In one year alone, the company grew from 150 to 200 stores across the UK and with these growth plans set to continue, it was absolutely critical to have in place a robust and scaleable IT system.

The process

John Sunderland, director at Select, takes up the story: “At Select we deal with over 6 million garments a year in 20,000 different styles. We change 25 per cent of stock in all of our stores every week. We had outgrown the capabilities of our old systems and desperately needed a system that could manage and accurately report on the vast and varied information we deal with every day. We were also aware that this would be a large investment in both time and money and therefore the search for the right supplier was crucial. The system would need to work to our specific needs and be able to grow with us. We did not want to have to replace the entire system again a few years later.”

To help secure the perfect system for its business, Select hired independent IT consultants, Fitz Penn Associates, as its personal shopping assistants. Together they agreed a structure for the selection process and began by evaluating the existing systems and identifying the business requirements. From this, an invitation to tender was drawn up and distributed to six companies. The six responses were then evaluated and shortlisted down to three.

The three suppliers provided a full demonstration of their systems. John continues: “All of the companies shortlisted provided comprehensive systems. However, it was of utmost importance to us that the selected system would be capable of providing the specific fashion focussed information we require. In addition, one of the most important aspects of our business is the rapid rate of response to fashion trends with new designs in store within tens days of initial concept. Therefore, we needed a system that would be extremely flexible and provide us with the analytical reports necessary to keep ahead of the competition."

Following the initial demonstrations, the suppliers were then given a detailed brief of Select’s business and asked to present a fully functional demonstration tailored to Select’s requirements. Select again worked with Fitz Penn Associates to build the specific parameters for the demonstrations.

The solution

Prologic won the confidence of Select and was ultimately chosen as the preferred supplier. John Sunderland explains: “It soon became apparent that Prologic’s solution was the obvious choice for us. They understood our business and were able to meet all of the parameters we had set exactly. The Solution, Prologic CIMS, was also the easiest system to set up and use, and provided the powerful business tools we needed to stay on top of our game.”

“We were also extremely impressed with the industry knowledge and professionalism of the company. We worked with them as a team and were certain that the solution was both ideal for our current needs and those in the future. I am absolutely confident that we have chosen the best supplier for our business.”

Prologic CIMS provides an end-to-end solution for Select, running across the entire business. From linking point of sale with merchandising, warehousing, distribution, allocation, replenishment and sourcing into one central database, Select now have the information at hand to make accurate and timely management decisions.