Industry overview
What is shaping retail
Retailers and D2C brands compete across stores, apps and marketplaces. Store experience, availability and convenience decide where shoppers go next.
- Shoppers move freely between online and offline
- Store experience is a key differentiator
- Loyalty programmes and personalisation drive repeat
Client background
A regional apparel retailer, working in Tamil Nadu & Kerala. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.
- Organisation
- A regional apparel retailer
- Sector
- Retail
- Team engaged
- IT & Development
- Services
- ERP development, E-commerce development, API development & integration
Client challenge
The apparel retailer managed store and online stock separately, so its website sometimes sold items that were out of stock, while stores held slow-moving stock that could have sold online. Store managers also requested stock from head office by phone, and transfers between stores were rarely recorded properly.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: connecting stock across stores and online for a retail chain.
- Define requirements and success criteria the solution would be tested against.
- Deliver a reliable, secure solution the team can run and extend.
Target audience
Scope: 45 stores and online store.
Audiences we typically reach in retail
ShoppersStore staff and managersOnline customersLoyalty membersFranchisees
Geographic coverage
Coverage: Tamil Nadu & Kerala. Market: India. 45 stores covered.
- India
Research methodology
An iterative delivery approach: discovery, design, build and test in short cycles, with the client reviewing each step.
- 1Brief
- 2Inventory integration
- 3Store and online sync
- 4Insight
We integrated store point-of-sale systems with the ERP and online store, giving one live view of stock. Online orders could be fulfilled from the nearest store, and stores could request transfers of fast-selling items. Store staff were trained to use handheld scanners for receiving and transfers, so stock records stayed accurate.
ERP developmentE-commerce developmentAPI development & integration
Sampling strategy
- Users and stakeholders from every affected team took part in discovery workshops and acceptance testing.
Data collection
- Requirements were gathered through workshops, process walk-throughs and a review of existing systems and data.
Data quality & validation
- Peer code review on every change
- Automated and manual testing
- User-acceptance testing with the client
- Release checklist and rollback plan
Data analysis
- Usage and performance monitoring after launch
- Defect and support-ticket trends
- Process time before and after
Key findings
- Overselling stopped, delivery times improved for nearby customers and slow-moving store stock sold online, reducing end-of-season discounts.
One view of stock unlocked sales that were previously invisible.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: one view of stock unlocked sales that were previously invisible.
- Track adoption and support tickets, and plan the next release from real usage.
Business impact
- Management also used the data to plan stock allocation for new collections by store.
Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Deployed solution with documentation and handover
- Support and maintenance plan
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: where does the online funnel leak?
Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.