Retailer gets its skates on with Peoplevox WMS

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With two stores in the West Midlands and Northamptonshire and three warehouses, SkateHut offers over 20,000 products including skates, boards and roller shoes, bikes, scooters, clothing, accessories and much more.

Jamie Blundell

Since going live with the Peoplevox WMS solution, SkateHut has achieved 30-40% growth. The reasons behind this impressive performance are largely down to maximising sales opportunities and profitability by having accurate up to the second visibility of available stock for sale, along with a reduction in unforced errors and staffing costs.

Until three years ago, however, SkateHut had taken a more 'manual' approach to warehouse management. However, as the business continued to expand rapidly, a number of operational issues required addressing in the warehouse including mis-picking as well as inaccurate inventory management, leading to products being offered for sale even though they weren't actually in stock.

With growing pressure on customer service and on the business as a whole SkateHut decided it was time to take action. Following evaluation of the WMS market, SkateHut selected the Peoplevox WMS system and this was subsequently integrated with the retailer's existing BluBolt E-Commerce Platform.

Deployed by numerous retailers in the UK and globally, Peoplevox's software as a service (SaaS) system was already well-proven. Purpose designed for handling the pace and complexities of e-commerce warehouse management, it also allowed off-the-shelf integration with popular e-commerce, ERP and shipping platforms. The mobile-friendly Android app also puts the WMS right at the fingertips of warehouse operatives.

Full implementation at SkateHut was completed in just three months thanks to the inherent flexibility and scalability of SaaS, combined with Peoplevox's easy to configure WMS software.

Commented Jamie, "Dell" Blundell, General Manager, SkateHut: "We were delighted with how the Peoplevox platform integrated with our other systems. We also feel the software is easy to use but has the intricacies for us to perform every function we need."

Increased efficiency, customer and staff satisfaction

Cut off for despatch has moved from 3pm to 7pm for next day delivery, allowing SkateHut to create a better supported customer journey and service. This improvement in customer service has led to SkateHut now being rated 5 stars by over 99% of their customers.

"Fewer personnel are needed in Customer Services and the warehouse in relation to the quantity of orders we ship," said Dell Blundell. In addition, fewer expert pickers are also required as all products are now barcoded.

Greater efficiencies in the warehouse have also led to increased job satisfaction for warehouse operatives. For example, warehouse operatives are now available to work on Sundays. They are the only retailer to fulfil orders on a Sunday in their area.

The bottom line

"The most positive impact the Peoplevox WMS Solution has had on our business is the fact that we have been able to scale to where we are and will be able to keep growing without the need to change," concludes SkateHut's Dell Blundell.

"Peoplevox has transformed the business. We have the ability to despatch large quantities efficiently, especially at peak. We are able to offer excellent service due to so few errors with stock, and with our late cut off for orders."