Case Study: Retail, Wholesale and Franchising 

"One of the biggest contributions Exo has made to Abode Living is giving the company peace of mind. Exo has provided us a high level of confidence.”

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MYOB Exo has Abode Living covered.

 

With 24 years of experience, Abode Living has a huge customer base. But when its website took off, the company needed a new system to manage its complex inventory and customer records.

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Background

 

Founded in 1991, family owned Abode Living is Australia’s leading manufacturer of luxury bed linen. What sets the Abode Living products apart is the family’s close relationship to the manufacturing and design process. The factory, office and warehouse are right behind the showroom.

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As the company prides itself on selling the best quality products, and providing customers with made to order items, shipped within 24 hours, a greater level of efficiency was needed.

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The Problem

An all-in-one solution

 

Abode Living previously used a point of sales system called ERP Australia to stay on top of stock, customers and the retail store. “Then our website took off dramatically, but it wasn’t connected to our stock control or our customer records,” says Ben Adair, Abode Living Operations Director, during his interview with SmartCompany.

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Ben continues, “We wanted a system where a customer could order in-store or online and it would be processed with the same account. And likewise, for stock, where we could update a record in one place, for example prices, for both in-store and online.” So the company started the search for a new all-in-one system.

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The Solution

Beauty is only skin deep

Abode Living looked at a number of systems and discovered many looked great but weren’t flexible. “As soon as you needed to customise something or add functionality, it either gets expensive or it won’t let you do it,” Ben explains.

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Abode Living finally settled on MYOB Exo. “Exo has everything we need without being too complicated. It’s quite flexible,” says Ben. “We’re implementing Exo in two stages, because we’re both a retailer and manufacturer,” he continues. “So we’ve already implemented it in the retail side of our business, and we’re doing the scoping for the manufacturing side at the moment.”

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The Outcome 

Time to relax

 

Ben is happy with his decision to use Exo. “It’s simple to use. It has anything we need without being too complicated,” he explains.

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One of the biggest contributions Exo has made to Abode Living is giving the company peace of mind. “Exo has provided us a high level of confidence,” says Ben. “Confidence in the figures and confidence in knowing that we can get the customisations we need going forward.”

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Summary

Before

• Unable to calculate GP margin

• Couldn’t link system with website

• Difficult to update or improve functions

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After

• Less double handling

• Customised reports specific to Abode Living’s needs

• Greater functionality & stock control

• Accurate figures

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One World​

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“Exo has given us the ability to grow in to new markets like New Zealand and the USA.”

 

Delivering the goods for chic homeware retailer One World Collection is a gift and homeware retailer with a focus on offering products that look and feel high end at reasonable prices. Originally from London, the has company brought their European designs to Australia and New Zealand. One World Collection made the BRW list of the top 100 fastest growing businesses in Australia. With recent expansion of their operations in to the USA and more than 45 staff globally, this rapidly growing business started to feel the limitations of its existing accounting software.

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The Problem

Software limitations

 

When One World Collection opened their Sydney and Auckland stores, MYOB AccountRight was their software of choice. The company was happy with this solution and continued to use it for 10 years. One World Collection Managing Director, Greg Ollerhead, says, “MYOB AccountRight is very user friendly and easy to train new staff. However, the problem is that, as a growing business, we were feeling the limitations with stock control and reporting systems.” One World Collection decided to start researching alternative software solutions that could handle the complexities of their growing business. Through their research, Greg and the team looked at SAP and a few other SQL based systems before hearing about Exo through a third party developer who uses Exo for its clients. “As a growing business, we were feeling the limitations with stock control and reporting systems.”

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The Solution

Exo ticks all the boxes

 

Exo was the clear choice for One Wold Collection. Greg explains, “Exo’s price was reasonable compared to other high-end systems. And for our size, this system provided the right functionality.” Other businesses within the same industry were also using Exo and the fact that Exo was owned by MYOB, a reputable and trusted company, gave Greg and the team confidence in their decision. Greg says, “We think it will become even more widely used in future.”

 

Greg and the team at One World Collection were impressed by their thorough knowledge of Exo. Greg says, “Our needs were quite specific so it was great that they could explain how everything could be customised to work in our environment. Our MYOB Advanced partner were fantastic to work with.”

 

“Exo’s price was reasonable compared to other high-end systems.”

 

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Passing the test

 

Greg explains, “Our partner's knowledge of Exo is brilliant and I have to say that she has a lot to do with how successful the system is for us.”

 

Our partner provided a UAT (User Acceptance Testing) phase where a full version of One Wold Collection’s customised database could be accessed and tested by the team. “We tested as much as we could before the data was transferred out of AccountRight and into Exo,” says Greg. “There were a few teething problems but this is to be expected with any new upgrade like this. Upon reflection, it was not anywhere near as painful as expected on roll over.”

 

Our ability to understand a large volume of complex and detailed SKU data at a glance is enabling us to give our customers a better buying experience.”

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When it came time to train the team on the new software, it took some time to get used to. Greg explains, “Exo has a different look and feel to other MYOB products like AccountRight. It’s the same with any change of system I suppose. Once everyone was used to it they were very positive.”

 

Tailored reports

 

Due to the large amount of customisation required, the system took some time to become fully functional but Greg says, “Exo was all worth it.” A number of reports were tailored to suit the specific needs of the company, such as customer backorder report with ETA and images, stock reorder and sales report, debtor performance report and agent’s monthly commission report. “This is why it took time to really become the business tool it is now,” explains Greg.

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The Outcome 

A time for growth

 

“Exo has helped us become a lot more efficient and grow in ways we could not have done with our previous system,” says Greg. “It allows us multiple stock/warehouse locations which is very important to our business as we have warehouses in 3 countries now. It allows us to get third party programs to link in to the SQL database in real time so our website is live and accurate. Also, we deal with large national retailers and Exo allows us to use EDI integration with their systems.”

 

Exo has also provided the team with greater visibility into the business. Greg explains, “We can sort and allocate stock to customers according to their annual spend and status. We can also run so many different reports for stock replenishment based on various factors which we couldn’t do before.”

 

According to Greg, “The most significant contribution Exo has made to our business is the ability it has given us to become a lot more efficient and grow in to new markets like New Zealand and the USA. The benefits of Exo are enormous.”

 

”Exo has helped us become a lot more efficient.”

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Summary

Before

• Limitations with stock control

• Restrictions with reporting systems

• Poor visibility

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After

• Greater efficiency

• Multiple stock/warehouse locations

• Customised reports

• Ability to expand into new markets

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Mega Music​

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"Exo delivered a backend system that operated and performed to our team’s expectations."

 

Exo hits the right note 100% W.A. owned and operated, Mega Music is large enough to offer a great selection at competitive prices, but small enough to still retain a friendly music industry culture. Over the past decade, Mega Music has made it their mission to provide quality gear for music professionals, students, schools and bedroom warriors. Mega Music also offers instrument repairs, servicing facilities and a music academy with highly skilled teachers.

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The Problem

Frustrated by a disparate system

 

Mega Music struggled with a mismatch of different accounting and Point of Sale systems across their business that they best described as ‘clunky.’ Neither powerful nor user-friendly, it was also limited in its ability to adapt to meet their customer relationship needs. It was important for Mega Music to have a system that worked with business accountability requirements by helping their team view previous sales, repairs or services.

 

To Mega Music, “a professional and personal touch is as significant as each individual transaction”, so Mega Music needed a system that could help them to create a single customer view, that is, a one-toone relationship where they can tailor options for each and every customer. It was time for a change. “A professional and personal touch is as significant as each individual transaction.”

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The Solution

One powerful platform fits all

 

Mega Music and their partner worked together to tailor a system that created a more dynamic customer relationship by understanding and reporting on individual needs rather than just a straight “point of sale” of instruments and accessories.

 

With three locations - and looking to expand, Mega Music required a multi-site POS that operated from one database, both on and offline across all sites. It also needed stock to be easily and accurately transferred across locations and where data could be reported and segmented.

 

MYOB Exo delivered on the requirements of Mega Music, building a customised solution fit for their unique business.

 

“What we liked most about what MYOB Exo delivered was a back end system that operated and performed to our team’s expectations, interfacing with a POS system that thought and performed as a sales person would expect” Kajen Velupillay, Owner/Director, Mega Music.

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The Outcome

Build a better customer experience

 

The customisation of MYOB Exo has allowed staff and management at Mega Music to provide a much higher level of accurate, timely and personalized service to its loyal customer base; the kind of customer relationships that make Mega Music the fastest growing music store in the region.

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Summary 

Before 

• ‘Clunky’ system

• Limited in ability to meet customer relationship needs.

 

After 

• User friendly and powerful system

• Ability to understand individual customer needs and provide accurate, timely and practical assistance