Story highlights
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At a glance
- Industry - Retail
- Region - United Kingdom
- Company Size - 600+ employees
- Project - 'Project Clearview' data and ERP optimisation
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Products & Services
- Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance
- Warehouse Management
- Retail Commerce
- Power BI
- Microsoft Fabric
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Results Snapshot
- 6 weeks rapid discovery phase to set the roadmap
- 1 view single version of the truth across the business
- 60%+ of orders from outside the UK
The Customer
END. Clothing is a British retailer known for its curated selection of high-end streetwear, contemporary fashion and exclusive collaborations. Founded in 2005 in Newcastle upon Tyne, END. has grown into a prominent global online retailer with bricks-and-mortar stores across London, Newcastle, Manchester and Glasgow, with Milan the latest to open in early 2024, further building the brand’s identity across Europe. With sales coming through its e-commerce channel and over 60% of orders from outside the UK, global growth is central to the business.
END.’s key objectives are to remain authentic to its customers and industry partners and true to who it is. All business decisions are made with the customer in mind, so the company can keep discovering the latest brands and unique trends, underpinned by the passion END. began with almost 20 years ago.
The Challenge
END. has experienced rapid growth in recent years and recognised the need to upgrade its technology stack and processes. The previous systems showed inefficiencies and struggled to adapt to evolving business needs. They had been heavily customised during growth, with changes made on an ad-hoc basis without a clear view of the wider business processes, which complicated accurate business metrics and prevented END. from achieving a single version of the truth across disparate systems.
Global growth is a key priority for END., which started as a UK-centric business and now achieves the majority of its sales overseas, so reducing friction in serving international markets is crucial. There were two elements to END.’s transformation goals: a data strategy and relaunching its ERP systems.
Data is key for an organisation like END.
On the data side, END. relied on an organically grown business intelligence solution that had become complex and difficult to manage, with scheduled tasks that often failed and hindered the timely transfer of data into its warehouse. The aim was to enhance the stability of its end-to-end data platform, ensure timely and accurate information, establish uniform data definitions across departments, and curate reports more effectively with less manual manipulation in Excel.
The Solution
Having implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance in 2019 and integrated Warehouse Management and Retail Commerce in 2022, END. initiated ‘Project Clearview’ to optimise its existing Dynamics 365 systems by improving data processing, establishing consistent KPIs and enhancing data quality. Hitachi Solutions was brought on board in early 2023 to run a rapid six-week discovery phase, which revealed that the current configuration no longer met the business’s evolving needs, and agreed a roadmap to enhance it.
The first step was to adapt the Dynamics 365 systems so all necessary data was accurately captured. With a stable data foundation in place, END. could then proceed to the reporting and analytics project, using Microsoft Power BI and Microsoft Fabric to view its margins and business performance, seize opportunities and respond to market conditions. The project also enhanced platform stability, ensured timely and accurate information, established uniform data definitions and reduced manual work in Excel. Crucially, a key outcome was knowledge transfer, allowing END.’s teams to self-serve and adapt the technology in-house as the business changes.
Hitachi Solutions has been amazing. They have come in with an area of expertise in Dynamics 365, evaluated our current set-up and supported us with optimising that system and getting the most out of it. They have also helped us move the system to best practice for retailers and leverage the tool for its full capabilities.
Why Hitachi Solutions
END. needed a partner with genuine Dynamics 365 depth that could assess an over-customised estate, optimise it to retail best practice, and leave the in-house team able to run it independently. Beyond the technology, Hitachi Solutions focused on upskilling END.’s people, particularly its data analysts, so the business could keep building on the platform itself.
Hitachi Solutions have been fantastic in supporting our teams, particularly in the data space, where they have helped upskill some of our data analysts.
The Benefits
- Stronger financial reporting
- A clearer product hierarchy
- Concise, usable day-to-day data
- Consistency of data across the business
- Stability of the Dynamics 365 solution, ensuring timely data provision
- A foundation for future advancements, including data science and AI
What’s Next?
The future for END. is to continue the strategic partnership, working collaboratively with the Hitachi Solutions team, with AI an area of growing interest. Hitachi Solutions will continue to assess opportunities and the benefits END. can gain from new technology as it pursues its global growth ambitions, with data the key to knowing where to go next.
We see tremendous continued opportunity to leverage what has been built with Hitachi Solutions as we continue to move ahead down the transformation process, and they will continue to be a key partner for us.
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