Paul Smith, known for its impeccable tailoring and eclectic style, embarked on a transformative re-platforming project, similar to getting a new suit perfectly fitted for the future. With the help of Ingrid and Centra, the brand streamlined its operations, unlocked hidden revenue, and prepared itself for the next era of retail.
As Paul Smith expanded across the UK, continental Europe and North America, cracks appeared in the brand's tech system. Valuable inventory sat in 36 stores while online customers faced 'out of stock' notices, even when items were available on nearby shelves.
The culprit? Fragmented systems that couldn't talk to each other. Paul Smith's stores had the products, but their online platform couldn't access them. Meanwhile, a patchwork of home-built solutions and outdated shipping tools created costly inefficiencies at every turn.
The tech stack disconnect led to missed sales, frustrated customers and revenue walking out the door.
Paul Smith implemented a ship-from-store solution that transforms how they fulfill online orders. Using Centra's e-commerce platform, Ingrid's delivery integration, and Limesharp's development expertise, they now ship directly from their brick-and-mortar locations. This approach cuts lead times, reduces carbon emissions, lowers shipping costs, and optimizes inventory use, especially when products show as sold out online but remain available in stores.
Ingrid's automated booking rules, carrier filtering, post codes and product availability empower customers with the most price-efficient delivery options. Paul Smith can also A/B test the delivery offer all year round to strike the right balance between conversion and delivery revenue.
Ingrid's post-purchase tools drastically cut Paul Smith's 'Where is my order?' inquiries through proactive delivery updates. The seamless integration with Klaviyo ensures all notifications maintain Paul Smith's distinctive brand voice.
Customers can now make returns, direct exchanges and complaints through the automated Ingrid Returns self-service portal, helping Paul Smith accelerate item turnaround times and reduce operational costs.
Similar to fitting the brand with a new suit(e) for long-haul global travel, the re-platforming project enabled Paul Smith confidently step into the next era of retail.
The brand added more delivery options to match individual preferences, improved the overall customer experience, achieved a seasonal revenue boost from using brick-and-mortar stock for online order fulfillment, and significantly reduced the tech stack complexity, now with the lower cost of IT and infrastructure.
Now, Paul Smith is poised for further growth, with plans to introduce loyalty programs and next-day delivery options, all built on the foundation of a unified, flexible delivery platform provided by Ingrid.
Of online orders fulfilled from stores
Weekly revenue increase with in-store fulfillment
Revenue growth on Black Friday 2024
Sell-through during Autumn-Winter 2024
"Before Ingrid we spent a lot of time managing carrier integrations and vendors, building the missing parts ourselves. Now we have all the tools needed to be self-reliant and quickly make the changes needed to meet customer expectations of a seamless shopping experience. On the internal side, we can put our resources into more proactive and productive tasks."
