Oscar Jacobson is investing in omnichannel retail as it expands within Europe.
The Nordic international menswear fashion and lifestyle brand, which currently sells online in the UK and Sweden as well as through nine stores and concessions including House of Fraser in the UK, will soon sell both online and through stores in Norway. Its own store roadmap looks to grow its estate across Europe by one to two stores each year for the next five years.
In order to achieve that the retailer has invested in omnichannel technology in the form of an integrated retail solution from iVend Retail and IT provider Retail Store Scandinavia.
Marcus Knutsson, IT application manager at Oscar Jacobson, said: “We took a lot of time to analyse our needs and finding the right retail solutions to support our omnichannel roadmap as we look to expand. International growth is a major focus for us – indeed, we’ve just hired a dedicated export manager.”
He said the new technology would now “reduce administration with deliveries, reporting and the checkout process in-store, allowing our store staff to focus on providing high levels of customer service at each touchpoint during the shopping encounter.”
Previously, Oscar Jacobson’s legacy system allowed little integration and visibility of available stock between stores in different markets and its central warehouse. This siloed approach made it difficult for store managers to request additional stock or transfer items to different stores in line with customer demand. Instead, Oscar Jacobson sought to better integrate in-store operations with its back-end systems to deliver an enhanced omnichannel experience to customers.
The new omnichannel solution from iVend Retail, implemented by strategic partner Retail Store Scandinavia, has migrated all stores and head office onto a single, integrated platform, giving Oscar Jacobson a real-time single view of stock across its entire international estate – both in-store and online.
This integrates with Oscar Jacobson’s Microsoft Dynamics AX ERP system to enable allows a real-time view of customer data across sales channels, enabling store staff to personalise in-store encounters as well as providing up-selling or cross-selling opportunities in line with a shopper’s previous purchase history.
“Connected consumers don’t differentiate between channels; they just shop using the option that’s most convenient to them at the time – be it online or in-store – making a seamless customer journey all the more important,” said Rob Gentles, channel director at iVend Retail. “Retailers must ensure fluidity and visibility between the sales channels, which is what our solution has offered Oscar Jacobson as it moves towards offering customers an enhanced omnichannel experience.”
Patrick Johnsson, business development manager at Retail Store Scandinavia, said: “Underpinned by the new solution, Oscar Jacobson can now manage multiple stores with a unified view of store processes – a key grounding for any retailer looking to expand its operations at the same time as delivering enhanced customer experience.”
Looking ahead, as Oscar Jacobson continues on its omnichannel roadmap, the retailer plans to roll out additional omnichannel capabilities in-store, with the implementation of click-and-collect and accepting online returns in-store, planned for later in the year. The menswear brand will also roll out a ‘made to order’ service, supported from the iVend POS, which will allow shoppers to customise orders with bespoke fabrics and size alterations.
