Data interfacing solution for New Look

Data interfacing solution for New Look

Retail Assist, the UK's only independent provider of outsourced IT services dedicated solely to the retail industry, has revealed how it has helped New Look and Debenhams to test the long-term viability of a business partnership.

New Look, the leading fashion retailer who claims that its 500+ stores are now regularly shopped by a quarter of all British women, was looking to extend its high street presence by establishing concessions within Debenhams department stores UK-wide. In order to test the success of this partnership, it was decided to undertake a trial based upon two Debenhams stores.

Need to test the partnership with a minimum of risk

Ideally, the trial would have been based upon an integrated solution delivered by the key systems suppliers to support the entire IT process between the two retailers. However as this was New Look's first venture outside its main chain group, an alternative approach was needed to ensure an expedient and timely solution was available at minimum risk.

At this point, New Look turned to Retail Assist. For some time, New Look has complemented its inhouse IT resource by selectively outsourcing store system development services and project management to Retail Assist during busy periods or when a scenario occurs with which internal resource is unfamiliar. Previous assignments have included project managing EPoS system software upgrades across the New Look's store estate.

The challenge

 The business challenge was to ensure that information could be passed seamlessly between New Look's and Debenhams' systems to support the critical functions of pricing and inventory management, sales analysis, stock replenishment and supply.

 A scalable data interface

 Retail Assist was asked to design a data interfacing model that could initially be used in the trial stores but then scaled by the New Look team to support roll-out of the concession to further stores in the Debenhams estate.

 The data interface is now in successful operation within the trial stores. Kevin Greathead, Retail Assist's Project Services Manager comments, "This is a great example of selective outsourcing. We understood what needed to be achieved from a business viewpoint and we worked with New Look's inhouse team to design an IT solution that focussed on the essential elements and could be speedily delivered."

 The data interfaces ensure timely and appropriate provision of stock, the processing of New Look merchandise at Debenhams tills with the same accuracy as inhouse stock, and the ability for New Look to judge the sales success of this new concession.

 Processes include:

  • Inbound transmission from New Look of price files and inventory data into the Debenhams EPoS system to support transaction processing at their tills.
  • Outbound reporting from Debenhams into the New Look Retek merchandising system on the volume, frequency and mix of products sold, down to SKU level.
  • Provision of sales analysis data, enabling New Look to initiate stock replenishment out to the Debenhams stores.

Data translation

An important element of the Retail Assist solution is its translation of the data which is transmitted in both directions within each of the processes. This means that each system receives information as it would from one of its own stores.

The transmission of SKU information from New Look is reformatted by the data interfacing model and presented to Debenhams in its traditional format. Likewise, sales information coming back from Debenhams is converted from its format into the New Look Retek format.

The development was sponsored by New Look's Business System Controller, Stewart Kendall and delivered through Project Manager, Phil King. Phil King concludes, "Without the Retail Assist solution, the trial timescales and business objectives would have been severely compromised. Its data interfacing model is now operational servicing our trial stores and is delivering the critical data on which New Look and Debenhams can base their decision-making.

 

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