Longstanding blubolt client, Seasalt, is a women's fashion retailer with products inspired by the creative and maritime heritage of Cornwall. With over 50 UK stores and an eCommerce website, Seasalt were eager to invest in new technology that allowed them to sell all stock - whether it be located in a warehouse or in-store - to the widest possible audience. Read how blubolt worked with Seasalt and ITIM to integrate a new customer order management system.

The Challenge: Surplus In-store Stock

Seasalt had identified surplus stock in each of its stores. As this surplus wasn’t available online, the pool of potential buyers was limited which also impacted the selling price. With the brand continuing to open new stores, this issue would only exacerbate over time.

So the challenge was bringing Seasalt’s in-store stock seamlessly online so customers could purchase it if warehouse stock sold out. This would enable Seasalt to reduce the number of internal stock transfers and the cost of despatches. Additionally, it would increase both full and sale price revenue by making more stock available online.

Beautiful inside and out: a Seasalt store window

The Solution: Get Surplus In-Store Stock Online

The solution was to integrate COM (Customer Order Management) to manage the fulfilment process from stores. This third party system from ITIM made selected store stock available to purchase online. It also enabled individual stores to pick, pack and despatch orders to customers directly.

For a seamless integration, the blubolt team carefully mapped out how each area of the website would be affected. From there, they determined the action required. Specifically, this involved:

Design considerations. Changing the customer messaging on the website depending on where the product was physically located (warehouse or store). For example, when the product was shipped from a store, the website copy indicated that international delivery was not available. This led to design amends for pages such as product detail, cart, checkout, delivery methods and order tracking.

Data Considerations. Data amends included everything from stock files, order feeds and gift cards to APIs and delivery methods.

Functional Considerations. Changing functions to ensure international delivery and gift wrapping weren't available for in-store stock. Then at the same time, ensuring that Collect Plus and Click and Collect were available. Then conducting extensive user acceptance testing.

Wouldn't you love to be by the (Cornish) seaside? Seasalt's inspiration!

The Result: More Sales, Better Margins

In the first three days following launch, Seasalt had over 2,000 orders via the COM functionality. And since, the figures have continued to rise! With collection launches and sale periods on the horizon, Seasalt can now utilise all their stock to maximise sales and product margins.

“It’s fantastic to see such strong results following the COM launch,” says Richard Ayles, Senior Backend Developer at blubolt. “It was a complex project, with the blubolt team clearly demonstrating their technical expertise. At the same time, it was rewarding to help the client achieve their objectives so successfully.”

Have Your Own Project?

If you’ve got an eCommerce project and need assistance, do get in touch with blubolt here. We would love to help!

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