t areas like omni-channels, supply chain efficiencies, and mobile commerce back in January 2013. “After researching the options out there, we landed on the Microsoft stack of solutions,” he said. “To explain some of the compelling things that we got out of this, I use the hamburger analogy: A lot of components make up the different pieces of the hamburger, but when you put it all together you get this wonderful thing. “What makes the Microsoft solution so great is the fact that everything is so tightly integrated. We decided to use the Microsoft Dymanics AX for our enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and then looked at the integrated solutions vendors (ISV) that Microsoft has around the world.” From there, Van Dyke said he identified other solutions that would complement the AX product. “We looked at the Just Enough product and what it could do for us – and that addressed all the concerns we had in one part of the business,” he said. “Microsoft Dymanics AX gave us this fully integrated supply chain warehouse management solution, plus point of sale and finance solutions. We also examined what we could do around customer management and especially managing our loyalty customer base. We put all these pieces together and that gave us a good foundation to take the business to the next level.” The new solutions went live in October last year, and since that launch Van Dyke and his team have been working on the next tranche of things in the new system. “We are just about to put our ‘pick up in store’ or ‘click and collect’ solution on place,” said Van Dyke. “This will enable customers to log onto our website, identify products they want, and pick these up at a store. And for customers who want a particular product that is not available in their size at a store, we can now fulfil the order in the store and get it delivered directly to the customer. “We’ve also done a lot around our lifecycle management for members. When a new loyalty member joins the Summit Club, we now have this notifications workflow, which allows us to welcome them on board and explain what they get from the scheme. It also allows us to issue birthday or anniversary vouchers and so on.” Van Dyke has already noted several clear improvements as a result of the transformation, including the ability to get product out of the distribution centre a lot quicker, as well as a significant reduction in stockholding. “The improved level of transparency we now have means we buy a lot less stock,” he said. “The system shows us when our peaks and troughs are going to happen. As a result, we can import our product a lot sooner and get it sold a lot quicker.” Instead of opting for a waterfall implementation method – one huge project that can take years to complete while technology incessantly advances – Kathmandu followed “more of an agile development method” for the implementation of its new IT system. “You build these small discreet pieces which you deliver all the time,” explained Van Dyke. “I think the days of building bespoke solutions have come and gone. You take Microsoft, for example. It spends a huge amount each year on research and development. It models its solution on, say, the top 10 retailers in the world, and if you buy it, you get what good looks like. “At Kathmandu, our projects now don’t span more than three months. We keep adding small little things that add value to the business and which can be quickly tweaked to improve things. This enables us to keep up with what is happening around the world. If things change, we can also change very quickly.” This story first appeated in Inside Retail PREMIUM, issue 2049.  To subscribe, click here.