Sage X3 integration with Intellisell, eCommerce solution
Nielsen Bainbridge, based in Diss, Norfolk is part of the fast-growing international business, NBG Home Group. Its UK roots began over 20 years ago, distributing ready-made picture frames to high street galleries. The group has expanded by acquisition adding home décor products to its widening portfolio and spanning across Europe, the United States and Asia.
Business challenges before the integration
Nielsen Bainbridge trades business to business (B2B) and historically it offered a facility for its customers to place orders online via a bespoke eCommerce system. However, it was becoming outdated, it was inflexible and it struggled to cope with the growing product portfolio.
Eighteen months ago, the UK received authority to invest in a new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution, to upgrade its ageing Sage Line 500 solution to a modern, fully integrated system and it turned to lead Sage Partner CPiO to implement Sage X3.
Tim Fowle, IT Manager explains, “By deploying Sage X3 in the UK, it meant that all of the business processes were encompassed in one product, we no longer had to rely on third-party products to manage the business. That’s when we decided to invest in a new eCommerce system, which would also integrate with Sage X3. Ultimately all of the information would be feeding off one source”.
Tim and his team have built a good relationship with CPiO and its Sage X3 consultants and therefore opting for Intellisell eCommerce, developed by CPiO was an easy decision to make. “We viewed it as a real benefit that the Sage X3 and Intellisell consultants would work collaboratively on the project and I believe that it’s prevented any scope creep”, further explains Tim.
Benefits of the Intellisell implementation
The Intellisell team has been able to apply the features to the B2B eCommerce site that are embedded within Sage X3 and it has also added some customisation to deliver an enhanced customer service to the traditional high street galleries.
Customers are able to enter the dimensions of a picture frame, a picking list is automatically generated for the warehouse and the moulded frames are cut to length and sent to the customer for assembly.
Intellisell has provided a good overview of buyer behaviour and what is being ordered on a monthly and weekly basis, helping recognise cross-sell and upsell opportunities.
Moreover, retailers have become more self-sufficient, they can place orders over the weekend, and the picking list is ready for the warehouse team first thing Monday; orders via the website are being turned around much quicker.
The sales team at Nielsen Bainbridge visits a selection of customers nationwide to offer a personalised service and they’re taking advantage of being able to place orders directly through Intellisell, accessing stock figures and order history.
As a further result of the integration, the administration of orders has become far more streamlined.
“Previously, the sales team emailed or phoned through orders to the customer services team once they left the customer site. In effect, we were a telesales business, but Intellisell has really helped speed up the process, orders are more accurate and it’s freed up time for the customer services team to concentrate on servicing new customers”, explains Tim.
Next steps and the future
Nielsen Bainbridge has slowly launched Intellisell to a few core customers who have adopted it very well with little support from the business. There are plans to do a big marketing exercise having gathered feedback along the way.
Tim explains, “Feedback has been very positive, but I still want to develop new features that I know are available in Sage X3 that can be utilised in Intellisell. I want to give our customers access to information about the order status, including part dispatched, and part invoiced if an item has been picked, dispatched and invoiced.
As we develop Sage X3 and the processes are utilised more in the business, then we can offer more features in Intellisell. We have a close relationship with everyone at CPiO and the Intellisell team, they’re not fazed by anything we ask of them, they’re open to new ideas and the turnaround is very fast. I couldn’t ask more”.
