Cloud-Based E-Commerce System Helps South Cypress Floors Increase Sales and Improve Customer Service
PROBLEM: South Cypress Floors, a cross-channel retailer, wholesaler and distributor of flooring products, sought to increase its online sales so it could survive and thrive in an industry with fierce competition and thin margins.
SOLUTION: The company turned to a customizable, cloud-based e-commerce system.
RESULTS: Since implementing a new e-commerce platform in 2007, South Cypress Floors has seen an eightfold growth in revenue while employing just three dedicated sales professionals.
South Cypress Floors, a Birmingham, Ala.-based cross-channel retailer, wholesaler and distributor of flooring products with an emphasis on specialized tiles, realized several years ago that it needed to upgrade its e-commerce platform so that its founders could focus on strategic goals instead of day-to-day operations.
"We were working with more than 70 manufacturers at the time, and all of our back-office operations were located on my computer," says Matt Dyar, chief technology officer of South Cypress Floors. "As you can imagine, sharing information with staff at other locations was challenging."
What's more, "our systems lacked automation and detailed support for the flooring industry's specific needs, resulting in paper-bound processes and many delays," Dyar adds. "Simply put, the systems we were using were becoming unsustainable."
In 2007, Dyar began searching for an e-commerce solutions provider, ultimately choosing NetSuite for the following reasons:
- its e-commerce solution was highly customized, meaning it could meet the unique unit sizing requirements of the flooring industry, such as square foot vs. linear foot sales;
- its centralized records and unified database could enable employees to seamlessly interact with prospects at any point along the long purchase sales cycle;
- its product management capabilities would allow SouthCypress.com to quickly and easily update information on thousands of products; and
- its analytics and reporting function would help South Cypress Floors to maximize return on inexpensive keyword search terms.
The decision was the right one, according to Dyar. For starters, because of its work with NetSuite, South Cypress Floors has seen an eightfold growth in revenue from 2007 to 2011 with just three dedicated sales professionals. NetSuite's solution has also enabled the flooring retailer to shift half of all of its transactions to the web, moving it closer to its goal of becoming a truly paperless office.
Several years ago, South Cypress Floors upgraded to NetSuite's cloud-based e-commerce solution and started receiving immediate benefits from the upgrade.
"NetSuite's cloud-based model allows us to scale without having to worry about additional IT infrastructure," Dyar says. "It also eliminates all version upgrading. In addition, there are significant reductions in energy costs and the total cost of ownership is lower."
The NetSuite solution even goes beyond simply being an e-commerce platform for South Cypress Floors. "It provides us with many options for managing our business, including the ability to access key performance indicators on an iPhone, for example, or schedule business meetings with our associates," Dyar says.
Dyar also credits the functionality and capabilities of NetSuite's e-commerce platform for his company’s excellent customer service. "We deal with thousands of customers and more than 500 orders per month with greater accuracy and superior customer service compared to industry rivals thanks to NetSuite," he says.
- People:
- Matt Dyar
- Places:
- Birmingham, Ala.
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