Mulesoft > Case Studies > Tackling Omnichannel

Tackling Omnichannel

Customer Company Size

Large Corporate

Country

Worldwide

Product

Online Store Stock Check (OSSC)

Tech Stack

MuleSoft's Anypoint Platform
APIs

Implementation Scale

Enterprise-wide Deployment

Impact Metrics

Customer Satisfaction
Revenue Growth

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - API Integration & Management

Applicable Industries

Retail

Applicable Functions

Business Operation
Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Inventory Management
Supply Chain Visibility

Services

Software Design & Engineering Services
System Integration

About The Customer

GANT is a global fashion retailer with over 750 stores in 70 countries. The company is transitioning into an omnichannel brand by leveraging digital technology. In order to survive in today's disruptive environment, the retailer is bringing IT to the forefront as a strategic enabler. With the rise of mobile and social media, customers today interact with their brand across various touchpoints. For example, a customer can see a shirt on Instagram or visit GANT.com to learn more about GANT and other product offerings. But that customer might eventually choose to buy the shirt in a store nearby because they want to try the shirt on. GANT found that this type of multi-channel shopper has a higher conversion rate, particularly on mobile, and led to 30-40% more profitability.

The Challenge

GANT, a global fashion retailer, wanted to provide a consistent experience across channels to keep up with changing customer preferences. However, they identified a major missed opportunity when customers found items out of stock online that were available in stores. This resulted in a negative customer experience and lower profits for the company. GANT sought to optimize orders across channels, but this initiative proved complex since data was siloed across systems, preventing real-time inventory updates. The retailer wanted to establish more control across its application landscape. And when it came to innovative new projects like the OSSC initiative, it was hard to make informed judgments about how long the project will be, and how much it would cost.

The Solution

GANT created APIs to expose data from across multiple systems to launch an omnichannel inventory product bridging the online and in-store experience. By setting up a Center for Enablement (C4E), GANT is making APIs available to lines of business for self-service, reuse and innovation. Using MuleSoft, GANT was able to abstract the complexity from various systems and ensure the data was available to different lines of business. Once connectivity, structure, and documentation was present, GANT started to look at how to provide information services in the most efficient way, both internally and externally. The retailer began building a service-based architecture. Through an API that GANT developed with MuleSoft, when the customer clicks on the store to check product availability, the inventory API pulls out the store data and then matches it with the stock data from GANT's retail system. Then, this data is displayed to the customer so they can call the store to reserve or buy that product.

Operational Impact

GANT was able to provide a seamless customer experience across channels.
The retailer was able to establish more control across its application landscape.
GANT was able to meet omnichannel expectations and prepare for future projects.
The retailer was able to provide information services in the most efficient way, both internally and externally.

Quantitative Benefit

The product availability feature was rolled out across five different markets three times more quickly then if GANT would have used traditional point-to- point integration.
Reusable integrations with clear structure and reused system integration interfaces allows for 1/3 cheaper roll out in future markets.