Mothersbliss.com Ltd
Case Study
Sector: Retail
Employees: 3
Location: Loughton, Essex
The big idea :- to trade as a highly automated web-based enterprise to compete against established high street competitors.
What they do
Mothersbliss sells more than 350 mother and baby product lines through its online shopping centre, established in 2001.
The challenge
…was to build a highly efficient and profitable retail business focused on mother and baby needs. Founder, mother and CEO, Ranjana Hari, realised that she could not go for a high street presence on the basis of cost and would have to be ultra-efficient throughout the whole operation, keeping staffing to the minimum.
The solution
'Our strategy from the outset was to trade as a wholly internet business. We believed this was the only way we could compete effectively with the major retailers that dominate the marketplace,' says Ranjana,
To support this strategy, it was necessary to automate as much administration as possible, including order processing and fulfilment, stock management, procurement and elements of customer care.
Central to the business is the website. Customers can browse the online store and then place secure, multicurrency orders using a third party provider to process payments. As soon as an order is received, an acknowledgement is automatically emailed to the customer with no human intervention required.
This, however, is just the start. Orders are processed by an on-line inventory management system. This not only maintains a complete record of current stock levels but also reorders stock automatically when defined thresholds are reached. Using stock availability and delivery data, it will then schedule when orders can be dispatched, forwarding detailed instructions to the fulfilment warehouse. Again, customers are automatically notified when their orders are dispatched.
Issues arising
'One of the greatest challenges for the company early on was to gain the trust of suppliers and customers,' says Ranjana. 'The dot.com crash was then fresh in many people's minds, although this is less so now.'
Another problem Ranjana needed to tackle was getting all the suppliers - from large companies to homeworkers - to adopt the company's e-systems. 'Many can and will adapt but inability to do so can limit the extent to which supply chain automation can be fully embedded' says Ranjana.
The outcome
Being technology-led and wholly customer-focused has enabled Mothersbliss to grow turnover from £21,000 per annum at startup to just over £1 million in less than three years.
The website has some 19,000 registered members and the company receives approximately 1,000 orders per month - all administered by just one employee!
This attention to employee/technology efficiency involves continuous review of the campany's processes. Inventory levels are kept to a minimum, resulting in costs savings and allowing the company to confidently outsource stocking and delivery to a third party warehouse. Working capital is therefore freed for more profitable use.
Ranjana says, 'By exploiting technology to the full we've created a lean, efficient, customer-focused company that's grown dramatically with no additional staffing.'
What could they do next?
Could they franchise a direct selling arm (Mothersbliss at Home, perhaps) to mothers who would organise baby parties in homes in their locality?
What could you do?
Have you an idea for a product or service that could be turned into a successful business by applying and integrating IT to such levels as Mothersbliss have?
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