Bedshed Franchising Pty Ltd is a specialty bedding and bedroom furniture retailer with 46 stores in Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales. With 28 years in retail, this core business of the Joyce Corporation has proven to be highly profitable in a market crowded with major retailers, franchise chains and independent local operators.
Despite the lacklustre economy and increasingly competitive retail environment, recent sales have been strong. Bedshed, a wholly Australian owned and operated company, has rapidly expanded into the east coast markets, posting average revenue growth of 12% pa over the past four years.
With a strategy of national expansion set to continue for both company owned and franchised stores, the focus on sustained growth will be underpinned by a robust business management infrastructure provided by Bedshed’s technology partner, Micronet Systems .
IT Overhaul Facilitates Growth
Bedshed was using an outdated and unsupported accounting system back in 2005 and required a full software and business process overhaul to support its expansion plans. In consultation with its franchisee council and after a successful pilot project with the Mandurah (WA) store, the group selected the customisable Franchise Solution offered by franchise IT services provider, Micronet Systems.
Critical to selection was the ability to seamlessly integrate POS systems in franchise stores with Bedshed’s business management systems and to customise the solution to meet the unique requirements of handling bulky, high value goods with low sales volumes and extended lead times.
"The Micronet solution enabled us to fully automate many existing business processes with our franchise stores, streamlining our operations and completely eliminating traditional faxed-based order and invoice systems," said Gavin Culmsee, General Manager Operations, Bedshed Franchising Pty Ltd.
"Integrating POS, supply chain and accounting processes, complex business flows like managing long-lead delivery scheduling, linking of purchase orders to sales orders and managing customer financing plans were seamlessly managed in the one system."
"Opening twelve new stores in the past eighteen months further highlighted the need to streamline business processes. Using the Micronet solution, Bedshed has implemented a standard operating environment, enabling us to rapidly roll out new stores and train new staff in all states."
Hosted Environment – Minimising IT Costs
Faced with the task of bringing 32 franchisee and 14 company owned stores online with a new system, Bedshed turned to a hosted ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) IT model. All stores use the same online business system, dramatically lowering IT management costs and providing Bedshed with a rich central data warehouse for greater business analysis.
"Micronet’s hosted online business platform allows franchisees to easily manage back-end operations, saving money on accountants, bookkeepers and IT consultants. As Bedshed is actively seeking to expand its franchising partners across Australia, the system enables new franchisees to access Bedshed’s customised business systems without a large, up front IT investment. Our new franchisees are trading immediately using a monthly, pay as you go system."
With SLA backed 24/7 access and support for critical business systems, this hosted model has released Bedshed’s head office staff from managing back-office IT operations, enabling more time to be spent planning and managing business growth.
Real-Time Sales Analysis
Using Micronet’s centralised reporting modules, accurate and timely sales reports provide greater business visibility, resulting in improvements in forecasting, average transaction values and margins.
"In today’s competitive and often unpredictable retail environment close analysis of sales trends is critical to maintaining profitability at a store level. Micronet’s advanced reporting features have allowed us to track and improve our average transaction values by 10% across all stores."
Optimising Inventory Levels
Significant growth over the past 18 months has meant keeping close tabs on inventory throughout the supply chain, including tracking shipments from many local bedding manufacturers and importers of furniture.
"By providing complete visibility into the supply chain, Micronet’s solution has enabled Bedshed to closely manage stock levels, improving cash flow and ensuring adequate levels are available to meet customer demand, whilst minimising duplication between central and individual store warehouses."
Flexible Pricing Management
Faced with vastly differing freight costs for shipping bulky goods like mattresses and furniture across different states, Bedshed operates several regional pricing groups within its system.
The Inter Company Trading module offered by franchise business serices group Micronet, enables Bedshed to centrally manage pricing and product codes for all pricing groups. This ability to globally update pricing and promotional programs live into the system ensures all stores are using the most up to date pricing information.
Ease of Use for Retail Staff
As retail is often characterised by high staff turnover, Bedshed needed a system that was easy for its many casual retail staff to learn and use. Training is conducted for franchise owners in each state, but day-to-day staff training is often conducted on the fly, supported by a dedicated Micronet support line for user inquiries.
"Administration and retraining staff is the bain of many retailers’ existence. A recent franchisee satisfaction survey indicated Bedshed’s 32 franchisee owners ranked user friendliness and simplicity as the real key to the system’s success, ensuring our franchisees regularly sleep easy."