Micronet Systems Ensures No One`s Better in the Bedroom than

Micronet Systems Ensures No One’s
Better in the Bedroom than Bedshed
Bedshed Franchising Pty Ltd is one of Australia’s largest specialty bedding
and bedroom furniture retailers, 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.
“Customisable Franchise Solution Underpins Bedshed Growth.”
IT Overhaul Facilitates Growth
Back in 2005, Bedshed was using an outdated and unsupported
accounting system. Requiring a full software and business
process overhaul to support its expansion plans, Bedshed began
a year long evaluation process. In consultation with its franchisee
council and after a successful pilot project with the Mandurah
(WA) store, the group selected Micronet Systems’ customisable
Franchise Solution.
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.
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Real-Time Sales Analysis
Flexible Pricing Management
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.
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.
“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.”
“Our partnership with Micronet has enabled Bedshed to
deliver on our goal of running Australia’s most profitable
bedding business on a store by store basis.”
Gavin Culmsee, General Manager Operations,
Bedshed Franchising Pty Ltd.
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.
Micronet’s Inter Company Trading module 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.”
“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.”
About Micronet Systems: Since the introduction of its first generation product in 1983, Micronet
Systems business solutions have been implemented in over 2000 companies. Servicing a diverse
range of industries, Micronet has customers and operations throughout Australia, New Zealand,
United Kingdom, South Africa and the Pacific Islands.
Micronet Systems Australia
T: + 61 2 9542 2000
F: + 61 2 9542 2100
www.micronet.com.au