Mothercare buyer increases productivity and autonomy

Retail sourcer strengthens its independence through system overhaul

The sourcing division of retailer Mothercare has overhauled its financial systems and saved more than a year’s worth of man-hours in productivity in three months.

The firm, which sources and buys goods for Mothercare, replaced ageing and inflexible bespoke software to allow a clearer view of its purchasing decisions and to boost competitiveness.

The division installed financial management software from Coda in November, and has already seen significant benefits, according to Stephanie Cooper, financial controller of Mothercare’s sourcing division.

‘We have already saved an estimated 655 man days a year, and have the key information we need for better management and buying decisions,’ she said.

The previous in-house systems hampered efficiency and competitiveness, says Cooper.

‘We were set up five years ago as an independent sourcing arm, which gives us the autonomy to compete with others to get Mothercare the best deal,’ she said.

‘As we’re treated like a third-party supplier we have to prove we are competitive so we don’t lose our edge. Our systems could not tell us everything about the business, such as how much we were spending on freight.’

Cooper says eliminating data duplication, improving staff productivity and providing better financial reporting to management was also key.

‘The bespoke system we had was based on a fully integrated 15-year-old stock system that was not very user-friendly. There was a lot of duplication to drive the financials process.’

Cooper says it was important that the new system could be managed by the small division and not the central IT department.

‘We configure, set up and administer the system. We don’t want to rely on the IT department for help in writing reports,’ she says.