Retail Case Studies
Diversified Consumer Products
Strengthening the Distribution Chain
In the so-called "retail chain," every link must be connected as strongly as possible in order for cost-savings to reach the consumer. This requires a streamlined information flow from the manufacturer to the distributor and retailer, who ultimately reaches the consumer.
Consider the objectives of this major diversified consumer products company with a sprawling network of customer service reps supporting 25,000 independent distributors, two call center locations and remote dealers all of whom need to exchange mountains of information on a variety of diverse consumer goods. Compound that with new products, discontinued products, special promotions, distributor and pass-through retailer "spiffs."
For docHarbor, this company presented a document management challenge which included customer service documents, dealer information requirements, reports, statements and tax documents such as 1099s, then the seamless integration of the outsourced service with the company's existing website.
The result was improved customer service from the distributor's perspective, and outsourcing to docHarbor's secure capture, manage and delivery capability also resulted in a three year back-file conversion, streamlined reports on dealer activity, huge savings in time and money over printing and mailing costs, and the capability to support a 24x7 serviced organization in an around-the-clock supply chain world.
Not only did docHarbor manage to create a profit-driven document
management capability, it also created a powerful and accurate,
constantly updated response mechanism that enabled distributor
self-service order management.
International Retailer
Retail Margins Leave No Margin for Error
A major international retailer needed to improve its profitability by improving its first-call resolution rate and by better coordinating access and communication with overseas divisions throughout Europe and Asia, as well as North America.
Employees in customer service, credit balance research, recovery, accounting and collections all needed equal access to adverse action letters, credit applications, client correspondence and settlement and financial reporting. Before docHarbor was called, the information was spread across mainframe documents, client server print output files, fax capture and scanned documents.
Turning to docHarbor, the retail company now enjoys a central repository for all updated documents, eliminating the tedium and cost of document distribution, improving retrieval time, which, in turn has sped up credit and payment tracking, and improving collaboration with its overseas divisions.
And it was all achieved without major capital expenses and by retaining and integrating the company's existing inquiry servicing system.