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Columbia Sportswear gets wired for omnichannel and modern POS for 120 stores in record time
Columbia Sportswear Company (Columbia) is one of the biggest names in outerwear in the world. Founded in 1938 and with current annual net revenues regularly over $3b, the company’s products are sold in 72 countries, in 13,000 retailers, online, and in more than 400 of its own stores.
Waseem UddinSenior Director – Global Demand Chain Management Systems at ColumbiaThe [Argano] team is better because of their knowledge — their domain experience combined with their tech knowledge. They’re not just order takers.
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The Challenge
Words like “nimble” and “agility” do not often apply to companies with a global footprint as large as Columbia’s, but that’s exactly what the company required in its retail operations.
The company was experiencing a range of challenges: lack of visibility into stock, inaccurate data, an outdated point-of-sale (POS) system, and an inconsistent customer experience.
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The Solution
Columbia chose Argano to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 to solve its back-end challenges and deliver an improved customer experience. The project was given guiding principle and a title: Customer First.
In addition to managing Columbia’s overall functional architecture, Argano provided consulting services in streamlining order management, store inventory optimization, and improving both customer loyalty and in-store workflows.
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The Result
In near record-breaking time—a project that can often take years took only months—Columbia was equipped with a nimble, agile solution that helped the company enjoy immediate and impressive success.
Columbia saw sales in their flagship store increase by 50% on Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year, thanks to a great team and a modern POS solution which had gone live ahead of schedule in more than 120 stores.
As always, working with Argano means value in more ways than one. In this case, Columbia also derived value from the team’s retail expertise as well. According to Waseem Uddin, Senior Director – Global Demand Chain Management Systems at Columbia, “The [Argano] team is better because of their knowledge — their domain experience combined with their tech knowledge. They’re not just order takers.”