Hunter Bell's Journey to Efficient Inventory Management with Toolio

About

Hunter Bell

Hunter Bell, a celebrated fashion brand renowned for its feminine silhouettes and vibrant use of color, has revolutionized its inventory planning and management strategy since adopting Toolio's integrated solution. By leveraging Toolio's advanced features and data-driven insights, Hunter Bell has significantly enhanced its inventory efficiency, minimized stockouts and dead stock, and elevated its overall business performance. This strategic move has not only bolstered Hunter Bell's operational agility but has also amplified its commitment to quality and craftsmanship, reinforcing its status as a leader in contemporary women's fashion.

Use Cases

Inventory Planning and Management

Demand Forecasting

Collaboration and Communication

Modules

Merchandise Planning

Assortment and Item Planning

Reporting

Location

United States

Canada

50%

Reduction in Inventory

50%+

savings in time and effort on planning

Cost Savings

Equivalent to 1 FTE

Solution

Overcoming Challenges with Excel-Based Planning

Before implementing Toolio, the planning team at Hunter Bell relied on Excel-based processes for inventory planning and management, spending 20 hours per week on these tasks. This approach lacked the necessary visibility and insights to make data-driven decisions effectively. By adopting Toolio, Hunter Bell has experienced a significant transformation in its inventory planning and management processes. The team now spends only 5-10 hours per week on these tasks, saving 50% or more of their time and effort compared to their previous tools and processes.

Maggie Barclay

Planning Director

"There are so many metrics that have given us the data we need to feel more confident about buying deeper into merchandise. The weeks of supply metric has helped us see potential to reorder styles if they are selling at a fast rate or pivot with additional marketing tools if a style is moving at a slower rate."

A Closer Look at Metrics

50% Reduction in Inventory: Maggie Barclay highlights that Hunter Bell has achieved a remarkable massive reduction in inventory compared to the previous year, with a significant decrease in aged stock. This optimization “has greatly improved our turn and we're maximizing our potential."
FTE Cost Savings: Toolio's implementation has led to substantial cost savings for Hunter Bell. Barclay states, "It has greatly improved the efficiency in my role and likely has saved us from hiring an additional mid-level employee."
Enhanced Collaboration and Visibility: Toolio has streamlined collaboration and communication among Hunter Bell's team members and stakeholders. "Directors do a great job of looking at Monday Toolio reporting to understand the state of the business at a high level. Everyone is invested in understanding the business a bit more now that they have visibility," says Barclay, highlighting the improved transparency and engagement across the organization.

Data-Driven Decision Making

Toolio's integration of high-resolution images in its style reporting feature has improved the way Hunter Bell's planning team analyzes historical sales data and makes informed decisions about future assortments. Maggie Barclay emphasizes the significance of this feature, stating, "I love that images are included in the by style reporting - as someone who is looking at historical selling on best selling silhouettes, I appreciate the ability to quickly click on an image and see a full high res version of the style."

By seamlessly incorporating high-quality visuals, Toolio enables the Hunter Bell team to efficiently analyze product performance, identify key visual attributes, collaborate more effectively, and streamline the creation of visual merchandising plans, ultimately enhancing their overall decision-making process.

Driving Operational Excellence

Hunter Bell's experience with Toolio has been highly positive, with the brand achieving significant cost savings equivalent to an FTE through improved efficiency. The implementation of Toolio has provided valuable insights into various aspects of the business that were previously unavailable due to the limitations of their existing systems.

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Maggie Barclay expresses her satisfaction with Toolio, stating, "We have been so pleased with Toolio as a planning and reporting tool! Another vendor we use has terrible reporting capabilities so our integration to Toolio has opened our eyes to so many pieces of the business that we couldn't see before and the customer support has also been outstanding."

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With Toolio's support, Hunter Bell has successfully navigated the challenges of inventory management, optimized its processes, and positioned itself for continued growth and success in the dynamic fashion industry.

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