Danish retailer Bestseller  with its top fashion forward banners is expanding its global footprint with an aggressive new store program in North America. Bestseller Canada chose GSI’s Retail-1 Suite to power the retail technology supporting this program. “Retail-1 gives us the tight controls at both the head office and store level so we can pursue our expansion program with confidence” said Benoit Bouchard, Retail Operations Director of Bestseller Canada.

The primary focus for Bestseller expansion in Canada is through the Jack & Jones brand. The target market is young men 18-30 with an edgy offering around jeans and accessories. “Our uniqueness comes from offering a total concept representing true value for money. It’s the only standalone store devoted solely to men in the 18-30 age group. All other offerings are unisex. Among our products, from a value standpoint, we are offering goods made with Italian fabrics from the same Italian factories as higher priced competitors“, said Bouchard.

While driving expansion with the Jack & Jones brand, Bouchard also revealed plans to roll out at ladies only brand, “ONLY” as a parallel standalone banner with a focus on jeans with an edgy total concept for young women in the 18-30 age group.
The overall roll-out plan for Bestseller Canada calls for 50 stores in a three year period. In less than a year, the firm has rolled out 14 stores primarily in Quebec. In the Spring, the firm expects to roll out another ten stores to fill out Quebec then start on an additional ten store roll-out in Ontario. After reaching the 30 store plateau, Bestseller Canada will look westward with store openings in Edmonton, Calgary, and Vancouver.
With a rapid growth plan, selecting a stable full featured head office and store point-of-sale system was critical. “With my previous experience, choosing GSI was an easy solution. I needed a retail system I could rely on to run this growing business” said Bouchard.

While Bestseller’s target markets continue to be robust, competition is intense. Confidence in the underlying technology that supports both the head office requirements and easily absorb each new store were key factors in Bestseller’s decision to implement GSI’s Retail-1 solution for specialty retailers. “It’s a real balancing act to manage new store openings and maintain profitability in current operations”, Bouchard said. “(GSI’s) EIS module is great for such an operation”.
The new store system rollout began August 20. Less than 16 weeks from the project start. For his small head office and new store rollout teams, Bouchard has great praise. “We stretched everyone to the impossible. But we did it…I’m so proud of them”, he said.

Bestseller has implemented Retail-1 Merchant for head office merchandise and inventory management, purchasing and distribution, store and employee management as well as customer relationship management systems. Retail-1 Store encompassed POS functions as well as store operations including store inventory, employee scheduling and time clock, and customer service capabilities. Included in each new store rollout is Retail-1 Store and GSI’s integrated debit-credit card support. “In the future we will look to add GemX Money Card, Red Line, and e-Shipper”, said Bouchard.

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