Van Cranenbroek handles growth with Colleqtive

Van Cranenbroek is a fast-growing retail organization with a wide range of products: from garden furniture to pet food. The combination of seasonal crowds, physical stores and a webshop creates high demands on the operation. To improve customer experience, availability and stock reliability, the family business chose Colleqtive.

Focus on customer experience and availability

"We think it is important to improve our customer experience. I mean for example the service you get, the availability of the products in the store, being helped immediately, being able to reserve a product and being able to pick up a product immediately," says Stephan Hendriks, director of IT. "So all aspects of customer experience."

From shop floor to warehouse and webshop

Colleqtive's apps are installed on all devices in the stores and are combined with mobile printers, for example for quickly printing pick-up receipts. What started on the shop floor has now been extended to the warehouse and the webshop. "Recently, we also started a webshop environment. And there too we started using the Colleqtive software. For receiving, picking and then also packing the goods," says Hendriks.

More mobility on the shop floor

The work process has been greatly improved for store employees. Where they used to have to walk to a fixed computer every time, they now have access to the necessary information via their scanner at any place in the store. "It doesn't matter where," says Morris Stevens, assistant store manager. "So we have actually become very mobile."

This mobility not only reduces walking distances, but also saves time and provides faster service to customers. "We can work faster, a customer is helped faster. Previously, we only saw that something was going to come in 'someday'. Then we had no idea; Is it weeks, months or possibly just days? Now we can see it very accurately. So we can actually say something very specifically to a customer: it's coming and it's coming soon."

Reliable inventory, scalable processes

Stock reliability has increased considerably, which is also reflected in the periodic counts. "But we also see that we no longer miss out if a customer has a request," adds Hendriks.

The organization has grown rapidly in recent years – in turnover, shop floor and assortment. "The retail shop floor has increased by about 50%. The collection too, in terms of numbers of products. And we have definitely been able to keep up with that growth by using Colleqtive. To still achieve the good customer experience."

Efficiency as a precondition for growth

"In summary, my experience is that you really need a tool like Colleqtive. To improve your customer experience and keep up with your growth. In other words, efficiency in your shopping processes. It is definitely recommended for other retailers to consider."