Eiger: Omnichannel System Development

Challenge: How to Deliver Better Customer Experience Across All Channels?

Eiger Adventure (EIGER) was established in 1989 to supply outdoor enthusiasts with high-quality gear and equipment for their lifestyle. Founded by Indonesians under EIGERINDO MPI, the brand has been a trusted companion for exploring tropical nature. Recognizing that customer expectations have significantly evolved, EIGER aimed to provide a seamless shopping experience across online and offline channels. Hence, EIGER partnered with Suitmedia to build omnichannel systems, focusing on improved customer experience and streamlined internal operations.

Before developing the new systems, identifying EIGER’s primary business challenges and emerging obstacles in their operations was paramount. Firstly, EIGER had to innovate and create unique products since its competitors manufactured quite similar products and offered competitive prices. Additionally, EIGER encountered difficulty during the post-pandemic period, leading to a significant decline in demand for lifestyle products. Most importantly, the rapid development of technology in recent years has changed consumer behaviors, specifically in various methods that include offline and online shopping. If EIGER did not adapt to the technology and differentiate itself from competitors, it would be behind its competitors and fail to attract more customers.

Furthermore, EIGER faced several challenges impacting customer experience and operational efficiency. The previous systems were not user-friendly, creating obstacles in the customer shopping journey. For instance, claiming refunds was time-consuming and difficult for customers, leading to dissatisfaction and frustration. Also, there was inconsistency across systems and processes and uncertainty throughout the transaction journey, resulting in an inefficient customer experience while purchasing. Addressing this problem required a system that integrated its e-commerce platform with in-store transactions in order to meet customer expectations.

Therefore, EIGER aimed to build a comprehensive, seamless omnichannel system to elevate user experience. This primary goal aligned with its business goals, including creating innovation based on current trends and customer preferences, adding values as a brand that contributed to the environment and social life, strengthening its unique selling proposition, and building a community platform for Eigerian, known as EIGER’s customers, to share their experiences. By doing so, EIGER would successfully provide faster service for e-commerce and in-store transactions, setting it apart from other competitors. 

Solution: Creating a Fully Customized Omnichannel System to Enhance Customer Experience

Our strategy focused on developing a completely tailored omnichannel system to support all store transactions. This approach aimed to enhance customer operations across various channels as well as streamlining operations, enabling EIGER to provide faster services for its customers. Hence, Suitmedia and EIGER developed CARE as an omnichannel which integrated four essential components as follows:

1. POS (Point of Sales)

Available in desktop and mobile versions, POS was designed to support efficiency and quick transactions at EIGER stores. POS Desktop became the focal point of various activities, such as processing transactions, financial records, and sales data management. This software ensured efficiency and data accuracy for daily operations.

Meanwhile, the mobile POS system enabled cashiers to process transactions via Android smartphones, effectively reducing wait times during peak hours and eliminating the need for a stationary checkout.

In addition, we developed POS CARE (Back Office) for head office and store leaders, helping them to manage essential data for POS desktop. This application also provided detailed sales reports for data-driven decision-making, resulting in efficiency and improved store performance. 

2. OMS (Order Management System)

We designed OMS, a system that tracks all processes, such as incoming orders, inventory management, fulfillment, and after-sales service. This system integrated seamlessly with online channels and supported the “Endless Aisle” feature, allowing customers to order items directly from warehouses or other stores, ensuring they never leave empty-handed. 

3. WMS (Warehouse Management System)

To help EIGER control warehouse operations, we created WMS to synchronize, monitor, and manage real-stock inventory across outlets through desktop and mobile applications. 

The system provided comprehensive inventory management, tracking, movement, and store management features within the warehouse. For WMS Mobile, the features were a subset of features on the WMS desktop with a mobile-friendly layout and menu. 

4. Loyalty System

The EIGER Adventure Club (EAC) was developed to reinforce customer loyalty through a particular membership program. It offered various rewards and benefits as well as a pleasant shopping experience.

In developing CARE for EIGER, we adopted an agile methodology as a framework that segments the project into phases and emphasizes continuous collaboration and improvement. By applying this methodology, we started the processes from research to maintenance, as explained below. 

The initial phase was research analysis, which included gathering information to determine the functional and technical specifications. We conducted interviews and discussions with key stakeholders to collect essential information. It was followed by deeper analyses of evaluating current status, performing gap analysis, and proposing solutions. After this step, we collected and verified initial data, and then created UX wireframes to visualize the structure, features, components, and functionality. 

The next phase was design development, focusing on how the design could fulfill users’ needs and attract them. We defined the communication strategy for the website, developed design systems, and created the designs for all pages. 

During the implementation phase, we initially developed a static website as the front-end prototype. Then, we designed the database relationship structure, the logical web application architecture, and the physical infrastructure. The process continued by developing server-side applications, performing external data and API web service integration, performing server-side and client-side application integration, and conducting System Integration Testing (SIT) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT). Also, the front-end prototype development was repeated for testing at every development cycle. 

Subsequently, the deployment phase included setup and configuration, content migration, application deployment, and applications’ official launch. Our team also provided support during the post-launch period, ensuring that all systems and features ran smoothly. Not only did we support the launch, but we were also involved in the maintenance processes by conducting training sessions, updating server applications, monitoring and fixing any errors, and analyzing the website traffic. 

By integrating all customer journeys and touchpoints into a customizable omnichannel system, Suitmedia provided a distinctive solution for EIGER that aimed to elevate user experience. Since delivering a seamless shopping experience across various platforms, either from mobile devices or physical stores was foremost, omnichannel became the most suitable solution for a large retail company like EIGER.

Key Features of Point of Sales (POS)

POS Desktop & Mobile:

1. Day Begin/Day End: Support store operations that include activating sales transactions, closing transaction activities, and processing daily sales reports. 
2. Pay In/Out: Manage Pay In and Pay Out transactions using cash, replenish the initial balance of the cash drawer (Floating Cash), and deposit money to the Store Safe.
3. Point Of Sales: Simplify and boost the transaction process at the store. 
4. Endless Aisle POS: Order items directly from the central warehouse or other stores, offering delivery or pick-up options and making a booking. 
5. Cash Declare: Calculate money and record the amount based on the day’s transactions.

POS CARE:

1. System Setting: Oversee the information displayed on the POS Desktop. 
2. Till Management: Create and manage till codes for each store. 
3. Cash & Bank Management: Manage store transactions and petty cash, as well as calculate the total amount of money. 
4. Promotion: Create and manage promotions, including coupons and vouchers. 
5. Payment Configuration: Set up payment methods for transactions at the store. 
6. Price Zone: Control price increases on articles or SKU groups in certain stores. This feature is only accessible to the Head Office. 
7. POS Report: Provide various transaction reports that the Head Office, Store Leader, and Finance can access.

Key Features of Order Management System (OMS)

1. Dashboard: Provide bookkeeping information with sub-menus consisting of Sales, Inventory, Inbound, Fulfillment, Sampling, and Loyalty. On OMS, the Sales sub-menu displays EIGER’s sales summary. 
2. Master Data: Manage and store the master data used for the system. 
3. Order Processing: Monitor orders received from each channel or store. 
4. Reports: Oversee order reports according to Channel, Transporter, Payment, and Shipping Cost. 

Key Features of Warehouse Management System (WMS)

WMS Web:

1. Warehouse Management: Manage the components in the system, such as Zone, Bin, Sales Area, Article Label, and Store Floor. 
2. Monitoring: View the status and history of inventory movement and record incoming and outgoing transactions.  
3. Inventory Movement: Add, reduce, or move inventory from the bin or sales area in the store. 
4. Stock Opname: Conduct audit and inventory sampling, which includes viewing data and reports from Stock Opname. 
5. Inventory Transfer: Facilitate inventory delivery, order fulfillment, and shipment tracking. 
6. Inbound & Putaway: Support the management of receiving and placing items, including items from stores and canceled orders. 
7. WMS Reports: Manage various reports and view data and details more efficiently.

WMS Mobile:

1. Inbound: Perform STO inbound, inbound return, and inbound consignment, including manual and system-based putaway recommendations.
2. Inventory: Make requests and monitor goods movement by RA, pick and fulfill requests by warehouse staff, move goods in units or bulk, show stock information by location, and record physical stocks done by the auditor. 
3. Outbound: This feature includes incomplete SO and STO picklists, facilitates SO and STO scanning/picking, supports offline order picking for WMS Mobile, and generates manifest for packed orders.
4. Others (Supporting Features): Supporting features consist of push notifications for certain conditions, notification lists that direct users to the relevant menu, and download links for user manuals.

Key Features of Loyalty System 

Website EAC:

1. My Community: View the community’s profile, members, and special events. 
2. My Events: Explore both upcoming and past events that members have attended. 
3. My Points: View the total points, including earned and redeemed points. 
4. My Vouchers: Provide a list of vouchers that users can redeem. 
5. Transaction: View online and offline transactions made by members. 
6. Reviews: Display a list of transactions while allowing users to submit reviews for stores and products. 
7. Mission & Survey: Reward members with points or vouchers. The mission is to upload images and watch videos, whereas the survey consists of questions that members should answer. 
8. Promotion: Offer the latest promotions exclusively to members. 

Backoffice Loyalty:

1. Dashboard: Manage data on growth performance, member summary, performance summary, transaction summary, and ranked summary. 
2. Member: Manage list of members and referral data. 
3. Community: Manage community data and invite new communities to join. 
4. Campaign: Create, change, and delete campaign data. 
5. Employee: Oversee the employee data of EIGER and its sister company. 
6. Brand Ambassador: Add, delete, and change the data of Brand Ambassador while viewing the transactions. 
7. Manual Transaction: Manually input offline transaction data. 

Result: Big Leap that Increase Customer Satisfaction and Internal Operations

As a result of EIGER and Suitmedia’s collaboration, we successfully developed an omnichannel that facilitates transactions and promotional activities. The CARE system has effectively handled in-store transaction processes and has been integrated with the WMS, OMS, and Loyalty systems. Additionally, the development of OMS has led to more streamlined transactions across various marketplaces and better delivery service integration, which has improved tracking capabilities.

The Loyalty Program, specifically designed to meet EIGER’s business needs, accommodates a wide range of promotions and loyalty schemes. Furthermore, the customer experience has also been elevated through the development of POS Mobile, enabling EIGER to support operational and sales procedures. 

The project has received positive feedback from customers and EIGER’s team, highlighting the success of developing seamless and integrated systems. One of their team members said, “These systems significantly improve EIGER’s efficiency of operations. In the retail industry, the primary goal is to deliver a captivating shopping experience—from making transactions and earning membership rewards to redeeming points, claiming refunds, and more.”