Project Description
Facilitating the system development and enhancements necessary for migration to a new store numbering schematic to support future retail site growth.
The Client
A $3+ billion wholesaler and retailer of children’s apparel and accessories, operating over 800 retail stores globally and distributing products online as well as through wholesale and exclusive branded retail partnerships.
The Challenge
The retailer originally allocated three digits within all its technology systems to identify store locations (i.e. store numbers 1-999). However, the company’s recent retail store growth and future plans necessitated a four-digit numbering schematic (i.e. store numbers 1000, 1001). Along with new store numbering, the general ledger (GL) accounts tied to the store numbers required a revised designation to track new stores for accounting purposes.
The client’s planning and budgeting for the next fiscal year included aggressive expansion of retail stores in the U.S. and international markets to meet revenue and margin targets for the year. Without remediation of the current systems’ limitations, those goals would be in jeopardy.
The Parker Avery Solution
The Parker Avery Group worked with the client as both project manager and business analyst to identify and assess all finance, human resources, and supply chain systems using store numbers and / or GL accounts tied to the retail stores.
Key activities included the following:
- Identified and assessed all systems that required enhancements or configuration changes to handle four-digit stores, as well as the accompanying GL accounts
- Coordinated with software vendors to deliver changes within specified budgets and timelines
- Ensured quality assurance testing was conducted and completed prior to implementation so all business functions and processes would operate as required
- Oversaw implementation activities for all systems in which enhancements were developed