Harvey Nichols Case Study

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e-fulfilment/Multi-channel
Harvey Nichols Case Study
Clipper Logistics plc
Gelderd Road
Leeds
LS12 6LT
Tel: 0113 204 2050
email: info@clippergroup.co.uk
web: www.clippergroup.co.uk
Clipper, the UK’s leading retail and high-value logistics
provider, has been working in partnership with Harvey Nichols
since April 2005, initially providing warehouse and transport
operation from its new 100,000 sq ft Distribution Centre in
Northampton. Soon after, Harvey Nichols decided to expand,
opening two new stores and venturing into e-commerce.
Clipper have worked closely with Harvey Nichols over the last
six years, supporting its growth into new areas and offering
solutions for every new request.
The Customer
Harvey Nichols (“Harvey Nicks”), founded in 1813, is a luxury
department store chain. Its flagship store in London, originally
founded as a linen shop, offers many of the world’s most
prestigious brands in womenswear, menswear, accessories,
beauty and food.
February 2003 saw Harvey Nichols return to private
ownership, the store having been sold to Debenhams in
1919, which then became part of the Burton Group in 1985.
The Hong Kong-based businessmen Dr Dickson Poon, whose
retail businesses extend to North America, Europe, Japan,
China and Southeast Asia, now owns the store.
Harvey Nichols has stores in London, Leeds, Edinburgh,
Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol and Dublin.
The Challenge
Following the initial success of the e-commerce operation
set up within the warehouse in 2007, Harvey Nichols decided
to look at centralising more of its business, which was
outsourced at the time.
The company has a seasonal online hamper business that
is historically managed externally. In previous years, hampers
had been produced within a two-week window; however,
as products are imported from across Europe, delays often
put pressure on this build time. Harvey Nichols was therefore
looking for a more flexible and efficient solution to maximise
skills, experience and capacity at the Distribution Centre, as
well as to ensure timely delivery.
Clipper was approached in April 2009 to take over the
hamper packing and fulfilment of the seasonal hampers, and
to create a tailor-made solution specifically to support and
grow the brand.
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“Clipper have provided us with a much
more flexible and cost-efficient service,
which has benefited both the business
and the customer.”
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The Solution
Based on its ethos of ‘agility matched by ability’ Clipper
was quick to respond, working in close partnership
with Harvey Nichols to understand and facilitate their
exact requirements.
Clipper created a close relationship with the Harvey Nichols
food buyer to increase the gift box range. This gives the
team access to year-round gifts and they can now create
seasonal gift boxes when required.
Clipper established hamper production at the Distribution
Centre in Northampton to create greater flexibility for Harvey
Nichols, and also recommended basing the Customer
Service Desk in-house to improve the customers’ experience.
Clipper were able to extend the appeal of hampers across
all seasons by tailoring the build to the products that were
available at the time, increasing production at very short
notice, and reducing time wasted waiting for stock. Clipper
also implemented a batch code system, which enabled
it to track the expiry dates of every single component in
the hampers.
The Result
The Customer Service Desk went live at the Distribution
Centre in Northampton in September 2009, a couple of
months before the anticipated peak for hamper orders.
The Clipper team were able to manage this very quickly and
replicate Harvey Nichols’ renowned customer service.
The solution has proved very successful for Harvey Nichols,
and it is already enjoying significant benefits due to the
customer services team being based on site. Building the
hampers at the Distribution Centre allows Clipper to make
use of off-peak periods and reduces the extra cost
to Harvey Nichols, as well as increasing their
online offering.
Clipper’s planned strategy of only pre-building half the
proposed volumes enabled its teams to build extra hampers
for the best-selling lines, and gives the flexibility to quickly
respond to demand from the stores and queries from
customers to build some bespoke gifts to order.
Building the hampers at the Distribution Centre has reduced
costs significantly, and looking forward Clipper predicts that
further efficiencies can be created; for example, ordering
packaging on behalf of Harvey Nichols will enable greater
visibility and stock control.
Client Testimonial
“Since Clipper took over the hamper packing
and build, they have provided us with a
much more flexible and cost-efficient service,
which has benefited both the business and the
customer. We look forward to continuing our
partnership with Clipper and to creating further
efficiencies across the business.”
Martin Schofield, Group IT & Retail Operations, Harvey Nichols
Clipper Testimonial
“ Because of our vast experience we were able
to provide a solution that incorporated a totally
new way of looking at the hampers. This
allowed us to extend the offering beyond what
was expected. We look forward to meeting any
new challenges they give us.”
Ross Lee, General Manager, Clipper
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