SnapLogic Helps Browns Shoes Manage Through Covid-19 Pandemic

Canadian retailer uses the SnapLogic platform to quickly adapt business processes and IT systems to meet surging online demand and maintain an exceptional customer experience

MONTREAL--(BUSINESS WIRE)--SnapLogic, provider of the #1 Intelligent Integration Platform, today announced that Browns Shoes, a leading Canadian shoe retailer, has used SnapLogic’s award-winning cloud integration platform to navigate new challenges during the Covid-19 pandemic.

After originally selecting SnapLogic to support a new Business Intelligence initiative within the organization, Covid-19 saw the retailer quickly shifting its IT focus following the closure of its 68 stores and a significant workforce reduction in its distribution center.

Despite the store closures, Browns Shoes’ loyal customers quickly made the jump online, and after a quiet first week in lockdown the retailer saw one of its biggest spikes resulting in a 300% increase in sales and one of the best days on record for the retailer. However, this brought its own challenges to Browns’ recently reduced workforce and existing technology systems, so the retailer used SnapLogic to quickly build out a range of new applications and processes within its distribution center to help its teams manage the surge in online demand.

“The last few months have been incredibly challenging for retailers of all sizes across all sectors as everyone has grappled with how to adapt while still delivering a quality shopping experience for customers,” said Alexandre Hubert, Senior Director, IT Strategy and Logistics, at Browns Shoes. “We’ve been laser-focused on how to best support our staff during this challenging time while also adjusting our business practices and IT systems to meet the evolving needs of our customers. SnapLogic has been invaluable in this regard. Thanks to its low-code platform and advanced automation capabilities we’ve been able to introduce a host of new processes and applications which support our distribution center, allowing our lean teams to operate quickly and efficiently to maintain the exceptional level of service and support our customers expect from us.”

New Challenges, New Opportunities

As a result of changes brought on by Covid-19, the first process Browns Shoes needed to overhaul was its customer returns process. Traditionally, 90% of returns were completed in-store, but with stores shuttered the distribution team was suddenly facing pallets of returns in its warehouse with no process to manage them beyond a pencil and paper. Using SnapLogic, the IT team built a brand new custom application from the ground up, with React as the front-end application and SnapLogic on the backend managing the data and integrating with other applications owned by the retailer. This new application was developed, tested, refined, and rolled out in less than one week, allowing the distribution team to vastly improve the rate at which returns could be processed while minimizing the number of people required to process them.

In addition, Browns Shoes’ partners were affected by Covid-19 as well. The carrier typically used by Browns Shoes to ship parcels to customers suffered a major bottleneck in deliveries, with delays of over two weeks. With purchase orders coming in at a record pace and customers expecting timely delivery, the Browns Shoes team had to pivot to a new carrier. To keep the process moving swiftly, the team used SnapLogic to integrate the new carrier into the existing workflow within 48 hours.

Hubert continued: “The type of growth we normally would expect to see on our e-commerce platform over three years took place in just two months. We’ve had to be creative, agile, and fast-moving in how we address the changing circumstances, and without a doubt, much of that wouldn’t have been possible without SnapLogic. We’ve been able to quickly respond to unexpected issues and remain competitive in an increasingly challenging environment. It was reassuring to know that every time we had a potential issue I could use SnapLogic to dynamically respond, introduce new automated processes, all without business interruption or delay.”

“Introducing new processes within an established organization can be tricky at the best of times, but Browns Shoes is a fantastic example of what can be achieved with determination and focus by an incredibly agile team, during times of unprecedented change,” said George Mogannam, Chief Revenue Officer at SnapLogic. “Building out new systems and automating new processes, in record time, is incredibly impressive in the face of Covid-19 and we look forward to the next phase of work with the company.”

SnapLogic’s Intelligent Integration Platform uses AI-powered workflows to automate all stages of IT integration projects – design, development, deployment, and maintenance – whether on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid environments. The platform’s easy-to-use, self-service interface enables both expert and citizen integrators to manage all application integration, data integration, API management, B2B integration, and data engineering projects on a single, scalable platform.

About SnapLogic

SnapLogic powers the automated enterprise. The company’s self-service, AI-powered integration platform helps organizations connect applications and data sources, automate common workflows and business processes, and deliver exceptional experiences for customers, partners, and employees. Thousands of enterprises around the world rely on the SnapLogic platform to integrate, automate, and transform their business. Learn more at snaplogic.com.

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