New B2B Online Commerce System Streamlines Business Operations
for International Franchise Partners
LONDON, Oct. 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc.
(NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based
financials / ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, and
global consultancy Accenture (NYSE: ACN), today announced that
WHSmith, the UK-based retail chain offering a wide range of books,
newspapers, magazines, stationery and gifts, has launched a new
cloud-based, B2B online commerce system on NetSuite SuiteCommerce
to support its rapidly growing franchise business.
SuiteCommerce's B2B capabilities allow WHSmith to provide a
robust, secure and easy-to-use commerce system where the retailer's
franchise partners and wholesale partners across the UK,
Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia can efficiently make purchases,
manage payments, review order history and account details, and
request refunds and returns from a secure, password-protected
online environment. WHSmith has also eliminated manual processes
from its previous systems such as faxing and emailing orders.
SuiteCommerce has helped position WHSmith to more rapidly secure
additional franchisees, improve operational efficiencies and
deliver rich self-service capabilities and exceptional customer
service.
"WHSmith sells its own brand and selected branded merchandise to
over 200 franchise stores and various wholesale customers
throughout the world. To meet the needs of our customers we needed
to develop a world-class business-to-business commerce
capability. NetSuite SuiteCommerce offers an ideal combination
of rapid time to market and rich functionality that will help us
support the growth of our franchise and wholesale business," said
David McGrath, Head of Shared IT
Services at WHSmith. "It's a win-win for both WHSmith and our
franchise partners that will streamline operations, help us
future-proof our business and open the door to strategic
opportunities for continued growth."
WHSmith selected SuiteCommerce based on its depth of
functionality and speed of implementation versus the complex and
protracted option to extend its legacy, on-premise systems.
Accenture's alliance relationship with NetSuite and broad
experience implementing complex digital commerce projects made
it an obvious choice for the project. Accenture integrated
SuiteCommerce with WHSmith's on-premise system. Accenture and
NetSuite helped the global retailer launch its new
self-service commerce system and speed time to value.
SuiteCommerce provides the flexibility and agility WHSmith needs
to drive superior customer experiences, increase efficiencies and
future proof its business. With SuiteCommerce, ecommerce is
seamlessly integrated with back-end operational systems, including
order and inventory management, marketing, customer support and
financials. Businesses that run SuiteCommerce are empowered to
deliver innovative and seamless brand experiences across multiple
touchpoints – all from a single, unified, cloud-based commerce
platform that provides unprecedented visibility into business and
customer data.
SuiteCommerce enables WHSmith to offer the following key
features and benefits to its franchise partners:
Great user experience. The intuitive, user friendly
website enables franchisees to easily and quickly accomplish what
they need to do to support their business and streamline business
operations.
Buying efficiencies. Buyers can create and save custom
shopping lists to expedite recurring purchases.
Mobile commerce. Native, responsive web design
capabilities in SuiteCommerce optimise the site for any device,
meeting the growing need of buyers to access information and
complete transactions anywhere, anytime.
Self-service account management. Customisable dashboards
provide buyers with outstanding and available balances, deposits,
credit limits and memos and current terms. Buyers can authorise
purchasers, print statements, view transaction histories and update
key account data.
Billing and payment flexibility. Buyers can view and pay
invoices online in a secure, password-protected environment.
Inventory visibility. Franchisees can see up-to-date
inventory to enable accurate purchasing decisions and sidestep
problems that can occur with unexpected stock-outs.
Today, more than 24,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on
NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes
globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has
established itself as the leading provider of enterprise-ready
cloud business management suites of enterprise resource planning
(ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and ecommerce
applications for businesses of all sizes. Many FORTUNE 100
companies rely on NetSuite to accelerate innovation and business
transformation. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the
best cloud business management suites to businesses around the
world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while
increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud
accelerates.
About WHSmith
WHSmith operates over 1,300 stores, in
the UK and in international locations including Northern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The retailer occupies over 700
retail units in airports, railway stations, hospitals and motorway
service areas and more than 600 high street stores. With more than
14,000 employees, WHSmith sells a wide range of newspapers,
magazines, stationery, books and confectionery products, with
WHSmith Travel tailoring its offer to meet the needs of people on
the move. To learn more, please visit
http://www.whsmithplc.co.uk.
About Accenture
Accenture is a global management
consulting, technology services and outsourcing company, with more
than 358,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries.
Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities
across all industries and business functions, and extensive
research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture
collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance
businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of
US$31.0 billion for the fiscal year
ended Aug. 31, 2015. Its home page is
www.accenture.com.
About NetSuite
NetSuite Inc. is the industry's leading
provider of cloud-based financials / Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) and omnichannel commerce software suites. In addition to
financials/ERP and omnichannel commerce software suites, NetSuite
offers a broad suite of applications, including financial
management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), ecommerce and
retail management, commerce marketing automation, Professional
Services Automation (PSA) and Human Capital Management (HCM) that
enable companies to manage most of their core business operations
in its single integrated suite. NetSuite software allows businesses
to automate operations, streamline processes and access real-time
business information anytime, anywhere. For more information about
NetSuite, please visit www.netsuite.co.uk.
Follow NetSuite's Cloud blog, NetSuite's Facebook page and
@NetSuiteEMEA Twitter handle for real-time updates.
NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are service marks of
NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of
their respective owners.
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