Changing times: DB Journey enlists Xiatech for digital transformation push
Bags, backpacks and travel luggage company, Db Journey, had grown quickly due to high demand for its products.
It therefore recognised the need to modernise and future proof its technology landscape by embarking on an accelerated customer-centric digital transformation.
In a webinar hosted last week by Xiatech CEO, Jonathan Summerfield, Rafael Orozco, CTO and Head of Operations at Db Journey, discussed a journey that has delivered rapid business value, including decreasing logistics costs by 30%.
Those tuning in also learned: why Db Journey has embraced Hyper-Integration, a modern approach to business integration, to seamlessly connect systems, data, people and processes to drive digital transformation.
Summerfield noted that shoppers have more choice than ever before, and, due to the Covid-19 powered shift online, they are also less loyal to retailers and brands.
They therefore require companies to engage with them in new ways.
“We’re facing a unique set of circumstances. You have to go out and meet the customer wherever they are, be that B2B, B2C etc,” Orozco said.
“There are big opportunities for brands that get this right. Marketplaces are more varied and bigger, physical retail is making a comeback.”
Enter Hyper-Integration. Connect your systems, unify your data and deliver continuous insights in real-time.
“There’s a chance to start with a level playing field. If you’re an emerging brand that’s willing to adapt and bring agility in to your operations, you will be able to capitalise in a rapidly changing market. That’s an area where Xiatech has played a big role in our digital transformation.”
He added: “When we first came to Xiatech, we had lots of legacy systems, a lot of patchwork. Things were very siloed and it was very difficult to stitch things together and get actionable insights from this.”
“We almost had to reengineer the entire back end of our company so that it could scale quickly in the future. But that investment is paying off now, in regards to unlocking data and so on.”
“We are able to react much faster than before. The brands that succeed are the ones that can act quickly, whether it be a growth environment or controlled environment.”
Whilst investment in digital and technology is key to success, projects of this nature can seem like a daunting prospect to retailers dealing with legacy systems and processes.
But they don’t have to take up a huge amount of time, Summerfield stressed.
“I come from a Marks and Spencer, Tesco background, where tech programmes could take two years to deliver,” he said. “Nowadays people can’t wait that long. Some of the things we’ve been doing, we’ve moved within a matter of weeks.”
Orozco observed: “If anything is missing, the chances of failure are large. We joked internally that it was like trying open heart surgery while running a marathon.”
“It was very big change for everyone in the company, learning new systems etc. The company has changed a huge amount in a small period of time. We now, for instance, have a very intense relationship with our data.”
“You need a solid partner behind you. Xiatech are not just a service provider, they’re a part of our team,” he concluded.
Click here to view the Xiatech/DB Journey webinar in full.
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