Mint Velvet’s multichannel strategy contributes to Sunday Times 100 ‘Ones to Recognise' listing

April 16, 2012 - PRLog -- Launched in October 2009, the Mint Velvet business grew rapidly, with sales of £12m for the 2010-11 financial year, quadrupling the trading figures achieved in the company’s first year. Furthermore, the business now employs a total of 350 people.

In 2010, Mint Velvet and Retail Assist won the ‘Project Implementation of the Year’ Award at the Retail Week Technology awards. This recognition was founded on Retail Assist’s implementation of its Merret solution for merchandising management, supply chain and warehousing – integrated with partner solution Infinity PoS, together with integration to the ecommerce channel, and building a complete IT infrastructure.

Stuart Grant, Commercial Director at Mint Velvet comments: “Mint Velvet has continued to successfully expand over the past year and we’re delighted with the recent recognition by the Sunday Times PwC Profit Track 100. The IT solutions we put in place have allowed us to operate as a multichannel retailer from conception. Our outsourced IT partner Retail Assist has supported the entire journey, and are extending this support to work with us on new store rollouts and upgrading our network and hardware in order to meet the needs of the growing business.”

Mint Velvet trades from 91 locations including eight stand alone boutique stores, with an additional three openings planned for Spring 2012 in Harrogate, Guildford and Farnham. The company’s eventual aim is to have 20 to 30 stand-alone stores in affluent market town locations.

In addition, Mint Velvet operates 83 concession stores in premium department stores. The brand can now be found in every John Lewis Fashion store. This is considerable growth from the original two solus stores and 14 House of Fraser concessions that Retail Assist initially supported.

The team putting together the Fast Track feature was impressed by the fact that Mint Velvet, with the help of Retail Assist, launched as a multichannel business from the outset. Moreover, Mint Velvet has continued to adapt to the ever-changing needs of consumers; the business was quick off the mark in launching a mobile optimised website last year. Retail Assist has also been deploying tablet devices to the Mint Velvet stand-alone boutiques, allowing shoppers in these stores a to browse the full Mint Velvet range and pick up styling tips from www.mintvelvet.co.uk.
   
Nigel Illingworth, Retail Assist Chief Executive Officer of Merret observes: “Mint Velvet have achieved impressive growth in such a short timeframe and this is set to continue. We were delighted to hear they are listed in the ‘Ones to Recognise’ category. The ecommerce operation is a key area of growth for the business. The Merret solution used for merchandise management, supply chain and warehousing will facilitate ‘collect from store’ sales, meaning that consumers can buy online at www.mintvelvet.co.uk and pick up their purchases in-store.”


Retail Assist Limited                        www.retail-assist.com&www.merret.com

Retail Assist is a leading retail-only IT solutions and services company, providing UK and international retailers with end-to-end business applications and services that reduce costs, optimise retail operations and support higher revenues. The company was the first retail-only IT services provider to be awarded ISO20000 accreditation by the BSI.

Retail Assist clients include ASOS, Harvey Nichols, Selfridges, WDF, A|Wear, Paperchase, Whistles, Aurora Fashions, Karen Millen, The White Company, Odin Retail, Tec7, Mint Velvet, Jane Norman, REISS, Crew2000, VUE, Signet, Jacques Vert, Precis, Windsmoor, Planet and White Stuff.

With its Retail Solutions Retail Assist excels in developing, integrating, deploying and supporting customised systems. These include its award-winning Merret supply chain solution. Merret is a real-time, multi-currency, multi-channel merchandising, warehousing and stock control solution that covers all areas of the retail supply process. Through working with third parties, Retail Assist also integrates and delivers EPoS systems.

In Managed IT Services, Retail Assist’s proven offerings include 24/365 Help Desk, Technical Services, Operations, Data Centre, Hardware Maintenance and Disaster Recovery. Professional Services cover Retail Business Consultancy and Project Services.

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