The Brande Group cut operational costs in half thanks to Lightspeed
"The Brande Group is based on a desire to own retail stores with a different mentality," says founder and President Tyan Parent. The game plan? Buy leftover stock from premium clothing lines and sell it at an affordable cost, without damaging their suppliers' brands. To do that, the retailer needs to offer a luxury experience without extravagant spending behind the scenes.
Business Type:
Apparel
Products Used:
Lightspeed Retail
Lightspeed Payments
Lightspeed eCom
Lightspeed Capital
Locations:
Quebec, Canada
Lightspeed saves the Brande Group time and money.
66%
Reduction in training time
60-70
Man hours saved a week
50%
Less operational costs
The challenge: two business partners, and a whole lot of business to run.
In 2020, Tyan Parent, President of The Brande Group, told Guillaume de Laplante, his business partner, that enough was enough. Their old retail management system was holding them back, costing them time and money. With a business model that relies on high efficiency and low operational costs, that was unacceptable.
"It was an old system, a more expensive system that needed a team of people in your headquarters to make sure it worked well with everything you need to do to keep the ERP up to date," Guillaume explains. "Every single day of my career, there was an issue or error, so it was a big challenge for us to get stock visibility. Acting on a markdown on a Friday or a Saturday was not possible."
“We’re only two people, so we needed to find a better solution so we can manage our inventory, our staff, our operation, finance and everything under one roof,” says Guillaume.
“We had to rethink everything we were doing in terms of cost savings and even in terms of operational efficiencies,” adds Tyan. So began the search. How could they balance functionality and efficiency with lowered operational costs—and how could they be sure their in-store experience didn’t suffer for it?
The solution: a platform that can do more, quickly.
Once Tyan and Guillaume settled on Lightspeed, getting set up was a breeze. “It took longer to remove the hardware from the box than actually to make Lightspeed work,” recalls Tyan. Training staff on the new system was quick, too.
“Since day one, the system has been pretty much self explanatory. You look at the icons in the cash [register] and you can navigate easily through all the reports from a staff point of view, seamless operation. We saved time, and efficiency as well.”
"From a retailer point of view, it's the easiest system I've seen."
Tyan Parent, President, The Brande Group
The Brande Group headquarters are running more efficiently than ever. They’re saving on manpower, able to do the work of entire teams thanks to Lightspeed.
“I can do a markdown and send to all my POS in the same second,” says Guillaume, which means he can act faster and push out changes with less work. There are fewer errors, so they can spend more time planning for the future instead of managing the present.
Visibility is up, too. Wherever they are in the world, Tyan and Guillaume can keep an eye on their business. “We can get the numbers. My president can take his phone and look at how many jeans are still left in his warehouse.”
It’s not just Brande Group HQ—Lightspeed is helping their stores run better as well. They’ve been able to address redundancies and inefficient processes thanks to the integrated system.
“I know it sounds archaic, but not too long ago we needed to print two receipts to complete the sale. So there were human errors,” says Tyan. “Now [with Lightspeed Payments] it’s embedded. You know, there’s one transaction and one receipt.”
"The system is our third partner right now, helping us grow."
Guillaume de Laplante, Head Buyer, Planner and Logistics, The Brande Group