J Lindeberg is a fashion and sportswear brand established in 35 countries worldwide. Founded in 1996, the brand is built on innovation and creativity. They are currently running a major omni project with Codeunit to bridge retail and e-commerce. By making all products visible to all customers and creating a seamless experience, J Lindeberg hopes to increase revenue, reduce inventory obsolescence, and improve margins.
When J Lindeberg 2022 implemented Microsoft Business Central, they were informed that a standard solution was available to integrate the system with Shopify, which their e-commerce platform runs on. When this turned out not to be the case, they urgently sought a partner to help with the integration. The industry said, forget about that, it's impossible.
Starting the collaboration with Codeunit
With seven weeks to go before the launch of J Lindeberg's own Shopify-based e-commerce platform, Martin Börjesson, Chief Technology Officer at J Lindeberg, connected with Codeunit. "My network indicated that Codeunit had the expertise for the integration, but the question was whether they had the capacity. We gave it a try, and together we completed the project. Every weekend was used for various types of testing and verification. It went very well, and everyone involved can be proud! This marked the beginning of the J Lindeberg and Codeunit relationship," says Martin.
Core systems at J Lindeberg
Seventy-five percent of J Lindeberg's sales occur through retailers such as Dormy, Intersport and Stadium, as well as through marketplaces like Boost and Zalando. Their core systems include a PLM where products are created, the PIM system Inriver for primary product information, and an ERP for business operations. Beyond their e-commerce platform, J Lindeberg also uses the B2B tool Joor, where retailers place orders, along with the POS system Sitoo.
Seamless experience between retail and e-commerce
Since the integration between Business Central and Shopify, the collaboration has continued, with Codeunit now responsible for most of the integrations in J Lindeberg's digital ecosystem. The current major project is an omni-system that aims to create a seamless experience between J Lindeberg's stores and e-commerce. Whether you visit jlindeberg.com or one of their 17 stores, you will have access to the same range and service.
"Today, retail is rather rigid and inefficient. That’s something Codeunit is helping us with. If you don’t visit J Lindeberg's store on Korsgatan in Gothenburg, you don’t know what they have, which is very limiting. This prevents everyone who can’t get to Gothenburg from buying those products. We want to sell every product to any consumer, in all the countries we deliver to. With the omni-system, we’ll make retail fully accessible to everyone," says Martin.
The omni perspective empowers customers to act freely
J Lindeberg’s omni initiative with Codeunit will create a structure where customers can act entirely freely. The omni perspective doesn’t distinguish between retail and e-commerce but sees them as a seamless entity. As a customer, you can order online and pick up in-store, order in-store and have it delivered to your home or a pickup point, or order online and return it in-store. Standing in a store, you could find out that the product you want is in Väla in Helsingborg, and that store can send the item to you or to another store for pickup.
"We would prefer that all packages are sent to one of our stores. When customers pick up their package with blue pants, it opens up new opportunities for upselling. Our staff can show off that gray sweater that actually goes very well with the blue pants. This allows us to add more items to the bag. Omni brings us many positive outcomes," says Martin.
The impact of a major omni investment
“We don’t know exactly how much we’ll increase sales or reduce inventory obsolescence, but we expect to increase revenue by more than ten percent by making our entire assortment visible. This is money we’re missing out on today. If this works as we hope, it will also mean better turnover on seasonal products and fewer items going to clearance. Not only will we increase revenue, but we’ll also see improved margins. I can say that the investment isn’t anywhere near the annual increase we hope to achieve,” says Martin.
Inriver supplies the project with all information
As a PIM, J Lindeberg has used Inriver for many years. Inriver is a critical component in the omni structure, holding all the information needed to give customers a seamless experience. All products are available in seven different languages and are displayed in your local language based on your browsing location. In the current project, Codeunit is building integrations between Sitoo and Inriver, as well as between Sitoo and Business Central. Through its collaboration with Codeunit, J Lindeberg sees many positive effects.
“When Codeunit was set to work on the connection between Sitoo and Inriver, we decided to include product images in Sitoo. We previously didn’t have any images of products in our POS system, and this will make work easier for our store staff. We’ve also decided to implement RFID so that inventory levels are reliable, and Codeunit has done part of the integration with the items. With RFID, inventory accuracy is between 99-100%, so there’s no problem displaying figures online. When we go omni, all information has to be correct,” says Martin.
A competent partner with shared vision
Codeunit’s platform has a significant impact on how J Lindeberg is perceived online. They currently use the platform for e-commerce, B2B and marketplaces. The development of the omni system is one of several ongoing projects and is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The results will start to appear in 2025, likely moving the omni project into phase two with Codeunit.
Martin also shares that he is exploring ways to reduce returns using 3D and augmented reality - perhaps the next big venture at J Lindeberg? "Codeunit is competent, and I feel we’ve built a great relationship. Our collaboration works excellently, and we’ll continue on the same path. We share the same vision, and believe me when I say I’m very demanding, and Codeunit meets my expectations," concludes Martin.
