Kamera Express

To avoid losing any revenue, Kamera Express needs to maintain an optimal mix of items in every store and across all its online channels. For a niche player with an extremely broad range, this is quite a challenge, but with Slim4, the retail company is getting better and better at managing this challenge. After six months, the service level has already increased by 10%. “The system ensures that we build up the right stock just in time for the peak season.”

Kamera Express is a European retailer with 33 physical stores and 14 national webshops. As a specialist in photo and video equipment, it offers a very complete range of products catering to both novice hobbyists and seasoned professionals: cameras, lenses, bags, SD cards, accessories; a total of 42,000 different products. “We call ourselves the “king of the niche”. Customers can find everything they need with us and usually have it delivered within a day,” says Team Lead Category Management, Michiel van Zwienen. “There are certain products that we don’t keep in stock ourselves, but we can also deliver those within a few days. To do this, we work with a network of around 250 suppliers who can also respond quickly when necessary.”

The right mix of items

The supply chain, including the supply of stores, is managed from the central planning department, where the central distribution centre is also located. “The challenge is to get the right mix of items in both the stores and the distribution centre,” says Demand Planner Bob van der Stigchel. “A shop only has room for a core range, so it needs to stock the items that sell best at that location. Anyone buying a new camera will usually also buy a lens, a bag and a memory card at the same time. If a camera that is in demand is not available in a shop, you won’t sell the rest either.”

Different demand patterns

The real complexity lies in the fact that demand patterns can vary greatly from store to store and from season to season. “In Germany, for example, we have a store in an area visited by birdwatchers. We sell a lot of binoculars there,” says Van Zwienen. “But that also depends heavily on the season,” adds Van de Stigchel. “In the spring, when the sun comes out, people flock outdoors to take photos. Sales also rise significantly in November, during Black Friday, and the festive season in December. At both peak times, we need to have our availability perfectly organised, and make sure we scale down in time. Cameras are high-value items, so you don’t want to have too many in stock.”

Moving with the seasons

To achieve optimal stock levels in both the central DC and in the shops, Kamera Express has recently started using Slimstock’s supply chain & demand planning software. “We used to regulate stock with our ERP system, but that was no longer sustainable due to the growth we are experiencing as a company,” says Chief Operations Officer (COO) Hans Danhof.

The previous system provided ordering recommendations based on five weeks of sales history and minimum stock levels that his colleagues had to set manually. “Our supply chain process was not sufficiently scalable. We needed an integrated stock and store replenishment platform that responds to sales patterns and all other restrictions in different sales channels.”

Availability 10% higher

With the introduction of Slim4, the process and inventory health has improved dramatically, Van Zwienen says enthusiastically. “We now look much more to the future than to the past. The system forecasts demand and ensures that we build up the right inventory in each store just in time for the seasons. Based on an ABC classification, you can set a service level for each product category. This ensures, for example, that important A products never run out of stock. After six months of using the software, availability has already increased by 10%, and excess stock, i.e. items that you hardly sell after the peak season, has structurally decreased. The total stock value has been reduced by 8%.”

Peace of mind in logistics

A very valuable feature of Slim4 for Kamera Express is the ability to calculate the optimal order quantity for each product. Van der Stigchel explains: “You can specify that Slim4 should consider logistical restrictions that are important to us, such as full pallets or the workload at goods receipt. Slim4 then automatically orders a little more of products that are not too high in value. This saves a considerable amount of handling activities at our stores, and certainly in the DC. We hear from our colleagues in logistics that there is now more peace of mind in the inbound processes. That’s great because it also gives them more time to improve the process around store replenishment, for example.”

Support for product launches

According to him, Slim4 also helps with planning and adjusting stocks around product launches. “These are always difficult situations for a planner because you never know how high the demand for such a new product will be. If it is inundated with positive reviews from day one, things can suddenly move very quickly, and you have to be sharp. However, at such times, there are often only limited quantities available for quick reordering, so it is extra important that the first shipment is right. Slim4 helps with this and can, for example, make a copy of a similar product. Once sales start, it is important to be on the ball and act quickly if demand deviates significantly from the forecast.”

Collaboration with Slimstock

The team are very satisfied with their choice of Slim4. Van Zwienen says: “We have already achieved great results and will use the platform to continuously improve. The next step is to optimise our collaboration with suppliers and order quantities.”

The collaboration with Slimstock has also been highly positive. Van der Stigchel adds: “The consultants are very helpful and bring a wealth of experience to the table, They are even very enthusiastic about the helpdesk. They are available 24/7 and really thinks along with you when you have a problem. Because people often take a helpdesk for granted, I think it’s important to mention it.”

According to COO Hans Danhof, the implementation of Slim4 is an important step towards making the retail company future-proof. “There are still many small players active in the European market for photo and film equipment, and further consolidation is on the horizon. With the new supply chain structure, we can address the additional complexity of new sales channels and local differentiation in a scalable way. We now have a robust and scalable supply chain process that will enable.”