Hunkemöller is growing rapidly; there are now over 900 stores and more stores and more countries are being added every year. This ambitious growth requires a different Performance Management solution. With the switch to OneStream, the reporting processes are automated, making the KPIs per store available quickly and reliably.
"We don't so much want more information per store, but rather faster information so we can move faster," Hanno van Vuren, Financial Controller at Hunkemöller explains the reason for switching to OneStream for insight into results per store.
Automate more
The existing system needed replacing. "Our previous system was out of date. It suffered frequent crashes, was no longer supported, and no longer met our needs around information delivery," Hanno continues.
"We wanted to automate the management information more, make it more stable and have faster insight into our (pre)-financials."
Speed and reliability are important goals. "Before, we had a lot of manual work, which was time-consuming. In addition, you run business risks if the system is no longer supported; we want to be able to surface business information quickly and accurately." The acquisition by a private equity party is also a factor. Hanno: "That requires more reports and more cross-sections."
Reporting from a single source
The international retail organization chooses OneStream. "We chose OneStream because it is a platform application rather than a modular application. If we want to add additional reporting processes such as strategic planning in the future, it will fall under the same license. Also, the numbers are then from one source, so we don't have to rebuild the data," Hanno says.
Maintenance also plays a role in the choice. Hanno: "OneStream is based on modern technology and updates appear regularly. Maintenance is easy. This has already been proven in practice; an update is scheduled and taken care of within two hours. In addition, we perform the vast majority of the maintenance ourselves."
The dynamics of retail
Retail is an industry with its own dynamics, as is the case at Hunkemöller. It is one of the reasons for choosing Finext as an implementation partner. "Finext has a lot of experience in retail," says Hanno. "That's important because they speak our 'language.' Typical retail terms like 'like for like' and 'in growth,' but also different sales channels like shop in shop, franchise and e-commerce, they can therefore capture all kinds of dimensions very well."
In addition to retail experience, there are two more reasons to choose Finext. Hanno: "They already had experience with OneStream implementations and are one of the largest implementation partners in Europe. In addition, they have a large group of consultants who can provide support; you are not dependent on one or two people."
Reporting with OneStream provides quick results per store
The new reports are very detailed, especially the storebase reports. "For each of the 900-plus stores, there is a profit & loss statement. In addition, you can compare all stores 'like for like,' taking into account store maturity, and by store type," says Rob Visser, closely involved in Hunkemöller's reports as a Finext consultant. "Every general ledger account is translated into the platform." |Such detail is a conscious choice. Hanno: "With the stores we want to benchmark as much as possible; how is this store doing compared to an average store in the same range. We distinguish various sales channels, of which we want to be able to see different cross-sections."
Critical of amount of data
The choice of much detail does mean something for the design of the solution. During the implementation this was therefore always critically considered. "For example, there is insight into the margin and sales per product category at the store level," Rob explains. "That is also possible here because the data is well contained in the source systems." Transferring history was also considered. "We looked together at questions such as 'how much history do we want in it,' 'what level of detail do we want in it,' and 'what balance specifications do we need,'" Hanno says. "You have to carefully weigh what it's for, and especially not make something for the sake of making it."
"It represents a shift in the finance department: from creating reports to analyzing them."
The organization intends to remain critical of the amount of data in the future as well. "In addition to the more than 900 existing stores, we open another 80 stores a year," Hanno says. "We have to think carefully on what detail we want to set things up. Take personnel costs and rental costs, is so much detail really necessary there? Now we have partly solved this by working with nodes, in which various cost types are aggregated into main cost types."
Efficient reporting provides faster insight into results per store
Hanno is excited about the results of switching to OneStream. "The closure process has been significantly accelerated. What goes into the system automatically reconciles and has the same source. This makes the mechanism to manage easier; the reports are readily available and you no longer have to count anything manually. At the touch of a button, your management reporting is ready, in whatever dimension you want it."
Users in the finance department are also positive. "The controllers are very satisfied," says Hanno. "It gives a shift in the department from creating reports to analyzing the reports, and that is more challenging work."
