Case Study for Coach House

An example of ecommerce with successful Sage Line 100 integration

From humble beginnings nearly 30 years ago, Coach House Antiques, a Lancashire-based company, has grown beyond all speculation and is now the country’s leading wholesaler of reproduction furniture, household furniture and accessories. The company prides itself on their ability to constantly source the most exclusive and comprehensive collections of furniture and accessories, many unique to Coach House.

The Problem

Coach House Antiques’ customers could view images of their products on the website but could not place an order. Marilyn Burgoyne, Systems Administrator at Coach House Antiques, said:

"We wanted to introduce a system that would reduce office administration and make our products more accessible to our customers, particularly customers who cannot visit our showrooms as much as they would like due to the travelling involved."

The Solution

iDynamics provided Coach House Antiques with an integrated e-commerce system which allows them to send sales ledger and stock information from their back-office system to their website. As a result, their website allows customers to place orders with all of their usual trading rules applied. Exporting information directly from the back office system eliminates the need to re-key information, simplifies ordering and reduces administration.

"Coach House Antiques has always been a step ahead in the field where IT is concerned, so going down the e-commerce route was a natural progression for us. Now customers can place their orders over the Internet and receive a confirmation email sent directly from our website without the need for any manual intervention."

"The system is very convenient as we can update the information on our website ourselves. Working with iDynamics has been a natural choice for us as we believe that no other software can integrate into our Sage Line 100 accounting suite to the same degree."

Being one of the first in their industry sector to adopt an e-commerce business practice has raised the profile of Coach House Antiques considerably above their competitors. As a result, they are now getting inquiries that they would not have previously received.

"The reaction from our distributors and agents has been excellent. Our website allows our customers to place orders for very specific products. Each customer’s discount matrix, which has long been held in our Line 100 account system, is now available to them on our website. They place their orders online and all we need to do is import those orders into Line 100 as they come in, but without having to endure the previous manual data-entry processes.

"The website has picked up a lot of new business from trading partners, some of them international, who are now able to trade at times that suit them, which are often outside normal UK trading hours."

"iDynamics has propelled our company into the world of e-commerce at a really affordable price."

Coach House Antiques’ website can be viewed at www.coachhouse.com

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