Company overview
For more than 75 years, Graham & Brown has been one of Europe’s leading and most trusted names in interior design. Originally founded in Blackburn, England, in 1946 by two friends, Harold Graham and Henry Brown, the business remains family-run, and specializes in a wide range of home decorations ranging from wallpaper and paint to bespoke artwork and furnishings. Fast forward to present day, and with countless awards and an impressive series of collaborations, including the likes of Laura Ashley, Joules and Next under its belt, the brand continues to move from strength-to-strength, including continued expansion across the continent.
The situation
As part of Graham & Brown’s ambitious current and future growth plans, the business primarily sought a way to connect with new customers, marketplaces and market segments across Europe, and do so with maximum efficiency with as much of this process being as automated as it could be. Along with reaching new potential customers and marketplaces, the business also wanted an integration partner that could add value in other key areas, such as stock management, automated currency exchange rate pricing and VAT invoicing. Furthermore, having a clear and instant overview of how various new listings and improvements were performing, and being able to optimize each accordingly, was also a major consideration for Graham & Brown when selecting a marketplace integrator.
The solution
This led Graham & Brown to ChannelEngine. The software provided expert knowledge, integration opportunities across Europe’s leading horizontal and specialist marketplaces, as well as valuable technological capabilities that automate many key processes. These were vital to Graham & Brown’s scaling plans and made it evident that this partnership was a perfect fit for both sides. “The number of automated new customers in a relatively short period of time has been massive. After a smooth kick-off process, we’ve been able to branch into new market segments which has been a clear advantage of using ChannelEngine. “Being able to sell a lot of extra products in several countries and languages quite easily, really helped us to scale our business quickly and thoroughly.” - Roy Lakenman, eCom Manager Western Europe.
Future steps
Last year, after Leroy Merlin announced the launch of its marketplace, ChannelEngine offered integration capabilities and Graham & Brown managed to capitalize on this brand new opportunity very quickly, with this platform already becoming one of the business’ biggest ChannelEngine customers so far this year. Graham & Brown is keen to build on this initial success, continuing expansion into new geographical locations and marketplaces, with a particular focus on Northern and Southern Europe. With the Leroy Merlin launch a prime example of how ChannelEngine enables brands to quickly leverage exciting new platforms, we’re confident this partnership will continue to deliver on those plans.
