Van Hage Garden Centre

Retail management done right

Van Hage has supplied customers with the best gardening and outdoor leisure products for over 60 years. The company is family owned with three stores, within which they have a variety of attractions designed to make a visit a great day out.

A well-loved system

For the first 40 years of the company’s existence, Van Hage used good old fashioned push-button tills. Then, in 2001 these were retired, and they implemented retail management system LS Central with Dynamics NAV 2.6 in their stores. Chris Luther, Group Head of Operations, considers their use of Dynamics NAV with LS Central to be a "no-brainer". He says, "if we didn’t have an integrated POS system, we wouldn’t be able to run our business. If we didn’t have LS set up and linked to stock, we’d be overselling all the time. The reporting available – down to groups and subgroups – means we can optimise our shop floors and sales".

"TNP went to town to support us when we first moved to them. The culture and ethos there have only improved since then too. Having the right Partner makes a big difference. We certainly get that extra mile from our system with such a knowledgeable, people-centric Partner".

Return on investment

When the COVID-19 pandemic closed Van Hage’s physical stores during part of 2020, their business became all about their online store. At one point, sales of compost doubled to nearly 10,000 bags every two weeks, and online sales increased tenfold in value. However, thanks to the seamless reporting and stock management within the system, when they reopened the stores, Van Hage had little to no prep to do. Chris comments, "the stock had been managing itself the whole way through. Of all the times we really needed NAV, LS Central, stock control, and everything else to work perfectly - it did. That made the case for upgrading".

"Having the right Partner makes a big difference"

Matt Dredge, TNP’s Sales and Marketing Director, says, "if you ever need proof that the Dynamics solution delivers value for money, Van Hage are the perfect example. The platform has supported Van Hage for almost 20 years and has allowed them to evolve as retail evolved and always meet their customers' high expectations".

If there was a league table of companies who have secured the highest return on their investment in ERP – Van Hage must be right up there. Now, to set themselves up for success for the next 20 years, Van Hage are upgrading to LS Central and Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Chris concludes, "I don’t understand how other businesses run with retail management systems that aren’t integrated into their finance system or ERP. LS Central and Dynamics 365 Business Central will continue to save us hours of work, just like Dynamics NAV does today".

Learn more about ERP for Retail and how can we offer one of the best solutions.