26 Mar Digitalisation Stories: Staying Afloat, Staying Ahead with Senheng.
Many Malaysians will be familiar with the household name Senheng. Most likely, it’s the first place that comes to mind when you have an oven or washing machine or smartphone to buy. Perhaps it’s even where you bought most of your household appliances?
But that comes to no surprise. Even 3 decades after its establishment in 1989, Senheng continues to proudly hold the title of Malaysia’s leading consumer electrical appliances store.
Below are some of the ways Senheng has not only managed to stay relevant, but thrive despite the windstorm of changes the world has seen in the last 30 years.
1. By embracing the O2O concept.
O2O stands for Online-to-Offline retail. The massive shift to online has led many retailers pondering about whether to go online, or remain brick-and-mortar.
The O2O concept essentially blends both! By incorporating strategies such as using online marketing efforts to draw customers’ in-store to make physical purchases, offline businesses can benefit from going online, while online businesses don’t have to forego having a physical space of their own.
This way, customers get to enjoy a seamless shopping experience across multiple channels.
2. By utilising business intelligence.
Senheng started investing in business intelligence (BI) solutions in 2004, before many of their peers in the industry.
The BI system has helped to cover analytics such as:
- sales performance
- inventory management
- staff ratings
- freight planning
- automatic replenishment
Being able to visualise the right data has helped Senheng power through crises such as in 2014 – 2016, when sales fell by an average of 6% per year!
During that dip, data from the BI system helped management realise that traditional brick-and-mortar store customers have moved to online shopping instead.
Fast forward to today, Senheng has even established Blackbox Insights – a BI consultancy to help other SMEs and retailers extract and utilise their data.
3. By exploring a New Retail business model.
First coined by Jack Ma, the New Retail business model is at its core, a customer-centric business model.
For Senheng, this business model comprises 9 pillars. From pricing to logistics to inventory, the 9 pillars ensure Senheng leaves no ground uncovered.
On the topic of logistics for example, the New Retail model emphasises on:
- maximising inventory efficiency
- strengthening turnover rate
- minimising unnecessary overstock
With those goals in mind, a Central Distribution Management System (CDM) was implemented which allowed Senheng to take control of their logistics, effectively optimising costs while increasing the speed of deliveries.
Staying afloat, staying ahead.
As a business that started as a brick-and-mortar store, Senheng stays true to its roots and continues to build on both the online and offline experience.
Let Senwave’s digital transformation solutions and new retail solutions help you keep your business ahead of its game! Get in touch now to find out more.
