Customer Case Study: Retail Enterprise Transforms Omnichannel Operations with the Informat Platform
Retail organizations face uniquely intense digital transformation pressure in 2026: customer expectations for seamless omnichannel experience, fierce competition from digital-native brands, squeezed margins, supply chain complexity, and the need to unify data across channels that have historically operated as separate businesses. This case study examines how a mid-size specialty retailer — referred to here as "Modern Home Goods" (MHG) — used the Informat low-code platform to transform its omnichannel operations, unifying customer experience across digital and physical channels while dramatically improving operational efficiency.
MHG operates 85 stores across 12 states, a growing e-commerce business that represents 35% of revenue, and a catalog/phone channel that still serves an important segment of its customer base. With approximately 2,200 employees and annual revenue of $340 million, MHG faced the classic mid-size retailer challenge: customer expectations set by Amazon, Target, and digitally-native brands, but resources and technology infrastructure typical of a company its size. The IT team of 18 people supported a patchwork of systems — a legacy POS, a separate e-commerce platform, a third-party warehouse management system, spreadsheets for inventory planning, and manual processes for the countless operational tasks that fell between these systems. The result was fragmented customer experience (online orders couldn't be returned in stores, store inventory wasn't visible online, loyalty points worked differently across channels), inefficient operations (manual data entry, duplicate processes, spreadsheet-driven decision-making), and an IT team consumed by keeping existing systems running with no capacity for innovation.
The Challenge: Omnichannel in Name Only
Despite marketing itself as an omnichannel retailer, MHG's operations were fundamentally channel-siloed. The e-commerce team operated independently from store operations, with separate inventory, separate promotions, and separate customer service. Key pain points included: inventory was channel-specific — the website showed warehouse inventory but not store inventory, meaning customers couldn't check if a product was available at their local store, and stores couldn't fulfill online orders from their inventory; returns were channel-restricted — online orders could only be returned by mail (with shipping costs and delays that frustrated customers), while store purchases could only be returned to stores; customer profiles were fragmented — a customer who shopped online and in stores existed as two separate records with separate purchase histories and loyalty point balances; and customer service was channel-specific — online customer service couldn't help with store purchases, and store associates couldn't access online order information.
The operational impact was measured in missed revenue and unnecessary costs. "Out of stock online but available in stores" represented approximately $4 million in lost revenue annually — customers who wanted to buy but couldn't because the channel they were shopping in didn't have visibility to inventory in other channels. Return shipping and processing for online orders cost approximately $1.2 million annually — costs that could be dramatically reduced if customers could return online purchases to stores. Customer service contacts driven by channel fragmentation (where is my order? can I return this in store? why can't I use my loyalty points?) represented 30% of all customer service volume. And marketing efficiency was undermined by the inability to understand customer behavior across channels, resulting in generic rather than personalized communications.
The Solution: Unified Omnichannel Platform on Informat
MHG selected the Informat low-code platform after evaluating several alternatives. The decision was driven by Informat's ability to rapidly build the custom omnichannel applications MHG needed while integrating with the existing POS and e-commerce platforms that would remain as systems of record. The approach was phased, with each phase delivering measurable business value and building momentum for the next.
Phase 1 — Unified Inventory Visibility (10 weeks): The first phase addressed the most painful and costly problem: customers and associates couldn't see inventory across channels. The new application, built on Informat, provided: a unified inventory view that aggregated real-time inventory data from the warehouse management system, the POS system (store inventory), and the e-commerce platform into a single, accurate view; "endless aisle" capability on the website — when a product was out of stock in the warehouse, the website showed store availability and offered ship-from-store or buy-online-pick-up-in-store options; store associate mobile access so associates could check inventory across all locations and channels from the sales floor; and automated inventory reconciliation that identified and resolved discrepancies between systems. The results exceeded expectations: the $4 million "available but invisible" revenue gap was largely closed as customers gained visibility to inventory across channels; ship-from-store fulfillment generated $3.2 million in incremental revenue in the first full year while reducing markdown pressure on store inventory; and associate productivity improved as they spent less time calling other stores to check inventory.
Phase 2 — Unified Customer Experience (8 weeks): The second phase unified the customer experience across channels. New applications provided: a single customer profile that unified online and in-store purchase history, loyalty points, and preferences; cross-channel returns — customers could return online purchases to any store, with the application handling the return authorization, inventory processing, and refund processing seamlessly; unified promotions that worked consistently across all channels, with real-time validation; and customer service tools that gave all service representatives (online, store, phone) access to complete customer information and order history regardless of channel. Cross-channel returns reduced return processing costs by 40% (store returns are dramatically cheaper than mail returns) and improved customer satisfaction with the returns experience. Customer service volume related to channel fragmentation dropped by 45% as customers no longer needed to contact MHG to bridge gaps between channels. And customer lifetime value for omnichannel customers (those who shopped both online and in stores) increased 28% compared to single-channel customers.
Phase 3 — Intelligent Operations (12 weeks): The third phase applied AI and automation to operational processes. New applications on Informat provided: AI-powered demand forecasting and inventory allocation that considered omnichannel demand patterns, reducing stockouts and overstocks; automated purchase order generation and supplier communication; and real-time operational dashboards providing visibility into sales, inventory, fulfillment, and customer experience metrics across all channels. Inventory carrying costs decreased by 18% while stockout rates improved, and the planning team's productivity doubled as AI handled routine forecasting and replenishment decisions.
| Metric | Before Informat | After Informat | Improvement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cross-Channel Inventory Visibility | Warehouse only | All channels, all locations | Unified view |
| Lost Sales from Invisible Inventory | $4M/year | $0.5M/year | 88% reduction |
| Return Processing Cost | $1.2M/year | $0.72M/year | 40% reduction |
| Channel-Fragmentation Service Contacts | 30% of volume | 16% of volume | 45% reduction |
| Omnichannel Customer LTV | Baseline | +28% | 28% increase |
| Inventory Carrying Cost | Baseline | -18% | 18% reduction |
Key Success Factors
Several deliberate choices drove MHG's success. Integration, not replacement — MHG did not attempt to replace its POS or e-commerce platform, recognizing that would be a multi-year, multi-million-dollar project with existential risk. Informat applications surrounded these systems, providing the unified omnichannel capabilities they lacked while they continued as systems of record for transaction processing. Cross-functional teams — every application was built by a team that included store operations, e-commerce, IT, and customer service. This ensured applications addressed real cross-channel needs rather than optimizing one channel at the expense of others. Phased value delivery — each phase delivered measurable financial and customer experience improvements within 8-12 weeks, building organizational confidence and momentum. Change management investment — MHG invested as much in training, communication, and process redesign as in technology, recognizing that omnichannel transformation requires stores, e-commerce, and customer service teams to work differently, not just use new software.
"The Informat platform allowed us to build the omnichannel experience our customers expected without replacing the core systems that run our business. We got the best of both worlds — modern customer experiences on top of reliable transaction systems." — Chief Digital Officer, Modern Home Goods
Conclusion
Modern Home Goods' transformation with the Informat platform demonstrates that meaningful omnichannel transformation is achievable for mid-size retailers without the massive investment and risk of core system replacement. By taking a phased, integration-focused approach; building cross-functional teams; and investing in change management alongside technology, MHG achieved dramatic improvements in customer experience, operational efficiency, and financial performance. The transformation has positioned MHG to compete effectively against both digitally-native brands and larger omnichannel retailers — not by matching their technology budgets but by building precisely the omnichannel capabilities its customers needed on a platform that its lean IT team could manage and evolve.