Millars / Retail systems
One business. A lot of Moving parts.
What started with ecommerce became something much bigger, connecting the shop floor, website, stock, suppliers and the systems behind them.
01 / Where it started
The website was only one part of it.
Millars was already a busy retail business: physical stores, thousands of products, suppliers, stock, customers and an online operation.
The more I worked with it, the clearer something became.
Improving one part meant understanding how all the others worked.
02 / In the store
In store, everything revolved around stock, people and customers. It was fast-paced, hands-on and constantly moving.
The real challenge wasn’t one system. It was how everything fit together.
03 / Connecting the pieces
One change led to another.
The website couldn’t exist in isolation. Products needed stock. Stock needed the store. The store needed the POS. And all of it depended on information being accurate and available in the right place.
So instead of treating each system as a separate project, I started connecting them.
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Ecommerce
Products, categories and content online.
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POS
In-store sales, customers and data.
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Stock
Real-time inventory across stores and online.
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Product data
Accurate information for every product.
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Suppliers
Feeds, updates and new ranges.
04 / The missing bits
Off-the-shelf only gets you so far.
The core systems covered a lot, but there were still important gaps. Everyday tasks, edge cases and retail-specific workflows that the off-the-shelf software didn’t handle.
So I started building the missing pieces.
Small, focused tools that solved real problems, fit into the existing systems and made the day-to-day work simpler, faster and more reliable.
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Chrome extension
Added the functionality I needed directly into the tools I was already using.
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Internal tools
Custom tools for everyday tasks, reporting and one-off jobs.
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Label printing
Product and sale labels generated from live data, ready for the shop floor.
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Product workflows
Tools to create, update and manage products more efficiently.
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Supplier orders
Supplier ordering, tracking and preparation built around how the business actually worked.
05 / Before the stock even arrives
Enter it once. Let it flow.
The supplier order workflow became one of the biggest time-savers. Instead of entering the same information multiple times, I built a process where you enter it once and it flows through everything that needs it.
From supplier order to stock, products, labels and the shop floor, all connected.
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Place order
Enter supplier order details once, including products, sizes, quantities and costs.
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Products created
New products and variants are created automatically with the correct supplier, costs and images.
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Labels generated
Product and sale labels are generated from the same data, ready for the stock room and shop floor.
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Stock updated
Incoming stock is recorded and made available across the store and online.
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Ready to sell
Products are live online and in store, with accurate stock and pricing everywhere.
06 / The bigger picture
The system kept growing.
What started as an ecommerce project became something much bigger.
The website, stores, stock, products, suppliers and the tools behind them stopped feeling like separate projects. They became parts of the same system.
The goal was never more software.
It was a better way for the business to work.
One business. Working as one.
Next project / 02
An interactive ecommerce concept that puts ingredients front and centre, letting owners build their pet’s order visually, while bringing the food, flavour and personality of the brand into the shopping experience.