Transforming Retail: The Jigsaw Omnichannel Order Management System Success Story

Insights from Jigsaw CEO Beth Butterworth unifying inventory and improving customer promises

Executive Summary

In the volatile world of premium fashion, inventory visibility is often the difference between a sale and a markdown. In a recent detailed webinar, Beth Butterworth, CEO of Jigsaw , and Joe Till, Sales Director at OneStock, discussed how the British fashion brand navigated the post-COVID retail landscape. The conversation centered on the strategic implementation of the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system to solve stock fragmentation and meet evolving customer demands.

For retailers facing similar challenges—disconnected channels, trapped inventory, and rising logistics costs—this session offers a blueprint for agility. By deploying the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system to move to a unified inventory model, the brand successfully pivoted 50% of its annual sales to online channels while revitalizing the role of physical stores. The following summary outlines the operational shifts and technical orchestration that made this transformation possible.

Key Takeaways

• Speed to Value: The Jigsaw omnichannel order management system was implemented in just 11 weeks, delivering ROI within the first season of use.
• Massive E-commerce Growth: Post-implementation and post-COVID, Jigsaw’s web sales grew from 28% to 50% of total revenue.
• Ship from Store Impact: Approximately 15% to 20% of sales are fulfilled via Ship from Store, rising to nearly 40% during sale periods.
• Reduced Cancellations: Competitive allocation logic reduced the online cancellation rate to less than 2%, compared to a typical industry average of 20% for standard systems.
• Store Agility: During lockdowns, Jigsaw converted 10 locations into “dark stores” to continue fulfilling orders despite being closed to the public.
• Sustainability: Fulfilling orders from local stores reduces the carbon footprint associated with reverse logistics and long-distance shipping.

The Challenge: Fragmented Stock and Missed Opportunities

Before optimizing their approach with the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system, the brand faced the classic inventory paradox: having plenty of stock, but not in the right place to satisfy the online customer.

• Stock Fragmentation: With over 400 options per season and sizes ranging from 6 to 16, inventory quickly became scattered across the 40+ store estate.
• Availability Gaps: Beth Butterworth noted that nearly 30% of sizes were often unavailable for dispatch from the central Distribution Center (DC), despite those items sitting on shelves in retail stores.
• Markdown Pressure: Without a unified view, stock trapped in stores would eventually be marked down, eroding margins.
• Operational Rigidity: The business needed a way to access store stock without disrupting the in-store customer experience or overwhelming staff.

What Good Looks Like

For Jigsaw, success wasn’t just about saving the sale; it was about creating a seamless experience for the customer regardless of channel. A successful deployment of the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system meant achieving three specific outcomes:

1. Increased Productivity: Maximizing full-price sell-through by making every piece of inventory available for sale online.
2. Reduced Logistics Costs: Minimizing the movement of goods between stores and warehouses (reverse logistics).
3. Enhanced Customer Promise: Providing accurate delivery information and ensuring that if a customer orders an item, they actually receive it.

The Approach: Intelligent Orchestration

The core of the solution lies in intelligent orchestration. Rather than fulfilling orders linearly, the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system acts as a central hub that pools inventory from all locations—warehouses, stores, and even future stock.

When an order is placed, the system uses business rules to decide the best fulfillment point.

• Rule 1: Check the Warehouse. If the full order is available at the DC, fulfill it there to minimize cost.
• Rule 2: Store Fulfillment. If the DC is out of stock, the system identifies stores that have the item.
• Rule 3: Competitive Allocation. The system offers the order to a few stores simultaneously. The store that claims it first fulfills it. This “gamification” drastically reduces cancellation rates because only stores that are confident they can fulfill the order accept it.

Deep Dive: Ship from Store Dynamics

The most significant operational change facilitated by the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system was the adoption of Ship from Store. This capability turned every Jigsaw boutique into a mini-distribution center.

• Protecting Store Stock: To ensure walk-in customers aren’t disappointed, Jigsaw sets “buffer” levels. During the season, the minimum threshold might be set to 2 items (meaning the store keeps the last 2 for physical shoppers). During sale periods, this can be adjusted to 5 to force clearance, or lowered to 0 to clear everything.
• Staff Interface: Store associates use a mobile-friendly interface on iPads. They receive an alert, accept the order, pick the item, pack it using standard web packaging, and print the carrier label directly in-store.
• Volume Management: A single store can ship nearly 1,000 pieces in a month during peak times. However, the system allows headquarters to cap volumes if a store is too busy or understaffed.

Deep Dive: Enhancing the Delivery Promise

Modern consumers, conditioned by marketplaces like Amazon, demand speed and clarity. An effective delivery promise is essential for conversion.

• Accurate Availability: By unifying stock, the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system allows the website to display accurate stock levels in real-time. If an item is only available in a store in Scotland, a customer in London can still buy it seamlessly.
• Click and Collect: The system powers a robust Click and Collect (BOPIS) offering. Customers can check stock availability at specific locations (e.g., The Strand) and reserve items. Jigsaw sees a 15% upsell rate when these customers arrive in-store to collect their items.
• Sustainability: The orchestration rules prioritize shipping from the location closest to the customer where possible, or consolidating packages to reduce waste.

Deep Dive: Empowering the Store Team

Technology is only as good as the people using it. Beth Butterworth emphasized that cultural adoption was as critical as the installation of the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system software.

• Incentives: Jigsaw attributes online sales fulfilled by stores to that store’s revenue targets. This ensures staff view online orders as a bonus, not a burden.
• Training: The implementation included immersive training for store staff, web teams, and merchandising.
• Customer Service Integration: The Customer Care team has full visibility into the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system. They can see exactly where an order is being fulfilled from and intervene if there are delays, shifting the order to a different location if necessary.

Practical Implementation Plan

Based on the Jigsaw case study, rolling out a robust solution like the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system follows a distinct path:

1. Integration: Connect the OMS to the existing ecosystem—in Jigsaw’s case, Aptos for e-commerce/POS and Microsoft Dynamics for ERP.
2. Configuration: Define the business rules. Decide which stores should fulfill orders and set the safety stock buffers.
3. Training: Equip store staff with hardware (scanners/iPads) and train them on the picking/packing protocols.
4. Soft Launch: Start with a pilot group of stores (like the 10 stores Jigsaw used as dark stores) to refine the process.
5. Optimization: Use the data to tweak rules. For example, during peak season, you might deflect volume away from the DC to stores to prevent bottlenecks.

Next Steps

The transformation at Jigsaw demonstrates that bridging the gap between digital and physical retail is not just possible, but highly profitable. By implementing the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system, the brand secured its future in a digital-first world while making its physical stores more productive than ever.

For retailers looking to replicate this success, the first step is evaluating your current inventory visibility. If you have stock in stores that online customers can’t buy, you are leaving revenue on the table.

Frequently Asked Questions

What was the ROI timeline for the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system?

Jigsaw saw a return on investment almost immediately, specifically within the first season of implementation. This was driven by optimized web sales and the ability to sell through full-price stock that was previously trapped in stores.

How does the system handle store staff rejecting orders?

The system uses competitive allocation, meaning orders are offered to multiple stores. If one store is too busy to accept the order within a set timeframe (e.g., four hours), the order is automatically re-routed to another store, keeping cancellation rates below 2%.

Can the system support “Dark Stores” during disruptions?

Yes, during the COVID-19 lockdowns, Jigsaw converted 10 of their largest stores into dark stores. These locations operated with skeletal staff solely to fulfill online orders using the store’s inventory, maintaining revenue flow while closed to the public.

Does shipping from store increase the carbon footprint?

Not necessarily; often it reduces it. Shipping from a store closer to the customer can be more efficient than shipping from a central warehouse, and it eliminates the carbon cost of reverse logistics (sending unsold store stock back to the warehouse at the end of the season).

How does the system handle returns?

Jigsaw allows customers to return online orders to any store. While they are working on reducing return rates through better sizing information, the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system facilitates these returns, offering an opportunity to save the sale or cross-sell when the customer is in-store.

Is this solution suitable for franchise or concession models?

Yes, the platform can integrate with various stock locations, including concessions. As long as the location has internet access and printing capabilities, it can be treated as a stock point, with rules configured to enable or disable specific services based on the partner’s capabilities.

How does the system impact end-of-season markdowns?

The system significantly reduces the volume of stock that reaches the markdown phase. By exposing store inventory to online traffic throughout the season via the Jigsaw omnichannel order management system, items sell at full price earlier, reducing the need for deep discounts and consolidation of stock at the end of the season.