MiX.STORE: Discover the World's Delicacy

Amidst the challenges posed by the pandemic, MiX.Store found a silver lining, seizing a unique opportunity to rapidly expand its retail footprint across Malaysia. Recognizing the scarcity of prime retail locations in the region, the company swiftly capitalized on the closures of struggling businesses, securing coveted spaces to fortify its presence. However, this swift expansion brought unforeseen challenges, particularly in navigating the transition from a small, agile team to a larger organization. As MiX.Store flourished, so did the complexities within its internal operations, leading to what the team referred to as "hidden costs." These included issues with communication and the overall efficiency of their operational processes.

With the risk of stalling their growth strategy looming large, MiX.Store sought a solution like Lark to streamline their operations and enhance organizational cohesion. This is where their commitment to continuous learning, innovation, and adaptability came into play, driving their quest for sustained retail success.

Challenges

• Challenge #1: With a vast array of SKUs, tasks like inventory management, stock-taking, and implementing marketing promotions become increasingly complex. This complexity is compounded by the limitations of conventional tools, resulting in missed tasks and fragmented information flow, particularly noticeable with the emergence of more stores.

  
  

• Challenge #2: As the company grows, the critical need arises to retain, disseminate, and collaborate on internally accumulated knowledge, emphasizing the necessity for a unified platform. Simplified tools are imperative for employees across departments to efficiently search and learn from this accumulated knowledge, mitigating reliance on individual computers or memory, a crucial step considering the high turnover rates in the retail industry.

  
  

• Challenge #3: Rapid expansion underscores the importance of enhancing communication and collaboration between frontline staff and HQ to match the pace of growth. Ensuring consistency in information transmission with a larger team and multiple departments poses additional challenges, especially when relying on traditional collaboration tools such as emails.

Solutions

Streamlining Store Management Tasks

Previously, store management faced significant challenges in organizing daily tasks, such as inventory checks, due to the lack of suitable information tools. Attempts to use task notifications for daily checks were ineffective, as tasks needed to be arranged in advance and executed efficiently.

With Lark, a customized inventory checklist form and table were developed, providing vital information such as store outlet and stock levels by categories. Specific permissions and automated notifications were set up to alert relevant personnel about low stock levels or other stock-related issues. Frontline users could also easily execute stock checks using their mobile phones through automated task bot notifications.

"Having 20 team members made tracking straightforward, but with 500, it was chaotic. Lark brought clarity—no more searching for updates or wondering who's doing what. It's been a genuine time-saver and keeps us all aligned."

The dashboard feature of Lark enabled management and outlet managers to track aggregated stock statistics for trends and forecasting.

Enhancing Knowledge Management with Lark Wiki

As the company expanded, the need for effective retention, dissemination, and collaboration of internal knowledge became critical. Previously, the absence of a centralized platform led to scattered documents stored across various cloud drives and personal computers.

With the implementation of Lark Wiki, this challenge was addressed. Now, when marketing promotions are announced, users can immediately access the information on their mobile devices. This timely dissemination ensures frontline teams receive crucial updates directly from HQ, enhancing overall communication.

Additionally, all information is systematically added to the Wiki database, making it easily searchable. This organized repository enables users to quickly find up-to-date information, such as promotions, which is particularly useful for efficient shelf arrangement during peak periods. The team continuously populates the Wiki with more documents, ensuring comprehensive and accessible knowledge retention.

Improving Communication & Collaboration from Frontline to Back Office

Previously, communication and collaboration with various stakeholders, especially during rapid expansion and store openings, posed significant challenges. One example that traditional chat solutions lacked was the ability to record and track day-to-day tasks effectively.

With Lark's chat group and task tracking functionality, communication is now streamlined based on task lists, enabling efficient progress tracking. Frontline users can utilize the task feature to manage their to-do lists and mark tasks as completed.

Moreover, communication with office employees, who often need to be mobile, has been significantly enhanced. Previously, procedural matters, such as approval applications, were cumbersome and time-consuming via email. Now, with Lark, approval processes are simplified, allowing for quick approval or rejection with just a click. Any clarifications can be addressed promptly through chat groups, even on the go using mobile devices.

"Our previous communication method caused delays in our process. For instance, with our rapid expansion, each hire's back-and-forth communication took months due to slow follow-ups and lack of accountability. Since using Lark, our approval process and communication have become faster and smoother, aligning perfectly with our expansion strategy." - Jake Ooi, Operations Manager

Communication between HQ and frontline teams has also been optimized through Lark's chat segmentation feature. Instead of a single group chat inundated with diverse messages, topic-specific groups have been created, such as outlet-related and product-related discussions.

"Initially, our communication was scattered across multiple platforms, leading to fragmented messages and unnecessary costs. As we expanded to 100 stores, the need for direct, clear communication became evident. With Lark, we consolidated our communication, reducing costs and ensuring that messages reach frontline staff accurately and efficiently. This streamlined approach has greatly improved our operational efficiency and cohesion as a team"

Conclusion

In conclusion, MiX.Store's adoption of Lark's integrated platform has revolutionized its operations, effectively addressing key hurdles in inventory management, communication, and knowledge retention. With a centralized solution in place, departments from Finance, Marketing, Operations, to the frontline can seamlessly collaborate, ensuring alignment and agility as the company expands. Now, equipped with streamlined processes and accessible information, MiX.Store is poised to sustain its growth momentum, setting a benchmark for efficiency and innovation in the retail industry.