Gagnon Frères Implements the LS Central Unified Commerce Solution

Gagnon Frères is a family business established in 1904 which stands today among the biggest regional furniture retailers in Quebec. With seven stores in the Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Côte-Nord, and Capitale-Nationale regions, the company offers a wide range of furniture pieces, appliances, mattresses, and decoration items.

Industry Challenges

The retail industry has faced significant challenges in recent years, with issues arising even before the pandemic. Stakeholders have been compelled to demonstrate agility. Today, retailers must adapt to the e-commerce boom while addressing rapidly changing consumer behavior and continuously learning how to meet evolving needs.

Competition is particularly fierce in the furniture sector, where aggressive competitors, fluctuating prices and inventories, and complex ordering processes can jeopardize the customer experience. As a regional vendor, Gagnon Frères had to distinguish itself among national players with large volumes and strong purchasing power.

While national vendors focus on a web-based approach, Gagnon Frères has built its strategy on an optimal, consistent omnichannel shopping experience. The choice to implement the LS Central unified commerce solution aligns perfectly with Gagnon Frères’s goal to support its sales teams and preserve the company’s expertise.

Before Implementing LS Central

For 32 years prior to adopting LS Central, Gagnon Frères operated a legacy system common in the furniture industry. This software had become obsolete, restrictive, and inflexible. It couldn’t communicate with other platforms and was slow to harness data.

The system’s limitations included the inability to automate business analysis and online order processing or obtain reliable product costs. As a result, the company relied on estimations and forecasts performed once or twice a year to make decisions.

Why LS Central?

Gagnon Frères chose LS Central, a solution based on the Microsoft Dynamics 365 platform, for its user-friendly interface, ease of access to information, and powerful reporting features. The system is well-regarded across several industries and suited to meet the company’s needs.

The Benefits of a Unified Commerce System

Improved Customer Experience

The LS Central solution enhances Gagnon Frères’s value proposition by focusing on the customer experience. Employees now have access to real-time, self-updating information. For instance, if a customer requests a product unavailable in-store, sales staff can provide detailed descriptions and precise availability dates for shipping based on current stock levels throughout the company’s network.

Sales consultants can effectively address in-store customer needs, and this information is also available online, ensuring customers have a clear understanding of available products. This consistency supports customers throughout their buying journey, from pre-shopping to after-sales service.

Quality Information, Better Management

The new system provides greater quantity and quality of information, eliminating many non-value-added tasks. Positive impacts on inventory and product management, coupled with real-time data access, have allowed Gagnon Frères to achieve two record sales years despite a reduction in staff numbers due to the pandemic.

“LS Central improves inventory management, makes the job easier for our employees, and gives them accurate, reliable, real-time information to help support our customers.”

Simplified Training

Previously, training new employees to use the legacy system took one week. With LS Central, Gagnon Frères created training modules using the provided literature, reducing training time across all roles and enabling quicker employee autonomy.

Improved Financial Visibility

While Gagnon Frères previously relied on estimations, they now base decisions on accurate financial information supported by reliable data. The system allows the company to allocate costs, access account details, and manage ancillary costs efficiently.

What’s Next?

Deepen the Knowledge of Different Tools

Gagnon Frères plans to further leverage complementary tools offered by LS Central. Improved use of Power BI will enable efficient sales figure review, optimized inventory management, and reliable trend detection. Additional features, such as the CRM module, will enhance customer communication and enable tailored offers.

Keep Focusing on the Customer Experience

Future projects will focus heavily on customer satisfaction. Gagnon Frères aims to provide fast, efficient service and accurately assess satisfaction levels, even with fewer resources. Automation will play a key role by handling tasks without human intervention and setting up alerts for threshold breaches, helping the company anticipate issues. These initiatives are made possible through the implementation of LS Central.