Company Name: Lebenslust
Location: Tokyo, Japan
Industry: Retail
Company Size: 6
No. of Odoo Users: 3
Hosting Type: Odoo Online
Implementation Partner: ENDEAVOR SBC Co., Ltd.
Apps Implemented: eCommerce, Website, Marketing Automation, Purchase, Manufacturing, Inventory, Accounting, Contacts, Sales, Invoicing, Discuss, Quality, Email Marketing
Founded in 2013, Lebenslust (formerly Kobold Japan) brings Kobold cleaner ranges from the German company Vorwerk to Japan. The company welcomes guests in its showroom in Daikanyama, where customers can touch and try or, sometimes, rent various kitchen and home appliances. Among the product ranges, the Kobold cleaners soon became modern Japanese household favorites for the allergen-free environment they create.
From Messy to Streamlined Operations
Lebenslust used to manage their business on iScala, an ERP designed for large corporations.
As the system had to be "heavily customized" to meet their needs, Lebenslust solely relied on external support through a single point of contact for service upgrades or even generating reports. To keep sales and inventory records aligned and accurate and the e-shop catalog up to date, the company dedicated a lot of manual labor to locating and moving information across iScala, Mailchimp, and their e-shop. In a nutshell, "it was a mess," says Anton Jatsch, Lebenslust's owner.
They soon found it impossible to stay on iScala because of these limitations and low cost-efficiency, so they switched to Odoo.
I am happy to have made this change. Odoo is an easy tool to use. We are able to manage the system ourselves as much as possible.
The transition has brought about numerous improvements to Lebenslust's daily operations. The most notable being a 50% boost in sales, an 80% improvement in time efficiency, and many more.
Transparent Sales Flow
Thanks to Odoo's integrated nature, Anton now describes Lebenslust's sales process as "extremely convenient." The team can log the customer and sales details once on the Sales app for Odoo to synchronize the data on the Inventory, Purchase, and Accounting apps, too. Besides a much-streamlined workflow, Lebenslust records a 98% reduction in paper usage after switching to Odoo, as everything is done or automated online in a few taps.
Odoo's transparency also fosters smoother collaboration within the organization. For instance, Odoo allows Anton to better monitor the status of ongoing projects by providing visibility into the notes left by the sales team. This gives him a clear understanding of where each project stands. Additionally, Odoo streamlines key administrative tasks, such as assigning new accounts, which can be done with just a few clicks. Odoo also makes it easy for Anton to track commission payments at the end of each month by showing him details on which sales were made by whom.
Another significant change in Lebenslust is the ability to generate different reports, which was hardly possible in the past, to make data-driven business decisions. Every month, Anton generates one on the Sales app, which singles out the best-performing products and salespeople, and another on Odoo Inventory, showing all stock in hand and turnover. With these reports, he can respond to business trends and tackle the company's limitations immediately while implementing inventory adjustments on demand.
Time-saving Integration
Lebenslust finds the Odoo-Stripe integration of utmost importance in contributing to sales efficiency. Tasks that once required human effort and printouts are now replaced by automation. This integration is, quoting from Anton himself, "unbelievably crucial and fast."
By linking the database with the company's Stripe account, the Japanese business can automate payment requests directly from Odoo. Likewise, the payment will be registered on Odoo Sales, and the team can go ahead and arrange shipments. Efficient and intuitive, this integration has saved Lebenslust 80% of the time on winning deals and maintained a healthy cash flow.
Interactive Website and E-shop
Odoo's scalable nature has also allowed Lebenslust to expand its services into the online world with an e-shop interconnected with its backend database.
The Odoo-supported website caters to two languages—English and Japanese—to serve the business's diverse clientele. Apart from this, the team has complete freedom and knowledge to create a pop-up ad to offer their website viewers the best deals during discounted seasons. Every eCommerce order will be automated with those on the Sales app, centralizing all sales activities on one app.
From the customers' point of view, this new website also offers a better shopping experience, as they are able to reach customer service via the online contact form when they have a question regarding which products best suit their needs. Once a contact form is submitted, Anton and his team will receive an email about the inquiry to ensure no customer goes unattended.
Proactive Communication
Implementing Odoo has revolutionized the ways Lebenslust communicates, both internally and externally.
Internally, the team utilizes the note-logging function on the sales app to add important notes, attachments, bills, or customer payment lists to help anyone who browses the page have a better understanding of the customer.
Yet, the biggest game changer for Lebenslust would be Odoo Email Marketing, which helps boost sales by a whopping 50%. The team observes two formulae for winning deals.
The first rule is attentiveness. Integrated with other Odoo apps, the Email marketing app helps Lebenslust identify customers by purchase date and schedule a reminder email attaching the company's latest cleaner filter to catch customers at the right time with the best deals.
The other rule is proactiveness. Lebenslust utilizes Odoo CRM and Email Marketing apps to filter out customers from their partners and offer products they might be interested in at a more competitive price.
Serving Japan
Odoo is a marvelous tool for small businesses. Odoo is great at helping businesses grow step by step with its wide range of apps.
Odoo not only helps small businesses in Japan expand but also enables companies like Lebenslust to adopt flexible and innovative solutions to address their key business management challenges. This allows them to respond to and keep pace with other industry leaders in the country, all while remaining cost-effective.
Lebenslust
Japanese Home Electronics Retailer Lebenslust Boost Sales By 50% Using Odoo