In an era when digital transformation is essential for maintaining a competitive edge, retailers worldwide are upgrading their systems to provide better customer and employee experiences. To achieve this, retailers also turn to companies like Inetum UK that deliver real digital impact to clients through their services.
Inetum won the ‘Highly Commended’ Operational Innovation of the Year 2024 award at the ERP Today Awards in December for overhauling a UK and Ireland-based multinational retailer’s Service Management system and transitioning them from an outdated ticketing tool to the ServiceNow platform. The upgrade not only deflected 98% of incoming calls through automation but also significantly improved user experience and internal processes.
“At Inetum, we are dedicated to integrating our expertise and innovative solutions with our clients’ objectives. Our collaboration with the retailer on their service management operations transformation has been a remarkable journey,” Kathy Quashie, CEO of Inetum UKI and Growing Markets said.
Explore related questions
The Challenge
With nearly 80,000 employees and more than 400 stores globally, the retailer offers affordable, stylish clothing for a universal customer base. However, the company’s legacy IT service management (ITSM) system was failing to keep pace with its growing digital needs.
The brand also relied on a ticketing toolset that created inefficiencies. The system lacked essential features such as reporting, automation, and a robust search function. As a result, employees struggled to access necessary information quickly, leading to productivity losses and operational overheads. Users expressed frustration with slow response times, unstructured workflows, and a lack of automation. Feedback from internal surveys revealed:
- 81% of users needed a faster, more efficient tool for addressing their concerns
- 88% wanted instant chat functionality
- Employees were overwhelmed with email notifications, further compounding the inefficiencies
These pain points highlighted the need for a comprehensive solution to transform the company’s service management operations and improve employee satisfaction. To overcome these challenges, the retailer approached Inetum, which is an E2E elite partner for ServiceNow.
ServiceNow Implementation
As a partner that does not believe in just fixing one tactical problem, Inetum collaborated with the retailer on all aspects of the project to truly optimize their digital ecosystem. Inetum’s deep platform expertise and industry knowledge also enabled the retailer to future-prepare its updated systems and make it more sustainable.
The implementation process unfolded in several key phases, ensuring that the solution was tailored to meet the retailer’s specific needs. They included:
- Process Evaluation: Inetum conducted a thorough assessment of the customer’s ITSM operations, including platform evaluation, process mapping, and user feedback. This stage helped identify critical gaps in system performance and areas for improvement.
- Roadmap Construction: With input from key stakeholders, Inetum defined a roadmap that aligned with the company’s digital transformation strategy. This included focusing on Incident and Problem Management, Change Management, Knowledge Management, and Virtual Agent functionality. Interactive workshops helped ensure all team members aligned with the goals and processes.
- Implementation: The transition took place over six releases, supported by 42 hours of training for key users. Inetum listened to feedback throughout the process, ensuring that the solution met expectations and was fully optimized.
“Working with Inetum has been a remarkable experience. They consistently exceeded our expectations, even when resources were limited. Their priority management made my onboarding effortless, and their support ensured we met crucial deadlines,” the company’s ITSM product owner said. “Their insightful roadmap session highlighted areas for ITAM and CMDB improvements while providing a clear path for our digital transformation. Their ability to challenge us and keep us on track has been instrumental in our ServiceNow journey.”
Enhancing Efficiency and User Experience
The new ServiceNow system helped streamline operations and reduced costs by eliminating manual, labor-intensive processes:
- Over 12,000 incidents were handled by the system
- 98% of over 8,000 virtual agent conversations were resolved without human intervention
- This automation drastically reduced the need for manual effort, saving valuable time.
- Teams integration helped mitigate the overwhelming flood of email notifications
- 500+ self-serve knowledge articles provided users with quick, easy access to information in their preferred language.
- Multilingual support assisted employees in resolving simple queries on their own, reducing the need for time-consuming support tickets.
“Achieving a 98% call deflection highlights our unwavering commitment to operational excellence and the strength of our partnership,” Quashie said. “We are proud to have contributed to their success and improved their employee satisfaction through our consistent, outcome-driven, quality-driven approach.”
The solution provided by Inetum also laid the groundwork for a future-proof ITSM platform, merging two distinct IT service desks into a unified system, providing greater visibility into ticket progress, and offering flexibility to meet the growing needs of the business.
Looking Ahead
Inetum’s collaboration with the retailer has further evolved since. The next steps included gradually integrating more third-party vendors to expand their ServiceNow capabilities and merging the local store service desk with the corporate one. Plans were put in place to extend ServiceNow’s scope to cover non-IT business areas, further driving efficiencies and digital transformation across the organization. As the company moves forward, Inetum will remain a trusted digital partner helping them realize even greater efficiency and innovation in the coming years.
