For nearly 40 years, Homefair Blinds has been a trusted name in the window blinds industry across the North East and North West of England, with over 15 showrooms. They provide an in-home service for surveys, sales, and installations, offering both traditional products and more aspirational solutions such as shutters, awnings, apex systems, and smart home solutions.
Introduction to Homefair Blinds
The Challenge
Homefair Blinds faced a significant challenge as their business systems were split across five different applications, none of which integrated with each other. They realised that digital transformation was critical to their success, so they needed to move to a platform that was centralised, future-proof, and digital. Additionally, onsite product configuration and setup to create work orders and EDI files for suppliers were important for their fieldbased staff.
How they chose BlindMatrix
As part of their post-COVID evolution strategy, they wanted to digitally transform their business with a single, centralised solution. That’s when a friend from Scotland, who is already using BlindMatrix, introduced them to the system. After spending time with his friend and seeing BlindMatrix in action, they are clear that their future is with BlindMatrix as a retailer.
The solution and impact
Homefair Blinds saw a significant reduction in the time spent on mundane administrative tasks after implementing BlindMatrix, a single, centralised software solution.
Shaun Welsh, Operations Director at Homefair Blinds, stated: “The mobile app was probably the biggest game changer as it meant not only did we get the order into the business a day earlier it meant we didn’t need to audit the paper copies for errors and neither did we need anyone in the office to key in”.
He also added: “BlindMatrix gives access to the data enables me to understand trends and forecast demand more effectively”.
Regarding customer relationships, Shaun Welsh remarked: “Moving over to BlindMatrix has allowed us to automate our email and SMS notifications to customers, and it has also given us more flexibility in what and how we communicate. It also provides clear records, should we need to verify with customers that we’ve been in touch”.
He further said: “I would be taking my own life in my hands If I suggested we went back to paper!”