NetSuite Announces Outdoor Retail Customer Wins, Bringing Outdoor Retail To The Cloud

SAN MATEO, Calif., Aug. 3 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry's leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today announced a number of new customer wins across outdoor retail brands. These new customer wins include HydroFlask, Solio and X-1, who adopted NetSuite cloud business management software to better manage financials, inventory, warehousing and third-party logistics (3PL), order management, CRM and B2B and B2C sales. These companies join the ranks of existing NetSuite customers in the outdoor market that have been able to streamline their operations and continue to innovate within their respective markets, and include such companies as Mountain Khakis, Ibex, GoPro, Ruffwear, Optic Nerve, Liberty Bottleworks, Outdoor Technology, Nuun, Terry Bicycles, Julbo, Buff Headwear, PROBAR, Surftech, Bamboo Bottle and more.

Competing successfully in the outdoor sports business isn't easy. It requires passion, dedication and the right combination of product and effort to be successful. The increasing expansion of outdoor products into a wider range of retail outlets and direct consumer sales channels means that small companies can find themselves competing with multi-national giants for shelf space and customer loyalty. The biggest brands have vertical and horizontal integration advantages that were nearly impossible for contenders to match. Far too often, smaller organizations are forced to dedicate crucial personnel to IT and managing multiple disparate systems instead of driving the business in order to compete. Couple that with a lack of visibility across a far-flung supply chain and innovative outdoor companies struggle to compete effectively.

NetSuite cloud solutions enable these fast-growing, emerging outdoor companies to streamline business processes, gain agility and flexibility and achieve operational efficiencies in the following ways:

• Improving supply chain operations in the cloud with integrated capabilities for inventory and order management, with demand forecasts built from real-time data, reducing excess inventory or risk of stock outs.
• Providing a real-time, 360-degree view of the business by seamlessly integrating financials / ERP, CRM and eCommerce, empowering businesses to manage their interactions directly with consumers, other businesses and trading partners.
• Allowing data to flow seamlessly for wholesale distributors and their trading partners, to ensure communication in lockstep with the same data, audit trails and real-time accuracy at every stage.
• Stakeholders can share container, pallet, location, forecasting, scheduling and unit-level data while collaborating on a common cloud platform.
• Managing all transactions and associated customer interactions regardless of touchpoint.
• Reducing IT costs and being free from version lock with automatic upgrades, ensuring customers the latest and greatest features of NetSuite's industry-leading cloud ERP, CRM and eCommerce software suite.

NetSuite's cloud solution for outdoor retailers has a proven track record of enabling rapid scaling of outdoor brands by eliminating many of the growing pains associated with fast-growing businesses and significantly improving efficiency. Leveraging NetSuite frees outdoor companies from the overhead and distraction of creating costly and complicated IT departments and allows them to focus on developing superior products, values, and customer experiences. NetSuite's recently launched SuiteCommerce platform is a clear choice for these companies enabling them to manage interactions with other businesses and directly with consumers via a cloud platform that delivers an enhanced customer experience, through any touchpoint, directly on the core NetSuite ERP/CRM business management application. This technology transcends the limitations and complexity of first-generation eCommerce systems to deliver new efficiencies for merchants and a superior experience for customers. For more information about SuiteCommerce please visit www.netsuite.com/suitecommerce.

"Outdoor retailers running NetSuite can focus on their core mission of delivering innovative outdoor gear and building customer loyalty and brand awareness without the drag of on-premise tools and unnecessary expenses," said Roman Bukary, AVP of Manufacturing and Wholesale & Distribution at NetSuite. "It's extremely gratifying to see so many of our customers rapidly grow their businesses leveraging the NetSuite platform – cloud technology is a critical differentiator delivering a competitive advantage."

NetSuite is enabling outdoor retailers across the industry to streamline their business operations with real-time visibility into business-critical information and rapidly growing omni-channel, international supply and distribution networks including direct-to-consumer eCommerce sales, marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay, and large retailers such as REI, Walmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Target and others. The outdoor brands leveraging NetSuite include:

Hydro Flask (www.hydroflask.com), a maker of double-wall, vacuum-insulated stainless steel water bottles, has doubled its revenue since deploying NetSuite  as the backbone of its business, supporting financials, inventory, warehousing and third-party logistics (3PL), order management, CRM and sales to consumers, wholesalers and across more than 4,000 retail outlets in North America such as Cabela's and Eastern Mountain Sports. The Bend, Ore.-based company uses NetSuite to drive its inventory planning across overseas suppliers to third-party logistics with real-time visibility into inventory across its entire supply chain that has slashed lead times and enabled on-target production and stock levels. Hydro Flask is deploying the new NetSuite SuiteCommerce platform, leveraging a single customer view to support direct-to-consumer sales with a highly interactive Web storefront, on-site recommendations, personalized email marketing and ratings and reviews. Hydro Flask implemented NetSuite to replace QuickBooks, improving efficiency, reducing costs and speeding time to market. "NetSuite is a big part of our growth strategy and helps us integrate with our partners and streamline our supply chain," said Scott Allan, Hydro Flask CEO. "We've been able to reduce lead times across our supply chain and that makes a huge difference in our ability to grow."

Solio (www.solio.com), a manufacturer of solar chargers, solar flashlights and solar batteries for electronic devices such as smartphones, MP3 players and GPS units, uses NetSuite for its sales pipeline, eCommerce storefront, inventory management, order to cash and financials, gaining efficiency and visibility not possible with its previous QuickBooks system. NetSuite has helped Solio, based in Oakland, Calif., achieve triple-digit growth in product sales at large retailers such as REI and Radio Shack while growing its direct-to-consumer eCommerce sales and its reseller network since undergoing a recent supply chain restructuring. Solio's NetSuite solution was a "pillar of strength" as the company changed suppliers and re-launched products, providing agility without the need for an in-house IT staff. "We wanted a single solution that could run our website while integrating eCommerce with our back office, and NetSuite does it all," said Chris Hansel, Solio VP of Sales. "We can log on and sync up from anywhere and get real-time information on inventory, sales and other metrics that drive the business."

X-1 (www.X-1.com), the leading provider of waterproof and sweat proof headphones, cases and accessories, is leveraging NetSuite for inventory and distribution, accounting and customer service, and is relying on NetSuite as it embarks on its rebranding and expansion. Based in San Diego, Calif., X-1, powered by H2O Audio, has accelerated inventory turns by 50 percent with NetSuite, streamlined distribution of products to distributors and retailers such as The Sports Authority and REI, and benefited from NetSuite's integrated bill of materials functionality for manufacturers. With NetSuite,   X-1 has back-office integration for its Web storefront and sales tracking by product, and has reduced its open customer service cases by 25 percent while gaining visibility into issues to improve product quality. NetSuite's world-class accounting capabilities have helped X-1 reduce days sales outstanding (DSO) by one-third, while reducing financial close times from 12 to three days, even with fewer accounting personnel than before NetSuite was implemented. "We look forward to our continued partnership with NetSuite as X-1 grows and expands," said Dana Swanson, X-1 Director of Marketing. "With the continued help of NetSuite, we aim to become the leader in personal audio solutions for all types of athletes everywhere."

Business agility and efficiency in the cloud is leveling the playing field in outdoor retail, helping small and well established brands to achieve significant sales growth and compete effectively. As a sponsor of the Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, NetSuite is proud to support the growth of its customers across this industry.

About NetSuite
Today, more than 12,000 companies and subsidiaries depend on NetSuite to run complex, mission-critical business processes globally in the cloud. Since its inception in 1998, NetSuite has established itself as the leading provider of enterprise-class cloud ERP/financials suites for divisions of large enterprises and mid-sized organizations seeking to upgrade their antiquated client/server ERP systems. NetSuite excels at streamlining business operations as demonstrated in a recent Gartner study naming NetSuite as the fastest growing top 10 financial management systems vendor in the world. NetSuite continues its success in delivering the best cloud ERP/financials suites to businesses around the world, enabling them to lower IT costs significantly while increasing productivity, as the global adoption of the cloud is accelerating.

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For more information about NetSuite, please visit www.netsuite.com.

NOTE: NetSuite and the NetSuite logo are service marks of NetSuite Inc. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between NetSuite and any other company.

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SOURCE NetSuite Inc.