BearingPoint Currys Client Story
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BearingPoint Currys Client Story
Introduction
Currys is a leading omnichannel retailer of technology products and services, employing over 32,000 people and operating through 830 stores in 8 countries. Currys’ vision is to help everyone enjoy amazing technology. In 2021, the business consolidated Carphone Warehouse, Team Knowhow, Currys PC World and Dixons Carphone into one UK brand. Currys (UK) is now the largest electronics retailer with 26% market share.
BearingPoint worked with Currys to improve customer service and reduce the cost of aftersales. We also helped them develop a single business architecture model to unify acquired areas of the business.
Client Challenges
In 2022 BearingPoint engaged in a project focusing on Curry’s ‘Aftersales’ experience, completing an initial diagnostic phase, which identified significant opportunities to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and deliver an improved aftersales experience for its customers. To understand the best approach to realise the opportunities identified, BearingPoint were asked to complete a further project to identify and size specific initiatives that could be conducted by Currys to enable them to reduce avoidable costs and create scalable platforms to drive additional aftersales revenue.
As part of this engagement BearingPoint were also asked to complete an assessment of Currys capabilities to deliver transformational change, as they recognised that business areas often worked in silos and did not retain a single view of the aftersales business capabilities. This meant that impacts of continual improvement initiatives across different business areas and customer journeys were not fully understood or utilised. This piece of work identified the need to for Currys to create a consistent framework for modelling, analysing, and improving business processes.
These two work streams: Aftersales Transformation and Business Architecture Implementation enabled Currys to identify WHAT they needed to focus on and HOW this could be delivered to reduce costs, increase efficiency, and deliver an enhanced aftersales service for their customers.
BearingPoint Approach
Aftersales Transformation
Working with the aftersales teams, BearingPoint completed an objective review of the delivery network and aftersales service operations to identify quick wins and longer term initiatives with the aim to reduce costs, improve employee satisfaction and build customer loyalty through the delivery of enhanced aftersales services. To do this, BearingPoint completed a focused data analysis exercise to a level of detail and breadth of scope that Currys had not previously undertaken. This uncovered significant opportunities to reduce the variation of performance across the different customer service delivery centres (CSCs) as well as ways to optimise how delivery partners and in-house delivery teams are utilised.
A programme of site visits and interviews with key operations team members was conducted as part of this activity together with a deep dive investigation into the delivery and installations business area to uncover pain-points, cost leakage and opportunities to enhance current practices and behaviours. This was combined with a review of the best practice processes across retail and wider service industries which Currys could implement within their own aftersales teams to improve its services and reduce costs identifying quick wins and longer term transformation projects.
The various opportunities and process improvements recognised as part of the review were further qualified with Currys service operations leaders and heads of department to assess their impact and feasibility before translating into To-Be Process maps and actionable recommendations with detailed project definitions and benefits qualification.
Business Architecture
BearingPoint developed a 6-step approach to create a business architecture model, which was focused on providing Currys with a consistent framework and best practice approaches to support future business transformation. Initially the focus was to engage with various stakeholders across the business to identify the core capabilities required for the business to function effectively, this translated into a business capability map with over 80 capabilities detailed and consolidated in one place.
The next step was to collate and validate over 900 key business processes information and translate this into corresponding process maps, providing Currys with a single view of the current aftersales business, detailing how different areas of the business collaborate, where they operate and on which systems all in a single document which was translated into Currys business architecture model. Using this model, and working together with Currys continual improvement teams, the next element of this piece of work was to provide a visual representation of how transformation projects impacted different areas of the business using a heatmap which was integrated into the business architecture design.
To enable Currys to embed the business architecture model into their business transformation project management, a playbook was created which detailed best practice continual improvement models, including how to utilise and maintain the business architecture model to assess impacts of transformation initiatives across business capabilities as well as tooling recommendations and step by step guides which could be incorporated into Currys current change processes and standard operating procedures.
Client Business Outcomes
The aftersales transformation projects identified clear opportunities for Currys to reduce their aftersales operating costs and enhance the services delivered including a programme of work to optimise their delivery partner network and increase the utilisation of their in-house delivery and installation crews which would reduce costs. Other key recommendations included proposals to improve the mechanisms required to charge for bulky item deliveries and enhance customer delivery communications which save in delivery and install failures costs.
The deep dive analysis also highlighted key process and operational changes required for Currys to become leaders in the delivery and installation space in the future. This included the need to develop core business capabilities to support the operation to realise and embed the improvements identified and drive the consistency in performance standards across the Customer Service Centre (CSC) network.
The Business Architecture model created in collaboration with Currys has also provided Currys with unprecedented visibility of the aftersales business functions and core capabilities. The corresponding playbook has delivered a best-practice process and capability reference point to form the basis for all future transformation initiatives as the business evolves. This has positioned Currys to make considered strategic transformation decisions and an accelerated approach to deliver and embed future change within the business.