The CEO and the former Head of Sales at STATE OF WOW reveal how to optimize your entire business simply and inexpensively.

STATE OF WOW is the largest headwear company in the Nordics. However, they don’t have their stores but distribute the brand via, e.g., retail stores and supermarkets.

In this Case Study, you can learn how the company has raised the quality of its work, achieved significant time savings, and optimized sales – all with the help of an easy and inexpensive task management system.

Lack of overview and documentation

Why invest in a task management system at all? Jens Wöldike Jensen is the former Head of Sales at STATE OF WOW, now working as an external consultant at the company. A core part of his job is visiting the locations where STATE OF WOW displays its goods.

In the past, the challenge for Jens Wöldike Jensen and his colleagues was; they didn’t have an overall system to support their work. Each consultant had their way of keeping track of visits etc. 

“The problem was that no one could answer, e.g., how many weekly visits a sales manager made. And for the sales managers themselves, it was difficult to keep track of all the details from each store visit. After the 7th visit in a row, you can easily lose track,” says Jens Wöldike Jensen and continues:

“Many didn’t have a systematic overview of the locations they had visited or how each location looked. The photo documentation was done via SMS, which took a long time, and data was easily lost in various correspondences.”

The complete overview

This was the reason why STATE OF WOW chose to collaborate with Instore Excellence. They needed a solution that made digital team task management simple and logical.

“The system enables us to regain visibility and have a complete overview of how our brand is represented in the stores where we display our goods. It’s a perfect solution at a really good price,” says Jan Møllbach, CEO at STATE OF WOW.

Streamlining across countries

STATE OF WOW has employees in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Finland. Thus, it was important the Instore Excellence app could adapt to work across countries. This involved that external consultants – regardless of language and onboarding level – could easily access and navigate the system.

“We can adapt the questions in our surveys and tailor them to the different markets where we operate. The main advantage is that everyone now uses the same system, and all data ends up in the same place.

We often have external consultants and agents working for the company, and today everybody can easily access the system just by downloading the app to their phone. They log in with their email, and they are up and running,” says consultant Jens Wöldike Jensen and adds:

“The system is extremely easy to use – regardless of the user’s affiliation with the company. This ensures that the task at hand is always in focus. Also, I can sit in Copenhagen and compare with data from, e.g., Munich.”

Higher quality, less time, and more sales

According to Jens Wöldike Jensen, STATE OF WOW has experienced great results from the collaboration with Instore Excellence:

Higher quality and time savings:
“Our internal dialogue, where we discuss how each store looks, has improved enormously. I can call my boss and say; ‘Please take a look at the recent pictures from Kvickly in Helsinge’. The solution we had before, using SMS for image documentation, was quite frankly an unstructured mess.

Now we have something concrete and easily accessible as the foundation for our work. It both increases the quality of our work and saves us huge amounts of time!”

Overview and optimization of sales:
“Both management and I have the complete overview – allowing us to keep track of the number of location visits my colleagues and I have done. We also have a precise overview of the locations visited and when it happened.

This is important when it comes to analyzing our sales figures. If a store lags behind, we can immediately check the data and see; ‘Okay, that store hasn’t been visited for three months’.

From there we can take informed action and, e.g., arrange an extra visit to the particular store. Our sales are highly dependent on the positioning of our goods. Thus, an extra store visit to the right place can make a huge difference.”

Onboarding of new employees:
“In the past, data and knowledge were easily lost when we had replacements in the staff, and it could take a long time to onboard new employees. Now all knowledge is gathered in the app. New employees are connected to the system and are up and running with all they need immediately.”

Data and benchmarking:
“Once a week, reports are automatically regenerated by the system. For example, we gain insight into 1) how many visits certain chains have had, 2) how many visits the team has made overall, and 3) how many visits the individual employees have made.

Everyone can track how they are doing with the expected number of visits. Our focus is primarily on service, so we don’t use the system to drive performance internally between employees, but this would also be an option if the need arose.”

The results, according to the CEO

CEO Jan Møllbach is also very enthusiastic about the benefits of the investment in the team task management system.

“We both save money and streamline our entire business. We can ensure that our brand is represented the same way in all stores and countries where we operate. The system works, both for management and employees. I recommend the system to all brands that distribute their goods through other stores,” says Jan Møllbach.

Consultant Jens Wöldike Jensen agrees:

“I can only encourage companies that work with distribution in their own and others’ stores; get the system tested! Take a trial period and see what value it can provide for your company. I wish I had the system 20 years ago – it saves me so much time!”

About STATE OF WOW

STATE OF WOW is the largest headwear company in the Nordics – offering proven and optimized wholesale and display solutions for the retail space, private label development, and production solutions for a wide range of established fashion brands, promotion agencies, festivals, and organizations across Europe.

The company has over 25 employees in Denmark, Sweden, Germany, and Finland, with head office in Copenhagen, Denmark, and offices in Sweden and China.

“The system enables us to regain visibility and have a complete overview of how our brand is represented in the stores where we display our goods.”

“It’s a perfect solution at a really good price.”

“We both save money and streamline our entire business. We can ensure that our brand is represented the same way in all stores and countries where we operate. The system works, both for management and employees.”

“I recommend the system to all brands that distribute their goods through other stores.”

Jan Møllbach

CEO, STATE OF WOW

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