DGC Distribution Ltd.
www.guvnor.com
Background
DGC Distribution Ltd is an importer and distributor of musical instruments and accessories, based in Spennymoor, County Durham. Under its highly successful Guvnor brand name the company designs and manufactures its own range of musical instruments and accessories to customers in the UK, Ireland, Continental Europe and the USA. The company, which has six employees, was founded in 1982 by Simon Cohen, MD, who started by selling guitar strings from his music shop in Durham.
The Business Opportunity
Facing a huge depression within the UK music industry, the initial aim in the adoption of e-commerce for DGC Distribution was to avoid overhead costs and, by giving staff a greater autonomy through the Intranet, improve employee retention. Secondly, DGC became aware of the external need for other small businesses within the industry to have a guide through new technologies. Thirdly, the company wanted to fill the gap internationally, and use e-commerce to strengthen existing relationships in China.
The Solution
DGC set up its web site under the Guvnor brand name to bring together the UK's music stores into one e-commerce portal dedicated exclusively to musicians and the music instrument industry. The primary function was to allow trade customers to search the product database, review special offers and place orders online. It developed a software system which was fully configured to meet the requirements of the company, the customer base and the industry as a whole.
Success
Through the use of e-commerce, DGC has seen an increase of 30% in their annual sales figures and after projecting a further net revenue increase of 40% for this year, saw it rise to 58%. Use of the Internet and Intranet have also reaped benefits for DGC Distribution. The Internet has enabled the company to source overseas suppliers from the import lines, and to communicate inexpensively with their manufacturing operations in China. The Intranet has given staff more responsibility in managing customer accounts, which has proven to increase job satisfaction and employee retention rates.
Year Overview
- Working on a new development programme aimed at bringing bricks and mortar stores online with EPOS (electronic point of sale) systems. This will be a full retail management site allowing any small business to integrate their store online and control all business from one central point
- Has seen major growth within the company which has resulted in a net revenue increase of 58%
- Upgraded all systems following a large financial investment
- DGC is currently being considered by BT Vision 100 for their list of the UK's most visionary companies
- Developing a Virtual Private Network (VPN) which enhances the security of business to business transactions
The Future
DGC is currently working on plans to develop their web site into a central databank for the whole of the music industry. The company has already commissioned a marketing company to assemble a specific industry-wide product database. Whilst plans last year included moving further globally, the recent business growth in the UK has meant DGC is concentrating on this new market.
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