Belstaff’s Digital Transformation: Streamlining Operations and Expanding Horizons with Patchworks

Belstaff, a British heritage brand known for its outerwear and motorcycle clothing, embarked on a monumental digital transformation to modernise its operations and support its ambitious growth plans. Founded in 1924, Belstaff's rich history came with its own set of challenges, but with a clear vision for the future, they aimed to streamline operations and expand their reach.

Patchworks was a key enabler in making this transformation a reality.

Belstaff faced significant financial losses and high operational complexity when it embarked on its digital transformation. "We were losing millions year upon year, and it was becoming untenable," noted Navid Jilow, CTO at Belstaff. The brand’s expensive, outsourced IT contract offered little flexibility and control, as its systems were managed externally. "Our entire IT architecture was a black box to us, making every feature request costly and time-consuming," Navid explained.

Belstaff's architecture was burdened with technical debt, with each change adding complexity and making the system increasingly expensive to maintain. With a complex structure that had been layered over years of growth, they needed to overhaul their IT environment to drive operational efficiencies, reduce costs, and position the brand for sustainable growth. The goal was to increase revenue, streamline operations, and regain control over their IT infrastructure.

Belstaff’s digital transformation journey was driven by the need to centralise data and reduce integration complexity. "Digital transformation starts with data centralisation" said Navid. This approach allowed Belstaff to consolidate its data streams across multiple systems, including eCommerce, POS, and payments, into a single integration connected to their ERP, reducing the number of integration points and, therefore, operational complexity.

Patchworks played an integral role in enabling this shift, helping Belstaff adopt a modern MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless) architecture. "Patchworks were instrumental in shaping our architecture in the right way, helping us adopt MACH principles" Navid shared. By leveraging Patchworks’ expertise, Belstaff could create a more flexible, scalable, and composable system, allowing for rapid implementation of IT updates, streamlined troubleshooting, and improved performance.

Shopify has very much been apart of Belstaff's unified commerce strategy, which you can read more about here.

Patchworks iPaaS enables a seamless omnichannel experience for Belstaff by integrating fulfilment across multiple channels, including UK fulfilment centres, retail stores, and online platforms. By synchronising inventory data across NetSuite, Shopify, and Seko, Patchworks ensures real-time stock accuracy, efficient order routing, and flexible fulfilment options, including click-and-collect and in-person returns.

Additionally, Patchworks supports global fulfilment by managing supplier orders, inbound processes, and cross-border inventory movements. This end-to-end integration empowers the client to deliver a flexible, consistent customer experience while optimizing operational efficiency and ensuring financial accuracy.

Patchworks offered a robust integration platform that enabled Belstaff to centralise its data and streamline its processes. The platform’s ability to connect systems and data points efficiently was key to Belstaff’s success. With Patchworks, Belstaff was able to move from a clunky, CAPEX-led infrastructure to a cost-effective, cloud-based OPEX operating model.

"Patchworks was great at following MACH principles in helping to shape the Belstaff IT architecture in the right way," noted Navid. By aligning with Patchworks, Belstaff was able to deploy applications in the cloud, which provided greater scalability and allowed them to replace outdated systems quickly.

Belstaff’s partnership with Patchworks has delivered significant benefits across their business, from operational efficiency to cost reduction. By centralising their data and reducing the number of integration points, Belstaff was able to eliminate their reliance on expensive third-party vendors and gain control of their IT architecture. This has led to faster project delivery times, improved scalability, and increased flexibility to meet business demands.

Some of the key changes enabled by Patchworks’ platform include:

• Reduced complexity: By centralising ecommerce, POS, and payment systems within a single integration, Belstaff has simplified its IT architecture, reducing the number of integration points and associated risks.
• Faster project rollouts: “Because we had our ecommerce, POS, and payment gateway applications under one Shopify technology platform, it meant we could roll out traditionally complex and long-running projects in under six months—often at a tenth of the implementation cost,” said Jilow.
• Increased control: Belstaff now has full control over their IT architecture, allowing them to respond to business needs more quickly and avoid the costly delays they experienced with their previous outsourced IT model.
• Scalability and performance improvements: With Patchworks’ cloud-native platform, Belstaff’s architecture is more scalable, secure, and resilient, enabling the business to grow without being constrained by their IT systems.

The results of this digital transformation have been profound. Not only has Belstaff reduced operational costs, but they have also expanded their target audience, refreshed their brand and product lines, and consolidated their operations to improve efficiency. The company is now aiming for profitability in FY2025—a significant achievement given the tough market conditions for retail.