Our business is completely data driven which means minute by minute I can see exactly what is happening across the entire operation.
Founder and CEO, Tile Mountain Group
Founded a decade ago as an online-only business, a combination of millions of pounds of investment to expand into showrooms across the country, alongside an acquisition of competitor Walls and Floors in 2019, has meant Tile Mountain has benefited from consistent growth over the past few years1. Founder and CEO Jeremy Harris explains how a commitment to integrating data systems has helped Tile Mountain develop cutting-edge online and instore customer experiences while ensuring he is always in touch with the entire business operation, from ceiling to floor.
Tile Mountain has been a paperless organisation since the beginning. Following an acquisition of a rival tile business in 2019, it had to ensure that its own digital systems replaced some of the more traditional paper-based work practices favoured by the incoming operation.
Within six months, Tile Mountain had fully integrated the new business into its existing technology, with the merged entity operating under the same single, seamless systems and processes.
“The old business used to get through a pallet of paper every month, but there is none of that anymore. We were fully digital within six months, on the same platform, using the same back-end systems as us, and that means we make huge efficiencies,” Jeremy reveals.
This fast and effective integration means Tile Mountain has visualisation across all the customers of both entities while ensuring complete operational consistency.
When you commit to moving from an online-only business to one offering state-of-the-art showrooms, you need to be sure you choose optimum locations.
Tile Mountain based its decision for nine nationwide stores – and its 2017 Stoke-on-Trent flagship HQ – on in-depth analysis of years of online sales data, to build a heat map showing key purchasing locations. Once a store location is opened it generates what Jeremy calls 'the halo effect' driving sales both in store and also online.
Tile Mountain also analyses customer data to inform how showrooms can be designed to create the ultimate shopping experience. Jeremy explains: “From interacting with our customers, we know that our showrooms should act as a genuine destination. They are very light and airy, there’s a coffee area, and there’s a kids’ zone so customers can take their time to browse and make informed decisions.”
Jeremy says Tile Mountain has plans for further strategic physical expansion in the coming years, too.
From the first moment a potential customer engages with Tile Mountain, the business can track and record each stage of the interaction, not only to ensure the business converts an enquiry into a sale, but to ensure the process is smooth from start to finish.
The company’s integrated systems monitor the customers’ website interactions, their relations with customer services as well as the warehouse picking and packing procedures. Jeremy says: “The order is entirely digitally managed and tracked and traced. This means we can look continually at updating our interactions with customers, making sure that we understand what is working and where we can improve.”
Such integration relies on sophisticated systems based in the UK and offshore, and Tile Mountain’s national operation is supported by 100 programmers– which Jeremy explains ensures “everything works 24 hours a day, seven days a week”.
Successful customer engagement requires innovative data-gathering and the ability to put that information to good use.
Tile Mountain uses the intelligence it gathers from tile sample requests to inform its sales process. Once a tile sample has been requested either online or instore, the company uses the customer details to follow up with a more personal interaction via email, webchat, social media or over the phone.
Jeremy says: “Data is stored in our customer relationship management system, which means when a salesperson gets in touch with someone who has ordered a tile sample, they have all the information they need to make sure the interaction is personal and targeted, and ultimately ensures the customer gets what they need.”
He adds: “People want to get in touch with us through many channels including Twitter and Facebook, so we have processes in place to respond to the customers consistently and effectively to make sure they have a personal experience.”
Working with Barclays
When Tile Mountain needed to switch its banking services, the business chose Barclays for a quick and seamless transition. Barclays now takes care of the retailer’s entire corporate banking needs which include term debt as well as trade and working capital solutions delivering first-class service to support Tile Mountain’s expansion ambitions.
Barclays made it extremely easy to change banks and we were able to transition really quickly. They’ve listened to us and understood our business and they now take care of our entire group banking requirements.
Founder and CEO, Tile Mountain Group
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