Fashion brands – stop using NAV and switch to D365 Business Central

The title says it all.

This is a call to arms for all fashion brands – it’s time to stop using NAV and transition to D365 Business Central.

Please allow us to explain why…

Fashion is a fast-moving industry

Anyone in the tribe knows all too well that our industry moves at a lightning pace, with trends rising and falling at the flip of a coin.

Such an environment demands robust and adaptive technologies to succeed.

As businesses strive to stay ahead of the market, manage intricate supply chains, and satisfy the ever-fickle consumer, their ERP system represents the beating heart of their operations.

Think of it this way:

Your business has a plethora of data points spread across different sources, all of which contain vital information that must come together to sustain the life of the organisation, like the blood in our bodies.

These data points – akin to droplets of blood – originate from various “organs” of the business, from sales and marketing to supply chain and customer service.

Each “organ” functions uniquely but relies on the seamless flow of information to operate harmoniously with the broader ecosystem.

In the same way that our networks of veins and arteries ensure blood flow to our heart and back, ERP systems gather critical data from finance, customer engagements, supply chain teams, eCommerce sites and so on.

But our bodies regulate themselves, and the amount of blood that flows within us is consistent. Business, on the other hand, is ever-growing…

D365 Business Central grows with you

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should know that D365 Business Central – the successor to NAV – is a hugely popular solution that continues to gain recognition from the likes of Forbes as the best overall ERP system.

Why is that?

NAV is fundamentally old software that is quickly reaching its end-of-life stage. Crucially, this means that mainstream support will continue to trickle off, leading to greater risks of downtime and security threats.

If that wasn’t daunting enough, it simply does not have the infrastructure necessary to scale and add new functionality, two factors that are essential to success in today’s business climate.

There is a reason why, according to a recent Microsoft report, 93% of retailers acknowledge the advantages of cloud-based ERP solutions like Business Central – regardless of size and sector.

Without the capability to add new functionality, such as that offered by ISVs like K3, fashion and apparel brands will be unable to leverage the best-in-breed functionality their competitors are using.

And if you can’t use industry-standard functionality right now, how can you ever expect to leverage new and emerging technologies like AI to their full potential?

Uncovering Business Central’s strengths

Microsoft’s flagship solution for SMBs has built-in, real-time dashboards that connect you with the information required to make informed decisions without switching between applications and folders.

To take this a step further, Microsoft has developed integrations from Business Central to Power BI and Copilot to automate menial tasks and boost productivity.

Users can even utilise natural language processing technology to get the system to respond to everyday language queries without requiring special skills or knowledge.

Its efficiency personified. Or rather, *systemified*.

(Yes, we’ve just coined that term today.)

Anyway, let’s take a step back and look at the other factors that result in Business Central reigning supreme over NAV.

Back in the day, NAV was a really powerful solution, but to meet the needs of current business requirements, brands must customise and extend the system to ensure it scales with them.

This is a hindrance to operations. It’s costly and timely to embark on these endeavours.

Conversely, Business Central is designed with scalability in mind, allowing brands to add or adjust functionalities as their business changes easily.

And that’s without mentioning the support from the Microsoft partner network… like K3.

K3 Pebblestone, for instance, is fully embedded within D365 Business Central, offering comprehensive support for the industry’s biggest pains like colour, size and second size handling.

The potent combination of D365 Business Central and K3 Pebblestone empowers brands to unify their entire operations into a single location, giving them a single source of data truth from source to consumer.

Put simply: it unlocks business excellence.

Business Central is cost-effective

Aside from AI, scalability and the partner network, Business Central offers a wealth of additional benefits. Yes, there’s really more…

Microsoft provides Business Central as a cloud-based solution on a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) basis.

The nature of the solution means there’s no need to deploy it on-premises. At the same time, the subscription model eliminates the need for upfront investments in both hardware and software – offering a more financially viable approach for fashion brands.

Since it is a cloud-based platform, brands’ data is securely stored and accessible from anywhere at any time. This is particularly important since having access to information in real-time is pivotal to making informed decisions.

In a similar vein, the cloud infrastructure ensures that brands benefit from enhanced security features, automatic updates, and disaster recoveries to ensure business continuity.

More specifically for fashion and retail, Business Central provides advanced inventory management tools that enable smarter forecasting, automated restocking, and efficient supply chain operations – mitigating the risk of overstocking and stockouts.

Microsoft has also developed integrated solutions that tailor and personalise customer experiences across all channels – be that in-store, online or mobile – to facilitate the omnichannel journey that modern shoppers have become acquainted with.

In other words: Business Central empowers brands to deliver an actual unified commerce experience for consumers to enhance their satisfaction and loyalty.

Considering everything described above, it’s easy to understand why Business Central is cost-effective and a popular choice amongst businesses, not just in fashion but in any industry.

Want to know more about how Business Central and K3 Pebblestone can support you? Click here!