Monsoon has pinned an extra £1.4 million in online sales to new technology which turn stores into virtual warehouses when items have run out online.

The High Street fashion retailer said it has seen an instant boost in sales during the first month of its Fashion Finder service, which is built on smart inventory software from OneStock.

The system gives online customers access to stock across the retailer’s store estate when online inventory runs out and informs customers that their order will instead be fulfilled by a store.

Intelligent algorithms then assign orders to the right stores to maximise profitability and minimise delivery time.

The unification technology turns stores into a network of satellite warehouses, said the retailer, and drove an extra 8,067 orders during one peak trading day since it was launched to its online store.

Paul Allen, chief executive at Monsoon Accessorize, said the ship from store initiative was a “transformational” project for the company that marked an important milestone on Monsoon’s road to becoming a fully integrated omnichannel retailer.

He added: “It's now time to look at other customer journeys - click and collect and order in store - and benefit from the synergy with Ship From Store so that we increase customer satisfaction and optimise our fulfilment operation.”

Monsoon has connected OneStock’s omnichannel technology to existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and delivery partner systems.

The women’s fashion retailer also uses the cloud-based portal to improve stock accuracy in stores, by reporting when products can’t be shipped due to being missing, defective, reserved by a customer or subject to local markdown.

Romulus Grigoras, chief executive at OneStock, said: “Stock unification is tomorrow’s retail standard - it also allows retailers to sell more products at full price, reducing the need for unseasonal discounting.”

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