Carson Home Accents Adjusts Business Model to Grow 40 Percent with Help from Sage ERP X3 and Sage Exchange

IRVINE, Calif. (October 24, 2012) – Sage North America today announced that Freeport, Penn.-based Carson Home Accents, a leader in wholesale manufacturing and the distribution of gift, garden, and home décor products to specialty retail stores nationwide, has grown 40 percent with help from a Sage business management system featuring Sage ERP X3 with Sage Exchange. Sage ERP X3 is the most powerful and flexible management software system by Sage, and is designed for midsized companies looking to grow a competitive business with limited resources. A service by Sage Payment Solutions, the Sage North America payments division, Sage Exchange is a secure, integrated Payment Application Data Security Standard (PA-DSS)-certified payments platform.

In recent years, Carson has grown to include more than 2,500 products and 8,500 customers. The company has adjusted its business model to accommodate expansion while remaining family-owned and dedicated to exceptional service. In 2007, the company searched for an enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution that would allow it to meet its current objectives while providing the flexibility and functionality to adapt to future requirements. It added Sage Payment Solutions for payment processing in 2011.

In March 2011, Carson introduced the RedNek Wine Glass. The product quickly became a huge success for Carson.

“The integration between Sage ERP X3 and Sage Exchange came at the perfect time for us,” said John Hill, vice president of administration at Carson. “With the introduction of the RedNek Wine Glass, the volume of our daily credit card transactions exploded by five times, and we were processing more than 300 transactions per day. The fully automated solution saved us from hiring two people to keep up with the demand for the RedNek Wine Glass using our legacy credit card procedures.”

Implementing Sage ERP X3
Sage ERP X3 is designed to support the most sophisticated business processes while remaining cost-effective, quick to implement and simple to use.

“Our business processes constantly evolve, and we’re constantly working to improve our operations to stay competitive and reinforce our value to customers,” said Hill. “Sage ERP X3 is flexible, so it adapts easily as our needs change.”

Carson required its new ERP system to handle a complex inventory allocation model. According to Hill, the configurable allocation rules within Sage ERP X3 really stood out.

Carson works with 20 overseas suppliers, and the long lead times involved can complicate the company’s goal of optimizing inventory levels while maintaining an adequate supply to meet customer orders.

“We strive to ship most orders 100 percent complete, as it saves us money and provides a better level of service to our customers,” said Hill. “The allocation logic in Sage ERP X3 helps us optimize our fulfillment process by helping us find and select the orders we can ship complete based on stock on hand.”

Carson has seen a marked improvement in customer satisfaction and return on investment since implementing Sage ERP X3. “Customers repeatedly mention our invoice improvements,” said Hill.

Adding Sage Exchange
Carson turned to Sage again when it saw a significant upward trend in the number of customers using credit cards to pay invoices. Currently, about 20 percent of Carson revenues are processed from customers using credit cards.

“We needed to streamline and facilitate our payment processing to stay organized and efficient,” said Hill. “Since Sage Exchange tightly integrates with Sage ERP X3, we’ve eliminated separate and manual processing tasks to save approximately 20 hours per week.”

Furthermore, Sage Exchange helps Carson secure its customers’ credit card information, because the platform operates in a PCI (Payment Card Industry)-compliant environment.

“PCI regulations can be difficult and costly for smaller companies like Carson, so using Sage Exchange saves us from a lot of the burden of PCI compliance,” said Hill. “Assuring our customers we’re protecting their sensitive data – that payments made to us are end-to-end encrypted through Sage Exchange – is another way we’re maintaining our strong customer relationships.”

Hill added, “We have very high expectations for both our employees and our information systems. When an employee leaves or we find it challenging to keep up with new business, we first look at how we can reorganize workflow to become more efficient and make better use of our business management systems. Since implementing Sage ERP X3 and Sage Exchange, we haven’t needed to hire for four vacant positions.”

Located in the rolling hills of Southwestern Pennsylvania, Carson Home Accents is a wholesale manufacturer and distributor to specialty retail stores nationwide. Originally founded as the Carson Casting Company in 1970 by Mr. Harry Carson, Sr., Carson Home Accents is a recognized leader in the gift, garden and home decor markets. With over 8,500 customers in the U.S., Carson has consistently proven the enduring appeal of its products and its devotion to customer satisfaction. For more information, visit: www.carsonhomeaccents.com

Sage North America has been providing businesses and organizations with electronic payment systems for more than 20 years. Through its payments division, Sage Payment Solutions, the company allows more than 155,000 merchants to accept multiple forms of payment, including credit and debit cards, electronic checks, Check21, gift and loyalty cards, and automatic recurring payment. Sage Payment Solutions provides a wide range of secure standalone and integrated payment processing solutions, including Sage Exchange, Sage Virtual Terminal, Sage Mobile Payments, and Sage Patient Payments. Visit Sage Payment Solutions online at NA.Sage.com/sage-payment-solutions, or follow it on Twitter at twitter.com/sagepayments and on Facebook at facebook.com/SagePaymentSolutions.

Sage ERP solutions provide organizations with powerful functionality and cutting-edge technology to help springboard them to the next level. Sage ERP X3, a dedicated solution for mid-market companies with international demands, enables businesses to transform and perform through technologies. More than 3,500 customers worldwide have already chosen Sage ERP X3, because it is easy to use, rapid to deploy, and cost-effective. For over 10 years, Sage ERP X3 has been a proven and comprehensive ERP solution, addressing mid-market companies’ specific requirements and challenges in industries from manufacturing and services, to distribution and many more. Sage ERP X3 has presence in 56 countries and counts a network of more than 1,500 Sage professionals and 240 partners in its ecosystem. Visit Sage ERP online at http://na.sage.com/erp or follow them on Twitter at https://twitter.com/sageerp and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/sageerp.

About Sage
Sage is a leading global supplier of business management software and services for small and midsized businesses. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs more than 12,600 people and supports more than 6 million customers worldwide. For more information about Sage in North America, please visit the company website at NA.Sage.com. Follow Sage North America on Facebook, Facebook.com/SageNorthAmerica, and Twitter, Twitter.com/SageNAmerica.

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Press Contact
Cynthia Sutton
Sage North America
571-612-6071
cynthia.sutton@sage.com