STORIS Offers Simplified Finance Program

February 23, 2016  by in Furniture Retailing, Industry, Retail Technology   

The Finance Queue is STORIS' latest enhancement to the in-store finance application workflow to expedite the credit application experience for customers. Broad River is the first STORIS partner to use the product.

“Broad River had been searching for the ideal finance waterfall solution for over two years,” said Charlie Malouf, Broad River CEO. “We determined that we wanted a fully integrated solution with our ERP on the front end at the point of sale and on the back end with funding and processing, so we decided to help develop the product directly with STORIS. STORIS listened to our needs and involved us in the early design and architecture of the software product, and they delivered a well-conceived software solution tailored to our needs.”

The module makes applying to multiple finance vendors from a central and integrated finance application quick and easy, improving aggregate approval rates and extending more credit to more consumers. The finance queue takes a process that previously required duplicate application entry into multiple different portals and integrates the functionality into the STORIS ERP.

“The feedback from our employees has already been exceptional,” Malouf said. “The product makes the process of financing much easier for our staff to administer and reduces the checkout time for our customers. More customers are receiving finance approvals that fit their needs, which makes it easier to purchase beautiful home furnishings, accessories and sleep products from Ashley HomeStores. This will ultimately drive higher top-line sales for our business.”

The STORIS Finance Application Queue seeks to eliminate the frustrating and often embarrassing process of having to tell a customer about a primary credit application decline. In the new workflow, following an initial decline retailers can submit the application to another finance provider. With STORIS' Finance Application Queue, consumers can apply for financing with numerous third party finance providers including secondary and tertiary financing plans from one application.

On the back end, the Finance Queue integrated into STORIS helps process funding faster while eliminating errors that can happen with manual data transfer. This helps retailers reduce office expenses. Those using the new enhancement to the STORIS ERP will be able to change a sometimes negative step in the shopping experience into a positive one by finding the right finance offer for every consumer. This means more time with customers on a personal level and less time in front of a computer screen.

"The ability for retailers to offer financing is critical in today’s competitive market," said Donnie Surdoval, strategic business development manager for STORIS. "That is why STORIS felt it was important to invest in making the finance application, authorization and settlement processes seamless and efficient within our ERP. We are happy with initial results and look forward to seeing the enhancements benefit all of our customers, beginning with Broad River."

STORIS has launched its Finance Application Queue with several integrated finance vendors: Synchrony, TD Bank, Wells Fargo, Capital One, Citibank, Fortiva Retail Credit, Genesis Financial, Smart Sales & Lease and Tidewater. STORIS is working to add more finance vendors to the program. 

“At Broad River, we are excited to be able to easily add more financing partners into our ecosystem,” Malouf said. “This will help us to always have a compelling suite of financing solutions for our valued customers. We are focused on optimizing a seamless financing process, as opposed to a la carte financing.”