Elysee Group
Simplifying ERP Integration

Businesses have grown rapidly. Most sell not just at stores or online, but also through kiosks and apps, and perhaps through third party partners as well. This complicates a variety of things ranging from inventories to accounting, but ERPs haven’t quite kept pace, especially for retail. Enter Elysee Group.

Four years ago, CEO Julien Favre spotted this gap and the opportunity to build and integrate ERP software, notably, for omnichannel sales— multiple sales channels that businesses increasingly tap. His three co-founders come with experience in technology, telecom, and finance.

Consider a consumer who bought a product online but wants to return it to the nearest store. Most retailers would struggle to fulfill such requests and many simply would be forced to throw their hands up. That is because “the different sales channels don’t talk to each other, and current solutions don’t have inventory management,” points out Favre.

Elysee has built a number of products that offer a range of solutions, and integrates with third party software such as Odoo, Infor and Cegid. Odoo, for example, is a comprehensive open source ERP system with over a thousand modules including sales, CRM, project, warehouse and financial management, manufacturing and HR. Infor, on the other hands, can build business applications with last-mile functionality and scientific insights for select industries; and Cegid offers on premise, online, and mobile solutions for industries of varied sizes. All are offered on-site as well as on the cloud.

“Our point of sale solutions allow processing of massive amounts of transactions, and offer mobile interface out of the box,” says Favre. “We also support rival POS systems, broadening the choice for medium businesses and enterprises alike.”

Elysee’s range of services starts with the selection of an appropriate ERP system—typically a touch decision, given the needs, cost, and complexity of implementations.

Our point of sale solutions allow processing of massive amounts of transactions, and offer mobile interface out of the box

Its experts assess a client’s specific requirements and budget, and help pick the ERP system that will deliver the most bang for the buck. Elysee’s team then ensures speedy and smooth implementation, providing customized software interface.

Elysee cites as an example the case of a global cosmetics company that ended up with an isolated system in Canada after a string of acquisitions. It ran separately on a legacy system and could not share store data or access company-wide data. Elysee built an API, besides integrating with the web, creating a more efficient system and saving costs.

In a second instance, Elysee helped a shoe company expand its system capabilities when it entered the cosmetics business, which had a completely new set of requirements. It added a custom software piece that broadened its ability to monitor, for example, shelf life and expiration of products, logistics, and compliance.

Going into 2017, Favre hopes to build notably on its partnership with the open source ERP system Odoo. “Our strategy is to push open source. It makes sense to a lot of clients and that is where I believe the market is heading,” says Favre, who also expects to add more solutions and maintain a competitive edge in the growing market.