Forbidden Planet NYC
How Forbidden Planet NYC streamlined and modernized their business by taking their brick and mortar store online.
Forbidden Planet NYC made their business more efficient by connecting their new POS system to their online store
Forbidden Planet NYC has been using the WebSell e-commerce platform for over 13 years. When they initially signed up, they integrated with Microsoft RMS. Upgrading their system to Retail Management Hero resulted in increases to conversions, orders, and visits.
+65%
Orders
+466%
Conversion Rate
+13%
Site Visits
World-renowned comics seller
Forbidden Planet is one of the biggest names in retail for comic books, toys, and collectibles. Forbidden Planet’s NYC store has been at the heart of comic book and “geek” culture for decades. Expanding from its original UK stores into New York City in 1981, Forbidden Planet NYC has evolved from a legendary brick and mortar store into a superhero of e-commerce success.
In order to keep up with their increasingly online customer base, Forbidden Planet NYC needed to expand their operations to the internet, to ensure its dedicated consumer base could get access to the full library of weekly comic books as they were released. WebSell came on board to deliver an integrated e-commerce platform which could be updated quickly, reliably, and by a number of different users.
Having every sales touchpoint in the store connected to their e-commerce site was key to Forbidden Planet’s expansion. Connecting every system would mean staff didn’t have to enter any data manually, thus freeing up their time to focus on delivering the excellent customer service they’re known for.
It was clear to Forbidden Planet management that they had outgrown their current Point of Sale system and an upgrade was necessary. Working with WebSell, they identified Retail Management Hero as the perfect option as they looked to expand both online and in-store capabilities. Being the leaders in RMH integrations, working with WebSell was already a perfect fit.
Retail management heroes
As Microsoft RMS neared it’s end of life support as a POS system, Forbidden Planet saw this as a perfect opportunity to upgrade their system and continue to deliver an omnichannel retail business. Luckily for them, WebSell had already created the market-leading integration to Retail Management Hero for e-commerce.
When RMH was announced as the replacement for Microsoft’s Retail Management System, Forbidden Planet upgraded their POS system. With RMH, Forbidden Planet effectively got RMS 3.0, which features a clean, modern interface along with a number of other functional enhancements.
The upgrade process was painless as WebSell synced Forbidden Planet’s updated database, which was being used across 5 in-store terminals, to their e-commerce site. With a more powerful POS system at their disposal, everyone in the business could focus on what they did best.
WebSell quickly and effectively got our webstore organized and published. When we switched to RMH from RMS it was a painless process and we were up and running very quickly.
Rich Bendall, CEO at Forbidden Planet NYC
As specialists in POS integrations, WebSell delivered a solution that ensured the system’s real-time sales data and customer information was reflected on the e-commerce platform. The seamless integration and training process went smoothly with the WebSell team, ensuring that everyone who needed to understand the software to update product information and details, was equipped to do so.
The winning team
When they switched over to RMH, Forbidden Planet NYC saw a significant boost to all major e-commerce metrics. The business saw a whopping increase of 466% to their conversion rate. Now visitors to their site were far more likely to buy something than just browse. Having a fast and responsive site powered by WebSell contributed in a major way.
Orders and site visits also increase by 65% and 13% respectively. Staff at the store could now work with confidence knowing that every action in store was being tracked, recorded, and reflected on the online store. They would never sell an item that wasn’t in stock and manual data entry was a thing of the past. WebSell delivered a true integration for RMH that let the business see the rewards in having a unified retail solution.
Their integration with Retail Management Hero cuts everyday maintenance by at least 70%. It allowed our staff to focus on other areas of the business. Now our e-commerce just works without having to constantly maintain it.
Rich Bendall, CEO at Forbidden Planet NYC
As well as improving on sales and site traffic numbers, operational efficiency also saw a huge improvement, which in turn boosted sales. Being able to keep online customers informed of what is in stock was key to driving the huge increase in orders made per visit.
A true integration between your POS/ERP and e-commerce site is the only way to ensure your systems are really working together. WebSell takes the power of your POS and uses it to create a revenue-driving website, like they did with Forbidden Planet NYC.
Results
- Orders increased by 65%
- Conversion rate increased by 466%
- Site visits increased by 13%
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