The Very Group
Flintfox by Enable helps businesses across three main aspects of pricing and rebates processes. From getting the foundations right to ensuring ongoing visibility and traceability.
The Company
The Very Group is the UK’s second-largest pure-play online retailer and one of the largest online unsecured credit providers, generating £2.13bn in annual revenue. Through its digital stores and five-star rated apps, the company offers customers access to over 2,000 well-known brands with a variety of flexible payment options. Every day, over 1.4 million visits are made to The Very Group’s websites, and more than 45 million products are delivered to over 4.3 million customers annually.
Phil Corner, Supplier Funding Manager at The Very Group, oversees supplier agreements and rebate management, ensuring the business maximizes funding opportunities while maintaining accurate margins and reporting.
The Challenges
Managing 30 Spreadsheets
Before Enable, The Very Group managed supplier agreements for over 1,400 suppliers using spreadsheets. This process was time-consuming, error-prone, and difficult to scale as supplier numbers and product volumes grew.
“On a daily basis, we pulled together 30 different spreadsheets that rolled up by day, by week, by financial year, and it was incredibly unwieldy, incredibly manual, and open to major inaccuracies,” said Phil. “It was tough because we were constantly unpicking margins day to day to understand our true position.”
Manual Reporting
Staff spent six hours each day creating manual reports for the board. Margin reporting was inconsistent, and agreeing on claim values with suppliers was challenging.
“Having an accurate view of our margin at any point in time is critical for the decisions we make,” Phil explained. “We knew systemically we needed something to take away the pain and help us become more efficient.”
Leaving Money on the Table
Rebates were often unclaimed or delayed, leaving significant sums uncollected and creating supplier disputes.
“We were leaving money on the table simply because we couldn’t reconcile claims quickly enough,” Phil admitted. “That had a huge impact on both cash flow and supplier relationships.”
The Platform
Why Enable?
The Very Group chose Enable for its seamless integration, user-friendliness, and accuracy.
“The user-friendliness of Enable struck me from the get-go,” Phil said. “It’s a seamless pass-through from deal creation right through to invoicing. From an accuracy point of view, from an efficiency point of view, it’s been a massive time saver—and also hugely profitable.”
Accurate Product Margins
Enable immediately improved visibility into individual product margins, supporting better pricing and profitability decisions.
“When we got the system integrated, the first benefit was really more accurate product margins. It enabled us to analyze individual product performance,” Phil noted. “It doesn’t matter the time of year—Black Friday, Easter—Enable’s stability is brilliant.”
Driving £5M in Profit
The Very Group quickly realized substantial gains from previously unclaimed supplier funding.
“We knew we were missing out on millions of pounds of supply funding because we couldn’t provide the correct data to claim it,” Phil said. “The original business case estimated savings of around £2 million a year, but conservatively, Enable drove an extra £5 million into the business in year one. Over time, it could reach £10 million.”
Efficiency Gains from Eliminating Manual Processes
Enable replaced 30 cumbersome spreadsheets with a centralized, automated solution. The Very Group now manages high volumes of trade agreements—over 1,500 daily, rising to 15,000 on Black Friday—without scalability limitations.
“With Enable’s ability to handle thousands of trade agreements, the productivity, efficiency, and profit gains have been massive,” Phil said.
Enhanced Decision Making
Real-time visibility now allows for faster, more informed decisions.
“Our decision making now is much more in-the-moment, pretty much the next day,” Phil explained. “Whether you need to take decisive action, Enable gives us a strong foundation to grow and manage costs effectively.”
Improved Cash Flow and Financial Reporting
Enable provides full visibility of forecasted and achieved trading margins and integrates with Oracle Financials Cloud for automated invoice posting. Power BI integration gives shareholders easy access to accurate financial data.
“Cash flow visibility has been transformed,” Phil shared. “We can now see both forecasted and achieved trading margins at a glance, which gives our finance teams and shareholders far more confidence in the numbers.”
Enhanced Compliance & £1M Cost Savings
Enable manages trade agreements for over 1,400 suppliers, capturing activity in real time and ensuring compliance with complex industry regulations. Previously, third-party services were needed for reporting unpaid invoices, costing £1 million annually.
“Enable transformed our compliance processes, eliminating the need for third-party services and saving £1 million a year,” Phil said.
Faster, Automated Claims Settlements
The time spent debating claims with suppliers has been dramatically reduced. Enable accelerates the claims workflow, reducing manual effort and improving accuracy.
“With Enable, we’ve completely overhauled how we manage pricing and supplier agreements,” Phil concluded. “The holistic and granular margin visibility enables us to make in-the-moment changes to improve profitability.”
£5m
back into bottom line in year one
30
Excel spreadsheets retired
£1m
annual cost savings
‘After all, if a rebate program isn't delivering desired results for one party, it's likely suboptimal for the other as well. Thus, facilitating mutually beneficial adjustments becomes not just a possibility, but a strategic imperative for long-term success.’
Gordon Briscoe CFO
‘Enable has allowed us to link reporting to PowerBI and quickly and accurately track agreement earnings, margin questions. This has drastically cut down on response time to leadership on these type of agreements.’
Sarah-Louise Pryor Program Manager of Strategic Planning
‘On the customer side, we can guide them toward rebate opportunities that benefit them and us. It all comes down to transparency and time, and Enable gives us more of both.’
Ashley Copeland Director Strategic Initiatives
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Calculate and deliver pricing, rebates, claims and deductions in real-time so you can protect margins and maximize revenue.