PETER HAHN finds the right fit for modernization and growth with Dynamics 365

Founded in 1964 by Margrit and Peter Hahn, PETER HAHN began with a niche focus: crafting jackets, coats, and blankets from exotic llama wool. Over the decades, it evolved into a dynamic multichannel fashion brand, now offering stylish apparel across Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and the Netherlands. The company takes great pride in the deep expertise of its team, the exceptional quality of its fashion offerings, and a commitment to sustainable practices.

PETER HAHN focuses primarily on the needs and wishes of its customers, and the company considers above-average service to be the baseline. Employees go above and beyond to deliver first-class, personalized service through all sales channels. To maintain this level of service in a changing landscape, the company began transforming its way of doing business by adopting Microsoft Dynamics 365. Their goal was to modernize retail operations, streamline processes, and prepare for future growth in e-commerce and omnichannel retailing, while still maintaining a strong service focus on its customer base.

Moving to what’s in fashion

The company’s legacy IBM host-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system was primarily COBOL-driven. Financials were separated within SAP, while a home-grown system handled purchasing and sales with minimal interaction with the finance department. Warehouse and logistics teams operated on a separate “WMS.” The siloed structure prevented a comprehensive view of the business, restricting visibility into order management, returns, purchasing, and forecasting.

Additionally, managing multiple systems increased the complexity of the company’s IT environment. It required specialized users and hindered the flexibility and scalability needed in a rapidly changing retail landscape.

The company consolidated functions in Dynamics 365 as its central ERP system. Integrating finance and purchasing with views of logistics and sales allows all data to be accessed in a unified environment rather than switching between systems to check account status or collections. “We simplified the purchasing area and gained better visibility into our inventory. We now know exactly what's in stock, the age of the articles, up-to-date availability,” says Kay Katzenmeir, Chief Information Officer, PETER HAHN.

The consolidation enables real-time visibility and integrated processes with a unified view that supports the company’s fashion retail requirements. With Dynamics 365, teams have immediate insight into purchase orders, returns, and the financial impacts of inventory movement. This isn’t just a technological upgrade; this is an organizational shift toward alignment and efficiency.

Elevating a look

The key benefit of the new system is that it consolidates all information about orders, brands, and destinations into one platform. Employees have a full view of delivery times and quality checks. Previously, PETER HAHN used a sourcing company with a custom proprietary order management system based in Hong Kong. Access to the data was restricted. But with Dynamics 365, all purchasing information, orders, and brand details are in one system, allowing employees to monitor quality issues, manage delivery changes, and adjust future ordering processes in real time.

In-the-moment visibility has been a game changer for the company. Now, employees can easily access the system directly to check status updates. “We used to consume a lot of paper and spend a lot of time printing these reports overnight—our IT team had to work from Monday night to Saturday morning. With Dynamics 365 we've significantly reduced both the working hours and administrative tasks. Employees start processes and workflows themselves and are no longer reliant on IT administrators. They can access the information they need when they need it,” explains Katzenmeier.

Tailoring views for an exceptional fit

PETER HAHN primarily serves an older demographic who prefers to place orders through call centers rather than use digital channels. Catalogues are mailed to customers, and the call center remains the dominant sales channel, accounting for approximately 60-70% of revenue. Managing 140,000 SKUs and processing 9,000 to 11,000 orders daily, PETER HAHN requires a sophisticated and efficient system to oversee its complex fashion retail operations, which involve significant variations in sizes, fits, and colors.

The call center is a critical touchpoint, with an estimated 300-350 customer service representatives managing the daily orders. It’s crucial that call center agents can provide swift and thorough service. Customer service representatives use the call center order capture feature in Dynamics 365 Commerce to streamline order taking, returns, and exchanges. 

With the previous system, customer service representatives had limited insight into stock availability, delivery timelines, and product quality. Today, representatives have a better view of stock levels and open purchase orders, enabling enhanced customer service by providing up-to-date product availability and expected delivery times. Customer service representatives can quickly respond to questions about order status and back-orders, helping customers understand when to expect their products. 

Managing the returns process is also significantly easier. An image of the item being returned is available on the return screen, allowing representatives to visually verify that the correct item is being returned. As is common with online retail sales, customers order an array of sizes and colors to try on at home and then return what doesn’t work. Sometimes customers mistakenly send back incorrect items. What was once a confusing and cumbersome process to restock and update inventory levels is now a cinch—service representatives can quickly verify if the returned item is the correct article. That way, the quality of the return process is improved, and inventory is accurately maintained. 

Weaving together an integrated system

PETER HAHN employs a headless commerce architecture that combines a custom web shop with Dynamics 365 Commerce modules. The core ERP system integrates finance, supply chain, and commerce functions, forming the backbone of operations. The company supplements this system with several third-party ISV solutions. For instance, K3 Fashion supports the management of style, size, color variants, and seasonal assortments. TIA/a3, tailored to the fashion retail sector, handles demand forecasting and generates planned purchase orders. These orders are then seamlessly transferred to Microsoft Dynamics 365 for fulfillment.

One of the company’s key operational features is its intercompany setup across Europe. The German legal entity centrally manages inventory and fulfillment for sales entities in other countries. When a customer places an order outside Germany—such as through the Swiss sales entity—it triggers an intercompany transaction. The Swiss entity issues both a purchase order and a corresponding sales order to the German entity, which then handles fulfillment and shipping.

Future plans and strategic direction

PETER HAHN aims to evolve its business model by increasing online sales and adopting more advanced features. The company is actively exploring AI and machine learning to deepen customer insights, deliver smarter product recommendations, and potentially automate customer service interactions. These initiatives align with its broader strategic focus on enhancing customer centricity, boosting operational agility, and using data-driven insights to optimize both inventory levels and service performance.

As Managing Director at PETER HAHN, Marcus Breyer puts it, “For us, the most crucial factor of the transformation is that we slashed the number of needed applications. Transitioning to Dynamics 365 as a system based on future technology, within an environment where Microsoft manages the infrastructure and operations, puts us firmly on track to becoming a leading e-commerce business.” That’s a look that outlasts any trend.