Nooz Optics Zooms in on International Domination After Joining Brightpearl

Because it’s built for modern retail brands, Brightpearl intuitively knows how things need to work for businesses like ours – Antoine Doolaeghe, Co-Founder, Nooz Optics

For most people with farsighted vision, fumbling around for a pair of glasses before reading a menu or sending a text becomes an accepted, if annoying, part of everyday life. 

But in 2015, entrepreneur Olivier Doolaeghe set his sights on changing it. He invented ‘neo binoculars’ – a ready-to-use alternative to reading glasses designed with modern life in mind. The reading accessory went to market and was an instant success – and with it, Nooz Optics was launched. 

Olivier was soon joined by his sons Alex and Antoine as the France-based brand set its sights on creating an exciting eyewear range that combines quality, practicality and design for an unique wearing experience. 

By 2020, Nooz Optics had become well known across the world for its innovative sunglasses, reading glasses and children’s eyewear, with four successful Shopify-powered websites in multiple regions (and currencies), including Europe, UK, Canada and the USA.

Under no illusion

However, while – to the outside eye – the business was thriving, its internal systems were buckling under the pressure of increased orders, manual workflows and a lack of visibility. 

“Our processes were very fragmented and it was becoming really problematic,” said co-founder Antoine Doolaeghe. 

“There was a complete lack of consistency – one person might use a specific spreadsheet or method to get a task done, but the person sitting next to them had a completely different approach. When we hired new people, it was really difficult to show them what to do.

“We lacked visibility which put us at risk of overselling. We were hanging on in terms of the service customers received but it was badly affecting our internal operations. We needed a system that could centralize operations across all our sales channels, and handle multiple currencies to give us a single source of truth.

“We possibly could have put it off for a bit longer, as I’ve seen other brands do. But our ambitious internationalization strategy and a goal to double our B2B sales pushed us to go for it when we did – and looking back I’m very glad we did.”

After scoping the market, Nooz Optics made a shortlist of three providers: NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Brightpearl. 

Antione added: “We considered both NetSuite and Microsoft Dynamics as traditional ERPs, but we ultimately chose Brightpearl because it was best-suited to meeting our unique needs as a multi-channel e-commerce retailer. 

“It was important that our operating system could sync seamlessly with Shopify, as we use Shopify Plus to power our four e-commerce stores. I asked the Shopify community and googled something like ‘best ERP for Shopify brands’ and Brightpearl kept coming up over and over again. 

“We also didn’t have months or years to wait for a traditional ERP to be implemented and we knew Brightpearl could do it much quicker because its average implementation time is 120 days or less.”

In Nooz Optics’ case, implementation was faster than average, taking just eight weeks – or 56 days. The brand was connected to Shopify, and the rest of its tech stack, in minutes thanks to Brightpearl’s hyper-scalable functionality, which includes a huge library of native Plug & Play integrations. 

“Brightpearl is perfect because it’s designed to scale as we do,” says Antoine.

“Previously, we were always a bit reluctant to add the latest sales channels or tools because it seemed to add extra complexity. Brightpearl has got rid of that mentality within our business because we now know we can quickly and easily connect the apps we need, when we need them. It’s actually enjoyable to try out new channels and tools now.”

Specs appeal

Immediately upon implementation, Nooz Optics gained access to Brightpearl’s powerful Automation Engine and market-leading Inventory Planner – this meant saying goodbye to the time-consuming manual processes, and stop-gap spreadsheets, which previously took up so much of the team’s time and energy. 

The advanced reporting quickly had an impact, too, and the operational improvements have translated into a Trustpilot score that leapt from one to 4.4 since the businesses joined Brightpearl.

Antoine added: “Brightpearl is like a central brain that keeps everything streamlined. We can easily control the data that flows into our business and use it to our advantage.

“We use the automation tool a lot – it works for everything from order fulfillment to communicating with our 3PL providers. 

“It might not be important for every brand, but Brightpearl’s open API is solid and simple. Our own developer has been able to use it easily, which makes a big difference.”

Brightpearl is like a central brain that keeps everything streamlined. Our business is based on an internationalization strategy and Brightpearl is perfect because it’s designed to scale as we do – Antoine Doolaeghe, Co-Founder, Nooz Optics

In the coming years, Nooz Optics has a clear pathway for further international and wholesale growth, with Brightpearl providing operational support every step of the way. 

“Brightpearl is built for modern retailers, so it intuitively knows how things need to work for businesses like ours. You just don’t get the same retail-focused scalability from ERPs,” Antoine said.

“Because we don’t have to think about our processes anymore, we are freed up to focus on our future plans, adding in tools as we grow.”