Whim Automotive

When COVID-19 came to the Bahamas in the spring of 2020, the islands essentially shut down businesses with no definitive re-opening dates. For brick-and-mortar retailers that relied primarily on over-the-counter sales—businesses like Whim Automotive, a parts provider in Nassau—the ramifications were immediate, requiring quick strategic and operational adjustments to keep customers engaged and products moving out the door.

“One day we were operating business as usual, and the next we were only allowed to open the store to customers one day a week,” said Dwayne Higgs, general manager at Whim. “We had to get innovative very quickly to make sure we could continue serving our customers under fairly severe restrictions.”

Fortunately, Whim already had systems in place to make adjustments on-the-fly, including the Epicor Eagle for the Aftermarket solution and an Epicor-enabled eStore embedded in its website, both of which provided a big competitive advantage at exactly the right time

The first challenge the store tackled was order fulfillment. With the government only allowing business on Tuesdays, Whim needed to find some creative methods for delivering parts into the hands of customers. Epicor Eagle for the Aftermarket software helped make it possible.

“We decided our best option was to set up a drive-thru system next to the store, which allowed us to provide a completely hands-free transfer of products into customers’ vehicles,” Higgs says. “Our Epicor Eagle software gave us the ability to do this, both by integrating with our website for processing online orders and payments and allowing us to run credit card transactions onsite.”

To continue attracting orders, Whim also focused on driving traffic to its online store. Beyond the advantages of having Epicor eCommerce capabilities and integration with Epicor’s industry-leading Epicor PartExpert® eCatalog, the eStore delivered a number of additional capabilities that helped provide an excellent customer experience—among them, a mobile friendly user interface and virtual chat capabilities for less tech-savvy shoppers.

Epicor has provided great support to continue finding new ways to enhance our online presence, which is really making a difference in how we can provide parts to customers. It’s helping bring more efficiencies to our operations and is offering our customers multiple new ways to do business with us every day.

“We’re the only auto parts provider in the Bahamas with a comprehensive online store and catalog,” Higgs notes. “It certainly gave us an advantage when neither we, nor our competitors, could physically open the doors on a daily basis.”

Whim’s new system has proven so popular with customers that even as business operations begin returning to normal, the store may continue to provide its drive-thru option. The store is also further expanding its order fulfillment operations by partnering with a local delivery company to provide direct drop-offs to customers who order online.

“Epicor has provided great support to continue finding new ways to enhance our online presence, which is really making a difference in how we can provide parts to customers,” Higgs says. “It’s helping bring more efficiencies to our operations and is offering our customers multiple new ways to do business with us every day.”