Systems

Astor & Black

The Need

In late 2005 Astor & Black was in need of an online solution for ordering custom clothing from their factories by their sales team. At the time they were faxing hand written orders to their production facilities.

The Plan

After an intense review of Astor & Black’s process and business model it was determined that a custom system would need to be built to handle all of their various product options and complex financial reporting requirements. Mast Interactive designed, developed, and delivered a sales ordering system to maintain customer contact data, sets of 40+ customer measurements, suiting (suits, jackets, pants, vests, tuxedos, etc.), shirting order forms (each with dozens of customizable options), invoicing, customer payments, sales agent commissions, fabric handling for over 25k fabrics, order tracking, factory work tickets, billing, and an internal messaging system.

Services Provided

Strategy/Planning

  • User & market strategy
  • Brand strategy & platform development
  • Data Design and Optimization

UX/UI & Visual Design

  • User research
  • Usability testing
  • Information architecture
  • User experience design
  • User interface design
  • Data visualization

Development

  • CRM integration
  • Custom development
  • 3rd party integrations (social media, analytics, APIs, other)
  • Technical architecture and infrastructure

The Results

Shortly after implementing our solution, Astor & Black experienced explosive growth in the number of custom clothiers (sales agents) they could support across the entire country. Every department from shipping/receiving to accounting received tools that allowed them to effectively do their jobs tracking all of the moving pieces that come with producing clothing specific to an individual.

We continued to provide updates and new tools until we were asked to take on a larger role of preparing the business’ systems for a private equity deal. We provided extensive due diligence reporting support, working alongside the accounting team, and helped secure a private equity deal for David Schottenstein and Astor & Black that was reported to be in the 40+ million dollar range.

“I have been working with Brandon Mullins and HB2Web LLC since early 2006. They have done incredible work for me throughout that time. They built an online ordering system for my company, Astor and Black, from the ground up. They are innovative and have proven time and time again to be problem solvers. I am sure they will prove to be a valuable asset to any organization. Providers like them don’t come around very often.”
David Schottenstein