African Sales Co: Flowgear at the Heart of Prestigious E-Commerce
African Sales Company (ASCO) is a distributor of leading international fine fragrance, cosmetic, and homeware brands in Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa. ASCO provides distribution, retail, and communication services, holding sole licences for many prestige beauty brands, and runs multiple online stores – including Skins, Fragrance Outlet, Color Café, and L’Occitane.
“If we were to switch Flowgear off now in our environment, we would not be able to operate to a greater extent. For us, Flowgear is like the tap outside, it has to be there when we turn it on”
Unreliable Stock and Pricing Across Online Stores
Before Flowgear, ASCO depended on custom SQL scripts and a third-party tool to keep SYSPRO in sync with its websites. Stock and price data often failed to update correctly, especially during promotions. Incorrect prices and stock levels were published online, leading to orders for items that were not actually available. Staff had to call customers, fix orders manually, and absorb the impact on both margins and reputation. At the same time, ASCO had been trying for years to implement a consignment model with its brand partner but could not get a solution live.
Flowgear as the Integration Backbone
ASCO chose Flowgear for its native SYSPRO integration and has since made it the central integration layer for its prestigious brands Flowgear now:
- Syncs stock and pricing from SYSPRO to multiple branded e-commerce sites.
- Sends online orders straight back into SYSPRO, avoiding manual recapture.
- Automates email-based orders from some retailers using structured templates.
Flowgear also underpins ASCO’s consignment model with LVMH’s Vendôme entity. The platform coordinates stock checks, adjustments, and financial transactions between the brand entity and ASCO’s main distribution company, so high-value stock is accounted for correctly from order through to invoice.
Flowgear Now Underpins Revenue-Critical Flows
Flowgear has become central to ASCO’s operations. Cornelius describes the dependency very clearly, turning Flowgear off would halt a large part of the business.
Today:
- Multiple branded e‑commerce sites rely on Flowgear for accurate stock, pricing, and order processing.
- A consignment model that had stalled through several previous projects is live and running on Flowgear.
- Manual order capture and pricing fixes have been reduced, especially during high‑volume promotional periods.
For at least one of ASCO’s prestige brands, the e‑commerce site is already the third‑largest revenue source and it runs through Flowgear.
Adding More Brands on the Same Foundation
ASCO plans to keep using Flowgear as the central layer as it adds more brands and channels. The team is exploring deeper use of Flowgear’s connectors for platforms like Magento and Shopify, and further automation across marketing, intercompany orders, and other processes as the business grows. Cornelius and his colleagues also see Flowgear as a way to maintain agility as customer expectations for quick delivery and accurate stock information continue to rise.
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