How integration became the backbone of African Sales Company's prestige 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 licenses for many prestige beauty brands, and runs multiple online stores, including Skins, Fragrance Outlet, Color Café, and L'Occitane.
Fragile stock sync was sending customers away empty-handed
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, particularly during promotions. Incorrect prices and stock levels were published online, leading to orders for products that were not actually available. Staff had to phone customers to cancel or adjust orders, absorbing the damage to 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 workable solution into production.
SYSPRO connected to every storefront, and the consignment model finally live
ASCO chose Flowgear for its native SYSPRO integration and built it into the central layer for its prestige brands. Flowgear now syncs stock and pricing from SYSPRO to multiple branded e-commerce sites, sends online orders straight back into SYSPRO without manual recapture, and 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. This was the model that had stalled through several previous projects; Flowgear made it live.
Revenue-critical flows, and one prestige brand's third-largest revenue source
Flowgear has become central to ASCO's operations. 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. The Head of IT describes the dependency plainly: switching Flowgear off would halt a large part of the business.
- Multiple prestige e-commerce storefronts rely on Flowgear for accurate stock, pricing, and order processing
- A consignment model that had stalled through previous projects is live and running
- Manual order capture and pricing fixes eliminated, especially during high-volume promotions
- For at least one brand, the e-commerce site is the third-largest revenue source
“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.”
More brands on the same foundation
ASCO plans to keep Flowgear as the central layer as it adds more brands and channels. The team is exploring deeper use of Flowgear connectors for Magento and Shopify, and further automation across marketing, intercompany orders, and other processes as the business grows.
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