Case Studies and has been Implemented
This case study outlines the digital transformation of Rare Food Global Trading Corporation, a wholesaler of premium meat products, and vegetables. By integrating Zoho CRM, Zoho Inventory, and Zoho Books, the company moved from manual, real-time ecosystem capable of managing national supply chains and complex logistics.
Executive Summary
Industry: Wholesale Food Trading (Premium Perishables & Vegetables)
Core Challenge: Inaccurate stock valuation, manual order hand-offs between sales and finance, and lack of visibility into third-party delivery statuses.
Solution: An End-to-end revenue life cycle pipeline using Zoho One (CRM, Inventory, Books).
Key Results: improved in operations due to better inventory tracking and financial accuracy using Weighted Average Costing (WAC).
1. The Challenge: Fragmented Operations
Before the implementation, Rare Food Global faced three critical "bottlenecks":
Valuation Discrepancies: Using manual spreadsheets for a high-volume trading business made it impossible to calculate the true Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) as prices fluctuated daily.
Logistics Blind Spots: Once an order left the warehouse via a 3rd party providers / courier), the sales team had no visibility, leading to poor customer service.
Multiple Datasources: Sales was closing deals in one system, while the warehouse checked stock in another, often leading to "overselling" items that were already committed.
2. The Integrated Solution Architecture
A. Inventory Valuation: Weighted Average System
Rare Food Global opted for the Weighted Average Cost (WAC) method within Zoho Inventory. Since they trade bulk specialty item(e.g., Wagyu beef, Boneless Chicken,etc) where different shipments arrive at varying price points, WAC provides a smoothed-out cost basis.
How it works in Zoho: Every time a new "Purchase Receive" is recorded, Zoho automatically recalculates the average cost:2
$$\text{New Average Cost} = \frac{\text{Total Value of Current Stock} + \text{Cost of New Shipment}}{\text{Total Quantity on Hand}}$$Benefit: This ensures that the COGS reported in Zoho Books remains stable and reflects the true average investment in the product, preventing wild profit margin swings.
The Seamless Lead-to-Cash Workflow
Zoho CRM (The Frontend): Sales reps manage international distributors. When a deal reaches "Closed Won," a Sales Order is automatically generated in Zoho Inventory via the native integration.
Zoho Inventory (The Operations): The warehouse team receives the order. They use Batch Tracking (essential for food safety) to pick the specific lot numbers with the nearest expiry.
Zoho Books (The Backend): Once the shipment is "Packed," Zoho Books automatically generates the Invoice. Because the systems are synced.
3. Managing 3rd Party Delivery Providers
Rare Food Global utilizes a mix of inhouse and local carriers and refrigerated couriers.
- Custom 3PL Integration: For local 3rd party couriers without native apps, a Custom Module was created in Zoho CRM.
Using Zoho Flow, tracking numbers from the courier's emails are parsed and updated in the Zoho Inventory "Shipment" record.
Customer Notifications: Customers receive automated emails via Zoho CRM Workflows the moment the 3rd party driver picks up the goods.
4. Key Outcomes & Benefits
| Feature | Impact on Rare Food Global Trading |
| WAC Valuation | Precise profit margin reporting in Zoho Books, even with fluctuating import costs. |
| Live Sync | Sales reps in the CRM can see "Physical Stock" vs. "Available / committed Stock" in real-time. |
| 3PL Tracking | Reduced "Where is my order?" calls by 45% through fast tracking updates. |
| Batch Tracking | Guaranteed compliance with food safety and logistical regulations through a custom Permit Apps built in Zoho Creator |
5. Implementation Pro-Tip
For a trading corporation, the most common pitfall is Land Costs. We configured Zoho Inventory to include shipping, customs, and duties into the "Item Cost." This ensures that the Weighted Average includes the total cost of getting the food to the warehouse, not just the vendor's price.
This case study focuses on Days2RememberPro, an event-based retail and rental business that transformed its complex booking and fulfillment model by integrating Shopify, Zoho CRM, and Zoho Inventory.
Executive Summary: Days2RememberPro
Industry: Event Decor, Personalized Gifting, and Party Rentals.
Challenge: Syncing real-time "date-based" availability from a Shopify storefront to a back-end inventory system while maintaining long-term customer relationships.
Solution: A trilateral integration where Shopify acts as the storefront, Zoho CRM manages the client lifecycle, and Zoho Inventory serves as the operational "Stockhandle Central."
1. The Core Challenge: The "Double-Booking" Risk
Before the integration, Days2RememberPro faced a major operational hurdle:
Rental vs. Retail: Some items were sold (balloons/banners), while others were rented (backdrops/signs).
Date Sensitivity: A product might be "in stock" in Zoho, but if it was already booked for an event on June 10th via Shopify, it shouldn't be available for another customer on that same date.
Fragmented Data: Customer details stayed in Shopify, meaning the sales team in the CRM had no visibility into a customer’s previous event history or preferences.
2. The Integrated Architecture
Step A: The Front-End (Shopify)
Shopify serves as the high-conversion engine.
The Customization: Using a Shopify "Date-Picker" app, customers select their event date.
The Trigger: When an order is placed, Shopify sends the data via a native connector to Zoho Inventory.
Step B: The Stockhandle Central (Zoho Inventory)
Zoho Inventory acts as the brain of the operation, ensuring the Weighted Average Cost (WAC) is applied to retail goods.
Item Mapping: Items in Shopify are mapped to "Composite Items" in Zoho.1 For example, a "Birthday Package" in Shopify automatically deducts 10 balloons, 1 banner, and 1 helium tank rental from Zoho Inventory.
Weighted Average Valuation: For retail items (like bulk candles or party favors), Zoho Inventory calculates the value:- $$\text{Average Cost} = \frac{\text{Inventory Value}}{\text{Stock Quantity}}$$
This ensures that even if wholesale prices fluctuate between events, the profit margins in Zoho Books remain accurate.
Step C: The Relationship Hub (Zoho CRM)
While the order is processed, the customer data is pushed to Zoho CRM.
Account Management: The CRM creates a "Deals" record. If the customer is a recurring corporate client, the CRM triggers a "Follow-up" task for the sales team 30 days before their next annual event.
Synchronization: Any change in the order status in Zoho Inventory (e.g., "Shipped" or "Out for Delivery") is instantly visible in the CRM, allowing the support team to answer customer queries without leaving their main dashboard.
3. Advanced Workflow: Managing 3rd Party Delivery
For large event setups, Days2RememberPro uses 3rd party logistics (3PL).
Automated Booking: When the "Package" is created in Zoho Inventory, an API call is sent to the 3PL provider.
Real-time Tracking: The tracking link is written back to the Shopify Order so the customer can see it, and to the Zoho CRM Deal so the account manager is kept informed.
4. Key Business Outcomes
| Metric | Impact of Zoho + Shopify Integration |
| Inventory Accuracy | Reduced overbooking by 95% through real-time Shopify-Zoho sync. |
| Operational Speed | Order processing time dropped from 2 hours to 15 minutes. |
| Customer Retention | 25% increase in repeat bookings due to CRM-driven anniversary reminders. |
| Financial Clarity | Real-time WAC valuation eliminated year-end "accounting surprises." |
5. Summary of Roles
Shopify: The Customer Experience (Booking & Payments).
Zoho CRM: The Long-term Strategy (Customer Retention & Sales).
Zoho Inventory: The Operational Hub (Stockhandle Central & Valuation).
This case study explores how Restaurant Equipment Online (REO)—a high-volume distributor of heavy industrial kitchen machinery—scaled its operations by bridging the gap between sales, finance, and global payments.
Executive Summary: Restaurant Equipment Online
Industry: Commercial Kitchen & Hospitality Equipment.
The Problem: High-ticket items (ovens, walk-in freezers) created complex "Lead-to-Cash" cycles. Manual invoicing led to payment delays, and reconciliation between PayPal and the General Ledger was a nightmare.
The Solution: A robust integration of Zoho CRM (Lead Management), Zoho Books (Financial Core), and PayPal (Payment Gateway).
Result: A 40% faster quote-to-payment cycle and automated bank reconciliation.
1. The Challenge: "The High-Ticket Friction"
Selling commercial refrigerators and professional ranges isn't as simple as a standard e-commerce transaction. REO faced three specific hurdles:
Quoting Complexity: Prices often fluctuated based on shipping dimensions and bulk discounts. Sales reps were creating manual quotes that didn't reflect real-time financial data.
Payment Security: Customers were hesitant to pay 5-figure sums via bank transfer to a new vendor; they demanded the buyer protection of PayPal.
Reconciliation Lag: When a $10,000 payment hit PayPal, the accounting team had to manually match it to an invoice in Zoho Books, often losing track of the PayPal Merchant Fees.
2. The Integrated Solution: The "Financial Triad"
A. Phase 1: The Sales Engine (Zoho CRM)
The journey begins when a restaurant owner inquires about a fit-out.
Syncing Products: Zoho Books pushes the latest price list to Zoho CRM.
The "Deal" to "Quote" Shift: Once the sales rep determines the kitchen requirements, they generate a Zoho Books Quote directly from within the Zoho CRM Deal module.
Benefit: No more switching tabs. The sales rep sees the customer’s credit limit and payment history while closing the deal.
B. Phase 2: The Payment Gateway (PayPal Integration)
Once the customer approves the quote, it is converted into an Invoice in Zoho Books.
One-Click Payments: The invoice is emailed to the client with a "Pay Now" button powered by PayPal.
Partial Payments (Deposits): For custom equipment, REO uses Zoho Books to request a 30% deposit via PayPal, with the balance due upon shipment.
Mobile Payments: Sales reps at trade shows use the PayPal integration to take instant deposits via the Zoho CRM mobile app.
C. Phase 3: Automated Accounting (Zoho Books)
This is where the manual work disappears.
The Feed Sync: Zoho Books connects to the PayPal Merchant account via a live feed.
Fee Handling: When a payment is received, Zoho Books automatically splits the transaction:
Credit: The full Invoice amount is marked as "Paid."
Debit: The PayPal transaction fee is automatically recorded in a "Bank Fees" expense account.
Benefit: The books are always balanced to the penny without manual data entry.
3. Operational Workflow: Lead-to-Bank
Lead Capture: A prospect fills out a "Kitchen Fit-out" form on the REO website $\rightarrow$Zoho CRM.
Estimation: Rep sends an estimate $\rightarrow$Zoho CRM (via Books integration).
Secure Checkout: Customer clicks the link in the email and pays via PayPal.
Automatic Reconciliation:Zoho Books detects the funds, marks the invoice as paid, and notifies the warehouse to ship the oven.
Financial Reporting: Management views real-time Cash Flow statements in Zoho Books, reflecting the income minus the merchant fees.
4. Key Business Outcomes
| Feature | Impact on Restaurant Equipment Online |
| Instant Invoicing | Quotes are sent in minutes, not hours, increasing the "win rate" on deals. |
| Trust & Security | Offering PayPal buyer protection increased conversion on high-ticket items ($5k+) by 20%. |
| Zero-Touch Reconciliation | The accounting team saved 15+ hours a week by automating PayPal fee entries. |
| Mobile Closing | Sales reps can take payments on-site at restaurants during consultations. |
5. Strategic Advantage
By using Zoho Books as the "Financial Stockhandle Central," REO can manage Weighted Average Costing (WAC) for their equipment. If the price of stainless steel rises and their supplier increases the cost of a fridge, Zoho Books automatically recalculates the average value of the inventory on hand, ensuring that the profit margins reported after a PayPal sale are 100% accurate.
RARE GLOBAL FOOD TRADING CORPORATION
Days 2rememberpro
