What’s next for la Vie en Rose
Champagne views the OMS work as a foundation the business can keep tuning rather than a one-time project that ends at go-live. With the biggest constraints removed, the next opportunities sit in the choices la Vie en Rose can now make around transportation performance and cost.
He pointed to carrier strategy as the next area to evaluate. With better control over orchestration, inventory levels and fulfillment decisions, the company can look more closely at how it ships orders, which carriers it uses and where it can reduce cost while protecting delivery speed. Canada’s geography makes that tradeoff real; transportation costs are high and delays are hard to hide during peak. The difference now is that la Vie en Rose can address them before peak demand exposes the gaps.
A CIO’s guidance for making the leap
Champagne’s advice to retailers who feel behind is blunt: Treat technology decisions as business decisions, then move.
He argues that digital work can’t be delegated as a back-office function. “Make sure your CIO reports to the CEO,” he said, “not the CFO,” so technology choices stay tied to business outcomes.
He also pushes back on the instinct to delay investment on cost grounds. In his view, modern retail technology is rarely the budget buster people assume and postponing change carries its own penalty.
He cautions against turning an OMS implementation into a customization effort. His rule is to choose a solution that meets the requirements end to end, then be disciplined about changes that create long-term cost and complexity.
