Keel Toys reinvents field sales with PixSell
Keel Toys is one of the UK’s largest designers and importers of soft toys. For more than 15 years, the business relied on a legacy order taking system that never quite delivered. Outdated, glitchy and reliant on endless manual intervention, the platform left sales reps frustrated and office staff overloaded.
A point was reached when the business felt it needed to rethink its approach. The leadership team turned to Aspin’s PixSell iPad app to modernise sales, integrate with SAP, and give reps the live data they’d been missing.
Read below to find out what Patrick Downs, Head of Design, thinks of the PixSell Sales App.
The problem
For years, Keel’s loyalty to its old provider delayed the inevitable switch. But the cracks were impossible to ignore:
- The system worked “about 75% of the time” and integrations never functioned properly
- Stock updates came just once daily, leaving reps blind when visiting customers
- Dispatch staff spent hours re-entering or correcting orders
- Even simple requests, like updating an image, took days
Design manager, Patrick Downs, summed it up.
“There was always a great deal of human interaction, particularly with our dispatch department. We needed a system that would cut that out, speed up the process, and give us accurate and frequent stock updates”.
The goals
The business wanted a platform that could:
- Eliminate manual work in order processing
- Provide reliable, up to date data direct from SAP
- Support reps with a user-friendly tool they’d actually adopt
- Scale alongside Keel’s growth without adding headcount
The solution: PixSell
Aspin proposed PixSell, the mobile sales app built for field reps. The process began with a structured scoping and specification exercise.
Patrick was convinced of its value.
“Scoping saved us an infinite number of emails, time and money. When we went live, the system was 95% correct straight away. I don’t know how you can put a system in without it”.
Key steps included:
- Workshops and demos for all stakeholders
- Integration with SAP, enabling stock updates every 15 minutes
- A customisable iPad interface branded to Keel’s requirements
- Training sessions for an experienced sales team that had used the old system for 15 years
Implementation
Despite Patrick’s concerns about complexity, the rollout was smooth.
“I couldn’t believe how well it went. Implementation was quick, training was excellent, and even our older sales team adopted it without complaint. If they can do it, anyone can”.
By Spring Fair, the system was live. Reps were taking orders confidently on day one.
Impact & Results
The results were immediate:
- 50% increase in orders at Spring Fair (350+ in four days)
- Dispatch saved hours every day thanks to automated order flow
- Sales office capacity freed up for customer service and outbound calls
- Accurate stock every 15 minutes, trusted by warehouse staff with no need for phone calls
- No downtime, compared to frequent outages with the old system
One of the most striking endorsements came from dispatch manager Lucy. “Lucy is hard taskmaster, but after two months she said, “PixSell is fabulous”. That kind of compliment is unheard of”.
“PixSell has transformed how we work. We’ve saved hours every day, increased sales and eliminated inefficiencies. Looking back, our loyalty to the old provider was holding us back. PixSell is exactly the modern solution we needed.”
“Our focus was on getting it right from the start. By investing in the scoping exercise, full testing and detailed training, we ensured PixSell worked seamlessly for Keel’s sales team. The uplift in orders shows what’s possible when field reps have the right tools.”
For Keel Toys, PixSell wasn’t just a software upgrade, it was a complete reinvention of field sales. Accurate, reliable and easy to use, the app has freed staff from admin, empowered reps and delivered measurable sales growth.
If you’d like to update your current system to one which puts you ahead of the competition, drop us a line on 01794 500 200, or email us at [email protected].