MADISON, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Esker, a worldwide leader in document process automation solutions, announced today it has been selected by lafourchette.com, an international leader in online restaurant reservations, to manage the sending of customer invoices, reminder letters and collection letters in France, totaling over 100,000 pages per year. By automating the processing and sending of postal mail with Esker Mail Services, lafourchette.com is better equipped to handle its growth in France and internationally thanks to significant gains in reliability, productivity and reactivity.
Launched in 2007 as a startup, lafourchette.com has since become an online giant in France, Spain and Switzerland. In 2013, lafourchette.com restructured its financial department to better meet the needs of the company’s rapid growth and high reporting/profitability standards (e.g., 10 new hires, creation of new processes and financial tools, implementation of Microsoft Dynamics® ERP). Sylvie Nhansana, lafourchette.com’s Group Administrative and Financial Director, decided to implement an automation solution that would send customer invoices as quickly as possible. Her objectives were clear:
- Reduce invoice handling and sending time (creation to reception) from 10 days to 1 day
- Optimize company assets
- Free up staff time
“With over 12,000 partner restaurants, we could no longer afford to manually process and mail our invoices and other documents,” said Nhansana. “Before, one person would spend several days printing and sending invoices; with Esker, it only takes five minutes to mail 7,000 monthly invoices, and they’re in the postal stream within 24 hours of creation. Esker Mail Services has allowed us to modernize our processes and brings a sense of progress and innovation that motivates us to keep improving.”
Today, lafourchette.com submits customer invoices directly from their MS Dynamics ERP system via Esker API. Invoices, as well as 2,000 monthly reminder letters, are sent to an Esker mail production facility where they are printed, folded, stuffed into envelopes, stamped and handed off to the local postal service within 24 hours. Mail is tracked in real time and any incorrect mailing addresses are corrected automatically. To learn more about Esker solutions and how they work in an MS Dynamics environment, visit Esker at booth #946 at Microsoft Dynamics Convergence 2014 on March 4-7 in Atlanta, GA.
Increased Productivity and Reactivity
“Thanks to Esker, our invoices are sent quicker and paid faster. We are able to finish our end of month closure within two days of the end of month in all three of our subsidiaries,” said Nhansana. Other benefits lafourchette.com has achieved with the help of Esker include:
- Time savings: invoices are printed automatically, the day they are created
- Increased productivity: the person who printed and sent invoices previously spent 75% of his/her time, now only spends 10%, and has since evolved into a more general accounting role
- Reduced operational costs including labor, equipment maintenance and the purchase of consumables
- Improved mail tracking and visibility with real-time status notifications
- Reduced Days Sales Outstanding (DSO)
The next phase for lafourchette.com will be to implement Esker Mail Services in its subsidiaries in Spain and Switzerland, along with automating other document processes with Esker’s shared platform.
About lafourchette.com
Founded in 2007 by Patrick Dalsace and Bertrand Jelensperger, lafourchette.com is the leader in online restaurant reservations in France and Spain (under the brand EITenedor). The company also provides restaurants with a cloud-based software to manage their own reservations in-house (i.e., an “intelligent” reservation book). Lafourchette.com has over 12,000 partner restaurants (including renowned chefs, large chains and independent restaurants). In 2013, the company directly generated over 200 million euros in sales revenue for its partner restaurants.
About Esker
Esker is a worldwide leader in document process automation solutions. Addressing all types of business processes, from accounts payable and accounts receivable to order processing and procurement, Esker cloud computing solutions enable companies to automate the reception, processing and sending of any business document with one platform. Esker helps over 80,000 companies around the world to reduce the use of paper and eliminate manual processes while improving their productivity, efficiency and environmental impact.
With 40.3 million euros in sales revenue in 2012, Esker operates in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific with global headquarters in Lyon, France, and U.S. headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin. Esker is listed on the NYSE Alternext in Paris (Code ISIN FR0000035818). For more information, visit www.esker.com. Follow Esker on Twitter at twitter.com/eskerinc and join the conversation on the Esker blog at www.quitpaper.com.
