Where They Started

Northbound Leather is a Toronto-based luxury leather brand known for handcrafted leather apparel and custom fetish gear. It serves customers across Canada, the US and internationally. While the brand’s craftsmanship and reputation remained strong, its digital operations had fallen behind.

Core systems, including e-commerce, POS, inventory, customer data and finance, operated in silos. Inventory was managed through spreadsheets, customer data was fragmented and sensitive information was stored locally, creating inefficiencies and security risks.

Despite having more than 37,000 customer contacts, the business lacked a centralized CRM and structured digital marketing approach. A partially developed direct-to-consumer website failed to generate meaningful online sales. Limited SEO and social activity constrained digital visibility.

Northbound Leather needed more than incremental improvements. They required a unified digital foundation that could modernize operations, strengthen customer engagement and support long-term growth, while meeting Canada Digital Adoption Program (CDAP) requirements.

Problem & Solution

The Challenge

Northbound Leather faced several structural challenges common to legacy luxury retailers:

• Disconnected e-commerce, POS, inventory and customer systems
• Heavy reliance on manual processes and spreadsheet-based workflows
• No centralized CRM or usable customer data platform
• Limited SEO performance and underutilized digital marketing channels
• Data security risks from local data storage
• Limited ability to scale online sales or expand into new markets

To remain competitive, the business needed an integrated digital ecosystem that could support automation, personalization and scale, without compromising brand identity.

The 6ixSenses Solution

6ixSenses led a systems-first transformation focused on integration, scalability and execution. It wasn’t a surface-level redesign.

• Designed and implemented a multi-storefront e-commerce architecture that allowed Northbound Leather to serve niche and public audiences from a single backend. This improved product discoverability, supported complex SKU structures and created a clearer path to purchase.
• Introduced a centralized ERP, integrating e-commerce, POS and inventory to replace fragmented workflows. This eliminated manual reconciliation, reduced operational errors and delivered real-time visibility across stock, orders and fulfilment.
• Refined the web and digital experience, improving site structure, navigation, performance and checkout flow. These changes reduced friction in the customer journey and strengthened the site’s foundation for long-term organic growth.
• Delivered custom development and engineering, ensuring reliable data synchronization between systems and automating key operational workflows. The result was a stable, scalable architecture capable of supporting future expansion.
• Activated customer data by centralizing CRM-led marketing. Over 37,000 customer records were cleaned, validated and segmented, enabling compliant, personalized communication and more effective campaign execution across email and digital channels.

Projected Impact & Results 

Based on industry benchmarks for ERP-led e-commerce transformations in luxury retail, the implementation is expected to deliver:

• 30-45% reduction in manual administrative workload
• 25-35% improvement in inventory accuracy and stock control
• 20-35% increase in online revenue within 12 months
• 15-25% lift in email open rates through segmented CRM campaigns
• 10-20% growth in repeat customer purchases
• 40%+ increase in international product visibility through marketplace expansion

The Sum Up

What began as a need to modernize disconnected systems became a full operational reset. By partnering with 6ixSenses, Northbound Leather moved from fragmented workflows to a unified, scalable and secure digital ecosystem. 

The transformation strengthened operational efficiency, improved customer engagement, and positioned the brand for sustainable growth in the competitive luxury leather and apparel market, without losing the craftsmanship and identity that define Northbound Leather.

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