🎯 Case Study: Formal Hire
Client: Leading Wedding Dress Rental Company
Sector: Retail / Formalwear / Bridal
Project Overview
Nexbyte was approached to develop a bespoke software solution for a wedding dress rental business looking to modernise its operations. Built using ASP.NET Core with a Microsoft SQL Server backend, the system is a comprehensive business management platform tailored to the specific needs of the formal hire industry.
Designed to streamline appointment scheduling, order processing, staff operations, and financial reporting, the application delivers a robust set of tools that empower the client’s team to focus on delivering exceptional customer service while increasing operational efficiency.
Core Features
🧾 Order Management
The system supports multiple transaction types to accommodate the client’s diverse product offering:
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Hire Orders: Traditional dress rentals with tracking and return flow.
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Retail Orders: Direct sales transactions.
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Retail Tartan Orders: Specialised category for tartan-based products.
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Small Order Module: Handles low-value accessory orders efficiently.
📊 Reporting Module
Provides powerful insights through a range of custom reports:
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Activity Logs: Tracks staff actions for auditing.
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Appointment Analysis: Identifies booking trends and conversion rates.
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Due Payments Reports: Segregated by order type for better financial control.
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Dress Availability: Real-time view of inventory availability.
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Changeover Tracking: Monitors item lifecycle and prep/clean turnaround.
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Pick Sheet Generator: Lists required items for upcoming bookings.
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VAT Reporting: Ensures compliance with UK tax regulations.
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End-of-Day Sales: Summarised view for daily cashing-up.
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Courtesy Emails: Report of post-completion messages sent to clients.
📅 Appointment Scheduling
Integrated booking functionality includes:
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Calendar Management: Visual day/week views with drag-and-drop capabilities.
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Automated Follow-ups: Email and SMS reminders reduce no-shows and improve customer engagement.
👥 Employee Dashboard
Each employee has a custom dashboard showing:
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Today’s scheduled appointments
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Personal and team sales figures
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Weekly delivery expectations
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Quick-glance business KPIs
⚙️ Configuration & Customisation
The system includes an administration interface allowing internal management of:
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Dress styles and attributes
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Sizing standards and categories
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Custom email templates using tokenised dynamic content
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Staff user management and access levels
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Form labels and terminology (ideal for bilingual or branded interfaces)
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Delayed messaging features to queue future communication
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Staff login tracking for accountability and system integrity
🔐 Technical Highlights
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Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Ensures only authorised access to sensitive features and data.
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Responsive Web Interface: Fully usable on desktop, tablet, and mobile.
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Automated Reporting Engine: Reduces admin overhead by generating scheduled reports.
🧩 Impact
The solution has transformed how the client handles their daily operations — moving from paper and Excel to a fully digital environment. The real-time access to inventory and order status has improved customer turnaround time, while automated reports have enhanced decision-making and compliance.
Customer Feedback
When our existing management system reached the end of its life, we set out to find a development company that could build something truly revolutionary for our industry - and we certainly found that in Nexmedia!
Richard took the time to understand our business, even visiting our Swansea HQ to see firsthand how we operate. This personal touch, which sadly isn’t offered by many companies these days, was crucial in helping us refine our needs and ensure the new system would not only handle what our old one did but also allow for future growth.
As a hire and retail business that caters to everything from local weddings to global events, the daily operations of our business are quite complex. Our system has always been integral to providing top-notch quality and service to our customers. Nexmedia didn’t just understand this - they suggested ways to enhance what we were already doing from a technical perspective, improving efficiency and helping us streamline behind the scenes.
Nexbyte delivered a cutting-edge, bespoke platform that we are incredibly happy with. Communication was flawless, with prompt email replies and daily updates allowing us to review new areas. Even as the project grew beyond our original scope, nothing was too much trouble.
A huge thank you from all of us at Formal Hire - we’ll definitely be returning for any future development needs.
