Case Study: Hickory Farms achieves peak-season sales growth and omnichannel inventory accuracy with Microsoft Dynamics 365

Hickory Farms reinvents its business in the cloud

Hickory Farms, a Chicago-based gourmet gift company established in 1951, depends on a highly seasonal business model—its workforce grows from about 90 to 4,500 during the holidays—and sells through catalogs, mall kiosks, an online store, corporate channels, and retail partners. Aging, siloed back-end systems defined customers, inventory, and pricing differently across channels, forcing manual syncing and limiting omnichannel growth; the company needed an integrated, scalable platform to modernize operations and support rapid seasonal scale.

Working with partner RSM, Hickory Farms implemented Microsoft Dynamics 365 (Finance and Operations and Retail) and Power BI to provide a single source of truth. Real-time inventory and order data on mobile devices improved warehouse fulfillment and store replenishment, Power BI dashboards enabled faster staffing and production decisions during peak periods, and in-store tools supported cross-sell, ship-from-other-location orders, and simplified training for temporary staff—resulting in more accurate fulfillment, fewer stock-outs, and a better customer experience across channels.

Hickory Farms

Matt James

Chief Operating Officer