Case Study: Afibel achieves 80% database‑performance boost and faster order processing with Oracle Database Appliance (Oracle)

Afibel Overcomes Economic Crisis in France’s Mail-Order, Ready-to-Wear Market

Afibel, a Damartex subsidiary, is a mail-order specialist in mature women's ready-to-wear, distributing 38 million catalogues annually and serving 6 million customers across France, Belgium, and the UK. Confronted with an economic downturn in France’s distance-selling market, the company needed to modernize its IT to support new services (like online loans), expand internationally, and reduce operating costs while improving customer-relationship productivity.

Afibel deployed Oracle Database Appliance with partner Digora to replace a fragmented infrastructure, enabling a faster, lower‑risk modernization. Results included an 80% boost in database performance, order-entry throughput rising to 120 orders/hour (from 70), processing 20,000 invoices in 1 hour instead of 2.5, CRM application performance up to 10x, and an 8% UK market-share gain after launching an online loan service—while keeping headcount steady and freeing IT to focus on value‑adding applications and new brands.

Afibel

Frédéric Vast

IT Manager