Life in pink

La Vie en Rose, Canada's beloved specialty retailer, is on the verge of completing a seven-year digital transformation. Here's how they did it.

For many, the French phrase la vie en rose epitomizes romance, softness, and seeing life through rose-colored glasses. It often conjures Edith Piaf’s legendary voice reaching across decades, reminding us to make room in our lives for romance.

For la Vie en Rose, Canada’s leading retailer of women’s lingerie and swimwear, romance really is everywhere. The Montreal-based enterprise serves customers in 20 countries, more than 200 retail stores, and several international franchises, and has a robust e-commerce presence.

In addition to intimates for women of every size, the boutiques also offer loungewear, sleepwear, and accessories. With an emphasis on high style, luxurious fabrics, and comfort, la Vie is a destination shopping experience both onsite and online. Their swimwear brand, Bikini Village, presents the latest fashion beachwear for men and women in a wide variety of brand and styles.

While the Canadian stores are owned by the la Vie corporation, the international sites are part of a growing network of franchises that attract passionate licensees with extensive retail experience. With stores throughout the Middle East and current market entries in Asia Pacific and the U.S., the company’s goal is to be present on every continent.

Steering the company into the technological future is its chief information officer, Éric Champagne. A supply chain expert with over 30 years of experience in IT, logistics, distribution, web development and operations, and business processes for retail, wholesale, and e-commerce, he’s leading an ambitious digital transformation.

“We’ve replaced the entire suite of systems, pretty much,” he recently told BOSS. That includes the warehouse management system, ERP, product lifestyle management system, point of sale system
the e-commerce platform, payroll and human resources systems, and business intelligence systems.