OREANDA-NEWS. When GRAY Gallery opened its doors in West Hollywood in 2010, it didn’t take long for the film, fashion, and design elite to notice. Stylists with a unique eye for beauty, quality, and fresh looks began adorning A-list actors in GRAY Gallery’s jewelry, and interior designers started snatching up stunning works of art for client’s homes.

GRAY Gallery’s success wasn’t born overnight though. Vram Minassian, founder and owner of the gallery, started out as an artist 30 years ago, pounding little pieces of metal in his tiny apartment. The young artist’s talent, creativity, and attention to quality didn’t go unnoticed. People could see the passion in every handmade piece and orders started piling up.

Adjusting for Growth

Eventually, demand became more than Minassian could handle on his own. It was a good problem to have but he needed some assistance with the workload. He started hiring employees and quickly realized he was no longer just an artist pounding metal, he was becoming a businessman.

As Minassian built his business, he remained focused on the customer. He’s very hands-on in the gallery, and clients appreciate interacting with the owner, but when building an online store it’s not as easy to create the same feeling or personal touch. That’s why GRAY Gallery uses SAP Anywhere, a combined e-commerce and CRM software package that helps small businesses manage marketing, sales, customer service, and inventory activities, all on the cloud.

“I wanted to make sure that the customer doesn’t feel like they are just dealing with a machine. I wanted them to still feel that they are dealing with me. So I’m very, very happy that we are partnering up with SAP,” said Minassian.

Running Live

GRAY Gallery wanted to grow the business and expand its customer base without getting bogged down by a complex system that would add more administrative tasks. It needed an easy way for customers from around the world to explore the gallery live, whenever they wanted and from any device.

By using SAP Anywhere, GRAY Gallery can stay focused on creating beautiful art and a beautiful customer experience. If a customer has a question or wants to buy a piece online, it’s simple for them and the gallery to interact. Customers and designers can engage with the gallery online, see exactly what pieces the gallery has to offer at any moment, and make a purchase in a few easy clicks on a mobile phone.

Processing an online or mobile transaction is simple for GRAY Gallery as well. Its online operations are completely seamless and integrated with the rest of the business. Essentially, there’s no difference between a sale made in the gallery or from a smart phone.

“What SAP Anywhere allows us to do is integrate our CRM, our real-time inventory, our point-of-sale, and our website all into one tool and it makes it really simple to manage. We are going to be able to reach a lot more people and we are going to do a lot less work in order to do that,” said Andrew Utas, Director of GRAY Gallery.

Focusing on the Mission

Not only does this make life easier for the customer, but it also allows everyone at GRAY Gallery, including its founder and owner Minassian, to spend more time focused on creating art and a gallery experience that is touching and everlasting.

“What SAP Anywhere is doing is becoming my businessman. It takes away the things that I don’t enjoy doing and lets me do what I love to do and comes naturally to me. That is helping me dream at night and wake up at 3 o’clock in the morning and make my sketches and run to the office and realize that a lot of the business aspect, the commerce aspect of my life, is taken care of,” said Minassian.

Check out this video to hear more about how GRAY Gallery transformed from a single gallery location into a live business running anywhere.