22 EPOS, DIGITAL SIGNAGE AND INSTORE TECHNOLOGY
RETAILERS NEGLECT INSTORE EPoS AT THEIR PERIL
T
he fact that consumers expect a seamless experience across all channels is forcing retailers to
reassess the strategic importance of their till estates, according to Alan Holcroft, sales director of Retail IT. As a provider of retail technology to speciality retailers, Retail IT has identifi ed a number of trends in the key markets it serves, such as fashion, footwear and jewellery, which it contends is making the value of information captured at the till all the more important to the head offi ce. The requirement to provide a consistent customer experience across channels is something retailers can’t afford to ignore, he said: “Research has shown that customers who use multiple channels spend on average 30% more than single-channel customers,” Holcroft told Retail Technology. “Nowadays a customer may want
confi rmation of an order on their mobile device about when it will be delivered to their home, and which they then may want to return instore,” he continued. “This means the transactional systems must deliver a seamless customer experience regardless of the channel.” In response, Retail IT has focused on helping retailers bridge the gap between legacy systems and cutting-edge trends, providing tailored software and services that are accessible to the average retailer, “without costing a fortune,” as Holcroft explained. The company is sponsoring the annual ‘EPoS, digital signage and instore technology’ feature to draw attention to growing signifi cance sales systems play in delivering consistently high levels of customer service. He added that, from the experience of Retail IT over the last couple of years, having a single view of customers who may buy instore, online or through any other channel, is essential for any retailer. But it is especially important in the speciality retail market, where it is possible to classify customers by their tastes and preferences. Holcroft contended that, to achieve
a centralised understanding and view of customer buying habits, retailers should adopt a unifi ed retail management software
RETAIL TECHNOLOGY JULY/AUGUST 2011
solution, which encompasses essential sales and transactional data captured online or at the till, as well as stock and merchandising processes that span every channel. “It should be immaterial whether the sales and customer data comes through multiple sales channels. If you are able to segment customers from one central location, it is possible to immediately drive more targeted promotions and loyalty programmes instore, to mobiles or online for instance,” he said. Holcroft said in response, that Yourcegid
Retail, the retail management software Retail IT supplies, was the market leader in this space in France, and was gaining traction in the UK with credible projects for brands like Ted Baker, Nicole Farhi and Monica Vinader, making the coming months exciting as the software’s power was unveiled in the UK. He added: “Yourcegid Retail can integrate
with any e-commerce platform or ERP [enterprise resource planning] application and is customised using confi gurable parameters or by the customer themselves. The result is a great return on investment as retailers realise brand new capabilities and visibility of their businesses.”
For example, Retail IT has delivered
a significant increase in both overall sales and average transaction values for sportswear retailer Sweaty Betty by making customer data capture at stores a measurable key performance indicator (KPI), resulting in vastly more data being captured. The knock-on effect for the retailer’s ability to analyse customers, and improve marketing activity via catalogue and e-commerce has been substantial. “We also recently put in a system for
a significant UK-based retailer and drove down the cost of ownership by 40%,” Holcroft added. “There was no need to change hardware platforms or peripherals. And every single setting and control can be managed centrally, by head office, owing to the cloud-based nature of the software. This way, sales data can be sent back in real time and used to run reports, streamline replenishment, and even to optimise staff hours.”
Holcroft concluded that taking a second look at EPoS systems could enable strategic change that is a prerequisite for improving instore efficiency, as well as enhancing multichannel customer loyalty.
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