06 NEWS
KRISPY KREME IT SUPPORTS GROWTH
extensive managed IT and electronic point-of-sales (EPoS) services model. The company has worked with UK retail IT service provider PCMS for a number of years, using its Vision BeanStore EPoS software and server hosting facilities. Retail Technology spoke exclusively to Rob Hunt, joint managing director at Krispy Kreme, about the latest extensions to its IT services and plans to expand. Since opening its fi rst store in
P
Harrods in 2003, Krispy Kreme has grown using a hub-and-spoke network to nearly 50 stores. It makes its doughnuts fresh every day in its ‘Hotlight’ stores, which then supply its other stores and cabinets throughout the country. “We have plans to double the
stores we have in four years,” Hunt said. “And we’ve had a lot of success with our drive-through stores too.”
remium doughnut chain Krispy Kreme is supporting ambitious growth plans through an
Underpinning this activity, he said the technology that the company relies must be “a help, not a hindrance”. Having recently upgraded Krispy
Kreme’s PoS system to the latest version of Vision BeanStore, Hunt reported that the company was benefi tting from better reporting and promotional control. It has also reduced its reconciliation process by one day a week thanks to the introduction of integrated chip and PIN across its estate. PCMS Chip and PIN partner,
VeriFone, moved the retailer from a bank-owned payment device to an integrated and Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant system, which increased effi ciencies by reducing the need for duplicated inputting and speeding up card reconciliation processes.
The second recent change in
Krispy Kreme’s IT provision has been its move to a PCMS virtual infrastructure and network. “This
CATH KIDSTON UPDATES TILLS
Quintessentially British retailer Cath Kidston, famous for its fl oral prints, accessories and homewares, recently completed the roll out of new tills. Between two and fi ve till management systems, comprising Odysseì integrated touchscreen electronic point-of-sale (EPoS) terminals and matching ODP 200 receipt printers from the Aures Group, have been installed in each of its 50 UK stores. Andy Struthers, head of IT at Cath Kidston, said the choice of pearl bases and carmine red clips fi tted the brand’s colours and style. He also told Retail Technology: “Store staff found the integrated touchscreen was much easier to use. It was also better designed, as an all- in-one unit, so the installation process was easier. The hard drive is easily accessible, making it very easy to swap out.” The new till equipment deployed is running Cath Kidson’s existing retail management software supplied by Futura.
RETAIL TECHNOLOGY MAY/JUNE 2012
has helped enormously,” Hunt said. “From an IT hardware perspective, that was capital expenditure. But, although we work with other software providers, we don’t have those decision points anymore, which is good when it comes down to buying a new server or doing something else to improve the customer experience.” The managed IT services also
allow the retailer to keep pace with customer demand and innovate with new mobile technology and channels. According to Hunt, “this forces us to be better as retailers”. “Customers are prepared to pay for a satisfactory product or service,” he added. “But you have to be good at what you do, because can’t just rely on price [as a differentiator] anymore.” He added that the company
already offered a loyalty card scheme and was looking at digital media instore and mobile queue-busting technology, but that overall: “We are now so much better prepared to make better decisions based on what our customers want. Data is more easily manipulated and available and we’re also looking forward to seeing the benefi ts of a new forecasting system that’s in trial. “At the end of the day, if a
display gets too empty, it can affect a customer’s choice. So it can be a complex task making sure even the last customer of the day has the best choice and experience we can offer,” Hunt concluded.
◆ UK
independent and national wholesaler, Palmer and Harvey, has implemented the TranSend electronic proof of delivery (ePOD) software and back-offi ce system incorporating a new executive dashboard that provides managers with a single view of all delivery and tracking data in a graphical format and full drill-down to every detail for routes, vehicles and customer deliveries.
◆ UK
supermarket group Sainsbury’s has purchased a Teradata data warehouse appliance to accommodate its rapidly expanding data warehouse requirements. Rob Fraser, Sainsbury’s chief information offi cer, confi rmed the data warehouse provider as its business partner and said they were looking forward to developing their relationship together.
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