RetailT


echnology


UK. This model means it exists to serve and reward its members – and Anglia Co-operative has 109,000 active members. With a variety of retail outlets, the business


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employs 1,804 people. These include 26 food stores and 25 funeral homes, plus 21 travel branches. Operating such a diverse portfolio within a


co-operative model offers advantages, as well as challenges. Its membership structure affords Anglia Co-operative the opportunity to tap a readymade wealth of customer data. But it also requires it to compete with the wider retail market across a number of sectors. Richard Feest, Anglia Regional Co-operative


Society Head of IT, recently spoke about the IT investments used to manage the customer-facing side of its business at an exclusive roundtable hosted by Microsoft Windows Embedded. “We have to compete with other grocers and


their expansion in smaller format stores for the same money our customers spend,” he told attendees. “So we are focused on what we know our customers are interested in – ethics, support for local produce and farmers, the business we do with other co-operatives and how our profits get passed back.” The company also operates a website as part


of its portfolio to support this positioning of Anglia Co-operative’s brand. While it is not transactional, it is an important tool in its customer communications arsenal. It has become a key promotional tool for delivering offers and building brand loyalty. But it wanted to support this with in-depth analysis of its customers’ shopping behaviour. “We don’t have shareholders. But members


can buy shares and get rewards,” Feest said. “The Co-operative Group launched a loyalty


www.retailtechnology.co.uk May/June 2013 25


Anglia Co-operative’s modern point of sale


nglia Regional Co-operative Society is a progressive retail consumer co-operative in the


programme across its businesses, allowing us to track purchases made through it across our stores. But, even if the customer is a member of ours or another co-operative or not, we want to keep them coming to our stores too rather than going to a competitor.” With the addition of The Co-operative’s


loyalty programme, Anglia Co-operative’s next first step in building up its promotional insight and activity was to update its electronic point- of-sale (EPoS) systems. Having operated Toshiba TEC tills in its food stores for nearly a decade, the retailer began migrating to new, modular hardware from the same supplier in 2011. Faster transaction times and second


customer-facing screens not only improved customer service, but also enabled greater visual impact at the checkout, providing a cost-efficient and effective way of introducing advertising


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