RetailT
Street presence in recent years through the significant expansion of its digital division, as well as the rapid growth of an international estate. “We always knew there were things the business
wanted IT to deliver after the EPoS roll out,” said Clarke, “like having loyalty functionality within the PoS, for example. So it has very much been seen as a foundation for the future. This was why it was so important to make sure we picked a really good product and got the roll out right.” Coldicott explained how the company went out
to tender for new EPoS technology in autumn 2010 after the existing EPoS systems had reached end of life and began to affect the company’s ability to introduce new functionality. Coldicott said: “For this project, we were able to bring in some really good people from the business – some of whom have since moved permanently over to IT.” He also said that this combination of IT and
business involvement was one of the main reasons why the project, which encompasses all of Arcadia’s fashion stores and concessions, was completed on time and under budget. “We worked on a fairly detailed definition
phase that involved every part of the business,” he continued. “In doing so, we made it absolutely clear upfront any necessary constraints we had to work within that would enable us to deliver a system they would all be happy with. “We said to the business, ‘we have to define the
scope incredibly well now and make sure we don’t move from it in order to avoid ‘scope creep’. Part of this was to carry over all of the existing EPoS functionality, while adding in some that was new,” Coldicott explained. “We wanted to avoid getting into a massive software development project.” Having a clearly defined scope for the IT project
with the close involvement of the business also made the need for an EPoS overhaul was clear. Having grown through acquisition, the group’s inherited EPoS technology was over a decade old and maintenance overheads were increasing with the need to support a number of old operating systems. “At the time our old EPoS was rolled out there
were also no plans for global expansion, so we didn’t necessarily have the capability to add new language, currency and tax requirements easily,” he added. During the selection process Arcadia narrowed
its search for a replacement down to a short list of three EPoS suppliers, which included the incumbent provider. But Arcadia chose VISION BeanStore software from PCMS because, according to Coldicott,
www.retailtechnology.co.uk
It has been seen as a foundation for the future. This is was why it was so important to pick a really good product
echnology
“we were keen on its Java-based technology, centralised architecture and its team”. Other considerations included how good a fit the supplier would be with Arcadia’s culture and long-term goals. Clarke added: “When put in front of the chief executive and other people from the business, PCMS was able to showcase how BeanStore fitted with our vision on a number of levels and demonstrate a roadmap that complemented our view of retail in the coming years, as well as their commitment to ongoing managed services.” The centralised architecture and infrastructure
cited by Coldicott plays an important role in delivering back-office control to Arcadia head office. “It takes the servers out of the stores, so we can minimise downtime and continue trading,” he said. “And it allows us to serve the UK and the rest of the world from a central location.” Given the scale of the project, the Arcadia
team took a number of steps to maximise the efficiency of the roll out. The new EPoS software was piloted running on existing hardware, so users could familiarise themselves with new functions or processes before also getting to grips with new equipment too. Another step saw only managers seconded from stores to receive training on the new systems, enabling them to then pass that training on to their store staff. It took Arcadia and its IT partners a little under
a year to pilot the new EPoS software in stores across all of its brands. Following a break from this evaluation period in time for the busy 2011 Christmas and 2012 Easter trading seasons, the final roll out began in earnest in spring 2012. The roll out programme was completed in July
2013, including all of the UK and Ireland store transitions, as well as US stores in Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. At its peak Arcadia was transitioning 50 stores
a week. A key highlight was the transition of the Oxford Circus flagship store, which involved transitioning over 100 tills in one evening and training some 800 staff. Another achievement of note was the fact that, of the 1,650-plus store migration, only one had to be regressed due to a network issue, which was “a fantastic team effort by all involved,” according to Clarke. Clarke and Coldicott also highlighted how the
software development process was also designed to maximise efficiency and support the aggressive pace of the roll out. “The prevailing attitude was to get the new systems out there and to deliver new
Winter 2014 11
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60