Sanderson Brings Portable ePOS to Hamley's

We don't generally cover Point of Sale solutions on this blog, but we are definitely interested in mobile commerce and tablet-based technology in the sales environment. 

Sanderson, the publicly owned UK provider of retail software and services, has won a contract to pilot a new Mobile Electronic Point of Sale (ePOS) solution at renowned toy retailer Hamleys during the busy Christmas trading period. 

Sanderson is delivering the innovative Mobile ePOS solution in partnership with Retail-J software author Torex to enable Hamleys to offer its customers a quick and easy way to purchase their goods during busy periods and cut queues at tils.

The solution, which is being piloted at the Regent Street store in London, uses an Apple iPad together with a handheld Bluetooth scanner, wireless Pin Entry Device (PED), and wireless printer. Hamleys has chosen a utility belt which allows the store assistant to "wear" the ePOS system and move around the store with the devices.

Mobile ePOS is a major new extension to the Retail-J solution which Hamleys use to run their retail business. Sanderson implemented Retail-J at Hamleys in 2010 and since then has delivered a number of significant business-enhancing projects, including customer preferred currency and tax-free shopping options. 

This is the first Mobile ePOS project of its kind within the Retail-J community and will no doubt strike interest across the user base, particularly among those with London stores as they plan to capitalise on increased visitor numbers during the Olympic Games in 2012.

Notes Richard Willis, Solutions Director at Torex:  “This extension of Torex Retail-J delivers the capability to run point of sale and back office functionality using Apple and Android browsers. It is part of our ongoing commitment to the development of Retail-J in consultation with our clients.”

Business Agility Adds Value

Michael Hugos, author of Business Agility, writes in the current issue of CIO that when he worked for a company that supplied Starbucks with paper cups they were not the lowest-cost provider. But they "found 20 things we could do to make our cups easier to order, easier to use, easier to pay for and easier to plan and budget for." When they kept enhancing these as Starbucks's business needs changed they "provided a compelling reason to buy from us. Because we delivered more value than Starbucks could have gotten from a plain, low-priced paper cup, and because we were agile and responsive to the evolving needs of a high-value customer, we earned 2 percent more than the market price on our cups. I call this extra profit the 'agility dividend.'” This is how CIOs have to think to truly add value to the systems they manage.

Digby Powers CHEFS Catalog mComm Site

CHEFS Catalog has announced the launch of a mobile optimized website powered by the Digby Mobile Platform for iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry and Android. 

Key  features of the mobile optimized site include

• Promotional bar that features unique cooking items      
• Complete site search and easy-to-navigate categories  
• Product pages that feature product images with alternate views              
• Detailed item descriptions          
• Ratings and reviews       
• Share to Facebook and email a friend

Says Dave Sikora, President and CEO of Digby, “We are very excited about this partnership, and through our deep  commitment to the retail channel, look forward to making CHEFS  Catalog’s mobile strategy a long-term success."

AMEX to Invest in eComm Start-ups

American Express today announced a new multi-year digital commerce initiative designed to help identify and develop innovative technologies that will help accelerate the company's digital transformation and strengthen connections to a growing base of customers around the globe by investing $100 million in early stage startups in the digital commerce space.

"American Express is a 162 year old company that has continuously reinvented itself," said Dan Schulman, Group President, Enterprise Growth, American Express. "As we enter the next chapter in our history, we recognize the need to work with emerging technology companies to inspire change, encourage innovation, and ultimately deliver the best products and services to our customers."

The American Express digital commerce initiative will be managed out of the company's newly established office in Silicon Valley and led by Harshul Sanghi, who was recently appointed as Managing Partner, Enterprise Growth Group. Mr. Sanghi previously ran Motorola Mobility Ventures and brings a deep understanding of the venture community, as well as extensive expertise in identifying and working with promising early startups.

"The payments industry is underdoing a fundamental change as the very nature of commerce is redefined," said Mr. Sanghi. "We believe our global network of businesses and consumers, international employee base, world-class customer service and data analytics will provide a significant advantage to potential portfolio companies."

American Express' digital commerce initiative will look to make investments in companies focused on serving critical parts of the digital commerce experience, including loyalty and rewards, mobile and online payment management, fee-based services, security and fraud detection and data analysis.

Paul Fredrick Implements mCommerce with Digby

Paul Fredrick has announced the launch of a smartphone optimized Website on the Digby Mobile Platform so customers can now easily and conveniently access the full range of Paul Fredrick’s clothing for men from the palm of their hands anytime, anywhere.  The mobile site complements the company’s eCommerce and catalog channels, with support for search, browse and purchase of Paul Fredrick products from any smartphone, including iPhone/iPod Touch, BlackBerry and Android devices.  

The mobile site features:   

• Rich product photographs with additional image views          
• Complete product descriptions        
• Customization options          
• Customer-submitted product ratings and reviews   
• Sizing Information  
• Shop by Category, Top Sellers, Big & Tall and Clearance         
• Share to Twitter, Facebook and email            
• A complete, ever-present site search            
• Email signup, shipping info and order status

 “Paul Fredrick is proudly known for supplying men with quality clothing that fits their lifestyle, at an affordable price,” said Amanda Bausher, Senior Marketing Manager, Web UX of Paul Fredrick.  “We work with our manufacturers to design and directly distribute every item in our collection, and we wanted to make this available through mobile devices as well.  We are seeing rapid growth in this area and believe this will help us to better serve our valuable customers.”

Paul Fredrick is going mobile at a very opportune time.  More than 33.3 million U.S. consumers already engage in shopping-related activities on their mobile phones Experian Simmons recently reported in their 2011 Mobile Consumer Report.

“Paul Fredrick is known for their high quality items and eye for style, all at a fair price. We are proud to partner with them on their mobile strategy to extend these same values and rich experiences to the mobile channel,” said Dave Sikora, President and CEO of Digby.

Beaverbrooks Implements Elucid

Sanderson, the publicly-owned provider of multichannel retail software, has implemented its Elucid system at Beaverbrooks the Jewellers in the UK. The new system streamlines and improves operations at Beaverbrooks’s Direct business, incorporating Mail Order and Online Sales, offering faster delivery, and enhancing customer service. It also strengthens sales and marketing capabilities across the business by combining and exploiting data from all sales channels to support Beaverbrooks’s multichannel strategy.

Beaverbrooks has grown to be a true multichannel business, employing over 800 people, with 66 UK stores, an established Mail Order division, and a thriving Online channel, reports Sanderson. The Elucid system processes and fulfills all Mail Order and Online sales, increasing the number of orders dispatched per day, providing real-time inventory levels with improved stock control, and driving warehouse efficiency.

Positioned as the central hub between retail stores, head office operations, and online sales, Elucid integrates with existing retail and eCommerce systems and presents consolidated data from all sales channels. Beaverbrooks is also benefiting from improved customer data collection via Elucid CRM, which is enabling better customer profiling, targeting and buyer behavior analysis.

MNP Debuts StoreActive iPad Ordering Platform

Direct Commerce systems vendor MNP Media, Salisbury, UK, has announced the completion of a contract to provide Soletrader, a leading UK-based shoe retailer, with StoreActive, an integrated in-store iPad ordering solution and the newest addition to MNP's ActiveSeries.

Soletrader, which has a network of 50+ stores throughout the UK selling fashionable shoes to young men and women at value prices, prides itself on its ability to constantly and rapidly evolve its product offerings. Beyond its retail network, Soletrader has also developed a highly effective direct operation with extensive online trading.

The company determined that when a customer could not find their size in a store, shop assistants advised the customer to go online, which can also lead to loss of the sale. But if the retailer could capture the sale and fulfil the order a day or two later, the customer expectations could be managed and brand loyalty continued.

StoreActive Makes the Sale
StoreActive, designed to be tablet-independent, links a company's warehouse inventory to all retail locations to ensure all sale opportunities are captured. For SoleTrade, the system allows the sales assistant to search the customer's shoe requirements and place the order against real-time inventory. The customer can then pay via chip-and-pin, with the order shipped direct to home or work and the order record available to the customer online.

In addition the system supports capture of customer details to help build lifetime value from what was originally a transactional retail purchase.

SoleTrader selected MNP based on the vendor's proven track record of high-volume order processing and its experience providing order processing systems for multi-channel clothing retailers, which StoreActive knows first-hand as a user of the OrderActive back-office order management and warehouse management system.

Pierre D’Arbost, Managing Director, MNP Media commented, “Over recent years we have undertaken a lot of development work to ensure that our software can be easily integrated to satisfy the demands of retailers. Our clients have retail challenges that provide MNP with the opportunity to pioneer many ‘direct’ innovations. We are delighted to be partnering with Soletrader and look forward to our continued push into multi-channel retail.”