Case Study

Ian Tomlinson, Managing Director of EPOS and e-commerce solution provider, Cybertill, sets out a few tips for success when it comes to selecting an EPOS system and achieving a painless implementation.

Selecting the system

Retailer, know thyself

As in so many areas of life, there is nothing to beat self-knowledge. The first ingredient of a successful EPOS purchase is some soul-searching to establish the type of retailer you are and the way in which you envisage your business developing.

Audit your market and your technology and ask yourself if you are keeping up. Don't just look at the problems you are experiencing today. Test any prospective purchase against current issues, and then look beyond them to those that may arise 3-5 years down the line. Bombard yourself with questions and be honest in your answers.

• What is your objective?
• What business problems will this new system solve?
• What is your current level of inhouse expertise?
• What kind of help would you need to run this system successfully?

From this, you can start to build a definitive list of requirements. Every retailer wants business efficiency and increased profits from any investment so it's a good rule of thumb to judge your future purchase against four fundamental, 'more or less' criteria:

• Risk - will this system introduce more or less risk to my business?
• Income - will I generate more income or will the cost outweigh the benefits?
• Time - will the new system require more or less time than I spend on my manual processes or on my current system?
• Expense - will I spend more or less in running costs than I do now?

Realistic expectations

Remember that a software system will highlight both your strengths and your weaknesses. If there are problems in your business, it won't necessarily make them go away. It's important to have realistic expectations but, if you've never used an EPOS before, how can you judge what is realistic?

An IBM study found that 3% of turnover is usually lost via a non-EPOS till, through a combination of unintentional mis-keying and staff fraud. Our experience, now with hundreds of clients, reveals the following levels of improvement that come from use of EPOS, based upon our 'Software as a Service' deployment model.

Firstly, stock holding can be reduced by an average of 30%. This comes from gaining (often for the first time) absolute clarity on what's selling (and therefore the ability to get rid of what's not selling) and an ability to make sure that required stock is always available. With a good EPOS, you can know your product and know your business.

An EPOS system will certainly help you to increase turnover. Here, our clients report an average gain of 10%. Armed with the ability to analyse what you sell and to collect customer information, you'll have the tools to develop good customer relationship management based on customised promotions, prices and communication.

When it comes to gross profit, an increase of 4% to 8 % is to be expected. This comes from a variety of means, including being able to use your accurate sales data to negotiate better supplier terms.