* Operational market sector of client: Fashion clothing stores
* Indicator of size of company: +/- 1 500 stores
* Geographic operational region: South Africa, Namibia, Botswana
Solution implemented by valued-added reseller (VAR)
UCS Software subsidiary of UCS Group (listed JSE 1998)
* Size of VAR: ActiveRetail division +/- 40 people
* Location: Johannesburg, Pretoria and Cape Town
* Operational arena: Johannesburg, Cape Town
Introduction:
Client: Foschini Group
Case study content at a glance
* In 2001, the Foschini Group selected Argility's ActiveRetail to replace its outdated point-of-sale (POS) system.
* The DOS-based legacy technology used in 2001 was 15-20 years old - no longer capable of meeting the needs of a multi-brand 1 400-store group.
* ActiveRetail - why it was selected.
* The outcome - today, Foschini Group's credit process boasts a sub-second response time between store and head office.
The business challenge
* The DOS-based legacy technology Foschini used in 2001 was 15-20 years old.
* It was no longer sufficient for the needs of a multi-brand 1 400-store group.
* Integration of all its operations was needed - from accounting to bank reconciliations, from the front and back offices to stocktaking - all on the same Microsoft platform.
* The company required a product with the power and flexibility to enable it, as a retailer, to meet escalating business demands on the next generation Microsoft enterprise platforms.
The business goal
The Foschini Group required the latest technology to update its out of date POS systems in order to cater to its business growth since 2001.
The solution
Q. What was chosen?
A. Argility ActiveRetail.
Q. What was the competition?
A. International competitors.
Q. Why was chosen?
A. Because it is a POS system and a good fit for Foschini's functionality requirements, residing on a Microsoft platform.
Q. What was the deployment time?
A. The solution was implemented in 1 400 stores from 2001 to May 2005.
The business benefits
* ActiveRetail has positioned Foschini to take the group into the future with business enabling technology.
* The company's credit process boasts a sub-second response time between store and head office.
* It has also allowed Foschini to implement e-learning, whereby staff can do training in-store on a terminal in a back-office, with commensurate savings.
Brent Curry, group chief information officer for Foschini, gives an in-depth expose on the project:
When the Foschini Group made a strategic decision in 2000 to replace its outdated point-of-sale (POS) systems with a Microsoft technology-based application, it chose Argility's ActiveRetail ahead of international rivals, because it was:
* Locally-based
* Affordable
* Re-use of components based on Microsoft technologies
Although research shows that many retailers believe electronic point-of-sale (Epos) systems are too complicated to integrate, hamper productivity and are costly to run, Foschini Group reports being happy with its ActiveRetail system, six years after the implementation process began.
The DOS-based legacy technology used in 2001 was 15-20 years old, and no longer sufficient for the needs of a multi-brand 1 400-store group.
The old system could not cope. We needed something with the power and flexibility to enable us as a retailer to meet escalating business demands on the next-generation Microsoft enterprise platforms.
We saw the Microsoft platform as the strategic technology Foschini would be adopting throughout the group, and ActiveRetail had a strong core offering with the ability to develop bespoke components specific to our requirements. It had the functionality we needed to integrate all our operations - from accounting to bank reconciliations, from the front and back offices to stocktaking - all on the same Microsoft platform.
ActiveRetail was chosen because of its technology and architecture: it is a POS system that was a good fit for Foschini Group requirements and met our Windows-based standards.
UCS - the value added reseller - and Argility were also required to effect a technical skills transfer, development, piloting and rollout assistance throughout the project. The project also included links into legacy credit and merchandising systems.
Flexibility was particularly important, because since the implementation from 2001 to May 2005, there have been a number of critical changes in the retail industry, including the introduction of the National Credit Act last year.
A new set of strict regulatory criteria had to be complied with, and the system was designed to trigger a response at POS, requiring the consultant to ask the customer certain questions.
The system was flexible enough to enable a rack of functionality upgrades relating not only to credit vetting, but also operational improvements such as to Foschini stores' Gift Registry and Repair System.
The key feature for us was that with a Windows platform, all system upgrades can now be deployed from head office remotely to all 1 400 stores.
FoschiniData does all the support, but Argility and UCS did the development. We tested it and deployed it to our outlets - it's a partnership arrangement.
It was not a simple implementation: the Foschini Group's 1 400 stores include, among others, Foschini, Fashion Express, Exact, Markam, @home, Total Sports , Sports Scene, Due South, Sterns, American Swiss and Donna Clair, and also cross the border into neighbouring countries. In terms of promotions, pricing and merchandising, each brand runs independently, so it was necessary to have a single solution.
ActiveRetail covers all the stores and brands in the group.
The relationship with UCS - and later the transfer to Argility - has blossomed over time. The usual implementation issues that abound at the beginning of any project were evident, but through the development of a personal relationship with the senior executives of UCS, we established a cooperation agreement. With responsibilities clearly defined, we found the supplier highly responsive to issues, and today we're very happy to be a key customer of UCS.
We also rated the knowledge of Argility staff in retail and retail technology over the past year as very good.
The ActiveRetail system has been a success at the Foschini Group, and a good fit with our business model.
When we bought the system, a condition was that they build a bouquet of features into the base system that would fit our business, and provide for future changes.
The change management that went with the implementation was also a success. Over a relatively short period - two years - we went from a 'green screen' system to a 'mouse-driven' one. We thought that was quick, considering there have also been several upgrades since then.
The conclusion
It has positioned us to take the group into the future with business-enabling technology. Today, our credit process boasts a sub-second response time between store and head office. It has also allowed us to implement e-learning, whereby staff can do training in-store on a terminal in a back-office, with commensurate savings.
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