Retail Systems Magazine

Thresher finds the answer

Thresher Group is an independent specialist drinks retailer with around 2,000 stores. It decided that, in order to enhance its ability to meet local needs, a franchise model would be introduced to enable store managers to become business owners

The existing EPoS system was not suitable for running a franchised store and so a project was initiated to evaluate alternatives. The new system needed to have good functionality with excellent service levels at a low cost and to be provided for a fixed weekly fee per store. This proved a difficult challenge for suppliers as neither the franchisee nor Thresher was prepared to incur any upfront capital investment and the pace of rollout would be variable, depending on the rate at which franchisees are signed up.

Retail Answers was commissioned to manage the overall project of selecting and implementing this new service. The solution selected was the iRetail service from Fujitsu, which runs using a browser on the till networked to Fujitsu’s shared data centre. It has a pre-certified chip & PIN solution and supports the complex functionality required by a franchisee of controlling cash, managing stock and creating local suppliers, products and promotions.

Retail Answers took overall responsibility for the programme management, controlling the budget and chairing project board meetings. Retail Answers also managed the specification and development of the interfaces, the user acceptance testing and the implementation in the pilot stores.

The solution enabled Thresher to launch its franchise programme on schedule for a fixed weekly fee per store, irrespective of the number of franchisees. A hosted service also allows new version to be implemented without effort and the investment humps normally associated with the new versions of software are eliminated. Automatic interfaces allow for paper-free ordering, receiving and invoicing.

“This was an immensely complex evaluation and Retail Answers brought its analytical and creative problem solving skills, together with its knowledge of the retail market, to help us identify the service to meet our needs. Retail Answers managed the implementation with rigour to ensure that the system was ready for the franchisees and did the job,” says Simon Thomas, business change and IT director at Thresher Group.

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