Ambitious objectives
- increase turnover
per store and per hour
- cash-in clients at
a rate of at least for 1 sale every 30 seconds
- eliminate the risk of stock-outs
- guarantee the
right product in the right quantities for each
mobile store
- exchange in real time important
information for improved retail management (best
sellers, available
stock etc.)
It was fundamental for the ASO’s
head to have sales information in
real time, in order to
be able to react quickly : replenish
stocks, adjust supplies, promotions, prices.
This was particularly
important given that mobile
stores,
unlike
most other retail channels, only
have a few hours to
make their sales in, so it has
a significant impact on turnover, not to mention
customer
service and
satisfaction. Spectators can
be very disappointed if they can't get their Tour
de France T-shirts!
From store set up to customer
payment processes
ASO chose Colombus
Retail Mobile from VCSTIMELESS,
which was developed in accordance with the needs
for portability and ease-of-use, including Point
of Sale software and touchscreens housed in custom-made
hard cases for transporting. Eight vehicles carry
up to 40 lines of merchandise and ten mobile
store units manage about 80,000 sales, often
turning over €1,700 million in a matter
of days.
The process of getting the mobile stores
ready simply requires taking the till out of
its special
case, plugging it in to a power source or generator,
and placing a mobile phone within range to be able
to access the mobile retail software. For the 2004
edition of the Tour de France, installation started
in January 2004 and after a period of testing,
was fully operational by June. For the 2005 edition,
installation started in March.
Innovation at all
levels : hardware, software and polling
The ability to function in remote locations meant
that polling information (to head office, or to
banks for authorising payments) generally had to
be possible via mobile telephone networks. Therefore,
VCSTIMELESS created, for the first time, the software
able to cope with this. It was tested at the Paris
Marathon in 2004 and proved extremely successful
at the Tour de France in the summer of 2004. The
fixed PoS housing in hard, waterproof cases is
also thought to be particularly innovative.
The
mobile stores are extremely easy to set up, with
few cables to deal with. The technology’s
intuitive, so training was never really an issue.
The software is very reliable, and in case of no
electricity, mobile generators kick-in. “ With
such a short space of time to sell and surges of
customers, we simply can’t afford to lose
48 hours because a till doesn’t work,” said
Jeremy Botton, Marketing Manager and Retail Project
Director, ASO.
Significant increase in sales, profits,
service levels and customer satisfaction !
Since using the new Point of Sale technology, ASO has reported an 8% increase in revenues and massive
time savings – both in terms of the increased
volumes through the tills (up by 30-40%), as well
as less time spent on administrative tasks (stock
taking, collating sales information for head office
etc.) before and after an event. Mobile units can
also be set-up within a matter of minutes, whereas
before it could take hours. Mobile stores are alerted
immediately on available stock, sales slowing down,
promotions to push, stock to fill etc. Mobile
stores are replenished twice a day using Colombus. The
software suite also enables ASO to identify best-sellers,
manage promotions and alerts the head office when
would be the ideal time to discount and clear stock
towards the end of an event.
Other benefits:
- transactions 30-40% faster
- service levels up
by 40%
- no stock-outs
- no communication failures
- improved range planning
for customers
- a secure solution
Improved information exchange also means better
product offerings for the consumer,
based on analysis of best sellers, missing
lines, and so
on. Much
faster service at the point
of sale has
resulted from the new technology, as
well as the ability
to offer improved service such
as dealing with returns or credit card transactions.
“ Colombus
Retail Mobile is a mobile
point of sale solution which allows real time communication,
control and reactivity to ensure the most successful
event,. Since using the software suite on the Tour
de France, we have registered 8% increase in sales
and 40% increase in productivity!!! ” Jeremy
Botton, Marketing Manager, ASO.
A sporting reference,
Colombus is set to conquer other events, across
the globe !
Thanks to the success of this project which has
made mobile retailing a reality for ASO, the solution
will be increasingly used across all ASO events
including Paris-Marathon, Paris-Dakar, French Open
and of course will assist retail operations this
year, when the Tour de France starts again in the
summer.
|
