Retail Chain Manager is sport!
Better overview and more time
These are two of the most marked advantages which Team Sportia achieved, when the Swedish shop chain changed its IT solution to Retail Chain Manager, which Columbus IT Partner has developed for retail trade.
“Retail Chain Manager meets all our requirements, says IT manager Richard Westerlund, Team Sportia. Our old solution had over time had around 600 adaptations. Now we have got a system which from the start is developed to our needs”.
Made for shop chains
Retail Chain Manager is a powerful tool when a shop chain wants to update the shops with prices, sizes, models, colours etc. The head office can manage all this, and they can control offers, campaigns, invoicing etc.
Richard Westerlund - “The basis for us was to get a flexible and efficient goods handling also with an optimisation of information to our shops. But at the same time we have got a whole lot of functions which we did not have before. For example, orders are now registered via the Internet. And we have got a goods guide package, where employees can see how they order goods”.
The solution includes also import of product catalogues. When a new catalogue is issued, the shops can just use the order numbers or see what they ordered last. Retail Chain Manager controls also the handling of gift vouchers through the entire process.
Based on Axapta
The Retail Chain Manager, which Columbus IT Partner has supplied, is based on an analysis of Team Sportia's old system and a thorough dialogue on what the new should be able to do. Emphasis has been placed on integration with other systems. The solution is therefore integrated with a joint purchasing portal (www.sportretail.com), where some of the large manufacturers electronically offer their products to the Swedish sports goods industry.
Retail Chain Manager is built on Microsoft Business Solutions Axapta. Team Sportia has outsourced its entire central warehousing, and Axapta should therefore daily be able to exchange information on purchases, stock and shop orders with the company which manages the warehouse function. This is achieved using Galaxy – an integration tool developed by Columbus IT Partner.
Integration included
Galaxy is included as a module in Retail Chain Manager. In addition to integration with the logistics partner and with the joint purchasing portal, Galaxy is used to send data between Team Sportia's head office in Mölnlycke and the 110 shops spread across the whole of Sweden.
To ensure the greatest possible flexibility, Retail Chain Manager contains a internal B2B Internet portal, where the shops via Enterprise portal from Microsoft can issue orders online.
In total, there are 150 cash registers in the Team Sportia shops connected to Retail Chain Manager, and there are around 250 users.
Timetable and budget met
That Team Sportia selected Columbus IT Partner as supplier is due to (according to Richard Westerlund) the large experience with solutions to retail trade.
“In addition we have over a longer period of time known Columbus IT Partner, and they have absolutely lived up to our expectations, partly with the solutions themselves, partly around co-operation. We have had all the time a good and open dialogue. Timetables and budgets are met, and we recommend therefore Retail Chain Manager and Columbus IT Partner to others”, notes Richard Westerlund.
The investment in Retail Chain Manager releases Team Sportia resources to focus on core areas: to sell sports equipment, accessories and cycles.