Store Automation for an ISV
The client is one of the leading solution providers to the retail industry. They operate across multiple platforms and markets, focusing on creating value for customers through domain-focused solutions. Their offerings span areas of POS technology, loyalty, inventory management, and data analytics. For some time before the implementation, the client had been strategizing on global expansion but felt limited by a string of challenges raised by legacy systems that could not match expectations.
The Challenge
The existing system had many challenges to be overcome. The use of dated technology meant that the operation and maintenance of the legacy system was proving to be a nightmare for the client. Adding new features into the system was nearly impossible, and nimble new players with exciting features threatened to poach existing customers. The user interface of the existing system had a last-century feel, making redesigning the UI imperative for a contemporary look and feel.
Although the Store Management functionality worked, significant improvements in user experience were demanded by customers. For instance, it was not possible in the existing system to compare the costs for a product with other existing suppliers. The system also did not support concurrent users, severely restricting parallel operations. Users had to be in-store or in front of a PC to carry out operations, which felt archaic for a highly web-enabled generation.
Reports had an old-world look, with text being the only medium. Sales reports typically featured stacks of hashes in bar charts, customized for dot-matrix printers. Any level of customization in the system required extensive involvement from the support team, adding to costs and time overruns for the store. This was becoming a significant turn-off for tech-savvy new store owners.
A combination of these reasons, along with a very region-specific product, meant that ambitions of taking this product to a global market were off the radar. As existing customers started getting restless and competitors were hot on their heels, the client knew that something had to be done.
Our Solution
Experion was brought in at this stage. We began the process of re-platforming the existing legacy system onto a cloud platform. The latest methods and tools were employed to harness the power of modern software engineering. With little documentation available for the existing system, the first major challenge for the team was to distill nearly two decades of knowledge into requirements. This involved interviewing support staff, working with the existing system, and reviewing countless existing bug reports. The goal was clear: to design a solution that preserved all existing functionalities while ushering in a new world of finesse and user experience.
Agile methodologies were employed, allowing for extensive participation from the client’s side. By failing early and failing fast, the team progressed through multiple iterations to develop the ideal solution. A cloud-ready solution was designed, with custom-built tools to communicate with in-store components like POS, scales, and PDEs. Queues were used for asynchronous parallel communications, enhancing overall store automation.
Angular.js was utilized for the client-side, with Microsoft .NET and SQL Server operating in the background. Stimulsoft was used for report generation, as well as for generating labels and talkers. Signal-R was implemented for real-time notifications to users regarding the progress of their tasks and concurrency checks.
Some of the key features of the new solution include:
- New-age technology with a browser-based UX.
- Cloud-ready, mobile-friendly design.
- Customizable menu, column layouts, filters, and favorites.
- Support for intuitive and interactive design of labels and talkers.
- Support for scales from multiple vendors.
- Customizable properties for key entities such as item, family, supplier, user, and offer.
- Real-time, customizable notifications for individual users on task progress.
- Full support for parallel operations with multiple users across multiple client systems, enabling efficient store automation.
Business Impact
The implementation had a positive impact on the client’s business operations. It led to a 30% increase in customer response times. The solution was transformed into a web and mobile-ready offering for 24/7 customer accessibility. Cloud readiness significantly reduced infrastructure costs.
The savings made on legacy maintenance costs allowed the client to invest in more important IT avenues such as digitization. The new system required considerably fewer resources to maintain. Moreover, planning for a global expansion of the regional business became a viable strategy to explore, empowered by a state-of-the-art software system focused on store automation.
The overall transition to a modern store automation solution has positioned the client to better compete in the retail space, ensuring they can meet the evolving demands of their customers while maintaining operational efficiency.