On stand 9K54, EPoS and e-commerce technology company will be showcasing its solutions for independent-store retailers and sharing with visitors the positive experiences, cost savings and efficiency gains enjoyed by its smaller independent business clients.
Explains Cybertill’s Sales Director, Tony Woods: “Independent-store retailers tend to consider an EPoS system for two reasons. Firstly, because money is very tight within the business they find that, with the proper stock management functions that come with EPoS, they can reduce stockholding. Cybertill customers report an average of 20% reduction when it comes to stockholding.”
“Secondly, an EPoS system will provide the same sales statistics and analytics that bigger retailers and multiples have. Whereas small businesses often buy product by instinct, ‘by the seat of their pants’, with the appropriate sales intelligence they can buy and invest cash more wisely, confident that it is going to the right place.”
Independent-store retailers evaluating Cybertill also identify a further compelling reasons. Independent-store businesses are predominantly owned by an individual or by a family. Because of Cybertill’s ASP (managed service) aspect, they can access their systems via the internet at any time and from anywhere. This means they can be at home and still see what is going on in their shop. As a result, they can take necessary time out from the business and have a real-time performance picture of everything that is going on.
Furthermore, because Cybertill offers an integrated EPoS and E-commerce platform based on a single product and sales database, universal stock management and consolidated reports across the business, the Independent store retailer with little IT experience finds that he or she can easily extend the business to multi-channel. It requires no extra effort or investment to add a second, virtual shop on the internet to the one on the high street.
Cybertill has many clients in the gift and homeware sector, of which Breeze (www.breeze.com), a Independent-store gift and home accessories outlet based in the centre of Cambridge. Anne Bannell is its owner. As she observes: “We thought about an EPoS system for quite a while before finally deciding to go ahead. Each system had its own way of dealing with things; all very different in many ways. We felt Cybertill was offering exactly what we wanted.”
“The biggest plus was that the system can be connected directly to our web site, which means everything we choose to have on the site can be added or taken away with the click of a button. Pictures can be added very easily with totally secure payment details. So many birds killed with one stone. We feel that Cybertill has made us more efficient and professional. We would not want to go back to our old ways.”
Anne Bannell’s enthusiasm is shared by Grainne Mahon Henson, who set up the children’s gift and clothing store, The Old Treehouse, in Hebden Bridge (www.theoldtreehouse.co.uk). After initially operating with just a cash register, the young retailer invested in a complete front-office and back-office application from Cybertill.
It has since gone from store-only to multi-channel, thanks to Cybertill’s integrated technology. The team of eight staff find stock can be easily tracked and managed across both channels, and they always have a consolidated real-time view of sales and product status. “This is such a boon for a small business such as ours which, nevertheless, stocks a very large number of items. Stock is so much better controlled with Cybertill,” says Grainne Mahon Henson.
The Cybertill system also records customer addresses and tracks orders, which creates a database for use in promotions and mailings. Other useful functions include the ability to reserve items, easily load products onto the web site and display different prices, and process discounts. “The system gives us real consistency and efficiency with our stock levels. Supported by our Cybertill system, we can do so much more than we would otherwise have been able to,” Grainne Mahon Henson concludes.
