Are you customer focussed and demand driven?

Today’s consumers are intelligent, informed and instrumented and they are using information to decide What they are going to buy, Where and from Whom. These new smarter consumers know what they want and use technology to thoroughly research their products before deciding which retail offering is the most compelling. However these very self same consumers often visit a physical store to ‘touch and feel’ the product before completing the purchase on the web. Whilst the consumer’s objective might not be to make any purchases during this ‘exploratory’ visit the retailer has an invaluable opportunity to interact and engage the consumer in a way that should result in a sale. Multi channel retailers may think that they will get the sale anyway, but the risk is they find an alternative site and buy elsewhere.

It is during this connection that having the right stock, right pricing and the right staff becomes the most important points of customer interaction. An up to date innovative flexible POS can significantly impact a retailer's ability to gain a competitive advantage and to increase sales and customer satisfaction, likewise an effective merchandising solution gets the right stock in the right stores at the right price. It is crucially important to get the basics right.

In such a demanding retail environment it is essential for retailers to strengthen relationships with their customers based on increased trust and long term loyalty. The key issues affecting customer loyalty are:  products (improved product availability, value and variety), service and customer focussed promotions e.g. personalized discounts. Retailers who get these elements correct are further rewarded by their customers with increased purchases and loyalty.

Argility's Active Retail (AR) Enterprise is a world class POS solution for Specialty retailers of all sizes. This feature-rich in-store system handles point-of-sale (POS) transactions, stock management and back office processing at store level. It allows inventory availability to be checked across stores and within the warehouse. AR facilitates consolidation of information at head office level with the ability to configure and control the manner in which the system works in individual stores. AR also has a very rich and flexible promotional offering allowing customized promotions enabling you to promote to your customers in a way that is relevant and significant to them. Immediate access to online information also frees up staff enabling them to focus on customer service.

AR gives you a complete infrastructure platform that grows as your needs change, integrating seamlessly with your existing systems. ActiveRetail is based on open industry standards that let you leverage the systems and initiatives from the broader retail industry, while providing a better ROI with less risk.

Argility also understand that "one size fits all" is not something that works in retail POS solutions. This type of narrow approach has historically led many retailers to either develop in house or use external resource to develop bespoke solutions to fit their business. With Argility Package to Order (P2O) and Assemble to Order (A2O) Retailers can create their own bespoke solution either following the processes inherent in the package (P20) or the retailers own processes (A2O) and add or subtract functionality as required.

The integrity and predictability of a retailer can do much to build trust with their customer.  Trust means that you can be relied upon to consistently deliver what you have promised (irrespective of the delivery channel or customer 'touch point') i.e. getting the promoted product onto your shelves (real or virtual) and into your customers hands. Yet in this area retailers continue to disappoint with unacceptably high out-of-stocks. This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that many retail operations are based on antiquated supply systems that are cumbersome, complex and rooted in a push-based philosophy as opposed to being demand driven.

Argility Merchandising is designed for the mid market specialty retailers offering an integrated enterprise and branch administration, providing a clear view of operations via an easy to use intuitive user interface and best in class breadth of functionality. The various modules provide for full corporate merchandising functionality, in-store online back office, bank reconciliation, an integrated merchant web, supplier collaboration and sales audit.  Product functionality is further enriched through the use of workflows to provide efficient accurate control of inventory and algorithms to calculate efficient distributions and replenishment thereby moving to a pull-based philosophy which ensures that the products are in the right place at the right time. Relevant timely information and focused KPI's and Alerts result in empowered management and staff making informed business decisions. Retailers and their suppliers are also able to go beyond traditional head office reporting and make use of practical, web-based information.

The fast food, restaurant, coffee shop and pub business is no less competitive than the retail industry, customer choice is at an all time high and the ability to provide exceptional service is a priority. Argility Hospitality is an easy to use solution designed for all hospitality operations with all the functionality needed to run small single sites to large enterprises and franchise operations. The POS solution has a graphical interface which is easy to learn with simple end of day processes including cash ups and back ups. The solution can revolutionise service levels, security and productivity through the use of mobile POS, bump screens and kitchen displays. Complete back office functionality includes all stock control mechanisms, supply comparison, goods receiving, recipe explosions, stock takes and variances, and weekly food costs. The solution ensures maximum control and profitability within the business with instant access to all the information.

Another aspect of Retailing which is not only competitive but vitally important that the right product reaches the customer at the right time is that of Retail Pharmacy. Argility Pharmacy is a fully integrated retail pharmacy management system. It is a highly flexible and customisable solution that enables you to map and manage your operational process and that of the extended patient management process through insurance claims and payment. Argility Pharmacy gives immediate network access to important information from Head Office and external sources, such as patient records and drug management databases. Standard daily operations such as dispensing operations and medication printing are streamlined, with full transparency for auditing of patient records.This solution is based on open industry standards that let you leverage the systems and initiatives from within the pharmacy industry, while providing a close integration to the retail process.

Argility understands that without the customer there is no profit and no business and their products are therefore focused on ensuring that all processes are customer focused to ensure that at the end of the interaction the customer's demands have been recognized and met and the total experience has been a rewarding and satisfying experience.

Agility, has a unique business model of working solely through Value Added Resellers who have the local knowledge and expertise to deliver exceptional results with a minimum of business disruption. The Argility team are always involved and committed to ensure that the required expert knowledge is on hand and that the retailer gets the best out of their solutions.