Company Background

Anthony Preston, Chairman & Chief Executive, developed the concept of the superstore retailing for the pet industry in 1991 with the launch of Pets at Home. Pet products and services continue to be a growing market, with over half of all British households owning a pet.

The market leader, Pets at Home is one of the fastest growing companies in the UK with a turnover growing at a rate of 40% per annum. The UK stores of US giant PetsMart were acquired by Pets at Home in 1999, since when all old PetsMart fascias and style have been phased out.

Now one of the top 100 retailers in the UK, Pets at Home has extended its services beyond the traditional high street pet shop, to include grooming and veterinary services. The range of pets includes exotic birds, tropical fish and more unusual small animals such as chipmunks and chinchillas.

Assessment

The Company's Head Office is based in Handforth, Cheshire, which also incorporates one of two distribution depots. With a total of 144 stores and still growing, the need for a PC based EPoS system to replace the old "semi-intelligent" till system was evident. Stores acquired from PetsMart had equipment that needed to be replaced to ensure that the whole Pets at Home chain was standardised.

Communications between stores were by phone and fax/modem and it was felt that e mail and on-line communication using the Internet would be a part of the overall solution.

For supply and installation of the necessary hardware, Cunninghams Cash Registers were awarded the contract.

Solution

It was agreed that, initially 450 DigiPoS base units and keyboards with a mixture of Epson TM 950 and TMU6000s were to be supplied. The second phase, upgrading the acquired kit, requires a further 300 units.

The majority of stores have three or four points of sales, an EFT (Electronic File Transfer) server and a back office PC. A flagship store has six points of sale with a dedicated EFT server and back office PC.

The EPoS software chosen for both the head office, store back office and the point of sale is designed and written by Bleep 2000 computers. The PoS for Windows offers a fast and flexible tilling solution and retail control package linked to back office, for communications and updates.

All stores communicate with head office via a router with web based communication for speed and reliability, using ISDN lines for EFT and head office communications.

A major change, upon store refurbishment, was to move away from checkout lanes to island units housing four or even six tills. One of the basic practical selection criteria was the compact nature of the DigiPoS unit, which is discreet and virtually hidden from view.

Implementation

Careful planning ahead was crucial to the success of the project. The rollout began in January 2001 with the brief to complete the project by the end of August. It was completed ahead of schedule by mid-August, with, at one point, five stores per week being converted. Implementation was carried out smoothly with a minimum of disruption and training on the new system taking place using training kit set up in advance in the storeÕs office.

Business Benefits

Automatic stock control is achieved both at the store and distribution centre level by the latest EPoS technology. Customers and turnover continue to increase at all locations, through constant innovation and development of the new retail concepts.

"More efficient methods were needed and improved communications represent the biggest overall benefit of the new systems now in place. We found the DigiPoS equipment selected on our behalf by Cunninghams Cash Registers to be very good value for money," said Nigel Freelove, head of IT for Pets at Home. With all stock details held on a secure, central database, all stores are connected remotely via the Internet, which saves a great deal of time and money previously spent on phone calls to 145 sites.

As the market leader, efficiencies that underpin high levels of customer service at the Pets at Home stores help to sustain that position.

As a part of the Pets at Home strategy for constantly seeking to improve efficiencies, the new technology now in place can easily adapt to needs of the future. For example, new credit card software is currently being implemented.

The Role of the Reseller

Cunninghams are celebrating their 27th year of supplying and servicing cash registers and EpoS products. For the last 23 years a nationwide service has been offered and has resulted in many service contracts and rollouts being gained. The Pets at Home rollout is the largest single project undertaken in the time scale given.

The success of this project was down to the commitment of all Cunninghams staff, who always respond to any challenge with a positive approach and the desire for more success which gives our customers satisfaction and confidence.

The directors of Cunninghams instil the need to always exceed expectations wherever possible, from the smallest task to major rollouts. Ongoing service and support is always given top priority.

In January 2002 Cunninghams are moving premises after 18 years in Moseley, Birmingham to new purpose built units at Headley Technology Park, Wythall, on the outskirts of Birmingham. This will provide Cunninghams with facilities second to none and allow for the further expansion planned over the coming years.

Said Lawrence Bailey, managing director of Cunninghams, "For Cunninghams to supply and support one of the top UK retailers with a roll-out of this size shows our commitment to establish our company as a major force in EPoS reselling and support. Further rollouts are planned for 2002 and 2003. The success of this rollout reflects the hard work carried out by the IT teams from both Pets at Home and Cunninghams. Both teams exceeded expectations."