Lakeland selects Episys for improved in-store signage

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Lakeland selects Episys for improved in-store signage.

Lakeland, the kitchen and homeware retailer, with 44 stores in the UK, is implementing Retail Enterprise Suite from global information technology solutions and services company, Episys, to improve its instore signage across the whole estate.

This will also include the first Lakeland store opening in the Middle East, with its franchise partner Jawad. The system will manage in-store promotions more effectively by saving time and money used to create signs, while delivering a more consistent message throughout store.

Gary Marshall, Operations Director at Lakeland, said, Our previous system version had become obsolete so we decided to take the opportunity to evaluate the signage solution market. We were recommended to talk to Episys who conducted a Retail Efficiency Survey which looked at our head office and in-store signage process and then fed back the results. Episys then put forward their findings which proved to be an invaluable exercise as the recommendations shaped our requirements to include a range of mobile applications.

Marshall continued, As well as implementing Retail Enterprise Suite throughout our UK stores we are due to open up a store in the Middle East in April in conjunction with our new franchise partner, Jawad which will be part of the second phase of Dubai's Mirdif shopping centre. We wanted to create the same look and feel in the Dubai store to that of our UK stores and carry the same brand proposition which includes store signage and labelling.

Peter Lewis, Marketing Director at Episys, said, This is an exciting project for us, as not only will we be assisting the UK Lakeland stores with their signage needs but we will also be implementing our system to its new venture in Dubai.

Lewis continued, From an operating perspective, Jawad requires the flexibility to manage pricing at a local level.  In addition, it also wants to control the type of promotions that will be run in store and therefore requires the ability at a local level to select the appropriate sign template. Combining the above with the need to implement a system swiftly with minimal integration, Immediate Impact is the best fit to these requirements and will be implemented alongside the main Lakeland system.

The Episys system, which is due to be implemented in the next few weeks will provide the retailer with a platform for future technology with the ability to link mobile printers and potentially even in-store kiosks that Lakeland are currently trialing.