Dune, a retailer of affordable luxury footwear and accessories with 42 stores in the UK and Ireland and over 160 concessions in leading department stores, has selected Vodat International, communications solution provider to the retail industry, to implement a new network across the whole of their estate to help improve communication between stores and head office and drive down costs.The Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network is already being installed across the new Dune concessions within Debenhams department stores and will be rolled out to its remaining stores and concessions as part of phase two.
Venn Luscombe-Mahoney, Head of IT at Dune, said, When I joined as Head of IT for The Dune Group it was clear we needed to bring our communications into the 21st century. Processes were slow and we needed to drive down the cost of our entire store communications dramatically. All our tills were individually connected to an ISDN line which was proving not only an expensive way to run the business, but also extremely slow. All Chip & PIN pads at the POS were set up on an individual dial up so each store had between seven to nine lines and our communications bills were sky high.
The new MPLS network will give Dune the opportunity to realise a real-time overview of stock held at all stores. Luscombe-Mahoney added, In the past, if we didnt stock an item in a certain size, we werent able to advise the customer of when that item was due in or whether another store stocked the item. Now we will be able to do so which will result in providing better service to our customers and will improve the overall shopping experience.
Luscombe-Mahoney continued, Having previous experience of working with Vodat and the option to add EFT, VOIP, IPT and other retail specific applications to the out of a box PCI DSS network further down the line, made Vodat the obvious choice for us. The company has proven quality of service and knowledge, and are specialists within the retail environment.
Mike Bielinski, CEO at Vodat International, said, Our network is a much faster and more reliable service which was vital for Dune in order to improve the overall customer experience. This is a good example of how Vodat International continually works with its clients to create more value and improvement in their business systems through the innovative use of technology.
About Dune
The Dune Group is a leading retailer of affordable luxury footwear and accessories. Its brands include Dune, Pied a Terre and Bertie. The Dune Group was formed in March 2009 with the acquisition by Dune of Shoe Studio.
Dune opened its first store in Londons Kings Road in 1993. It has expanded over the years and now has over 40 stores in the UK and Ireland and over 150 concessions in leading department stores. Its stores have wide geographical coverage across the UK in prime locations on High Streets and in Shopping Centres.
Dunes flagship stores are in Covent Garden, London and Buchanan Street, Glasgow. Recent openings have been in Westfield Shopping Centre in White City London and Liverpool One, Liverpool.
The Dune Group offers a wide range of accessories including bags scarves, hats, sunglasses and jewellery. It has also created under the Chelsea Cobbler banner a unique offer of mens footwear which includes both The Dune Groups in house brands and some of the most exciting mens footwear brands in the UK.
www.dune.co.uk
About Vodat International
Vodat International specialises in providing communication solutions to high street retailers. Vodats specialist knowledge and experience in retailing enables it to leverage value from each of its clients networks through the development and application of retail specific products and services. Vodats client base includes an impressive range of high street names placing it as the leading player in its chosen sector and the 8th fastest growing telecommunications company in the UK (source: Plimsoll report 2008)
For information about Vodat International please visit www.vodat-int.com
Add a Comment
No messages on this article yet