Outsourcing EPOS support provides american golf with a solution that improves in-store efficiency

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Outsourcing EPOS support provides american golf with a solution that improves in-store efficiency.

american golf is Europe's number one golf retailer.  With 91 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, excellent customer service and employee productivity are amongst american golf's top priorities. american golf partners with Esteem Managed Services to remove the headache of day to day EPOS system management, increasing employee productivity, reducing downtime and maximising revenue intake.     

EPOS Systems critical to american golf trading

On average, american golf stores in the UK process 2800 transactions per day, worth over 400,000.  Slow or faulty EPOS equipment can result in large customer queues, dissatisfied consumers and ultimately, a loss of business.  The speed and functionality of their EPOS systems is therefore critical to the success of the business.    

With an in-house IT Support department of only four employees, all based just outside of Warrington, dispatching staff to locations across the UK to undertake maintenance and installations of EPOS systems would be costly and time consuming, impacting on the IT team's core function of supporting and developing the internal IT systems.

Head of IT for american golf, Phil Barker, said: "75 out of our 91 stores in the UK only have one EPOS System, if this goes down the simple fact is we struggle to provide a satisfactory service to our customers."

american golf recognised the need for dedicated EPOS support to eradicate these issues, but with stores distributed across the country and services required on an ad-hoc basis, it was logistically and financially impractical to directly employ an in-house EPOS support team.

Locally based EPOS support speeds up fix times and provides flexibility

american golf partnered with specialist EPOS support provider, Esteem Managed Services, for maintenance of their EPOS systems and Back Office computer systems.

Esteem were american golf's chosen provider based on their vast experience of supporting retail organisations and their ability to commit to extended hours of support, providing flexibility and resulting in quicker fix times.

Esteem's service replicates american golf's store opening hours, seven days a week, and with geographical coverage across the UK, an engineer is never further than one hour away from any american golf store.

Phil stated: "The most important thing to us is to get someone to site within the time frame of the SLA (Service Level Agreement) and get us up and running ASAP.  Esteem fulfils this request, which is why they are essential to keeping our stores trading."

The services provided by Esteem enable the american golf IT team to concentrate on their primary job functions, thus increasing employee productivity. There is also no need to directly employ a field based support team, achieving cost savings on salaries and employee expenses.

Esteem is also able to provide EPOS loan equipment and new stock where necessary, removing the need for american golf to house and manage spare parts.   

After a fault is logged with Esteem's experienced Service Desk, it is assessed to establish whether the problem can be fixed on-site.  This first line diagnosis prepares the engineer and means that appropriate spares or loan equipment are taken to site on the first visit, ensuring the store is operational ASAP.

Third party liaison removes technical head-ache for american golf

The added advantage for american golf of outsourcing their EPOS maintenance is that Esteem liaises directly with their EPOS hardware providers.

american golf's brand of EPOS hardware provider is DigiPos, a company that has a long standing relationship with Esteem Managed Services.  Esteem works closely with DigiPos to manage relevant spare parts and jointly identify and resolve problems, ensuring a complete system/data restore.

This approach by Esteem leaves american golf free to concentrate on their customers, instead of being left with hardware providers trying to diagnose and resolve technical problems.

Responsive partnership

american golf and Esteem Managed Services have built a trusting and reliable relationship. For any additional ad hoc IT services american golf require, they know they can turn to Esteem to do the job efficiently and proactively. For instance, when the time came for american golf to switch Broadband provider, Esteem were on hand to change the routers throughout all of the UK stores.

The services provided by Esteem not only represent a cost saving for american golf but they are also a key driver for increasing customer satisfaction and employee productivity.

Alastair Kitching, Sales and Marketing Director for Esteem, said: "Our EPOS support service provides american golf with a solution which makes economical and logistical sense. We work with many companies in the retail sector and understand the importance of excellent customer service. Our specialist EPOS engineers' primary focus is to ensure stores are operational ASAP, limiting any inconvenience for customers at point of sale, consequently increasing american golf's revenue intake."