Cybertill Retail Solutions End-to-End Cloud Retail Solutions for Multi-Channel Retailers
Content About Cybertill Cloud in Retail An Omni Channel Age EPoS Ecommerce Additional Sales Channels Promotions and Loyalty Supply Chain Head office Professional Services With Cybertill you re in good company 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12
About Cybertill The concept of Cybertill was first sketched out on a napkin in a pizzeria, by founder and current CEO, Ian Tomlinson, in 2001. It was in recognition that retailers needed to seamlessly manage their stores, catalogues and ecommerce sites. At the time the term used to describe delivering software over an internet connection was Application Service Provider (ASP). This would allow retailers shops, ecommerce sites and mail order operations all to share the same product and customer file from a single database. The idea caught on with retailers as they could see the benefit of reducing their IT spend and having real time data. Large and well known retailers, across a wide array of retail sectors soon invested in the Cybertill system, including Virgin Media, Floors 2 Go, Red 5 Retail and Neal s Yard Remedies. There were even retailers using Cybertill in their stores across Europe and North America. When you fast forward to 2013 there are over 650 retailers using Cybertill in over 4,500 locations with the ecommerce platform hosting over 300 ecommerce websites. The Cybertill platform processes over 1bn in transactions each year and is hosted on Amazon Web Services (AWS) platforms. Cybertill is based on the outskirts of Liverpool and employs over 85 people. Cloud and omni-channel may be common terms now but in 2001 Cybertill was the pioneer of cloud in retail. The future of retail is omni-channel. Successful retailers will need to have a real time, single view of customers, inventory and orders. The channel is for the customer to decide. 1
Cloud in Retail Cloud technology is transforming retail and retail technology. Cloud enables retailers to manage their sales channels seamlessly whilst reducing their costs. Single Stock and Customer Files Cloud allows retailers to have a single product and customer file hosted centrally. This means that retailers can see stock and sales across their estate in real time from any location. So stock can be reserved, transferred whenever and wherever required and at the same time eradicating overnight polling. The same principle applies to customer details, allowing retailers to offer customers a greater continuity of service, as all channels share the same customer record. This single file system of cloud also makes it straightforward for retailers to offer services such as click and collect. A Scalable Utility Software in the cloud can be turned on and off when required. This makes deploying a multi-channel retail system straightforward and scalable. It also means new channels can be brought online and offline as required. So whether it is opening pop up stores in the run up to Christmas, adding a new warehouse facility or bringing a second website online. Reducing Costs Cloud also offers the opportunity for retailers to actually reduce their capital expenditure and lower their total cost of ownership of retail systems. Retailers don t have to feed and water servers, back up data, bring extra storage online, it is all done for them in the cloud. Real Time Anytime and Anywhere Cloud gives retailers real time data, which they can access through any device in any location. This means retailers can be proactive and respond to their ever changing retail environment, making it easier for retailers to get the right product to the right channel at the right time. Cloud retail systems allow instant flexibility. It is like a utility service it can be turned on and off when required 2 Jonathan Elvidge Founder & CEO Red 5 Retail
Technology, and the internet in particular, has empowered the consumer. This in turn has ushered in the age of omni-channel retailing, where the customer is king. Although for many retailers this means managing multiple sales channels with different systems and processes making it harder to meet customers needs as consumers expect a seamless retail experience. They want to buy products at their convenience. This may mean buying online and collecting in-store, or even returning in-store. Therefore every sales channel must recognise the customer, their purchase and have visible real time data across the business. That either means multiple systems talking to each other, where upgrades and system changes threaten the stability of the ecosystem, and retailers continually patch and update old and dated software. Or taking a fresh approach and running a single unified system that takes advantage of the latest technology and requires little management. Cloud technology is enabling retailers to take such an approach to their retail systems. And Cybertill, the pioneers of cloud technology in retail, provides a seamless omni-channel retail system, incorporating EPoS, ecommerce, supply chain and head office applications. Cybertill gives retailers, and their customers, live stock levels across their sales channels. This allows sales staff to make more sales and for consumers to seamlessly shop across all channels. Consumers buy from retail companies not sales channels. So retailers need to offer consistent service seamlessly throughout their business, no matter which channel. Cybertill enables the seamless retail model so businesses can embrace this omni-channel age. 53
EPoS Stores can no longer afford to be isolated from the rest of a retailers estate and other channels, so it is vital the EPoS system can integrate with the rest of the business. Stores need to be able to share and access stock, view orders as well as customer information. What s more head office needs to be able to monitor sales, stock across the estate. Whilst customers should be able to reserve or buy online and collect in their chosen store. Cybertill s EPoS system does all this and much more. Cybertill gives retailers an incredibly function rich tool that they can use and exploit to optimise their sales across their stores. It offers live stock levels, staff time and attendance, instant messaging tool, electronic receipts and so much more. Most importantly, it integrates seamlessly with Cybertill s (and third parties) ecommerce and mail order platforms. Mobile PoS EPoS has transformed the point of sale into a point of service.cybertill allows retailers to take it to the next level with mobile PoS, which is so much more flexible than fixed till points. Mobile PoS can be deployed as a queue busting solution at peak trading times, but it also enables a more personal retail experience, with sales staff able to collect customer details, check inventory and process transactions all as they stand next to the customer. Cybertill s mobile PoS is a proven solution on the high street, and in 2013 Virgin Media, who use our mobile PoS, and Cybertill were shortlisted in EPoS Innovation at the Retail Systems Awards. 4
Ecommerce is constantly evolving and with it so are consumers needs and wants, whether it is click and collect, social media integration, different payment gateways and so on. This means ecommerce sites have to continually change with the consumer. So how do retailers keep pace with this ever changing landscape? Hop from latest platform to latest platform and have their site continually redesigned or stay with an ageing platform? The Cybertill ecommerce platform is constantly evolving and developed to meet the changing demands of today s consumer. It comes with the latest marketing tools and management facilities for retailers to be able manage their ecommerce division whilst integrating it with the rest of the retail business so services such as reserve and collect can be offered. Cybertill also offers an array of ecommerce packages from bespoke build, design and management to a self-build package for those retailers with ecommerce skills in house. Our in house expertise also offers ecommerce and social media consultancy, from search engine optimisation to broadening your sales network to incorporate social media platforms. Mobile Mobile search will soon overtake desktop search. This means mobile sites are a necessity for retailers. Although managing an ecommerce and m-commerce site can be fraught with difficulties. For example it is vital that corresponding pages on your desktop site refer to the same pages on the mobile site, if not Google will penalise the sites and natural rankings can slip. Cybertill is working on delivering responsive websites rather than two separate sites. This makes managing an ecommerce site that much easier and it ensures the user experience is the same no matter if they are on their laptop, tablet or phone. SOAP Link Some retailers prefer to use open source ecommerce platforms, such as Magento. Cybertill is flexible in that it can link in real time to third party ecommerce platforms through a SOAP (API) link. This ensures data and transactions can be passed from one platform to another in real time helping deliver services such as click and collect. 5
Additional Sales Channels Retail is more than just bricks and clicks. There are other sales channels that now need to be managed and integrated with a retail business. Whether that is mail order, personal and direct selling or pop up stores. Mail Order For many multi-channel retailers it is the mail order transaction that can cost as much to process as a bricks and mortar sale because the order has to be routed to a dedicated mail order department. This is quite often off-site, in a call centre or at a head office and usually there is no visibility of actual stock. With Cybertill s Sales Order Processing a mail order transaction can be taken at the till, at a call centre, at the head office or indeed anywhere and all with real-time transparency of stock. Most retail systems cannot integrate all these disparate channels let alone offer a unified CRM system and real time stock and sales visibility. Cybertill has modules for retailers that engage in: Personal Selling (such as organised parties by sales agents) or those that open and run pop up stores Personal Selling Since the economic downturn in 2007 personal selling has become a valued sales channel for many retailers. It enables retailers to offer in-depth demonstrations of their products at organised parties in agents and customers homes. With Cybertill this offers agents real time access to stock levels, allows them to place orders and schedule a wide array of flexible delivery options. Pop Up Stores The phenomenon of pop up stores has exploded in recent times. Retailers are taking advantage of short term leases and empty retail space. Managing pop up stores however can be problematic. With Cybertill it is straight forward. The Cybertill EPoS system is a utility that can be turned on and off as required. So if a retailer wants fixed till points they are as easy to roll out as mobile PoS. Products and stock levels are simply pre-loaded from the central database. And when the store closes it is easy to use Cybertill reporting to check the stores profitability for future mobile ventures. No matter what your sales channel Cybertill can help deliver real time data to enable retailers to optimise their sales throughout their estate. POP UP STORES 6
25% SALE 50% OFF FREE GIFT FREE SHIPPING Buy one get one free Promotions and Loyalty Promotions Managing promotions across a large retail estate yet alone multiple sales channels can be a minefield as often a one size fits all approach is too broad. Retailers need the ability to personalise promotions for different sales channels and stores. Cybertill s promotions module is flexible in that they can be set universally (across all sales channels and locations), regionally (just across some stores) or even individually. This allows retailers to offer relevant promotions across their business to the right audience. The module even allows for promotions to be tailored to a specific customer or customer group to reward the customers in a targeted way. The timing of promotions is also critical. In Cybertill you can plan and set your promotions in advance and set the time they go live. Retailers can also react to market conditions and set live flash promotions with immediate effect. Loyalty Effective retail loyalty programmes are a proven solution to help retailers to increase basket size, repeat shopper frequency and of course bottom line. Cybertill s loyalty programme can be configured as a straightforward points scheme, discount or reward based programme and works across all sales channels in real time. LOYALTY REWARDS With Cybertill we can offer centralised, regional and individual promotions. It s incredibly easy to use and as Cybertill is cloud based we don t have to wait overnight for the shops to download the promotion, they go live immediately. Jason Cook Head of IT Neal s Yard Remedies 7
DEMAND Supply Chain Mastering the supply and demand across retail operations is critical to the success of any retail business. Cybertill s supply chain modules help ensure that the supply is both lean and flexible and can respond to demand across each sales channel, whilst in the longer term help predict and forecast more accurately for the business. The Cybertill supply chain modules are: merchandising, warehousing and loss prevention, and these should be available from Q3, 2014. SUPPLY FORECASTING Merchandising Understanding demand across a retail business is critical, but for many matching that demand from the supply chain can be incredibly labour intensive and at times prone to error. With Cybertill s merchandising module replenishment becomes an exact science. It helps manage every aspect of fulfilment from advanced store replenishment and stock allocation to purchase order approval and trial analysis. The merchandising module will intelligently help retailers increase their sell through rates by getting the right stock to the right channel and location, at the same time streamlining stock levels. It will continue to analyse sales, in real time, to ensure forecasts are based on the latest results so suggested orders and re-orders reflect consumer demand and not outdated projections. What s more the orders intelligently highlight expected settlement discounts from suppliers so retailers can account for cash flow and expected returns. REPLENISHMENT Cybertill s merchandising end-to-end module includes functionality that automates much of the supply chain processes. It also allows retailers to capture and feed in market information, such trial management and quality assurance data to competition pricing. Capturing external and internal elements, in real time, help ensure the forecasting and replenishment tools deliver a lean and highly accurate supply chain. 8
Warehousing All aspects of the supply chain need to be as lean as possible, and critical to this is warehousing. There is much more than just holding the right stock levels, it needs to be efficiently managed so all resources are optimised. Whether that is racking, bin locations, picking stock through to despatch planning and vehicle capacity. When setting up the warehouse module retailers can allocate zones, aisles, sections, levels and bins. And each bin is allocated a type, its dimensions and weight capacity, as well as many other variables. This all helps the retailer structure their warehousing as efficiently as possible. And both goods in and out are also effectively managed, for example inbound planning takes into account how many goods inward points there are within the warehouse(s) so deliveries can be scheduled accordingly. The warehouse facility then ensures that when goods are picked they are assembled and packed in the correct order, streamlining the delivery process to the stores. At peak trading times it is vital that warehouses are efficiently managed so retailers can optimise the flow of stock in and out. Central to this is the picking. Cybertill allocates pick notes and routes to pickers, so goods are picked and scanned in the most efficient order so retailers can maximise shipments to both stores and direct drops to customers. Loss Prevention In 2012 UK retailers experienced over 5bn in lost stock alone. As these figures suggest, fraud will be adversely affecting many retailers bottom lines. It also illustrates how important it is that retailers have an understanding of what fraud and shrinkage goes on within their business, so they can begin to combat it. Cybertill can offer retailers a loss prevention module that helps retailers take control of shrinkage and employee fraud. There are a multitude of automated and self-defined reports that retailers are able to personalise and set. This enables them to monitor their stores performance as well as all individual staff. Cybertill intelligently informs retailers about suspicious transactions as well as behaviour. It can also feed till transaction data through to separate CCTV systems. Retailers are able to view the till audit roll data on the CCTV monitor helping pinpoint and successfully prosecute fraud. Warehousing also works in tandem with ordering and merchandising, so at any one time inbound planning can allocate orders to specific warehouses, whilst also calculating available space at each warehouse on specific dates. 9
Head Office Large retail organisations often have numerous offices and locations as well as hundreds of stores. The challenge for many is ensuring all departments have access to the information they need. Whether it s the retail director checking the stores performances, or accounts running stock reports the data needs to be both accurate and available quickly so informed decisions can be made. As Cybertill is cloud based, retail staff can access it from any location and see real time reports. All functionality is available dependent on the user s clearance rather than the location. Cybertill offers retailers hundreds of reports and facilities from stock control, purchase order processing, sales analysis, product management and from best-selling lines to most profitable products to conversion rate to sales audit trail. There are literally hundreds to choose from. As every retailer is unique and has its own idiosyncrasies Cybertill can create custom reports through the Crystal reporting programme. This allows retailers to slice and dice their data as they wish. Big Data Cybertill offers retailers an Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) facility. This is when their live database is mirrored on a separate server, allowing retailers to run almost live data (there is a 30 milli-second delay) separately away from their own platform. This enables retailers to mine big data and run large reports from across their estate without impacting upon the software s performance. With Cybertill the reporting is live as well as simple to understand. So you know how each store is doing. You can monitor and oversee sales, stock, costs, margins so you get a real handle on how the business is doing. Daniel Buck Founder and CEO Daniel Footwear 10
Professional Services Cybertill provides an array of wrap around services for retailers that help them avoid any disruption to their business when deploying a Cybertill software solution. Project Management Expertise Deploying any element of a retail solution, let alone an end-to-end system can be a disruptive experience. It requires precision management as there so many factors to take account of, including: Planning initial infrastructure upgrades; organising the training; integrating software; pre-launch testing; corrective action plans; liaising with and managing multiple suppliers. All this represents an onerous task, especially for those retailers who rarely undertake such a project. That s why Cybertill has a dedicated project management team. They have project managed hundreds of roll outs from smaller scale projects to ones for retailers with over 500 stores. Their experience ensures that every aspect of the project is considered and planned for so retailers can focus on the task in hand of managing their business and not their technology. Business Analysts Cybertill provide business analysts that work with retailers matching their processes to the Cybertill system, whilst also offering advice on how processes can be streamlined. Cybertill s analyst team have extensive retail knowledge, as well as experience of working in retail, so they have a detailed understanding of retail operations and best practice. Training Different retailers take different approaches on how they train and educate their workforce. Therefore Cybertill offers a variety of training formats from direct training to class room training to train the trainer programmes. And all this is supported by an array of multimedia learning tools, such as online video tutorials. Support Cybertill offers an extensive support service, from phone support that is available 365 days of the year to online support services, to ensure that customers get their queries resolved quickly and efficiently. Software Development Cybertill has a wide and varied resource of in-house software development. This ensures Cybertill can meet any additional bespoke software development that is required, from applications to integrations to additional bespoke functionality. 11
With Cybertill you re in good company Cybertill is used by over 650 retailers, many of them high street chains. Cybertill helps them manage their retail business seamlessly. The Cybertill platform processes over 1bn in transactions each year and supports over 4,500 locations and 300 websites. With Cybertill you are in good company. Cockerillshoes 12
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www.cybertill.co.uk 0800 030 4459 enquiries@cybertill.co.uk @cybertillretail Cybertill Limited No 2 Dovecote Court, Stanley Grange, Ormskirk Road Knowsley L34 4AR