Footwear and luxury leather goods retailer Russell & Bromley has completed implementation of a web-enabled EPOS system to 42 stores across the UK. Retail-J's Estate Manager, Store Back Office and Point of Service software was rolled out in just 2 months and has already delivered new efficiencies to the business.

Sue Graham, IT Director of Russell & Bromley, explains the reason for their decision; "Reliability, online data communications and the potential to accommodate future initiatives were essential criteria for the new store system".

"Retail-J, while already proven, is still a young product at the beginning of its life cycle. Because it is based on the latest technology, it gives us the platform we need to support new initiatives in the future."

Quality of service is critical for a retailer that sees a large proportion of its revenue from repeat business. Using the point of service based customer ordering and accounts system, Russell & Bromley store staff can now perform online stock enquiries into Head Office, take customer orders and place inventory requests with nearby stores - while the customer is waiting.

Retail-J's Estate Manager manages data communications throughout the estate and gives Russell & Bromley a central consolidated repository of all trading information which is updated every 2 hours. It also gives managers the ability to make changes to the system in near real-time, such as product and price file updates. "Now we can watch trading and respond by replenishing stock the following day," continues Graham.

Retail-J has been integrated with Russell & Bromley's SAP Head Office system. The company plan to implement more Retail-J core functionality in later phases of the project.

"The transition to Retail-J, both at Head Office and in the stores, has been surprisingly smooth and feedback from our 700 employees is very positive," concludes Graham.

About Russell & Bromley
Russell & Bromley was founded in 1880 by George Frederick Bromley and his wife Elizabeth Russell in Eastbourne. Initially a small shoemaker Russell & Bromley quickly grew into a successful family business with numerous branches in South East England. Today the company has 42 shops selling an incredible array of major fashion brands in the footwear and accessories industry.

About Retail-J
Retail-J was formed in 2000 by a team of leading retail systems architects to develop a modern, integrated and network-centric suite of in-store and central applications for medium and large-size retailers. Using the Java 2 Enterprise Edition open platform and standards, the Retail-J system offers true on-line retailing, greater functionality and resilience, giving retailers lower cost of ownership, flexibility and choice. Retail-J software is distributed in the UK, Europe and North America through a network of specialised dealers. For more information about Retail-J, readers can visit the company’s web site at www.Retail-J.com.

Interviews, photography and further information are available from Tony Hammond.

Retail-J
Tel: 01992 538074
tony.hammond@Retail-J.com

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