Jack Russell - Top Dog For Customer Service
Independent clothing retailer, Jack Russell, celebrated the opening of their second store in June this year.
Located in the picturesque village of Oakland near Rutland, the store sells branded menswear and accessories ranging from polo shirts and rugbies to knitwear and boxers. All design and manufacturing is controlled in-house. Jack Russell pride themselves on their exceptional customer service and the quality of their clothing – "These are PROPER pique shirts not a cheap supermarket imitation or a famous brand rip off," says Andrew Thomas, Managing Director of Jack Russell, "it's just good value for money kit." Much loved by the legendary Will Greenwood, Rugby World Cup Winner 2003 – "the polo shirts are the best I've seen" – Jack Russell clothing is all manufactured in the UK or Europe.
Key to opening the store was considering how to effectively manage back-office operations to ensure Jack Russell continue to deliver excellent service. "We wanted to be able to generate detailed reports on sales transactions in order to build customer relationships and ensure we are delivering exactly what our clients want," says Andrew. In order to automate tasks and allow staff to keep pace with customer demand, Jack Russell worked closely with Microsoft Gold Partner Syscom PLC, www.syscom.plc.uk, to implement Microsoft Dynamics™ Retail Management System RMS in their store. "Microsoft Dynamics RMS not only gives us visibility into consumer trends and buying habits, it also allows us to control and set-up promotions easily within the store. Our simple item coding system means we can automatically print relevant barcode labels when new product lines are launched."
The store will complement Jack Russell's highly successful e-commerce website, www.jackrussellclothing.com, in making their new breed of clothing available directly to the public. "It was essential for effective customer service that the website integrated with Jack Russell's retail system – Microsoft Dynamics RMS," says Andrew Price, Microsoft Consultant of Syscom PLC. Working in partnership with award-winning communications solutions provider MediaMAKER, creators of the website, Syscom developed specialist software to enable Jack Russell to track sales from the shop and the website on one system. "Each time a customer places an order via the website the Microsoft Dynamics RMS database is updated with the order details and client information via Syscom Web Services, minimising data input errors between the two business areas. Jack Russell's stock levels are then updated via the tills system so all website orders can be included in Microsoft Dynamics RMS company-wide reporting of sales. As well as allowing for centralised inventory control, the integration means the website is automatically updated with sales and goods-in regularly to keep the online stock information ‘real-time'."
"It is an old maxim," says Andrew Thomas, "but delivering the right goods to the right customer at the right time and at the right price remains more important than ever. Our website and store systems are an essential element in allowing us to provide the enjoyable, hassle-free shopping experience we pride ourselves on."
SOURCE: Jack Russell