Feature Story: Increase Your Payment Processing Potential

By Erin Harris, Integrated Solutions For Retailers magazine

No matter how your business is weathering the recession, your IT department needs all the muscle it can muster in 2010. And, so it goes with Family Dollar. While the cash-and-carry discount retailer increased comparable store sales by 7%, its IT department has a strenuous workload that involves nearly 7,000 stores. Indeed, Family Dollar needed to upgrade its POS technologies (i.e. software, peripherals, etc.) in use throughout its chain, as additional functionality was critical to expand customers' payment options and accommodate federal food assistance programs. But, that's just the beginning. Family Dollar opens approximately 200 stores a year, all of which need POS systems and payment processing capabilities. And, the retailer maintains a standard technology refresh cycle program involving more than 1,000 stores a year. Such frequent activity puts a great deal of strain on the IT department, which Family Dollar wanted to alleviate. Therefore, Joshua Jewett, CIO at Family Dollar, opted for an outsourced team to tackle both the initial POS rollout and the ongoing technology refresh cycles.