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White Stuff settles on secure EPOS network
Real-time info gives competitive advantage

By Julian Goldsmith

Published: Wednesday 02 April 2008

Clothing retailer White Stuff is due to complete the rollout of a secure store communications network, which will save the company about 70 per cent in cost of ownership.

The level of investment for the project is in the five-figure region and has taken around two years to reach fruition, prompted by moving the distribution centre from the retailer's HQ in Clapham, London to Leicester.

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The network supplied by Vodat and run by Thus, allows the store network to send and receive real-time point of sale and store performance data. According to White Stuff head of IT Venn Luscombe-Mahoney, 75 per cent of the store's 55 stores are using the network, with the remainder to go online by June this year.

The network replaces in part the retailer's existing system provided by Prologic, which was originally brought in to handle Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) data, one of the components needed to receive Chip and PIN payments.

The Vodat system conforms to the Payments Card Industry secure data standard and this, Luscombe-Mahoney told silicon.com, was a factor in the acquisition decision.

The Prologic system, based around its Unify product was basic and unable to support White Stuff in a number of other projects, but the Unify system will be retained by White Stuff for EFT communications from its head office.

Luscombe-Mahoney said: "We're looking at how the network can give us competitive advantage, and business intelligence is paramount to that. The real-time information that store managers should be able to get over the network about conversion rates and best selling items will help them manage sales activities much more effectively."

White Stuff is currently testing the effectiveness of a footfall system based on thermal imaging rather than the conventional break-the-beam method commonly used by many retailers. Luscombe-Mahoney explained that the new footfall system can give a much more accurate report of numbers entering the store and can in theory be used to track their movements within it.

Other potential uses include distributing music electronically, rather than on CDs through the post, or even piping it through from a central server to each store.

White Stuff is also looking at using the system to distribute display plans to visual merchandisers within stores, so that White Stuff stores have a coherent look throughout the estate.

Luscombe-Mahoney said: "Ultimately, the network stops the division between head office and the stores. Announcements and resources are available to store staff as well as head-office staff."