Carphone`s staff support tool given the thumbs-up

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Carphone’s staff support
tool given the thumbs-up
By Joanna Perry
C ar phone Warehous e has
declared the roll-out of an application to support its branch
managers a success.
The web-based execution
management system from Red
Prairie allows the retailer’s head
office to communicate with store
managers about tasks they need
to complete. It also lets the store
managers report on what they
have achieved.
The system went live in September 2008, but its use will
become more formalised this
year. Carphone Warehouse business operations director Ashley
Cook told Retail Week that the
retailer has plans to channel all
tasks that aren’t part of managers’ daily routines through the
system so it has full visibility of
their workloads.
He explained that store man-
agers would be told they are not
required to complete tasks that
are communicated to them in
other ways.
In addition, head office staff
who create tasks for stores
through the system can also see
when they have been completed.
The retailer has branded the
system as Customer First Companion in order to complement
its Customer First branch manager training programme.
Cook said that the system’s
deployment is part of a much
bigger strategic programme the
company is running to enable it
to do more for less in its stores.
Carphone has been pleased
with the response the system has had from its stores.
230 branches gave voluntary
feedback on Customer First
Companion, with 93 per cent of
the feedback positive and 65 per
cent very positive.
Carphone invites shopper feedback
Carphone Warehouse is the latest retailer to work with
Fizzback to assess the experience it provides to customers.
Fizzback’s technology allows consumers to make contact
with a retailer and provide any feedback they like. The system
analyses the content for meaning and can be used to
communicate with the retailer as well as providing real-time
reporting capabilities.
Carphone Warehouse says that ensuring shoppers are
satisfied with in-store service is critical to keep customers
coming back and recommending the company to their friends
and family. It says that this cycle of customer loyalty and
advocacy is core to the company’s growth strategy.
The platform is already used by Carphone Warehouse’s
competitor Phones 4U and is also being trialled by Tesco.
Change: the grocer has adopted a flexible approach to the project’s implementation
implementation process will
begin in the first quarter with
some financial modules of the
Oracle applications. By the end of
the year the grocer hopes to have
at least completed a pilot of the
Retalix EPoS system and begun
work on other finance modules,
In brief
Ukash voucher sales rocket
Payment provider Ukash has
reported sales of its online
prepaid vouchers rose 140 per
cent in the past 12 months.
It says that it expects this
growth to continue in 2009 as
consumers try to rein in credit
card spending.
Twenga’s iPhone add-on
Morrisons ploughs on with IT transformation
Morrisons will push ahead with
its business and IT transformation programme in 2009, having
signed Wipro Retail to assist it
with its plans.
The grocer first announced a
£110 million IT investment in
2007 and confirmed in early 2008
that it would implement Oracle
systems across its business in a
project that would take five years.
Morrisons programme director Phil Goodwin told Retail
Week: “We have spent the lion’s
share of 2008 planning and mobilising the teams. Now we have an
implementation roadmap that’s
been signed off by the board. We
are as confident as we can be that
it will allow us to be successful
and manage risk to the business.”
Goodwin explained that the
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January 9, 2009
including one to support notfor-resale procurement.
Morrisons is keen to minimis e t he r isks ass o ci ate d
with such a large project and
chose Wipro Retail as it was
impressed with the work it
completed during the project
planning and scoping phase.
Goodwin added that another
key factor was the flexible
approach Wipro Retail took to
the project and its understanding
that plans might change before
the project is completed. “The
plan we are working to in three to
five years’ time won’t be the plan
that we have now,” he said.
In addition to the 100 or so
staff from Wipro Retail involved
with the project, Goodwin said
Morrisons has directly hired
extra staff to help manage change
in the business.
Goodwin said that in some
ways the technology aspect of
the project will be the easier
part, with the organisational
change, training and staff buyin harder to achieve.
Shopping search engine
Twenga has launched an
iPhone application to help
shoppers find and compare
prices, technical specifications
and consumer reviews while
on the move. The application
has been launched for
consumers in the UK, France,
Germany, Spain, Italy and the
Netherlands and allows them
to compare products sold by
1,300 online retailers.
BrightHouse picks IT chief
BrightHouse has promoted
Simon Mouncer to head of
business change and IT. He
will be responsible for the high
degree of business change
the retailer is undergoing and
oversee major changes to
the IT systems. Mouncer was
previously head of commercial
finance at BrightHouse and
prior to this he worked for
Marks & Spencer.
Metro extends data project
Metro Group has extended its
use of data synchronisation
with a project in Russia working with Kraft Foods, Nestlé
Group and Proctor & Gamble.
The manufacturers are
receiving real-time inventory
data updates, which they say
improves the efficiency
of their supply chains and
allows them to maximise
on-shelf availability.
Web strategy:
page 22
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