Bringing the omnichannel experience to life in the bricks and mortar store requires customer engagement points across the buying journey. Kiosks and tablet based applications provide that instant information that today’s customers expect and clever placement ensures the greatest potential interaction whilst the customer browses the sales space.
But it is still at the traditional point of sale where many enquiries are made and the potential exists for generating supplementary revenue streams, through spontaneous purchases and potential add-ons to those already in the shopper’s basket.
Digitising the customer experience
This was very much the case at JYSK Nordic, part of Denmark’s largest international retailer JYSK GROUP, which is currently celebrating the opening of its 2,500th store. A major supplier of homeware goods, JYSK Nordic rolled out an application based around Toshiba TCxWave kiosk terminals that were installed across the stores. These provided information on its product line and a comprehensive online catalogue, which offered an extra 20% of items on top of those products stocked in-store.
At the point of sale, however, Toshiba SurePOS touchscreen monitors were installed and they already provided a stable platform as an integral part of the point of sale and, the decision was taken to not replace these. The online catalogue was duly added as a feature to the SurePOS 500 terminal to provide that final customer engagement point.
However, it became clear very quickly that using the SurePOS 500 as both a point of sale and an information and ordering point for online purchases wasn’t practical. To work in this new combined role, the monitor had to be turned to show the customer the screen and this resulted in cables being disconnected, transactions being disrupted and the terminal needing a re-boot. The result did not enhance the customer experience, the situation didn’t look professional, was difficult for the staff to handle and had the potential to lead to a scenario, which began to take away from the in-store experience.
Calling in the experts
It was at this stage that the local Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions (TGCS) team suggested that JYSK Nordic contact Ergonomic Solutions to find a solution to the problem. TGCS and Ergonomic Solutions have been global partners for many years working on numerous successful roll outs, and JYSK Nordic had no hesitation in agreeing to this suggestion, although they were not Ergonomic Solutions customers at this time.
With over 20 years of experience of the practicalities of enabling hardware at the point of sale, Ergonomic Solutions, through its Technical Sales Support department, quickly developed a solution that utilised a modified version the SurePOS 500 turntable. This revision enabled the POS terminal to be firmly fixed to the turntable, which was secured to the counter top. This new mounting solution allowed for better cable management that would enable the monitor to be turned through 180 degrees without any of the earlier issues that had been experienced.
Pilot and roll-out
The solution was placed into a pilot installation, and after a three months trial that proved highly successful, JYSK Nordic placed an order for 3,000 of the new solutions. With such a large roll out, and one scheduled to take only three months, the solution needed to be intuitive enough for the stores to install the solution themselves. Fortunately, it was simplicity itself, as Rass Skov, Head of Retail Operations for JYSK’s northern region, confirmed. “Implementation of the POS turntable in all of our stores across 20 countries has been fairly hassle free, and its introduction has immediately brought value to our staff. The turntable solution has allowed us to link the online and physical store world and give a better shopping experience for our customers.”
Pilot and roll-out
The solution was placed into a pilot installation, and after a three months trial that proved highly successful, JYSK Nordic placed an order for 3,000 of the new solutions. With such a large roll out, and one scheduled to take only three months, the solution needed to be intuitive enough for the stores to install the solution themselves. Fortunately, it was simplicity itself, as Rass Skov, Head of Retail Operations for JYSK’s northern region, confirmed. “Implementation of the POS turntable in all of our stores across 20 countries has been fairly hassle free, and its introduction has immediately brought value to our staff. The turntable solution has allowed us to link the online and physical store world and give a better shopping experience for our customers.”
In a world where retail has to seamlessly provide a multichannel experience that allows for the customer to buy in a way that suits them, providing a digital experience in-store is a vital component of that customer journey. Therefore, ensuring that existing hardware is enabled to do just that is key. Ergonomic Solutions has provided that expertise to ensure that JYSK Nordic can continue its expansion across borders and shopping channels.
