Company News • 09.01.2013
X2 launches software suite to improve home shopping operations
X2 Computing, a leading supplier of mobile computing solutions to the retail and order fulfilment market sectors, has announced the immediate availability of the Tlantic Mobile Retail Suite (MRS), an innovative software solution that automates, and streamlines, the entire supply chain.
Developed by Tlantic, one of Europe’s foremost developers of software for the retail sector, it will enable retailers to significantly increase efficiency and productivity by empowering staff to deliver a higher level of service to customers using tablets, smartphones and handheld computer devices.
Faster and more accurate fulfillment of customer orders
According to Francis Davis, Sales and Marketing Director of X2 Computing: “The Tlantic Mobile Retail Suite has been developed over a five-year period and has already helped Portugal’s leading home shopping operation to deliver faster and more accurate fulfillment of customer orders and achieve a rapid return on investment. Other applications within the suite are also being used, having been customised to meet the individual requirements of many other European stores, to create a unique competitive advantage and differentiate their back and front of house services against other retailers.”
Easy integration with management systems
In store, Tlantic’s MRS integrates with workforce management systems and provides central visibility and control with instant access to real-time information on tasks, sales, stock levels, stock-outs and more. It empowers staff to make more informed decisions that directly impact on efficiency and productivity, wherever they are located and focus on exceptions, what really needs to be done immediately. The duplication of effort required by paper-based processes is eliminated with automatic alerts if tasks are not completed. The software provides fast, intuitive assistance at the point of need to assist with cross and up selling opportunities, stock transfers for reserve and collect as well as marking down and printing labels for products that are approaching their expiration dates.
Product picking for multiple orders speeds up the process
In the home shopping fulfillment environment, a mobile-picking application optimises and automates the planning process. To determine the order in which products are picked, it uses store planograms and pre-established criteria including zones for ambient, fresh, frozen or chilled food, storage times, weight and delivery slots, etc. Uniquely, within the software, every product is accompanied by a picture which makes it quicker and easier to identify the correct item and reduce the incidence of picking errors. Products are scanned as they are picked and, when not immediately available, recommended substitutes are automatically presented in the event of stock outs. The software also allows staff to undertake product picking for multiple orders in different parts of the store for subsequent consolidation prior to delivery to the customer, further speeding up the process.
Mobile App further automates the processes
A complementary logistics module can be used as a stand-alone solution as well as with mobile picking or other third party picking software. It offers comprehensive asset management functionality enabling orders to be tracked at every stage of the supply chain so retailers can, amongst other things, keep customers informed of anticipated delivery times. The Tlantic MRS Route Management app automates processes such as route planning and monitoring, driver logs and delivery events with electronic capture of customer signatures for proof of delivery. Should substitute products for stock out items be rejected, they are scanned on the doorstep and customer accounts are automatically updated and credited if required. Rejected products are also automatically reallocated back into stock to increase available stock levels for subsequent orders.
Seamless workflow is provided
“All Tlantic MRS applications work seamlessly together to enhance operational planning and deliver greater efficiency gains than can be achieved with traditional standalone solutions,” continued Francis Davis. “It allows retailers of every size to automate their front and back of house, whether they want to include home shopping now or in the future, and compete on more even terms with their competitors.“
Cloud- or premise-based solution
Tlantic’s Mobile Retail Suite provides a reliable resilient platform that integrates with legacy systems and offers high levels of security, monitoring and central management of applications deployed across multiple device types and operating systems. Back-end processing is designed to run on all Microsoft platforms and it has a service-oriented architecture to integrate with all commonly used e-commerce, ERP and POS platforms. It is scalable from single site locations through to the largest multi-site, multi-brand and multi-currency operations and can be deployed as a cloud, or premise-based solution.
