Swan Retail News

Swan launches web based Mobile Applications

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Swan has recently launched the first batch of web based mobile applications. Running directly on Swan, but accessed through a browser on any capable device (iPhone, Blackberry, PDA or ruggedised Warehouse hand held unit) this development allows the applications to be run wherever the user is situated without the need to download anything to the mobile device and subsequently upload to the database. The first lot of applications include stock check, price check, re-order, goods receipt, transfer creation, picking and despatch.

For more information please contact Swan on 01823 669122 or mail dave@swanretail.co.uk

Swan Loyalty now available

Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Comprehensive Loyalty functionality has been added to Swan in recent months and is now being rolled out in the first "live" installation. We are able to designate any customer account as being a loyalty account (even utilising existing Option Account numbers) and then we can capture this account number at any stage within a PoS transaction. Points awards can be varied by product and by time period, thus providing a great deal of promotional opportunity (eg double points evenings, treble points in a particular department, etc). Points are redeemed through the production of Vouchers, which can be produced for any denomination and at any time.

For more information please contact Swan on 01823 669122 or mail dave@swanretail.co.uk

A real boost for Budgeting

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:00:00 GMT

With many independent stores still making do with DOS-based systems for their budgeting, Swan has now introduced a much more efficient and responsive alternative – with a specially developed module that enables seasonal budgets to be maintained for Sales, Purchases, Markdowns and Adjustments, as well as both Opening and Closing Stock.

Budgets can be set with previous years’ figures capable of being incorporated with the application of a growth factor and then manipulated. Stock turn targets can then be used to adjust the spread.

Performance reports can be generated throughout the season, allowing users to manage their activities more effectively and quickly adjust budgets in accordance with the latest available information. These reports can also be used to monitor the Open to Buy position at any time, allowing much faster reaction times so that budgets can be revised accordingly.

Although the first release of the budgeting module features bottom-up entry, extensions are already being developed to allow top-down entry and further targets for the reporting and manipulation of the data.

For more information please contact Swan on 01823 669122 or mail dave@swanretail.co.uk

Swan offers seamless integration with Ticketwriter

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 GMT

For any independent retailer wanting to improve the impact, quality and cost-effectiveness of their display tickets, the integration of Swan Retail and Ticketwriter offers the optimum solution.

Product information, prices and images are all held on the Swan database, with direct import to Ticketwriter for simple creation of menu-style lists with a variety of ticket layouts and designs.

Time-consuming data administration is drastically reduced, re-keying errors are virtually eliminated, while product information and pricing becomes totally consistent throughout the sales process.

Jim Stovold, Managing Director of Laser Ticketing says "Both Ticketwriter XP and XP Prelude Plus systems are widely used to generate superior POS ticketing, and the Swan Retail software provides an excellent ticketing export which works seamlessly with both Ticketwriter products to generate tickets with instant price updating, using Ticketwriter’s latest Excel Import routine."

In short, the seamless integration of two of the best applications in their fields – giving retailers a supremely easy to use system to manage in-store operations, display, promotions and customer service.

For more information please contact Swan on 01823 669122 or mail dave@swanretail.co.uk

Excellent Customer Service provides Competetive Advantage

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 00:00:00 GMT

Customer Service is a key to successful retailing today, especially for the smaller retailer when competing with the high street multiples. It can often have a big impact on both profitability and customer loyalty if any issues are tackled promptly and the retailer can be pro active in their dealings with customer issues rather than waiting to be chased by a disgruntled customer.

The Swan Retail solution now includes an updated and fully integrated Customer Services module to help resolve any issues in a professional and timely manner.

Initial communication from a customer can be logged against any Sales Order or individual sales order line either through the use of free format notes or by attaching a file such as a letter or e-mail. User definable actions can be allocated to the relevant person or persons and then a full diary and alert system ensures that actions are carried out at the appropriate time and the customer kept fully informed of progress.

Everything to do with the issue can be followed up directly from the Customer Services module – thus credits, ordering of replacements or parts, arranging collection of the goods from the customer and return to the supplier – can all be carried out from the one place. The module provides real time screen enquiries as well as a comprehensive set of performance reports, including both operator and supplier performance (as issues can be costed).

The latest addition to the Module sees the ability to set up template letters and for these to be produced (and saved against the issue) at the touch of a button, another time saving feature that increases the customer’s perception of the professionalism of your operation.

For more information please contact Swan on 01823 669122 or mail dave@swanretail.co.uk

Bradbeers goes live with Swan in the largest Furniture Store on the South Coast

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Smith Bradbeer, the long established Hampshire retailer, has chosen Swan to develop their first automated system to cope with a predicted five-fold increase in sales following the opening of their new 45,000 sq ft furniture store in Hedge End near Southampton.

The company looked at a number of alternatives, and after careful consideration opted for the Swan Furniture system covering Stock Management, Warehousing, Customer Order Processing, Delivery Management and After-Sales Service.

Their decision relied on a variety of factors, including the fact that Swan actually owned and developed its own software, provided better functionality for furniture operations, and included Financials within the standard system for a much more rigorous approach to customer order processes.

Bradbeer’s were also looking to the future, and could see that the Swan solution would be easily extendable into their department stores, with EPoS and full mass merchandise stock management plus integration with their new web site.

Although working to a deadline of just 12 weeks, Swan again demonstrated their professionalism and high levels of support throughout the implementation, and Bradbeer’s expect to derive considerable benefits – from better use of staff time to significant improvements in management information, time savings on dealings with suppliers to much better resolution of customer service issues.

For more information please contact Swan Retail by clicking the link or calling on 01823 669122

Lights4Living, one of the UK's largest online lighting retailers chooses Swan

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Lights4Living are the latest successful independent to choose Swan, and with a busy store in Bath and an increasingly active on-line presence, their requirements were both wide-ranging and very particular.

Integration with their website – via Swan’s incorporation of Sitemaker’s Liquidshop – was one of the key factors in their decision, while the ability to automate the purchasing process, provide visibility of stock and develop the system to meet specific requirements were all unique to Swan’s approach.

Store operations and warehouse management have been transformed by Swan’s core Stock and EPoS modules, with Customer Ordering and Delivery Management similarly enhanced, and the Webstore Integration module providing everything Lights4Living need for the operation of their on-line business.

Managing Director, Richard Hathaway, immediately benefited from the much reduced demands on his time – and the automation of the purchasing alone is expected to save at least £10,000 a year.

Swan’s training and the people who delivered it also earned generous praise, and Lights4Living are confident that their new system will make an on-going contribution to reducing costs, improving efficiency and increasing profitability.

For more information please contact Swan Retail by clicking the link or calling on 01823 669122

Hoopers to replace Financial systems with Swan

Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:00:00 GMT

Hoopers department stores, the independent group whose head office is in Torquay, is to replace their legacy financial systems with the latest technology provided by Swan’s Accounting modules. Operating five department stores and three menswear stores across the country, Hoopers run a very successful store card account system which currently has over 100,000 members. Looking to expand on this success and the inherent marketing opportunities available with such a large and loyal customer base, Hoopers were looking for a specialist Sales Ledger that provided for complete flexibility with its set up and powerful functionality with its operation. Key areas being looked for were the ability to automate more of the communication with customers and also better and more timely internal reporting of credit issues, through real time integration with the front end till system.

Phase 1 of the Swan implementation will be the customer database, store card and credit management and this will be closely followed by the introduction of new Purchase and Nominal Ledgers.

For more information please contact Swan Retail by clicking the link or calling on 01823 669122

SMS Customer Marketing

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 00:00:00 GMT

In the latest version of our application, Swan has included several features focused on consumer marketing to aid customer retention and increase sales. The key feature for many of our clients is SMS marketing. The following article illustrates why and summarises the benefits;

Benefits of SMS marketing – “Business Link – June 2011”
Text messaging is growing at an enormous rate. One of the primary reasons behind this growth is that text messaging has become increasingly used as a business tool.
Text messaging enables information to be sent to groups of people quickly and conveniently in much the same way as email, making it an increasing popular e-marketing channel.
Advantages of SMS marketing
•    The personal nature of mobile phones make SMS marketing a very powerful tool.
•    Most people take their mobile phones everywhere - meaning they can be effective for time sensitive messages.
•    People tend to read virtually every text they get - unlike junk mail, spam or adverts which can be ignored.
•    Since your subscribers have opted-in to receiving your offers and promotional messages, you know they have an active interest in your business, and your products.
•    With text messages sent and received within minutes of starting your campaign, you can use mobile marketing for ad-hoc purposes, such as driving traffic to your store on slow nights (“Make a purchase within x hours, and receive a xx % discount!”), or clearing out overstock items before end of month. This is the new “Blue X Special”
•    As mobile marketing can be used for a wide range of purposes: announcing new product, one-day specials, new store openings, special events…etc, subscribers can be treated as an exclusive group for offers and information that only they have access to, increasing loyalty, purchases, and speed of communications
•    Reminders for appointments, delivery confirmation, payments, action points, etc

For more information please contact Swan Retail by clicking the link or calling on 01823 669122

New Swan Solution Pinpoints The Way Ahead

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 00:00:00 GMT

With the security of Chip & PIN payments becoming more and more important, Swan Retail has responded to its customers’ needs by making PIN entry devices directly available from its customer order processing, outstanding payments and ‘pay & take’ applications.

Incorporating the market leading Ocius Sentinel system from Commidea, Swan’s Furniture Retail solution now offers true end-to-end dual encryption and tokenisation – easing the accreditation process for the retailer and the PCI DSS compliance

Without the need for EPoS terminals and software, cost, complexity and configuration time are all significantly reduced, while other benefits include sophisticated asset tracking, mutual authentication to eliminate the threat of cyber attack, instant reporting of unusual Chip and PIN terminal activity and access to advanced web-based reporting tools.

“Independent retailers now have an assured and affordable way to comply with ever changing data security standards,” said Chris Marsden-Jones of Swan, “with the added advantage of no longer having to worry about storing sensitive cardholder information.”

To coincide with the launch of integrated EFTPoS, Swan has also added a new quick-sell function for small ticket items and accessories, reducing the time a customer needs to spend at the till point

Swan Brings Business Intelligence To Life

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Ensuring the independent retailer gets the most from their business has always been at the heart of the Swan solution – and with the introduction of a purpose-designed business intelligence module, that approach has now advanced to an entirely new level.

In essence, the business intelligence module enables the retailer to see at a glance all the essential information and key performance indicators for their business – with clear, easily understood graphic displays covering virtually every aspect of their activities.

It can instantly highlight margins, contribution, sell through and stock turn; it can immediately identify best sellers, most profitable lines, slow moving stock and much more; it can pinpoint security issues at the till such as voids and discounts and low margin sales.

With a customised business reporting dashboard created for each individual retailer, the new Swan toolset offers a way to present, analyse and understand data as promptly and purposefully as possible – giving you an unprecedented ability to recognise and respond to fast changing market conditions and focus marketing and promotional activity on maximising sales, margins and profitability.

Danny Cornter of Wilds Sports, has used the new interface to take an in-depth look at its stores in Winchester and Newbury. “We’ve already saved hours and hours trawling through data,” he said, “and we can now quickly and easily see which items we should stock to maximise our share of customers’ spend.”

Swan and Iconography to exhibit at the Manchester Furniture Show

Wed, 04 Apr 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Swan will be exhibiting at the Manchester Furniture Show this year (15th to 18th July in Manchester Central), along with E-Commerce partners Iconography. As well as showcasing the very best Furniture Retail System on the market, an emphasis will be put on integrated multi channel retailing for the independent furniture retailer, demonstrating how true integration can increase sales and create happy customers. Please come and visit us on Stand D2