Cloud based retail platform TRIMS helps maximise Ipswich Town FC’s revenue.

Ipswich Town FC has worked closely with our team to replace their problematic legacy system. Their home ground, Portman Road in Ipswich, Suffolk is a 30,311-capacity ground, the largest football ground in East Anglia.

CHALLENGE

Lee Hyde, Director of Retail Operations at ITFC explained how their legacy system had been in-house for over 15 years and the issues this caused;

“It had patch fixes over the top of other patches and we struggled with functionality, dated hardware that couldn’t be replaced (stocktake scanners) and general technology issues (serial port connections instead of USB etc).

The legacy system also had a limited reporting suite and was almost impossible to integrate with any potential new eCommerce platform, moving forward. Additional to this, there were no HHD’s available and a general lack of product development.

We found ourselves heavily reliant upon support due to many issues requiring development, which really restricted our ability to offer a modern day, reactive, retail environment.”

SOLUTION

The TRIMS system was installed into the stadium retail store, matchday locations and any pop-up locations as well as being integrated into their Magento website. It’s used for warehouse management and stock control elements. Lee explains it as;

“the driving force for the retail operation, everything from receiving stock in, managing stock levels, financial reporting, sell through reports, stock analysis, integration with our eCommerce platform, store sales and stocktaking.”

To facilitate shirt customisation for fans a bespoke Kitbuilder, a sophisticated point of sale tool used to custom print shirts was efficiently installed, this works alongside stock control to ensure there’s a constant supply of letters for personalisation. To support the EFL’s 2018/19 campaign with mental health awareness charity Mind, Kitbuilder was modified to incorporate the charity’s logo.

Loyalty is high on the agenda for any football club so the POS and website were integrated with TeamCard a leading loyalty and venue access solution.

Match Day Mode, a configurable profile feature that optimises transaction throughput, was written and installed to allow maximum sales and efficiency at peak sales times.

OUTCOME

Kitbuilder has allowed the club to maximise revenue in personalization during peak times and keep control of stock. Match Day Mode has made transaction time during peak sale times faster and more efficient, increasing revenue potential at the club.  Lee is a happy customer;

“TRIMS is a modern day solution for all of our requirements. Implementation was very smooth indeed. A lot of preparation went into the initial product data load and setup of TRIMS to our requirements, ably assisted by the team every step of the way. The install operation was also very slick resulting in very limited store closures. Efficient, thorough training was provided by the training staff, on-site. It’s been a very robust system since, with very little need for additional tweaks to the setup. Should we need anything, the support team are always on hand to help.”

Get in touch to find out more about TRIMS and how we can up your retail game.