Introduction
In today's fast-paced retail environment, time is a valuable resource. Efficiency in managing retail prices and product information can significantly impact a company's bottom line. This whitepaper explores the challenges faced by King's Great Buys Plus, a two-location appliance and home furnishings store in rural Western Kentucky, and how they successfully implemented price automation to streamline their operations and enhance customer satisfaction.
Price Automation: A Time-Saving Solution
"Change how your employees and company spend time with price automation. Time. Spend it wisely with price automation."
Managing retail prices manually can be a time-consuming and error-prone process. King's Great Buys Plus recognized the need for a solution that would remove the burden of price management from their sales staff and provide customers with accurate, up-to-date information.
The Environment
King's Great Buys Plus Overview
- Two-location appliance store: Madisonville and Princeton, KY
- Rural Western Kentucky: Serving a unique market with competition from Lowe's big box stores
- Dedicated professional sales staff: Committed to excellence in customer service and delivery
- Inventory management: Handles serialized appliances, customer quotes, sold tags, and invoicing
Applications
To address their pricing challenges, King's Great Buys Plus utilized the following applications:
TransActPOS: Manages the entire sales process, including inventory management, customer quotes, sold tags, and invoicing.
RetailDeck by RWS (Retailer Web Services): Provides current market prices for appliances and printable price tags, serving as a valuable source of appliance information and marketing materials.
SES Imagotag: An Electronic Shelf Label developer and manufacturer, SES Imagotag provides advanced IoT solutions for the retail industry.
The Problem
Before implementing price automation, King's Great Buys Plus faced several challenges:
- Manual maintenance of appliance price updates: Managing prices for over 250 appliances was time-consuming and prone to errors.
- Professional-looking Price Tags: Quick handwritten price tags were used due to time constraints.
- Customer Price Quotes: Current retail prices were not consistently updated in TransActPOS, leading to additional research for each customer quote.
- Accuracy of current retail prices: Changing retail prices were not adequately maintained.
- Product Appearance: Adhesive Velcro buttons left residues on appliances, requiring additional cleaning.
- Time-Consuming Research: Sales staff had to leave customers to search for updated product information online.
The Goal
The primary goal of implementing price automation was to:
- Eliminate the time required for price updates: Ensure that retail pricing and product information tags are always accurate.
- Boost sales staff confidence: Provide up-to-date information during sales interactions.
- Enhance the customer experience: Allow more time for personalized interactions.
- Present a professional retail environment: With responsive sales staff and accurate retail prices.
The Solution
To achieve their goals, King's Great Buys Plus implemented two key integration modules:
TransActPOS RetailDeck Integration Module: Automatically updates market prices for all appliances within the inventory management system.
TransActPOS SES Imagotag Integration Module: Automatically updates retail prices and product information QR codes for ESL (Electronic Shelf Label) tagged appliances.
Benefits
The implementation of price automation had a significant impact on King's Great Buys Plus. Here are some of the key benefits:
- Time Savings: Price updates are automated, reducing the time spent on manual updates.
- Accurate Prices: Ensures that all products are priced correctly.
- Improved Customer Experience: Sales staff can provide immediate and accurate information to customers.
- Cleaner Product Presentation: The use of a single Command TM Strip for attaching ESL tags leaves a clean surface, eliminating cleanup time.
- Uniformity: All products have a consistent and professional appearance.
- Market Tracking: Stay informed about pricing updates and market changes.
Testimonials
Josh Brown – General Manager, King’s Great Buys Plus – Madisonville and Princeton, KY:
"It's all about time, accurate and competitive prices, real-time data, the customer, the product, and the staff. We all love the digital tags."
Bev Fritz – Assistant Manager, King’s Great Buys Plus – Madisonville, KY:
"In the past 8.5 years, the appliance price tags have been manually created within RetailDeck. Manual paper tags were used for promotional prices and placed in the product information pouch on each appliance."
How SES Imagotag Simplified Sales
- Scanning and Updating: When a product arrives on the sales floor, the ESL tag is scanned with the TransActPOS Wireless application, and the system updates the ESL tag within 60-90 seconds.
- QR Code Benefits: The QR code provides access to detailed product information for both customers and contractors, enhancing the sales process.
- Tracking Labels: The SES V-Manager tracks the availability of tags and notifies staff if a tag is removed.
Conclusion
King's Great Buys Plus successfully transformed its retail pricing and product information management by implementing price automation. This transition eliminated manual pricing tasks, improved staff confidence, and enhanced the overall customer experience. The result: efficient operations, cleaner product presentations, and a competitive edge in the market.
Track The Market: With confidence, get notified of pricing updates and suggestions. View manufacturer guide pricing and competitor prices conveniently in one location, allowing you to respond to market changes effectively.
For more information about how price automation can benefit your retail business, contact King's Great Buys Plus:
- Madisonville Location: 1141 S. Main Street, Madisonville, KY
- Princeton Location: 755 U.S. Hwy 62 West, Princeton, KY
"It's all about time, and we've chosen to spend it wisely."