Dutch retail group deploys Zebra touch-computers for efficient in-store operations
Founded in 1982 in The Netherlands, The Sting was inspired by the Sixties: boutiques, hippie culture, pop music and freedom. The brand name comes from the 1973 film ‘The Sting’ starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford. Being funny, mischievous, cheeky and free are the values that The Sting live by. The Sting now has over 20 in-house brands, such as Costes, Cotton Club and Distrikt Nørrebro, and each of their high-street collections have their own individual style identity and hero items. Aimed at 18-29 year olds looking for fun, casual clothing, customers can find cool festival outfits, great party pieces or laid back, but trend-led, everyday clothes, or choose from the wide range of denims and basics. The Sting already has over 100 stores across The Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, as well as very popular online web stores.
Personnel had previously used Windows based handheld terminals to manage the flow of goods – for incoming goods, inventory and stock transfers, for example. However, The Sting wanted to move to a touch-screen, reliable, robust and yet contemporary Android based device for its store operations. The new handheld would also provide further functionality, such as photos of store issues and repairs and be easy-to-use, so its young employee demographic would adopt it quickly.
It was key that staff had a device they could use anywhere on the shop floor, as The Sting wanted its staff to be on the ground, close to its customers. Information collected on the previous devices only synched with the back office systems once the devices were returned to their cradles; with the current speed of business and sales, the Sting needed up-to-date data in real time. Central management functionality was also important, to enable The Sting’s IT department to remotely update and manage devices online, without causing any device downtime, which could affect teams’ productivity and its ability to access correct, up-to-date information. The Sting works closely with partner Indicium, who has provided the wireless networks in its shops, and decided to work with Indicium on this deployment too.
Indicium delivered the solution comprising Zebra TC70 Touch Computers and Soti MobiControl to The Sting. Store staff now use apps running on the Zebra TC70s to communicate and to access stock, product and delivery information in real-time, wherever they are in store, as well as for inventory checks, to scan incoming and outgoing goods and to accurately and quickly pick goods which have been ordered online, but are due to be collected from their shop.
“Indicium offered a bespoke, turnkey solution for us and, working to very high standards, delivered a perfect deployment.”
Bart Overbeek
ICT Director, The Sting
If customers have queries about an item, employees can look up detailed information, including photos to share with the customer on screen. They can also use the camera to take any photos of product placement or faulty goods to be returned, for example.
All the information gathered on the TC70s is communicated in real time to The Sting’s back office systems, so there is always a fully accurate stock and order overview. The Sting is using the platform from Neptune Software, also a Zebra Technologies strategic partner, to create further apps to run on the TC70s. The Sting’s IT team use SOTI MobiControl to manage and update the TC70s remotely and centrally, without having to take them offline. In this way they can easily keep track of how the devices are being used, to check batteries, usage and location, for example.
In the Sting’s busy distribution centres, meanwhile, employees use Zebra’s MC3000 Series Mobile Computers for inventory, goods movements, picking and dispatch. These are remotely managed via Wavelink’s Avalanche Management Software.
Bart Overbeek summarises: “The Zebra TC70s are a huge improvement for our store staff. They are reliable, highly usable and offer such high performance scanning. Our employees have adopted the TC70s with great enthusiasm and with very little training; they’ve navigated the new processes and tools with ease. The TC70s are easy-to-use and ensure our predominantly young staff demographic can work efficiently. They are ideal for our retail environment. Moreover the solution has improved levels of customer service, as staff always have access to correct, accurate information wherever they are on the shop floor and customers also like the fact that store stock is available for online sales, which is really important in our industry.” There are also numerous wider benefits: inventory errors have reduced; real-time data is improving information flow across the business and the device’s robustness is reducing downtime and returns. Finally staff enjoy taking photos of items, displays or photos to accompany a report on a shop issue, for example. With such a forward-thinking retail team, more usages and applications will no doubt follow in the near future.
