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St Paul’s Cathedral
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Landmark heritage site St Paul’s Cathedral with its world-famous dome is an iconic feature of the London skyline and one of the most loved of the UK’s tourism venues. Rooted in a history of 1,400 years of worship and public life, St Paul’s was far from backward-looking when it came to selecting new point-of-sale software from Cybertill for its thriving retail shop.
The issues before cybertill was acquired:
St Paul’s was keen to install a 21st century system that could turn its point-of-sale into a real point-of-service and enhance the visitor experience. Located in the Crypt, the Cathedral shop stocks a wide range of merchandise from postcards and stationery to ceramics, jewellery and prints, including ranges designed exclusively for St Paul's. |
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Says Duncan Smith, Retail Manager at St Paul’s Cathedral: “Having used EPoS for a number of years, we knew exactly what we needed. Cybertill stood out as the best fit for our current requirements and demonstrated how it can help us to develop our shop and e-commerce channels.”
Whilst an EPoS system was already installed, it used old DOS technology and was failing to keep up with business expansion. In addition to a Chip & PIN upgrade, St Paul’s wanted a solution that was cost-effective and intuitive.
The cybertill solution
After an exhaustive evaluation, Cybertill’s multi-channel software was seen by St Paul’s as the leading-edge option and the one best suited to support its business aspirations. The software is installed on J2 920 PC-based touchscreens from specialist manufacturer J2 Retail Systems. Till receipt printers from Epson have also been installed as part of the new solution.
How cybertill has helped St Paul’s Cathedral.
As a prime tourist site for the City, St Paul’s is now enjoying speed and ease of use at the point-of-sale, which is helping it to manage the flow of 150,000 customers who flock to the shop each year to buy gifts and souvenirs. With inbuilt Chip & PIN compliance, credit and debit card transactions from domestic and international visitors can be easily and securely processed.
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In addition to smooth and intuitive front-office functions, the cybertill software integrates with back-end stock management and replenishment to create an integrated solution. “Although we are primarily a heritage site with a slightly different range of products, the store is very much in the classic retail model. The cybertill system enables us to have much more control on stock.”
St Paul’s is enjoying specialist support from Cybertill and feels that it has a system to take it forward as its business develops.
Business-driven achievements
Thanks to cybertill, St Paul’s Cathedral shop can support its faster-selling lines much better and does not have to hold as much stock as it did in the past.
In addition, because the system runs from a central server, it can access it remotely. That’s a real benefit because the wiring opportunities in the Cathedral are limited. The shop’s management team is based in an off-site office and the cybertill system makes it easy to monitor and manage trading without having to be in the shop.
Current status and plans for the future with cybertill:
Whilst its early days for the new system in terms of increasing shop revenue, it’s clear that it has opened up the market for internet sales. There is a demand for St Paul’s gifts from the American market and many tourists would like to purchase souvenirs but not have to carry them around during their stay in London. St Paul’s can now confidently move forward its plans to have an online presence. |
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