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Virgin Media
cybertill is driving Virgin Media’s first own-fascia stores and underpinning the retailer’s plans for expansion. Virgin Media operates in 100+ ‘shops-within-shops’ in Virgin Megastores nationwide and in 19 WH Smith shops. After its acquisition by NTL Telewest, it opened its first stand-alone stores as part of a strategy to create a nationwide chain.
The issues before cybertill was acquired
Virgin Media’s new distribution strategy and the requirement to support Chip & PIN processing prompted an evaluation of its incumbent EPoS system. The time was felt right to move to a more contemporary and functional system and, after considering a number of alternatives, the cybertill solution landed the contract.
The cybertill solution
Delivered as an ASP service over a virtual private network, cybertill reduces the cost, risk and management overheads of traditional EPoS systems.
Ian Villalard, Operations Manager at Virgin Media, was responsible for selecting Cybertill. He explains: “Cybertill ticked all our boxes, both as a supplier and a solution. The company is forward-looking and its software is innovative, cost-competitive and scalable. All this makes Cybertill an ideal partner as we grow our store estate.”
Once the contract had been won, development started to customise the solution to Virgin Media’s needs, including Chip & PIN implementation and integration with the retailer’s Strategix stock management system.
The cybertill software is installed on J2 920 integrated touchscreen computers supplied by J2 Retail Systems via their Box Technologies distributor. This is the company’s de facto choice for clients requiring a Chip & PIN-compliant point-of-sale solution.
How cybertill has helped Virgin Media
Part of cybertill’s appeal is its ability to customise the point-of-service to a client ‘look and feel’. In the case of Virgin Media, the till points display its trademark brand values of ‘cool and contemporary’, designed to appeal to the retailer’s predominantly youthful target customers.
The ease of reporting offered by cybertill was seen by Virgin Media as another big plus. Continues Villalard: “One of our main business drivers was single reporting that includes our Red Awards scheme. cybertill enables us to log Red Rewards against transactions, and gain real visibility of sales success through a single, easy-to-use reporting tool.”
Business-driven achievements
The Virgin Media business has inherited the customer-centric ethos of its former parent and regards active customer analysis and management as critical functions. Ian Villalard concludes: “With cybertill, not only can we analyse who buys what and when, we can proactively market our services to them and build their loyalty to the Virgin Media brand.”
Virgin Media stores are located at Thurrock Lakeside, in Essex, in Southend and at Gateshead. The company’s strategy includes opening a further dozen or so stores during 2007. It has recently celebrated openings in the Merryhill Centre in the Midlands, and in Croydon, both under the new Virgin Media brand.
Current status and plans for the future with cybertill
The rollout of own-fascia stores extends the retailer’s services to both pre-pay and contract, and enables it to market its parent’s four-part offer, combining Media and fixed line telephony, TV and broadband services.
States Cybertill’s founder and managing director, Ian Tomlinson: “We’re thrilled that Virgin Media selected cybertill as the best EPoS system to underpin its expansion. We’re increasingly being recognised as the ideal solution for today’s fast-moving retailer, from start-up operations through to mature store estates.”
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