Vision Express has implemented Triangle's Retail Manager solution to enhance and speed up its head office to store communications.
As a result, the company has been able to cut paperwork, boost productivity, reduce communications costs and give front-line store managers more time to spend with customers, so improving service levels and providing more sales opportunities. According to David Hart, Supply Chain Director at Vision Express UK, "In terms of revolutionising our head office to store processes, this was a very exciting project for Vision Express. Retail Manager has enabled us to effectively communicate boardroom vision and effectively manage store-side execution."
In the UK Vision Express operates 200 stores with approximately 50 percent managed under joint venture agreements with franchises. Built on "a passion for the optical profession and a drive for unparalleled customer service", Vision Express opened the first 'onehour' opticians in 1988 and remains a pioneer in genuine one-hour services. More than 3,600 people in the UK, Ireland and Channel Islands work for Vision Express. Europe-wide, the Grand Vision Group has more than 10,000 employees working in over 900 stores in 15 countries. Vision Express believes the culture of its people lie at the heart of the business, hence its policy of continuous investment, development and empowerment of staff to enable them to perform better and ensure Vision Express customers receive the best. The MyVE system fitted perfectly with this policy.
Challenges faced
Like many other retailers, a big issue was how Vision Express could communicate with its stores in a timely and efficient way. It also wanted to gather input and feedback from stores, and ensure staff could focus on customer service without spending inordinate time hidden from customers in 'back office activities, trying to understand and process information received from head office. The company had previously used a mix of phone, fax and e-mail for store communications, which meant problems in terms of audit trails plus the expensive, unreliable and time-consuming nature of paperbased communications.
It had also implemented a basic Intranet system but soon ran into the major limitations inherent in this approach, including strictly limited one-way communication, the same access rights for all store staff, and resource intensive content upload procedures.
Meanwhile, an ambitious redesign of Vision Express stores across the UK had given greater prominence to the in-store manufacture of lenses and provided Optometrists and other eye care staff with new diagnostic technologies. These groups needed to be served better. So the situation was further complicated by the need to satisfy different requirements for each of the company's three key areas, represented in every store: Optometrists, Laboratories and Retail operations. Each performed a very different function while all were working to meet the objective of providing maximum customer service and a one-hour turnaround for a new pair of glasses.
Indeed, Vision Express had three key pain issues to solve, one in each area, to provide demonstrable benefits and achieve measurable efficiency improvements:
- Online Training for Optometrists
- Equipment Maintenance in Laboratories
- Improved Communication and Information in Retail operations
Management was convinced that harnessing the right system would deliver huge benefits for the business by ensuring timely, appropriate and accurate two-way store communications. Retail Manager provided the solution.
The Solution
After surveying the market, Vision Express chose Retail Manager based on the solution's broad functionality and superb 'retail readiness' - this meant it could be implemented rapidly and have positive impacts immediately.
With 'standard' modules delivering benefits that most retailers would recognise, the ultimate solution would be 70% standard/30% configured - proven functionality combined with bespoke development to deliver a unique Vision Express solution.
Other important attributes identified by Vision Express included:
- Complete two-way visibility and communications between head office and stores
- The Stores Attribute Database underpinning the system would ensure only the correct and appropriate information would be issued to specific stores
- A choice of business forms developed to meet specific process needs
- Store Planner capabilities
- Integrated Surveys
- 'Ask the Expert' functionality for knowledge transfer and to help drive best practice
January 2008
