Ixchange provides diplomatic retail management solution

The Diplomat, a Pretoria-based retail outlet supplying a broad range of duty-free products to diplomats and embassies in South Africa, has implemented 15 SaleAbility retail management terminals, as well as the head office software to manage the company`s point-of-sale (POS) points and sales data.

SaleAbility is the integrated retail management component of the Ability suite of business management solutions.

Elbeth de Klerk, GM of administration at The Diplomat, says SaleAbility was selected as Ixchange tailored the reporting side of the product to cater for the legal requirements of the South African government`s custom and excise department. SaleAbility`s reporting module was changed to the duty-free model so that customs and excise requirements could be met and to ensure that only qualified diplomats made use of the system.20 The deal, which included check-out points and a backoffice database, all running on Windows NT, as well as the necessary hardware, is worth R500 000.

The store stocks everything from food, clothing, jewellery and cosmetics, to large items such as fridges and television sets. The store displays the products to customers, but without the normal piles of stock taking up space as the customers don`t take stock off the shelves themselves, but have it delivered after their transactions are complete.

The final SaleAbility implementation is a first in South Africa as it involves a self-scanning radio frequency solution integrated into the retail management system. To cater for its clientele, The Diplomat staff walk around the store with customers. When an item is selected its barcode is scanned and a report on stock quantities is returned immediately to inform the diplomat of the stock available. If there is enough stock, it is bought with the push of a button and the customer moves on to the next item while The Diplomat`s warehouse staff select and pack the relevant items.

Once the customer`s shopping is done, the bill is automatically generated at the checkout point where the transaction is finalised. The stock is then delivered to the customer`s car as he/she leaves, cutting down on wasted time.

According to Johan Buys, director of the Ability division of Ixchange, SaleAbility provided The Diplomat with better stock control as well as security options. "The next step for The Diplomat will be the introduction of self-scanning, where the customer will be able to select and scan products without the assistance of staff".