The world`s first 4x4 experiential retail environment opened its doors in Sandton recently. Extreme 16 (X16), a Super Group initiative, is achieving phenomenal success, having turned over 75% above the projections for its first few months of operation.
Key to this accomplishment has been its world-class IT infrastructure, designed and implemented by Dimension Data in a deal worth R1.8 million.
Telecommunications, a mission-critical dealer management system and networking were all part of the solution designed and implemented within tight deadlines, using sophisticated project management methodology.
Lifestyle - or 4x4 - vehicles now make up 30% to 40% of the automotive market, a percentage that grows yearly according to X16`s marketing director, Clifford Joffe. He explains that the X16 concept was born of Super Group`s conviction that there was a gap in the market for an experiential retail environment focusing on lifestyle vehicles.
The result is an innovative retail experience designed to woo prospective 4x4 owners.
"Our vehicles are pre-owned, and consumers can see them all on one showroom floor," says Joffe. "We put the power in the hands of the customer, who can test drive all the different brands right here, and make an intelligent purchase decision."
Also key to the X16 concept is the variety of other products and services offered. All of these drive the right traffic to the dealership. They include an off-road academy with two 4x4 tracks, conferencing facilities, a branch of News Cafe, and a hobby shop. Three new shops will open their doors during October.
"We effectively cater for the whole family, and have become a weekend destination," says Joffe.
Underpinning X16`s success are the operation`s IT and telecommunications systems which enable it to provide world-class service to its customers.
"Our systems are the business," says Bahia Sarlie, operations manager of X16. "Without efficient systems that run smoothly, giving us answers at the push of a button, we would not be able to pump through the volumes we do."
The Super Group team tasked with building X16 in February this year faced tight deadlines and realised they needed an IT project management team. X16 opened its doors on 29 June 2002.
"Dimension Data was the only company that could offer us full turnkey in terms of infrastructure, hardware, telecommunications and a dealer management system," says Sarlie.
Apart from PCs, which were sourced by X16 directly, Dimension Data handled the entire IT infrastructure, including the network and computer room, telephone backbone and physical units, and the dealer management system, Auto-Mate.
"Auto-Mate is the best dealer management system internationally, and links every aspect of our business, which includes providing finance and insurance for our customers," says Sarlie. "Major benefits are that it is South African, meaning that it is based on the way we do business and is supported locally. In addition, the system is real-time and incredibly user-friendly."
X16 boasts a large Dect phone infrastructure as part of the telecommunications solution implemented by Dimension Data. The Ericsson PABX system and mobile business, or Dect, phones enable every sales person to use his telephone anywhere on the 11 000 m2 X16 site.
"This results in huge cost savings, and great increases in productivity as sales people do not have to resort to cellphones, or rush back to their offices to take a call if they are out on the 4x4 track, for example," says Kallie Strydom, account manager: customer advocacy at Dimension Data SA.
Dimension Data also provided three servers, including a high-end server for Auto-Mate, as well as all cabling requirements. The entire solution was implemented according to Dimension Data`s Primer solution, a project management service.
"We had an incredibly short time to get this entire operation up and running and had to work to almost impossible deadlines," says Sarlie. It was vital therefore to have key partners to make it successful.
"Dimension Data really came to the party, always under-promising and over-delivering. The team was incredibly efficient."
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Dimension Data Holdings plc (LSE: DDT) is a leading global technology services company. It specialises in providing IT solutions that enable businesses to operate seamlessly across application networks (the result of the convergence of two previous separate areas of IT: application integration and network infrastructure.)
The group`s ability to offer expertise in networking, application integration and global managed services makes it uniquely positioned to deliver the IT solutions required by businesses to connect devices, information, applications, business processes, people and organisations.
Dimension Data, founded in 1983, had revenues of $2.5 billion in 2001 and operates in 30+ countries with over 9 500 employees.
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