22 May 2009

Abundant Life Resources (ALR) has adopted a multi-channel Accord retail system from solutions specialist BCP.

ALR is the resource arm of the Abundant Life Church, a 21st century church based in Bradford, Leeds and Belfast. In addition to its regular services and range of TV programmes the church runs a retail operation selling a wide range of books, teaching resources and music. The publications, albums and DVDs are available both from a dedicated shop located at the resource centre in Bradford and worldwide through the organisation’s Web site.

Expansion in this area is what prompted the ALR to seek a new retail system. “We’d been using a bespoke IT system for a couple of years, but with the rapid growth of the church it just wasn’t able to meet our needs any longer,” said Nigel Shaw, ALR resources manager. “We needed a more advanced solution able to handle our growth and, in particular, to improve customer service, provide quick access to data, including sales through our Web site, and support future growth of the retail operation.”

ALR selected UK supply chain specialist BCP to install the Accord EPOS and back office solution. The new system went live over the course of a few days with the Windows front end, Accord-PoS, implemented initially on two touch screen tills and linking to a multi-user back office system for centralised control over store operations.

The solution was designed to provide ALR with product and price control, fast customer service and stock control. “All the information we need is now readily available,” said Shaw. “Web orders have been integrated into the system to give us a complete picture of orders, which is invaluable for making decisions and planning. A detailed monthly consolidated sales report showing a breakdown by department on a daily basis wasn’t practical to produce before. Now it’s available at the touch of a button.”

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