British brand Cole Buxton deploys Cegid's mobile POS solution

“The queue busting technology was essential in reducing waiting times for customers, especially after its experience during lockdown when customers queued outside the store and staff had to bring out devices to avoid lost sales. You can’t keep customers waiting too long. You need to be able to check them out then and there. Or, if a product isn’t available, have it delivered to their preferred location, whether it’s at home or a hotel,” Amar Dehal, head of operations at Cole Buxton, said in a media statement.

Cole Buxton started out in 2014 with the idea of redefining contemporary sportswear to suit the modern man’s lifestyle. Six years later, following increasing online sales and a growing range of over 300 items, the label decided to open its first physical store in London’s Soho — which opened in 2020 between lockdowns, at a time when global demand for loungewear, tracksuits and comfortable clothing was on the rise. 

The store was viewed as the ideal platform to allow the fashion designers and founders Cole Buxton and Jonny Wilson to communicate directly with customers about their values as they grew the business beyond a digital-only model.

Physical store sales now account for around 15 per cent of annual sales. In 2021, 70 per cent of sales were direct-to-consumer (DTC) and the brand wants to keep sales through wholesale partners and department stores down to a minimum. Prior to opening its first physical store, the brand experimented with pop-up stores in 2019 and relied on ‘a fairly basic’ fixed POS system that ‘wouldn’t have allowed the business to grow internationally, or allow staff to serve customers effectively while on the move,’ Cegid said in a press release.

Cegid Retail mPOS was implemented in just under 12 weeks by Cegid’s UK-based reseller, MWC Partners. MWC also developed a wireless payments connector to facilitate integration with Planet, a leading payments provider.

The retail software also integrates with Shopify, which Cole Buxton uses for cataloguing products online, ensuring it has up-to-the-minute, accurate information on customers, stocks, and sales.

“Everything is automatically shown up in Cegid Retail mPOS, giving improved visibility across all warehouses and stores. And mobile and queue busting tools help boost sales and ensure a fluid retail experience,” Alan Holcroft, country manager for Cegid, said.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (GK)