We are fortunate enough at Intelligent Retail to receive regular feedback from delighted customers. A great many retailers have told us that our Connect EPoS system has proved invaluable to the efficient running of their stores and eCommerce websites. Every feature of our system was developed with the needs of retailers in mind, so it's always gratifying to hear that it is benefiting the people it was designed for.

Houghton Equestrian is an established riding centre and equestrian store based in the North East of England. They are a family business with 25 years of experience in the equestrian world; the owner is a national judge of Trakehner horses, an ex dressage competitor and a British Horse Society approved instructor. Their specialist equestrian store was opened in 2002, and currently has over 5,000 square feet of products, many of which are also available through their Trot2 eCommerce website. All of their staff have ridden or competed from a young age, and their marquee is a familiar sight at national events such as the Blair Horse Trials and the The Great Yorkshire Show. To maintain their excellent reputation and deliver the highest level of service to their customers across all channels, they recently invested in the award winning Connect Multichannel EPoS system.

Why was Connect Selected?

The owners chose Connect in 2007 because they were eager to embrace simplicity. The shop EPoS and website now run from one simple system, which gels the business together. Having the system from one expert company has made life easier all round.

In Complete Control of Stock

“We hold thousands of products and it is absolutely impossible to keep this in your head. Now using the Visual Stock Tree staff can see instantly what is in stock, it's like a window into the business. We know precisely what has sold and we reorder accurately saving time and money. It's quick and easy to see what the stock holding is. I don't know how we could cope without stock control!”

Online Sales Growth

“Our integrated Connect website is now getting 16,000 visits a month with the help of the Connect SEO program optimising the website in Google. Online Sales continue to rise and even though the website is established, sales have more than doubled since last year. The Connect website has paid for itself so many times over.”

Growth from improvements to customer service and loyalty

“Customer service is definitely increasing in importance. Because of the system we can send out over 95% of web orders the same day, delivering a high level of customer service. This keeps customers coming back for more, and a long list of “Thank You” notes from grateful customers when they receive orders the next day, great for staff morale. Repeat customers are vital to any business and good customer service keeps them coming back.”

Managing the website is so much easier

“Innovations in Connect like 'drag and drop' make managing products across shop and website so easy. The central stock control means we can sell right down to the last item colour and size even for fashion items that cannot be reordered. We set the website to 'Only sell when in stock' and it takes all the hassle away from us. Gets rid of all those problems when selling items that cannot be delivered: bad PR, letting customer down, fire-fighting things that are bad for staff morale and bad for business.”

Simple Order Management means Happier Customers

“I remember the days when a customer asked for a particular rug in red, I would be in the back throwing boxes over my shoulder trying to find the rug I thought we might have. Now, any staff member can instantly look at the till and know the product is available, even see a picture of it. Whether an order is from the website, telephone or the shop it is so easy for any staff to deliver a great service.”

Shoppers want multichannel

Multichannel retail, where customers want to buy online or in store as they choose, is not a thing of the future, it's happening now. Houghton Equestrian has more and more customers who are multichannel shoppers.

“Some customers are coming off the website and ordering by phone or email so developing strong customer relationships. Others are ordering from the website to reserve the item and picking up in store on another day.”

Having the website not only increases revenue, but reduces the risk of losing customers as they like to browse and buy online in the evenings.

Encouraging Customer Loyalty Works

“We encourage customers to buy more with our loyalty points scheme. And it works! Vouchers come straight out of the till as soon as the points target is reached whether it's an in-store purchase or online order. It's always a nice surprise and encourages them to buy more either in store or online. The scheme is great, staff love it!

We have put 'double points at Christmas' online, so a lot will automatically get a voucher sent out with their order, a little hook incentive, being part of club, the customer feels they are on the inside loop so it really works.

Loyalty points help track who bought what. Also by taking names at the till staff can handle those tricky 'lost receipt' queries more professionally which reduces losses.”

Great for Events

“Selling at equestrian events is seamless with Connect. Installed on a laptop (a dongle links it to the internet) with a printer, scanner and cash drawer it becomes a portable till.

• Customers get proper receipts. It can even manage customer loyalty!
• Fast barcode scanning reduces lost customers
• Whenever an item is sold (can be hundreds of items a day) the stock control and website is updated with the latest stock position.
• We keep accurate financial records of sales automatically, reducing the work we do when we get back from the event.

We sell up to hundreds of items at equestrian events and having the live stock control with the website is a huge benefit.”

Lasting Advantages of Connect EPoS

“Connect has centralised so many elements of the business keeping things simple and has helped the team at Houghton Equestrian really grow the business.”