C-store operator adopts new retail system to support growth at the checkout and in the back office

C-store operator adopts new retail system to support growth at the checkout and in the back office

Culverhill Retail is expanding its chain of convenience stores with the opening of a brand new store, which will use BCP’s Accord Retail system to control all point-of-sale (PoS) and back-office operations.

Owned and managed by Richard Higgins, Culverhill Retail was born when all but one of the successful 15-strong RNS Holdings convenience chain owned by the Higgins family was sold to Southern Co-operatives in 2006.

Since then Richard has built a new chain under the Culverhill banner and now employs a staff of 90 across a chain of five stores located in Hampshire and Dorset. Averaging 2,500 square feet in size, the stores all trade as high-quality convenience stores under the Nisa fascia, offering a wide range of additional customer services including lottery, e-top ups and, in three of the stores, a full Post Office service. The new store is a brand new build in Salisbury and is scheduled to open in March 2011.

Trusted systems underpin growth

The choice of BCP’s Accord for the new store follows successful use of BCP retail solutions stretching back over 12 years, when Accord was first selected by RNS Holdings because, explained Higgins: “It offered a cost effective solution and, being specially designed for the supermarket and convenience sector, was a great match for our precise requirements.”

Having proven its worth across the RNS Holdings chain, Higgins had no hesitation in implementing the solution in his new Culverhill stores and today all five stores use versions of BCP’s retail solution to control store and back-office operations. He added: “It offers every function we need to operate efficiently and maximise the service we offer to our customers. The data generated by the system allows us to improve ordering and ensure stocks are streamlined and product ranges tailored to meet customer preferences.”

The three-lane system for the new Salisbury store will encompass BCP’s complete Accord branded electronic PoS (EPoS) solution, providing a full range of PoS functionality, including integrated electronic file transfer PoS (EFTPoS), multicurrency and instore promotion control. This will interface directly to the BCP Accord Back Office system for control over store operations, including product and price maintenance, auto replenishment, stock control, sales reporting and cash control.

Higgins added: “We love the Accord system in all its flavours. There’s no doubt it gives us much better control over all aspects of our business. The original BCP Accord offering has the additional benefit of extreme reliability backed by BCP’s customer support, which is second to none. All in all, the perfect solution for managing c-stores.”