CASE STUDY: Poundland goes digital

Poundland is one of Europe’s biggest and fastest growing retailers. The company was established over 25 years ago and has positioned itself as a value and discount retailer. With more than 800 stores throughout the UK and Ireland, Poundland employs 18,000 people across almost 900 locations. 

The retailer began a modernisation project to update the in-store experience by implementing new point of sale (POS) systems to support self-checkout. In addition, Poundland also sought to upgrade the technology that supported its people in order to streamline and improve workplace productivity. 

The challenge 

The three main challenges to be overcome by the project included improving the customer experience by shortening queues, speeding up checkout and enabling customers to serve themselves. The second challenge, a back-office function, saw Poundland seek ways in which to manage labour costs and improve overall workplace productivity. The final obstacle was finding a way to implement this new technology in a cost-effective manner, removing the cash barrier to investment. 

The solution 

Econocom was selected by Poundland to fund its fleet of new NCR SelfServ Checkouts (over 1400 in total), as well as 900 Kronos InTouch Biometric clocking in units. Econocom, a company that designs, finances and oversees digital transformation, proposed a flexible solution to the retailer ideal for building up a digital estate with multiple assets, invoices and suppliers. This also included a single facility, that simplified the interim project finance, during the initial rollout programme. 

The Econocom team worked closely with Poundland to ensure that the bespoke digital finance and services contract supported the retailer’s strategy for growth and digital transformation. 

The results 

The new, disruptive technology equipment has helped Poundland speed up the checkout process, enhance the customer experience, and create a digitally transformed workplace for its staff. 

By working closely with Poundland to understand the company’s key objectives around both digital transformation and customer experience, we were able to design a solution that perfectly met these requirements. And by leveraging a fully-integrated workforce management solution, Poundland has positioned itself as a forward-thinking workplace, while also improving the in-store experience with self-serve technology. 

“Econocom is our trusted finance partner. By creating a bespoke finance arrangement aligned with our strategy, Econocom helps us take advantage of the latest digital opportunities today,” said Poundland IT director Mike Gray.