Co-op launches energy saving EpoS programme

The Co-operative Group has launched a night-time energy-saving programme for the IBM Electronic Point of Sale (EPoS) operations in its 2,200 food stores.

The introduction of the "Wake-up on LAN" programme will enable tills, receipt printers, customer and operator screens, chip and pin devices and barcode scanners that are currently left on overnight to be switched off automatically when stores close and to be powered up again the following morning before they reopen for business.

These include 7,500 till units, 7,500 receipt printers, 15,000 customer and operator screens, 7,500 chip and pin devices and 7,500 barcode scanners.

The Group says it will save 1.68 million kilowatt hours of energy per annum by using the system, which has been developed by the Group's in-house IT team who worked in collaboration with IBM to re-engineer the Group's InControl store end-of-day batch process system.

Savings on its energy bills are expected to be around £120,000 per annum along with a reduction of 722 tonnes of CO2.

The introduction of the programme will also significantly prolong the life of the hardware, and therefore reduce the environmental impact still further by less frequent renewal. Implementation started this month and is expected to be completed by the summer.

Mark Hale, director of IS Food Retail, said: "The re-engineering of the EPoS system so it can be shut down at night clearly underlines The Co-operative Group's continued commitment to the environment and to finding new ways of saving energy."

The Co-operative has set itself a target of reducing energy use at all its premises by 25% by 2012.

www.co-op.co.uk

Littlewoods enhance online shopping experience

Online and home shopping retailer Littlewoods Shop Direct Group (LSDG), has appointed Gomez Inc. to handle its external website availability and performance monitoring.

In the summer of 2007 LSDG began to use the Gomez Experience First platform to better understand how the customer experience offered by their websites was influenced by website performance. LSDG is currently using Gomez's Active Network XF and Gomez's Active Last Mile XF services, to monitor how quickly their sites load when a customer visits them online. By understanding how customers are affected by changes in this speed, Littlewoods can ensure the best possible measures are taken to keep the websites responding quickly and consistently.

"Within two weeks of first gathering data, we had identified and implemented several website performance improvements which substantially improved our customers' experience. Since then, several new developments have been planned for 2008 which will allow us to further improve the speed and stability of our websites. The data provided by the Gomez product range is now intrinsic to helping us continually put our customers first," commented a spokesperson for Littlewoods.

David Flower, VP EMEA for Gomez, added: "As different as the online world may seem from the bricks and mortar stores, a fundamental truth remains exactly the same: if you make products and services hard to find, hard to buy, or create a poor shopping environment, customers won't buy.

www.gomez.com

Morrisons deploys EAS solutions to protect merchandise

Morrisons Supermarkets, one of the UK's largest supermarket chains, have announced an agreement to extend its Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS) programme to a further 240+ locations in its UK estate with TAG Company Ltd. The programme will roll out over the next 18 months and forms part of a supply agreement between the two organisations which will see TAG support Morrisons in the protection of its merchandise against shoplifting.

During 2007, TAG supplyied, installed and maintained customised Retail Tagging solutions in more than 50 Morrisons stores. The solution included alarming exit gates, point of sale detachers and deactivators in addition to millions of hard tags and soft labels attached to higher risk merchandise.

Alison Hudson, head of retail security, stated, "As Morrisons continues its growth as one of the UK's leading retail brands, we face the ever-growing threat from shoplifting and organised retail crime. Morrisons' stores have a range of ongoing security measures including the highest level of security guards and plain clothes, in-store detectives and CCTV.

Now, more than ever, Morrisons is utilising technology to compete, to gain market share, and to fend off theft from our stores. We chose TAG Company because of its reputation as the leading solutions provider in the UK and their commitment to providing a true business solution."

www.tagcompany.com

Crocs footwear optimises supply chain

Global supply chain optimisation provider Manhattan Associates have announced that its supply chain solutions will support the continued success and expansion of Crocs, Inc., the fast-growing designer, manufacturer and retailer of the Crocs footwear brand. Crocs, Inc., sells its range of shoes, apparel and accessories in the Netherlands and 90 other countries around the world and has selected Manhattan solutions as part of its supply chain optimisation strategy.

"Manhattan Distribution Management solutions uniquely equip companies such as Crocs to respond quickly and plan appropriately for periods of explosive growth when brand awareness and demand are at their highest levels," said Jan Heijblom, sector manager, Central Europe at Manhattan Associates. "Our solutions provide visibility within supply chains so companies can see the flow of orders and inventory and can forecast their labour requirements during peak periods."

Crocs, Inc. will begin implementing Manhattan's Distribution Management solutions in two major distribution centres in Rotterdam, Netherlands and Leon, Mexico. Crocs markets its products through a wide range of distribution channels, including traditional footwear retailers and specialty channels, as well as selling directly to consumers through its web site and company-operated kiosks. Over the past three years, the company has grown into a global player in the footwear market.

"In operating across multiple geographies and distribution channels, it is important for us to build a standard global platform with a solution that offers built-in flexibility," said Alex Poole, director of global supply chain development for Crocs, Inc. "Manhattan's solutions will play an important role as we build out our worldwide infrastructure."

www.manh.com