UK pharmacy chain increases payment options and improves staff scheduling with new till software and productivity management

UK pharmacy chain increases payment options and improves staff scheduling with new till software and productivity management

Lloydspharmacy, one of the UK’s largest community pharmacy operators with over 1,650 pharmacies in communities and health centres, has selected Torex Retail-J electronic point-of-sale (PoS) solution and Torex Productivity Management to streamline payment and delivery options while improving the overall customer experience.

By implementing Retail-J within Lloydspharmacy’s SAP programme, the retailer will have an integrated, transparent view of data across all channels, allowing it to offer its customers a broader range of purchase options. For instance, goods ordered on the Lloydspharmacy website will be available for pick up in-store, and large items such as wheelchairs may be ordered in-store for home delivery.

Better integration increases flexibility

In each pharmacy, customers will be able to purchase toiletries and other goods at the same PoS as prescription drugs. The increased flexibility resulting from fully integrating with the prescription system will ensure a speedier transaction process, reducing queues in-store. The system also offers secure electronic file transfer (EFT) technology to give full Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliance.

Torex Retail-J integrates with Torex Productivity Management, selected by Lloydspharmacy to help the business better schedule its pharmacists and sales staff. This web-based system will be accessed and updated by management from any location, allowing them to plan staff holidays and schedule rotas for all 17,000 staff members. This will help to improve customer service further by ensuring that sales staff and qualified pharmacists are scheduled most effectively during busy periods.

Gareth Owen, director of IT at Lloydspharmacy, commented: “As one of the UK’s leading community pharmacy operators we are keen to continue strengthening our market share and offer a range of purchasing methods convenient to our customers. Torex is a proven leader in this field and was able to provide some excellent customer testimonials to show its understanding of this area, as well as demonstrating a close understanding of our specific business plan and business needs. This investment in a new EPOS is essential to our strategy of building our non-dispensing business, in the light of continuing pressure on dispensing margins.”