SJP by Sarah Jessica Parker

The Challenge – Inefficient Technology that Slowed Down the Sales Process

In 2019, SJP Brands began a search for a new POS, driven by frustration over how hard their system was for store associates to use. COO Alyssa Arminio explains, “Our POS was confusing and hard to use. It felt like it took 100 steps just to do a simple transaction. We knew that a more intuitive solution was out there so I set out to find it.”

Whereas other retailers might create an RFP and reach out to multiple vendors for demos and bids, Alyssa went in a different direction. She did her own comprehensive online research and spoke to other retailers to learn what POS they used and how it met their needs. KWI quickly rose to the top of the list, with customers repeatedly praising the solution’s intuitive interface which makes transactions simple and fast for store associates and improves the customer experience.

The Solution – Intuitive UI that Streamlines Transactions for Store Associates

During the vendor research process, Alyssa kept her eye on the prize, focusing on her number one need — simplicity. She knew she picked the right solution during implementation when KWI came on-premise to train the staff. Alyssa explains, “I only had an hour to attend the session but in that hour, I got everything I needed to use the POS. Unfortunately, we were forced to shut down due to Covid-19 shortly after that training but nearly six months later I was able to go into the store and ring up a transaction like I was trained yesterday. It’s that easy.”

Alyssa’s determination in finding an easy-to-use POS pays off daily at the store. With industry-wide staff shortages and consumers returning to stores in droves, there is never a long wait at the register. Whether the store team is ringing up a customer or finding their record in the system to process a return, things always move quickly and efficiently.

“With KWI, our sales associates can really quickly ring up an order or find any transaction.”

But, Alyssa remembers a time when that wasn’t possible, saying, “When the store is busy and the POS is slow, it’s embarrassing and overwhelming because you simply can’t move on. You’re stuck, and you have a waiting customer right in front of you. Thankfully, that never happens today. With KWI, our sales associates can really quickly ring up an order or find any transaction. As a result, they can provide better service and that drives brand loyalty so our customers come back.”

Alyssa continues, “another way KWI is better is in how efficiently customer information gets entered into the system, and also how easy it is to refer back to it. For example, there are so many ways to pull up a customer’s transaction — you can find it by date, credit card, name, shipment. Other POS systems are just not as seamless.”

Additional Benefits – Data, Alignment and White Glove Support and Training

Although ease-of-use was the prime attribute that the SJP team was looking for in a POS, they got much more with KWI. Today, SJP Brands is a much more data-focused company because of how easy it is to add customer data during a transaction and access it later for marketing efforts. The retailer is doing more personalization in its outreach and seeing better results. In addition, sophisticated reporting means that the team can answer any sales-related question with quantitative data, whether it arises on the sales floor or at the corporate office. Alyssa says, “Reporting is so simple and easy — it answers all the questions we could ever ask. As a result, we are better able to analyze sales, inventory, and do order replenishments.”

KWI’s retail merchandising platform has also helped align the in-store and corporate teams because they’re finally able to access real-time data, something they didn’t have before. As a result, the corporate team is able to set up the store team for success and provide them with better support around inventory optimization. And, because the POS and back-office merchandising are connected in real-time, corporate teams can easily reorder and ship merchandise, maximizing sales and driving customer loyalty.

“At the end of the day, we are a much better business with KWI powering our sales.”