At a certain point in its evolution, a retail group needs its growing number of outlets to be managed in an integrated fashion. But finding a retail management system that actually understands how retail works was the hard part, that is until Argility’s Retail4U came onto the market.

Retail4U was designed by a development team with decades of retail experience and has been created to provide a complete solution for medium to large retail chains selling high-ticket items. At the same time, though, Retail4U handles important add-ins like data or airtime purchases.

Our aim was—and is—deceptively simple

To ensure that all the overarching functions are managed effectively and consistently to maximise impact on the bottom line. These functions include merchandising, promotions, debtors/creditors, data management plus backup, business intelligence and analytics.

By reducing complexity and providing a process framework perfectly aligned with the retail environment, Retail4U frees up the management at each of the stores to focus on their real business: creating a positive experience for customers. Process workflows simplify things for staff and make it convenient for customers to transact.

Unique features

A unique feature of the South African retail market is that retailers offer credit, instead of relying on third parties such as a bank or finance house. Retail4U’s credit module provides a bullet-proof way to expedite the whole process, from affordability assessment through to credit checks and final approval. The whole process can be automated, or it can be configured to ensure that a human gives the final go-ahead.

The vast majority of our clients opt for the latter option—automated credit is clearly a work in progress as much as driverless cars are!

A big bonus is that the system allows for electronic signatures, so it’s virtually paperless. Aside from the convenience for both store and customer, there are considerable savings to be had from the elimination of paper and ink for printing, not forgetting the costs incurred by storing large amounts of paper securely.

Flexible architecture

Aside from the invaluable retail intellectual property baked into the system, Retail4U’s design has a number of other advantages that our clients particularly like. One is that it is built using open-source software, which means no expensive licencing fees. Another is the flexibility of the architecture. Retail4U can be run on premise with a physical server in each store, or it can be hosted in the cloud—Argility uses (and is expert in) the Google Cloud platform.

The advantages of the cloud are well known and include scalability and a subscription-based model. But for retailers with widely distributed stores, what’s even more important is the redundancy that comes with the cloud. In addition, Retail4U is designed to replicate transactions in real time, so even if there’s a problem at the store, the whole transaction is mirrored in the cloud, not just the data.

In short, transactions can never be lost—something that is all too likely to happen when there are connectivity problems. There’s a full, detailed audit trail too.

A key feature is that Retail4U integrates easily into existing legacy systems and third-party applications, including financial and accounting systems, credit bureaus, validations with banks and Home Affairs, planning and replenishing systems and e-commerce solutions.

A final point to make is that South Africa’s ICT sector currently faces an extreme shortage of talent. The combined experience of Argility’s team is unmatched in the industry, and this guarantees that we don’t just pride ourselves on having the best system for medium to large retailers now, but also into the future.

We’re always innovating to ensure our clients have the best technology to drive growth and profits.

Explore Retail4U in greater detail