One of the UK's best loved attractions, London Zoo is a Mecca for all lovers of mammals, reptiles, insects, fish and birds.

Its popularity is well-deserved. Established in 1828 by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), it became the world's first scientific zoo and continues to play an important part in understanding and conserving animals and their habitats. Since opening to the public in 1847, London Zoo has held a fascination which reaches far beyond the capital. Many of its animals have gripped the public imagination, such as Guy the Gorilla, Goldie the Eagle who escaped for 11 days back in 1965 and Winnie, an American Black Bear who provided literary inspiration for zoo visitor, AA Milne and his son Christopher. Even its buildings, particularly the Grade I Listed Penguin House, are agreed to have great architectural importance.

Today, London Zoo attracts around 900,000 visitors each year and houses over 650 different species. It also participates in approximately 150 breeding programmes for threatened species and numerous conservation projects, as well as a thriving educational programme. Its 'sister' zoo, Whipsnade Wild Animal Park, is set in 600 acres of the Chiltern Downs in Bedfordshire and is home to 2,500 animals. It was voted Zoo of the Year 2002 by the Good Britain Guide and welcomes an average 450,000 visitors each year.

As you would expect, both ZSL sites have souvenir shops (four at London Zoo and two at Whipsnade) where visitors can find confectionery, books, videos and cuddly animal toys as a memento of their day. However, by 2002, the cash till based system was showing signs of strain and ZSL decided to invest in a more sophisticated retail management solution.

Mark Fisher, Head of Retail and Admissions for ZSL, explained: "We wanted a solution which would allow us to manage both sites from one location. Before, we never knew our best-selling lines and we held too much stock in our warehouse - the new system would have to help us operate more efficiently and more profitably. It also had to be future-proofed so the software had to be Windows based and the hardware had to be reliable and have a useful lifespan of at least three to four years."

After investigating seven different solutions, ZSL selected Futur@ERS, from Berkshire-based Futura because "the software was a good fit and the company had a more energetic approach". At the point of sale, the easy-to-use Windows 2000 software runs on flat screen terminals (eleven at London and five at Whipsnade). Combined with barcode scanners and Epson's fast and reliable TM-T88III thermal receipt printers, it enables staff to process transactions more quickly. It also enables ZSL to feature one-to-one marketing messages on each customer receipt highlighting its adoption, membership or conservation schemes.

The system provides accurate management information for both sites, with standard reports available from the point of sale and more detailed options available from the back office. This means that the management team knows its current best seller - a cuddly toy giraffe - and can develop new lines which reflect customer preferences. In addition, better information means that ZSL can reduce its stock holding and improve its cash flow position.

" We've been very happy with the system, which was implemented within a very tight timeframe," said Mark Fisher. "The next stage is to link it to our membership database so we can track any purchases members make using bar coded membership card. We also plan to rollout the system to our café and catering service at London Zoo. Most of all we want to keep evolving the system so it meets our developing needs!"