It wasn't long ago that designer clothes were the preserve of the rich, famous and those who made a living parading the catwalk. Today, the public appetite for high fashion has never been greater. This is largely due to the level of media coverage, which has increased awareness and encouraged more retailers to stock designer names for their customers. The designers too have played their part, with many now producing off-the-peg diffusion ranges at lower, more accessible price points than traditional haute couture.

Undoubtedly, one of the most prestigious labels around today is that of Italian designer, Giorgio Armani. The Armani Empire - Giorgio Armani, Emporio Armani and Armani Collezioni - now includes more than 250 stores in 33 countries, which ring up worldwide sales of $2 billion a year. In the UK, where the wholesale and retail operations are exclusively controlled by the Club 21 Group, Armani can be found in the most prestigious retail locations, such as Brompton Road, Sloane Street and Bond Street.

To assist the store administrators, who are in charge of day-to-day retail operations at these sites, Club 21 has recently invested in a new EPoS system. Running on Epson SR-600 touchscreen terminals, the TouchPOS software from Hampshire-based DRL Systems provides all the point of sale functionality required, while being much faster and easier for cashiers to use. The result, Club 21 believes, has been more efficient transactions and fewer 'customer walkaways'.

"Quite simply, we were looking for the best way to take payments from customers," explained Club 21's Retail System Manager, Jayanti Patel. "The Epson tills have helped us increase our sales turnover, as cashiers now spend less time processing each sale. An added bonus is that the tills fit in with the overall look of our stores and have even been adapted, at our request, to match our in-store colour scheme."

The TouchPOS solution is designed to interface with Club 21's UNIX-based accounting and inventory systems, which produce the company's sales and management reports. In addition, details of new stock lines and pricing can be downloaded remotely from Head Office from a new touchscreen menu, rather than physically taken to each branch, as had previously been the case.

The Epson SR-600 tills are being used in Club 21's Giorgio Armani, Armani Collezioni and Emporio Armani stores, as well as in the Armani Caffe, where the software has been adapted to handle the requirement of a hospitality environment, including features such as table tracking and bill transfers. The tills also feature at the new relocated Emporio Armani store in New Bond Street, which opened in Feburary 2002.

For further information contact David Legg, DRL Systems Tel: 0238 076 0808