The need for speed and ease-of-use at the point of sale, has led many football clubs to invest in touchscreen technology. The latest to follow this trend is Manchester City at its new retail superstore.

After hosting the Commonwealth Games in 2002, Manchester City claimed the impressive City of Manchester Stadium as its home-ground. The 48,000-seater stadium includes many superior facilities such as six restaurants and purpose-built function rooms. Adjacent to the Stadium is Reebok City, and it's here that in 2003 the Club unveiled its new retail store.

With around 6,000 square foot of selling space, the City Store stocks around 500 product lines, including souvenirs and sports/leisure wear. Head of Retail, Duncan Martin commented: "With an average match day bringing around 4,000 customers, offering the fans a fast and friendly service is our top priority. We need a system which can not only process transactions quickly, but also provides stock and sales information to enable efficient daily stock replenishment."

In order to address this, MCFC installed 20 intuitive, touchscreen Epson Intelligent Registers (IRs) running Genesis 2000 from North-London solution provider, Esperus Systems. The Windows-based software, combined with Epson's hardware, offers a complete retail management system handling MCFC's front and back-office applications including EPoS, stock management and instant sales reports. Having previously implemented the system in 2000 at its retail outlets before relocation to the Stadium, it was the clear choice for the new superstore. Features such as price look-up, rapid stock searches with clothing colour and size options, an integrated credit card swipe and fast thermal printer help staff to deal with more customers on hectic match days:

"The system enabled us to serve more customers and increased our sales to such an extent that our initial roll-out paid for itself in only five match days!" claimed Duncan Martin. "The touchscreens make a huge difference. Getting operators familiar with them takes no time at all and, with many temporary and part-time staff, that's very important to us."

In addition, Epson's IR also runs the ticket system for the Club's 'Visitor Attraction', providing a fast and user-friendly way for staff to manage admissions, with an estimated 7,000 tickets processed in April 2004 alone.

The EPoS system also supports Manchester City's innovative 'Access Card', whereby season ticket books and traditional paper tickets have been replaced with smartcards. Used to gain access to the ground, the Access Card also acts as an 'e-purse' that can be loaded with credit to buy store merchandise. "To avoid match day rush, fans will be able to use their cards to pre-buy items. The purchase information is downloaded to the store and so all that's left to do is 'bag and tag' the item ready for collection at full-time." With a card reader attached to every IR, the Club is able to track each fan's specific purchases and therefore reward loyalty with special tailor-made offers. What's more, Manchester City FC is also integrating the system with its new CRM software, helping to further enhance the service the Club offers its fans.

"We needed a flexible and open system and that's exactly what we have. Developing with our changing needs, Epson's IR with Genesis 2000 software has provided the ideal platform to support various applications," concluded Duncan. "Over the last four years at Manchester City it has come through a rigorous test and stood up very well - the product's reliability and ease-of-use has been totally proven."

For further information contact
Steve Kirsh, Esperus Systems, Tel: 020 8920 9888