The company - the choice of British exploration and mountaineering pioneers, such as Fiennes and Hempleman-Adams, since 1957 - needed a solution which was Millennium compliant, could provide proper sales and management reporting and would be fully compatible with Karrimor's existing head office systems.

"We wanted a system which would give us total control in all our stores - sales, stock, prices etc - as well as being very easy to use,"added Karrimor's Management Information Systems Manager, John-Pierre Lamb. "As a company which supplies highly technical clothing and equipment for use in extreme conditions, we were also conscious that a leading edge touchscreen-based solution was totally consistent with our brand image."

The IRs, running Genesis 2000 software from North London based solution provider, Esperus, are expected to help the company's five retail outlets prosper in what is an extremely competitive market. For example, staff have quickly been able to grasp the essentials of navigating the illustrated on-screen menus; while any discounts are calculated automatically by the system so that transactions are processed as efficiently as possible. Comprehensive sales data is downloaded to Karrimor's Head Office at the beginning of each day for analysis.

"The new system is much faster, more reliable and offers a great deal of additional functionality at the point of sale," said John-Pierre Lamb. "Crucially it's also Windows-based and can be fully integrated with our head office systems. Over the next few years, we hope to extend our operations, in co-operation with all our existing retailers and stockists. The system we now have in place is the ideal platform for this expansion."

Epson
Established for over 30 years as the world's premier printer manufacturer, Epson has the widest range of PoS printers and touchscreen solutions in the world, each designed to be the best in its class, and built to meet quality and performance criteria that set the industry standard.

Epson's best of breed thermal, inkjet and impact printers for the point of sale have long been the choice of major retailers in the UK and overseas. The company has also been at the forefront of innovations such as 2-colour receipts, single insertion cheque printing and drop-in paper load.

Together with its channel and system partners, Epson offers system solutions for all retail and hospitality environments. The company's range of fully integrated touchscreen terminals includes the powerful Intelligent Register (IR) and SR-600.

For further details, please contact David Ormerod, Epson Retail Technology Division (RTD), Campus 100, Maylands Avenue, Hemel Hempstead, Herts, HP2 7TJ. Tel: 01442 227318
Email: dormerod@epson.co.uk
Web: www.pos.epson.co.uk

Press contact is Nicola Atkins at Vector Marketing Communications, on Tel: 01442 877167 Fax: 01442 877769
Email: nicola.atkins@vector.co.uk
Web: www.vector.co.uk