De Gruchy
THE CHANNEL ISLANDS LARGEST RETAILER - CHOOSES FUTURA TO IMPROVE CUSTOMER LOYALTY
For over 200 years, De Gruchy, Jersey’s iconic department store, has been a cornerstone of the Channel Islands’ retail landscape. As part of a multi-million-pound makeover and investment strategy, the store collaborated with Futura’s retail management solution to modernise its systems and enhance customer loyalty.
The Challenge
Operating out of a 76,000-square-foot landmark in Jersey’s main shopping district, De Gruchy needed a solution to improve operational efficiency. Merchandise Director Steve Taberman sought a system that could streamline stock replenishment, provide real-time visibility into stock and sales data, and reduce stockholdings to optimise working capital in challenging times.
The Solution
De Gruchy opted for Futura’s retail management system—a solution renowned for its efficiency and flexibility. The system supports:
- Improved Stock Management: Enhancing replenishment processes and delivering clearer insights into inventory and sales performance.
- Working Capital Efficiency: Minimising stockholdings to free up capital for reinvestment.
- Personalised Customer Loyalty: Offering tools for promotions, customer credit card accounts, business accounts, and sophisticated loyalty programs. Additionally, the inclusion of top-up gift cards ensures a tailored shopping experience for De Gruchy’s clientele.
Futura worked alongside De Gruchy to seamlessly migrate existing customers onto the new platform, creating opportunities to drive more sales and strengthen customer loyalty.
The Results
The integration of Futura’s system has brought tangible benefits to De Gruchy’s operations. Notably, standardising on Futura across its parent company, Ulster Stores, enabled compatibility for group-wide reporting and efficiency in purchasing processes. Reports such as top-performing stock and open purchase orders are now accessible across the group, streamlining decision-making and operations.
Steve Taberman remarked: “We have invested in Futura’s retail management system as it’s a known and trusted brand and because of the positive experience of our parent company Ulster Stores. The system is easy to expand and it has the flexibility to meet the needs of a Channel Islands retailer.”
A Collaborative Future
Although separate companies De Gruchy is owned by Ulster Stores, who run Futura across six outlets. Standardising on Futura across the group brings a number of management benefits including compatibility for reports such as top performing stock as well as standard purchase orders, open purchase orders and pre-delivery reports for goods in.