Maginus web solution improves customer experience and achieves significant cost reductions for Oddbins Direct

  • New Maginus web storefront solution helps drive double digit growth for Oddbins Direct
  • High Resolution Images to accompany this release are available from here and here

Manchester, May 16, 2006 - Maginus, the specialist provider of multi-channel solutions for Retail and Distribution organisations, has implemented a new web storefront for Oddbins Direct based on Maginus Webstore Plus technology. The new web storefront replaces a previous solution that was both expensive to maintain and required too much internal resource to keep up-to-date. The updated Oddbins Direct web site focuses on improving the customer experience and will also deliver significant cost reductions for the company.

This new contract builds on Maginus’ successful relationship with Oddbins, which has used Maginus’ order management and call centre software to control the direct side of its business for five years. According to Bob Smyllie, Head of IS and Logistics at Oddbins: “There was a time when the direct business model was seen as an 'add-on' to our main High St proposition, but now it’s a key route to market for our business. Thanks to our core Maginus technology, our direct model now covers the web, orders taken through our call centre and orders received by fax and post from the Oddbins Direct catalogue.  

“Our growth year-on-year in this area is in double digits, which is significantly ahead of current High St performance, so it’s essential that our web storefront provides customers with the service they expect and is fully integrated with the rest of our business systems,” he continued. “We already had a strong relationship with Maginus and had the confidence in their organisation to manage the project and the design work carried out by their web design partners, Enzyme Design Ltd. Maginus ensured that the project ran to plan, and that the back-end integration functioned in line with our expectations. The design team at Enzyme also demonstrated a clear understanding of the Oddbins brand image, and were able to combine this with an in-depth awareness of the capabilities of our core Maginus system.”

The new web storefront offers a number of innovative features, including support for the B2B side of the Oddbins business. A significant proportion of the Oddbins business is to Account customers such as bars, restaurants and hotels. The new web site provides information and transactional support to these customers, including access to account details, credit limits and preferential pricing. Oddbins expects that this facility will drive increased new business from this sector.  

Oddbins Direct’s new web storefront also benefits from total integration with the back-end Maginus system. For example, promotions on the web site are now controlled directly by Maginus, whereas on the old web site they were maintained on the web site itself. By controlling all promotions through all the direct channels within Maginus, customers are assured of a consistent offer whichever channel they choose to use. This will both reduce the time taken to manage promotions and improve the customer’s multi-channel experience.

In addition, Oddbins will have access to all information about a customer, across all channels. Another benefit of the tight integration between Maginus and the new web site is that all information that customers see is sourced from and maintained by a single Maginus database, ensuring accurate and current data on stock availability, product details and pricing.

The new site also includes a ‘Content Manager’, which allows non-technical staff in departments such as Marketing to change information on the web site easily. This ensures that the site is always up-to-date and accurately reflects the Oddbins offering. Bob Smyllie concluded: "We expect our investment in the new web site will deliver a return in its first year of operation thanks to improved efficiency and reduced costs.”

About Oddbins:
Oddbins, from its very early days, has occupied a unique position in British drinks retailing. The company has grown into the country’s pre-eminent wine retailer with 272 branches giving national coverage from Inverness to Truro. Oddbins’ pioneering work has been applauded by the International Wine Challenge and has resulted in Oddbins winning the top prize of ‘Overall Wine Merchant of the Year’, 12 times out of a possible 17. In addition to the stores, www.oddbins.com and the development of e-mail communication means that Oddbins’ award-winning range is accessible to all UK customers.

About Maginus:
Maginus solutions enable retail and distribution companies to drive revenue and increase customer satisfaction by providing comprehensive control over multi-channel selling and fulfillment. The company’s integrated suite of powerful CRM, Financials and Supply Chain software helps organisations to market, sell and deliver the products their customers want via a broad range of channels including catalogue and mail order, telesales, the Web, trade counter and store operations. Originally founded in 1972, Maginus brings over 30 years’ of in-depth customer experience to the retail and distribution sector whilst it’s innovative eXtensible Architecture gives a flexible, customisable technology platform that can adapt to meet changing business requirements. Find out more about the company at www.maginus.com

For more information, please contact:

Janice Mawhinney
Maginus Software Solutions
Tel: 0161 946 3816
janice.mawhinney@maginus.com

Cheryl Billson
IBA - PR for Maginus
Tel: 01780 721433
cbillson@iba-europe.com

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