Winery aims to boost sales with mobile retail system

- Contributed by Jesse Wong & edited by Gary Thayer

Dec. 14, 2005 -- (MobileVillage) -- Wineries offer unique challenges for point of sale (POS) solution integration. Grapes are grown on the premises, pressed and bottled into fine wine, then distributed and sold; all in the same location.

Domaine Serene, a distinguished winery in the Dundee Hills of Oregon, needed a digital solution for its wine that would cover all aspects of operation, from grape to shelf. Allan Carter, the winery's Marketing Director, was interested in expanding retail operations.

"Traditionally, all orders were processed manually," says Carter. "This made tracking sales and inventory very difficult. Taking orders by hand and fulfilling them from handwritten work orders was not fast, reliable, or effective."

In researching potential solutions he came across New West Technologies, a Portland based integrator of retail POS software solutions. New West evaluated the current winery software being used at Domaine Serene. Working within budget, New West elected to maintain the existing winery software and to integrate it into Microsoft Retail Management System (RMS) by building a custom software extension.

In addition to the software extension, mobile retail capabilities were added and overall functionality was enhanced. All told, a total of seven different core software applications were integrated to complete Domaine Serene's solution.

Mobile POS, a mobility software title designed for handheld PDAs, allowed Domaine Serene to integrate tent sales into their retail offerings. With the ability to ring customer sales from outside the sales floor, the expanded capability of outdoor sales boosted sales significantly.

"The Domaine Serene experience is all about exceptional service," says Carter. "Being able to showcase our wines and take customer orders without leaving the table allows us to enhance the experience and increase sales on the spot."

Mobile Suite, containing a variety of software applications designed for the Pocket PC handheld platform, conferred the ability to take the computer to the inventory. Employees use the handheld PDAs to scan product barcodes, wirelessly transmitting the information to the database. Records are immediately updated and can be counted in small or large sections.

Other software titles meant to improve overall flow and functionality were People Pop, a directory search tool that auto populates customer information based on phone number, and Mix & Match, a price discounting tool for wine sales, enabling customers to chose a variety of different types of wine and purchase them at the case rate.

With a bit of pre-install jitters and a great deal of excitement, Carter decided to install the entire system at once. New West's senior technician, Eric Green, built the integration over the course of a week, allowing an extra month to ensure that there was time to test, train, and smooth out any system bugs before taking the new system live.

"Each person at Domaine Serene had their own area of expertise. Due to the flexibility I have with RMS, it was just a question of matching up the program and training with the right person. The most difficult part was getting the correct people together at the same time to show them what we can do," says Green.

With the completed solution in place, Domaine Serene has access to new sources of potential. Their newly integrated system has room for growth, while offering opportunities to fully explore new outlets of retail sales.

"The [mobile POS] solution completely upgraded the way we do business." says Carter. "Now I can track every bottle sold, including samples, employee purchases, and even non-wine merchandise. It makes it very easy for us to know when we are running low on items and sales reports are accurate and effective."

For more information about New West Technologies' Mobile POS and Mobile Suite, see newestech.com.

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