- Market Sector: Exhibition Supplies
- Established: 2016
- No. of employees: 5+
- With Benchmark since: 2016
Expo Supplies is strategically located at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) Birmingham to service the exhibition industry. They are a “one stop shop” for the display industry offering a wide variety of products used in the construction of exhibition and display stands. They needed a trade counter EPOS system, and they needed it fast!
Background
From small items such as screws and fixings to a specialist paint mixing service, Expo Supplies offer a huge range of essential equipment to the exhibition industry. As well as specialist items, they also stock the majority of products found in a traditional builders merchants, including PPE, lighting, adhesives and tools.
Problem
After taking over an existing business, Expo Supplies were re-launching at the NEC and needed an effective trade counter EPOS system that could cope with the large number of stock items and anticipated volume of sales. They had already bought a software package that, in theory, promised to fulfil all of these requirements. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. They approached Benchmark just a week before opening in dire need of a replacement system that would tick all of their boxes and be up and running within the tight time schedule.
Solution – Trade Counter EPOS
We like a challenge! We quickly ascertained exactly what they needed the system to do, and focussed on importing their existing stock files and getting the essential functionality in place. As a result they had a fully operational trade counter EPOS system (including barcoding) from the moment they opened. Once we got passed this first hurdle we were able to fine-tune their system to ensure that it could manage all of their other requirements and are currently completing a target analysis add-on for them. This will enable them to instantly compare actual sales achieved with targets set, giving them the information they need to organise sales activities and promotions around specific areas.
Client feedback
“We originally bought a software package from a different supplier, but as soon as we started using it we realised that it wouldn’t do ‘what it says on the tin’. I had heard of Benchmark Software and a couple of previous colleagues had mentioned their POS system and how good it was. I rang them up and explained our situation regarding timescale, fully expecting to be told it wasn’t possible. I’m pleased to say I was wrong!
The team at Benchmark bent over backwards to get things sorted for us – you would never get that from some of the larger software providers. We didn’t have time to play with a demo so we relied heavily on Benchmark’s support initially, and I have to say they were brilliant.
Barcoding has been a real godsend. The fact that a customer is buying something on-site at the NEC often means they have forgotten to bring it with them. They are always under time pressure to get the build finished so being able to process their sale quickly is really important.
We have been using the software for a few months now and have found it to be very user friendly. It does everything we need but we are ultimately still playing catch up. If ever I need something tweaked or changed I just ring up the support team. Everything we have asked for they have done, and we are getting the system to work exactly the way we want, rather than having to compromise. They even asked me if there was anything I was unhappy about – a refreshing change! However I have to say no – it’s an excellent system and we’re very happy with it.”
Dave
Expo Supplies
Visit their website HERE
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