+ CASE STUDY
Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi
Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi Implements Solutions DGR in 16 Locations in Two Weeks
Overview
Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi recognized the importance of timely and accurate reporting, in-depth data accessibility, and the value of a committed partnership. As a result, they made the decision to partner with Solutions ITW to upgrade their POS system to Solutions DGR. The initial rollout was completed with 16 locations in only 2 weeks.
Project
Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi was searching for a new POS system that would provide extensive functionality, data segmentation, and ease-of-use not only for the floor workers such as cashiers, but also for the management and sales teams to make data-driven strategic decisions.
Solutions ITW was hired to implement their state-of-the-art POS technology, Solutions DGR, in 16 retail locations in only 2 weeks. The company successfully completed the project on time, thus laying the foundation for a new, long-term partnership.
Challenges
Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi needed POS technology that, first and foremost, provided key functionality in data segmentation and reporting along with in-depth data and critical statistics regarding sales by day, by store, by quarter, or by associate.
The team needed accessibility to their own business intelligence to make informed, data-driven decision making possible for the sales and management teams.
Secondly, the team needed control over pricing levels and promotion management. The team wanted to be able to set and adjust pricing, coordinate promotions, and track the success of individual goods across the sales cycle. This would help the organization to compare and evaluate different pricing processors and identify the most successful processors.
There was also a rising need for a user-friendly interface that anyone could run without having to have highly technical skills to run scripts and generate new reports. By implementing easy-to-use software, management felt as though it would raise the level of happiness of cashiers and make training new hires easier.
Finally, Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi was looking to start a reliable, long-term partnership with a software provider that would share the journey of growing and evolving. During the search for a new partner, the organization prioritized excellent customer service, the availability of their partner to fulfill custom requests as needed, and an overall commitment to the cause.
Reporting is the lifeblood of the organization and it needs to be easily digested to understand sales and effectiveness of our daily operations.
+ James McVaugh, Director of Information Services at Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi Inc
We set an unrealistic goal of having them set up all 16 of our retail locations in 2 weeks. It was incredibly ambitious and a little bit insane, but Solutions ITW was very open.
+ James McVaugh
The Partnership
Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi received a strong recommendation from their associates at Goodwill Manasota to pursue Solutions ITW.
After a quick evaluation of one other vendor, the organization wasted no more time on further pursuit and selected Solutions ITW as their DGR solutions partner.
Introductory consultations were enough to understand that Solutions DGR was exactly what Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi needed. During the evaluation period, the Goodwill team was impressed with precision in reporting, as well as the complete package with the production system, barcoding, and donations systems. Solutions DGR allows the user to track an item from the moment it’s donated and barcoded to the sales floor and through the point of sales or salvage. All these were excellent new tools for the organization to use to increase revenue.
The new system also provides insights into pricing statistics, which the team can use to understand trends, identify best and worst selling prices, and consequently adjust the pricing strategy to reasonable rates to help drive more sales.
Implementation
Time was of paramount importance. Solutions ITW was challenged to implement their new technology in 16 retail locations in only 2 weeks, while normally this process would take no less than 2 months.
The Solutions ITW team carried out the planning and execution on site. Having already undergone this transition, Goodwill Manasota also pitched in with their human resources.
The team had to face unprecedented challenges of a worldwide microchip shortage and shipping delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite all of this, all 16 locations were successfully transitioned with no major issues within the expected timeline.
Reporting is the lifeblood of the organization and it needs to be easily digested to understand sales and effectiveness of our daily operations. We set an unrealistic goal of having them set up all 16 of our retail locations in 2 weeks. It was incredibly ambitious and a little bit insane, but Solutions ITW was very open.
+ James McVaugh, Director of Information Services at Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi Inc
Outcome
Goodwill Industries of South Mississippi has already recorded a much higher level of happiness among cashiers.
The new user interface is straightforward and makes the daily work of the floor staff fast and effortless.
Communication built into the Solutions DGR system now allows managers to leave comments on issues of the day, which in turn helps the accounting team resolve them much quicker. Nothing is falling through the cracks.
They really want us to grow our businesses and have a greater impact in the community by increasing our retail sales or making them more efficient. It’s just great to have that relationship.
+ James McVaugh