SAP says it has successfully implementated the SAP for Retail solution portfolio, providing integrated end-to-end retail applications for Al Batha Group’s new electronics retail venture, E-City. Al Batha Group, one of the largest business conglomerates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), required a retail-specific solution as a strategic IT foundation to grow along with the E-City business. The successful implementation of the SAP software was completed in only four months, with the support of a dedicated SAP task force.
Al Batha Group, an SAP customer since 1999, recently launched E-City as the first super-specialty electronics store in the Middle East. The store offers world-class customer service and sells a wide range of high-end electronic items, including laptops, televisions and telecommunications products such as mobile phones. The store recently opened in Wafi Mall, and the company has plans to open additional stores in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, as well as across the UAE and Middle East over the next several years.
E-City is using the SAP Point-of-Sale (SAP POS) application, which offers retail-specific needs such as pricing, discounts, promotions, tender types, layaways and returns. The application also offers back-office functions for in-depth store-level management and reporting.
“Al Batha has been working with SAP for nearly a decade, so when it came time to select a strategic IT solution for our new retail venture, SAP was a natural fit,” said John Willimott, managing director of Al Batha Retail Group, which includes E-City. “The integrated, end-to-end retail solution from SAP enables staff at our new retail stores to consolidate all services from the back-office to point-of-sale, while providing fast, effective and efficient service to customers. Additionally, SAP POS enables us to respond immediately to changing business needs and competitive pressures by quickly implementing new business functionality or transaction types.”
Mobile POS terminals allow E-City staff to scan a customer’s basket goods and print a product slip that the customer can then take to the cashier and pay immediately, ensuring that queues in-store are minimal. In addition, the ‘Info Stations’ situated in the store allow staff to check stock position and status, and create sales orders that are automated to the back office.
“The SAP for Retail set of solutions is integrated with Al Batha’s existing SAP platform by providing a single view across the entire enterprise,” said Saji Oommen, general manager of IT, Al Batha Group. “SAP is helping to streamline the purchasing needs of both the head office and the stores while providing business intelligence, customer relationship management, planning tools and RFID solutions, all of which will help enable E-City to achieve its business goals.”
