Blackburn Rovers

Many top soccer clubs are turning to EPoS solutions based on the Epson IR to help them make the most of their merchandising operations. Already the list includes Arsenal, Rangers, Wolves and Sheffield Wednesday.

And, now, Blackburn Rovers has added its prestigious name to that list, by investing in eight IRs for its two club shops, one within the stadium at Ewood Park and one in the town itself. The reason for this choice? Blackburn's Head of Merchandise, Duncan Martin, told Update: "In common with other clubs, it makes sense to link the various aspects of our operation - ticket sales, club shops, mail order, catering etc. This means we need a system which offers excellent connectivity. At peak times, we handle 300 transactions per hour so any solution we implement has to be extremely fast and easy to use. And while most of these are cash transactions, the Epson product can handle cards and cheques as well, making it the perfect combination of high performance, flexibility and ease of use."

Actually, the idea of addressing Blackburn's needs with a system based on the IR was not Duncan Martin's. "To be honest, our IT committee hadn't considered a touchscreen solution," he said, "but when we outlined our needs to retail systems specialist, Esperus, they returned with a proposed solution based on this technology. It wasn't long before I was convinced that this approach was the perfect way forward."

In fact, such was Duncan's confidence in the Esperus solution that Blackburn went live on a match day, one of the sternest tests of any system. But there were no problems, and Duncan is now a fan not just of Rovers, but also of the IR. "The product perfomed to our every expectation," he said, "and that's without using the superb graphics capabilities of the touchscreen. However, we have plans to develop this side of things, as well as to implement a loyalty card scheme by taking advantage of the IR's integral MSR capability. All in all, we feel that our Epson-Esperus solution is the perfect platform for growth."