High street retailer sets sights on cost control, clarity of billing and better customer service
For high street and online footwear retailer Shoe Zone, value for money is paramount. Its customers expect quality footwear at value for money prices and Shoe Zone itself expects quality services and value from its own suppliers.
Through more than 570 Shoe Zone stores, 177 Stead and Simpson stores and online the company sells an astonishing 25 million pairs of shoes every year – enough to fit more than one third of the UK population.
The Benefits
- Call costs reduced by 35%.
- Line rental costs reduced by 5%.
- Management reports provide tight cost control over telephone usage at individual stores.
- Secure access to Gamma’s online portal enables Shoe Zone managers to access billing and reports anytime from any location.
- Inbound enables store staff to report issues and make suggestions anonymously.
- Gamma’s customer service team provides personal account management.
- Lines, calls and mobiles all managed by one supplier on one simple bill.
The Challenge
With more than 100,000 minutes of voice calls every month across its network of stores in the UK and Republic of Ireland, Shoe Zone had previously taken a decision to converge voice and data traffic with a view to streamlining its communications infrastructure and achieving further savings.
However, due to various service issues and questionable accuracy on the billing from the existing supplier, a decision was taken to move the provision of voice and lines to another supplier. This move would allow the management team to make best use of the resulting accurate billing detail and proved significant in realising further savings.
100,000
Minutes Per Month
The Solution
Shoe Zone chose a calls and lines package from Gamma, covering every one of its retail outlets and its Leicester headquarters. The company believed it had already cut telephony costs to the bone, but we were able to deliver even more savings in both line rentals and call costs. Better still the detail and accuracy of our management reports has enabled Shoe Zone to exercise vastly improved control over telephone usage, cutting its per-store call charges down to an average of just £2.50 per month.
Our reporting allows Shoe Zone to monitor and keep tight control over telephone usage at individual store level, helping enforce company policy and keep costs down.
Reporting has also allowed Shoe Zone to identify major areas of cost, leading to still further reductions by, for example, eliminating high cost calls. Whether for provisioning, billing, administration or customer service, Gamma offers a single point of contact for all Shoe Zone calls, ensuring consistency and accountability.
Secure Web portals onto our systems allow Shoe Zone managers to access billing and reports anytime, anywhere.
Our Inbound call management service has allowed Shoe Zone to deploy an anonymous voicemail reporting service for store staff to report issues or make suggestions without disclosing their identity or their store location.
We also supply Shoe Zone with all its business Mobile needs, managing over 180 mobile phones.
Using our services has freed up IT resources to concentrate on other projects at Shoe Zone including streamlining the customer’s journey through multi-channel retailing, maintaining the in-house developed Web site and EPoS system, and developing new mobile solutions for customers.
£2.50
Average Call Chargers Per Month
180
Mobile Phones
