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As one of the UK’s leading retailers, J.D.Williams served over 2 million people
last year. And yet their sales staff almost never came face-to-face with their customers.
That's because J.D.Williams is the UK’s leading catalogue business, delivering over
13 million parcels a year. Still, this innovative company was not content to let
the traditional remoteness of home shopping prevent them from having a more personal
connection with their customers.
So, in 1996, many J.D.Williams customers began to open their doors, not to the postman,
but to specially recruited and trained J.D.Williams Customer Couriers. These part-time
couriers – typically mature women – reflect the average J.D.Williams customer. They
come to the door bearing a parcel, a smil, and a handheld solution from TouchStar.
“Our customers loved the system from the start,” said Tim Smith, General Manager
for J.D.Williams. “They liked the idea of the [signature capture] technology. It's
much better than signing on paper that's got wet and the pen breaks through. Iit
makes us look like the cutting edge company we are”.
Here’s how it works: While at home, each courier receives delivery data on the handheld
via a modem from J.D.William's IBM AS/400 mainframe, operating over the IBM Global
Network. The couriers receive bulk deliveries of products at their homes, then match
each parcel with each customer using the handheld data. They then personally deliver
the orders in their area, capturing a signature on the handheld to confirm receipt.
After looking at all the handheld system available, J.D.Williams chose TouchStar
for several reasons.
“We needed proven technology operating within a low-risk system that was easily
understood by [couriers] who may never have used a computer before”, Smith said.
The touchscreen operation with signature capture was just what we needed”. The expedite
communications software from IBM is also well- developed and easy to understand.
The hardware also “had to be robust, able to be used day-to-day in all weather conditions”,
Smith added. “It had to survive a drop test from waist height.The others that were
available - if you sneezed, they exploded. But TouchStars withstood all of our tests.
Another reason the company chose the TouchStar is that it is backed by a reputation
for ongoing development. J.D.Williams regularly evaluates and re-writes its software
to keep pace with a fast growing industry.
“Previously, we recruited ‘lifestyle’ couriers who delivered packages between popping
in and out of shops or dropping of the kids”, Smith said. “Now our couriers are
expected to make more deliveries. They have to be more professional, more committed.
And the system has to keep up”.
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