Shoper 9 Chain Store Implementation

Shoper 9 Chain Store Implementation

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Contents Introduction Implementation Presales... 3 Standard Product Demo... 4 Understanding Customer Requirements... 4 Design and Construct Solution... 5 Customisation (if required)... 5 Conference Room Pilot (CRP)... 5 Pilot run at Chosen Locations... 6 User Acceptance Testing... 6 Implementation Rollout in All Locations... 7 End User Training... 8 Help and Support... 8 Post Implementation Activities... 9 Post Implementation Support (Limited Period)... 9 Implementation Closure... 9 Further Support Services and Maintenance... 9 Best Practices for Shoper 9 Implementation... 9 i

Introduction Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and are centrally managed and usually have common business processes and practices. In the chain store scenario, the retail components consist of, POS/Store locations Company Stores Franchisee Stores Consignment Stores Buy & Sell Stores Distributors Head Office Chain stores can be classified as: Own stores (Company owned):these are owned by the retail company operating the chain. They receive goods from the Suppliers/Vendors on a transfer or consignment basis at the company s distribution locations. The stock items are owned by the company and will be transferred to the company showrooms. The personnel working in a company owned showroom are employed by it. Operationally, they are controlled and answerable to the head office of the company. Franchisee or Buy & Sell stores:these are entities which sell goods supplied by the retail company either on agreed or own terms. They purchase the goods from the Distributors/Vendors as per agreement with the head office. The stock ownership rests with the franchisee while the operations may be subject to a minimum control by the head office. There may be franchisee stores stocking and selling items which are owned by the company. Following are the business activities supported by Shoper 9 in a chain store scenario: Store is a part of a chain/network controlled by a head office. The Vendor supplies goods directly to the POS locations, head office makes the payment and tracks goods. The Vendor supplies goods to the company s Distributor and the Distributor sends them to POS locations. Head office makes the payment and tracks the goods. There is constant communication between the HO and other constituents of the chain. The data management of the retail chain is centralised at the head office. The stores data is consolidated, replicated at the head office and analysed for decision making (MIS) and execution of future policies. Head office is only a facilitator and does not transact data but functions as a supervisor of the chain s activities. 1

Introduction Implementing Shoper 9 in a chain store scenario requires proper understanding of the customer s business needs, good planning and proper execution. Mentioned below are the recommended best practices to be followed for a successful implementation in a chain store scenario. Presales Standard Product Demo Understanding Customer Requirements Design and Construct solution Customisation (if required) Conference Room Pilot Pilot run at chosen locations User Acceptance Testing Implementation rollout in all locations End User Training Help and Support Post Implementation Activities Post implementation support (limited period) Implementation closure Further support services and maintenance However, all activities mentioned are not compulsory in all implementations. An activity like the conference room piloting depends on the request and agreement with the customer. 2

1. Implementation 1.1 Presales Presale is the first activity where you will be prepared to engage with the prospective client. It is a process or a set of activities normally carried out before a customer is acquired, though sometimes the activity extends into the period the product or service is delivered to the customer. The activities include the following: Meet the client and discuss the requirements. Gather information on their past experience, current business lines, product range, physical & IT infrastructure, people, etc. Find the customer s expectations from Shoper 9. Appraise them of our past experience and organisational capability as a solution provider to retail chains. Impress on the service aspect in terms of our office network, partner network, support structure, satisfied customers, etc. Highlight on the integrated offering of Shoper 9 with Tally.ERP 9 for managing both retail and accounting operations of the client. Check if the client has other applications which are to be integrated with Shoper 9. Provide approximate cost of Shoper 9 deployment based on the number of stores distributors, vendors and the requirements at head office. Arrange for a standard product demo. Note: All documents/tools referenced in this guide are available on the Partner Portal of Tally website. 3

Standard Product Demo The important points to be followed are: Provide a demo covering all important product features Address the broad requirements of the client Use client s data effectively to map requirements with product features After the presales discussion and product demo, the prospective client places the purchase order with us. However, a few customers place orders only after a detailed demo is given. The demo provided describes all the functionalities of the product and addresses specific requirements of the prospective client. Once you have completed the demo for the prospect, you have to estimate the effort required to complete the planned implementation activities. Based on the scope of activities, you can estimate the effort required for the product implementation for communicating the project period and negotiating the commercials. These are rough estimates and vary based on client s requirements and other factors. Refer the Implementation Effort Estimate Tool to estimate the effort required for the implementation by considering the various factors that affect the schedule of the project. 1.2 Understanding Customer Requirements To ensure that all requirements of the client are addressed, you need to understand the existing business operations and gather the detailed requirements. During this phase use the Requirement Study and Configuration Tool, to map the business requirements of the customer with the configuration settings (sysparam settings) available in Shoper 9. You can also refer to this tool while preparing the customer specific business template. Examine if Shoper 9 answers most of the client s requirements and if there are gaps, finalise the broad areas of customisation with the client. Other aspects to be looked into during this phase are: Understanding the Item Master structure required by the Customer (Refer Itemmaster Classification.doc) The inward and outward process The report requirements of the chain The hardware and software requirements 4

For details, refer the Requirement Study and Configuration Tool document which provides the facility and flexibility to gather client s requirement in a questionnaire format. Design and Construct Solution During this phase carry out the following steps: Document in the Business Solution Design Document existing business process. requirements and recommendations for process changes for customer approval. incorporate the recommended solution including customisations, workarounds (if any). The solution design starts after the approval from the customer. The Business Solution Design Document spells out clearly your understanding of the customer s business needs and helps in effective implementation of the product. The document is used as a guide to measure the effectiveness of the implementation activity. The solution design phase for Shoper 9 implementation includes customisation of the business template, printing templates,mapping the requirements of customer to Shoper 9, interface customisation, preparation of custom installer and custom LiveUpdate. The docs mentioned are available for reference in the partner portal on our website. Customisation (if required) For any customer requirements which are not addressed by the standard functionalities of Shoper 9, such gaps have to be met through customisations. 1.3 Conference Room Pilot (CRP) With the solution configured and ready for the customer, arrange for a Conference Room Pilot (CRP). The purpose of CRP is to validate the solution designed through Shoper 9 against the business processes of the customer. The customer s sample data has to be used in the CRP. The CRP is done to ascertain how well Shoper 9 meets the business needs and identifies gaps, if any, in the design phase of the project. There is an expectation that changes will be required before acceptance of the solution. The steps carried out in a CRP are: 1. Installation of Shoper 9 HO, Distributor and POS as per the scope 2. Functionality demonstration 3. Validation of interface with the third party software, if ready 4. Work on complete business process of the client to provide inputs Obtain feedback on the requirements and performance of respective flavours. 5

1.4 Pilot run at Chosen Locations Implement the proposed solution by installing: Shoper 9 HO in the client s head office Shoper 9 POS/Distributor in locations selected by customer Pepare a list of activities to be performed at these locations (Refer Implementation & Training Checklist for Rollout document) Perform the user acceptance test User Acceptance Testing User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is often the final step before rolling out the application. Usually the end users who will be using Shoper 9 test the product before accepting the solution. This type of testing gives the end users the confidence that the solution being delivered to them meets their requirements. For an effective UAT: create elaborate business scenarios or obtain test cases from customer test the scenarios rectify issues found during this stage to ensure a smooth rollout Steps to be followed in UAT: Examine: the data exchange activities between the Head Office and the POS locations. generation of the related reports. Check for the interface with other business applications like Tally.ERP 9 to ensure that it is able to generate the necessary reports for internal and external use. To ensure a successful completion of UAT and the application readiness for roll out: resolve the reported issues. take a sign off on the outcome of the pilot run. To manage changes in customer s business rules which impact project schedules: obtain change requests from the customer and ensure they are met by customisation. test the changes made to the product with test cases obtained from the customer. 6

1.5 Implementation Rollout in All Locations When the client is satisfied with the product performance after the pilot run and sign off is received, plan the rollout programme to implement the product in other locations. Before the rollout date, the implementer has to make sure that the prerequisites are ready. Serial No Prerequisite for rollout Tool Responsibility 1 Shoper 9 Shoper 9 CD Customer 2 Customer Specific Shoper 9 CD Implementer Business Template 3 Customised Exes Shoper 9 CD Implementer 4 Custom LiveUpdate Custom LiveUpdate location & patches Implementer 5 Hardware & H/W & S/W Customer Software readiness Readiness Checklist for rollout locations The Shoper 9 Custom Installer has to be prepared to ensure that the approved customer specific business template and the customisations can be deployed in the rollout locations. Please refer Shoper 9 POS Customised Installer.pdf for the creation and deployment of Custom Installer. Refer the Implementation and Training Checklist for Rollout document to get the implementation sign off from the customer. 7

1.6 End User Training Provide training to customer personnel at HO and POS locations. Refer the Implementation and Training Checklist for Rollout document for the specific areas where the customer personnel have to be trained. Brief the users on the options that the chain uses in its operations The training enables the customer personnel to familiarise with the Shoper 9 HO and POS features in an orderly manner. Help and Support Educate the customer on the different aspects of support provided for easy and meaningful use of Shoper 9 POS. Help file available in Shoper 9 HO & POS Knowledge Base available on Tally website Usage of Tally.ERP 9 Support Centre Control Centre for licence management Partner s role (L1) as a primary support person 8

1.7 Post Implementation Activities Post Implementation Support (Limited Period) Monitor the product s performance for a limited time frame (usually 7 days) and provide support to minimise the issues faced by the client. Guide the client in using Shoper 9 options and make them feel confident and comfortable. Implementation Closure Finally, secure a sign off that the product has been successfully implemented in the locations. (Refer Project Sign off Document) Further Support Services and Maintenance Work out an annual maintenance contract (AMC) to provide continuous product support. 1.8 Best Practices for Shoper 9 Implementation Demonstrate the standard functionalities of Shoper 9 Communicate the efforts for Shoper 9 implementation after ascertaining the scope (Use the Implementation Effort Estimation Tool to calculate the approximate effort for the implementation project) Understand the existing business processes adopted by the customer Gather the detailed business requirements and let the customer know what can be achieved by deploying the solution (Use the Requirement Study And Configuration Tool to gather the requirements of customer) Document the requirements, the proposed solution and get the sign off by the customer (Use Business Solution Design Document) Arrange for a Conference Room Pilot to validate the proposed solution and document the changes required post CRP Do a pilot run of Shoper 9 at select locations and validate test cases provided by customer and ensure acceptance by user 9

Take the sign off after a successful pilot run and provide a rollout plan Collect the implementation and training checklist from all locations where Shoper 9 implementation has been done Plan for post implementation support period depending on the customer installation size Collect the project sign off after the completion of the implementation (Use Project Sign Off Document) 10