Business Challenge
Until recently, border-adjacent duty-free stores have focused on selling traditional duty-free items in convenience-style stores. That is, until Duty Free City (DFC) came onto the scene with luxury department stores on the U.S.-Mexico borders and plans to open 10 new stores in medium-sized airports. Headquartered in Miami, DFC is its own retail genre, trying to make the duty-free concept feel like a luxury, lifestyle destination with high-end offerings from the Estée Lauder portfolio, which includes Clinique, Origins and Smashbox beauty lines, and Michael Kors and Tommy Hilfiger fragrances.
Upon opening their initial stores, DFC needed a Point of Sale (POS) that would allow them to reflect their brand and lifestyle image, and maintain synchronization with an existing SAP database. Additionally, they required flexibility for customizations and to provide managers with visibility into profit per item at the point of sale.
Further, they needed a solution that would complement their growth plans. They invest significantly in the styling of their stores and believe that technology needs to compliment the aesthetics of the store and that mobile technology is key to achieving this.
The Solution
After evaluating 4 other solutions, DFC selected iVend Retail for its inbuilt compatibility with the SAP ERP environment and with the aim of making retail transactions as smooth as possible. They wanted sales representative, as as well as our customers to have seamless shopping experiences that matched the luxury, lifestyle destination that their stores provide.
