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"We beat our sales targets every month"
SUNdays Deep Tan Solarium, a successful chain of solaria based in Manchester, UK, uses SolarTrack in its five branches across the city. Now in its fourth year of operation, SolarTrack has continually provided SUNdays with a comprehensive point-of-sales and salon-management solution. "When we decided to computerise our salon three years ago, we initially wanted a system to keep a record of all our customer details and how much time they had remaining on their courses. After a few months, however, it quickly became apparent that there was so much that the computer could do for us. For instance, we wanted to be able to control our stock more efficiently and we wanted to replace our paper appointment books with an on-screen system." SUNdays' ambitious plans initially focussed on the improvement of customer service. Within only a few days of using SolarTrack, their customers noticed a substantial improvement. "We had clients telling us how much better our service was and how we could answer their queries much faster, " comments Lisa. "When we started using SolarTrack to manage our stock, we immediately noticed an improvement in the efficiency of our stock re-ordering cycle. Because the system gives me a summary of the stock in each branch, it saves me an enormous amount of time. Before using the computer to do this, I could spend as much as eight hours per week doing stock-checks and re-order lists." Each night, SolarTrack sends a sales report to Lisa via e-mail, which is automatically consolidated into a back-office program, giving a detailed breakdown of the results of any shop or the group as a whole on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The back-office system compares this information with the sales targets given to each branch, which provides Lisa with an instant summary of the group's sales performance. "We beat our sales targets every month because we can see how we're doing each day. We've never been able to do this before," notes Lisa.
In February 1999, SUNdays decided to link their tanning equipment to the computer in order to give them complete control of their operation. Starting with their biggest branch in Prestwich, which currently operates six sunbeds and two vertical units, they purchased the T-MAX control system for connection to the SolarTrack system. Their reasons for doing this were twofold. Firstly, the company wanted accurate, up-to-date information regarding actual tanning usage and lamp life. Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the company wanted to keep a tight control of sunbed usage. "The difference this made to our turnover was incredible," observes Lisa. "Within a week, our turnover increased by 20% because each and every session was being recorded correctly by staff and paid for in full by our customers. Because the SolarTrack /T-MAX system makes it impossible to switch on a sunbed without the session being recorded, we can make sure every penny goes in the till!" "Our customers love it too!" says Lisa. "They much prefer being able to press the Start button when they are ready to go rather than having to place a handful of tokens in a box." Lisa Cook uses SolarTrack to manage the business better too. Because SolarTrack keeps an accurate record of exactly how much time is spent on each sunbed, she is in a better position to plan the servicing and re-tubing programme for the equipment. "SUNdays has a policy of changing our tubes every 300 hours so that the customer gets the best possible tan. We use SolarTrack to monitor the usage and to tell us when the equipment should be serviced."
SUNdays use SolarTrack to improve their marketing. Using SolarTrack's client demographics function, Lisa can initiate targeted marketing campaigns. For instance, she uses the demographics information to find out, not only the age range with the greatest number of customers, but the age range that spends the most money. "The information SolarTrack gives me has proven to be invaluable when I am about to spend money on advertising. For instance, although over 50% of our customers are in the 21-30 age range, the 31-40 age range (which equates to 20% of the customers) spend the most money." "Also, SolarTrack identified that only 14% of our customers in their 20's were male. We therefore planned a marketing campaign to target these customers specifically." In addition to this valuable information, SolarTrack identifies the postcodes that contain the most/least customers and the amount of money each postcode generates. Lisa uses this information to great competitive advantage: "When we looked at the postcode information, we found a very low percentage of customers in a specific area, because one of our main competitors was located there. We carried out a leaflet campaign of that postcode area and managed to generate another 60 or so regular customers." In summary, SolarTrack has proven to be vital in the management of SUNdays Deep Tan Solariums, across their 5 sites. Not only has it increased sales, reduced theft and improved customer service and safety but it saves the management team a huge amount of time every week.
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Over the last three years, the company's requirements have changed considerably,
as Lisa Cook, Group Manager of SUNdays, points out.
As a natural progression, Lisa wanted SolarTrack to do even more of her
work for her. "I spent a lot of time phoning the shops to get their end-of-day
figures and consolidating this information in one spreadsheet. I wanted
the shop system to do this automatically for me so that I could concentrate
on the things that increase turnover and profits, like marketing campaigns
and special offers."
Total control
However, the increased turnover isn't the only way in which the direct
link has benefited SUNdays. The status of each tanning unit is displayed
on-screen for the staff to see. At any moment, they know which units are
in use (and how much time is remaining), which units require cleaning
and which units are ready for use, saving them time. Because this information
is available to SolarTrack, it reminds them to clean the sunbeds before
a sale is made, which helps to improve customer service.