Since the first Matches store opened in Wimbledon in 1990, it has become a brand in its own right – an iconic retail experience, trusted by London’s most fashion literate clientele, offering the best of the best in established and new international labels.
Thirteen stores across Notting Hill, Richmond, Wimbledon, Mayfair and – most recently opened in March 2008 – Marylebone High Street, cater specifically to the unique style characteristics of their customer: each has its own fashion profile while at the same time a dip into each, results in sound knowledge of the season’s spectrum of trends. From the hand-sanded, parquet flooring of the Marylebone store to the elegant shop furniture in Richmond – also for sale to the right buyer – Matches upholds a dedication to creativity, personality and attention to detail as much to the advantage of the product it offers as to the customer buying it.
Promising a fashion education within the capital’s most elegant retail experience, every season sees the best designers in the world collaborate with Matches to create the most talked about fashion exclusives: Burberry Prorsum, YSL, Diane Von Furstenberg, Azzedine Alaia, Sophia Kokosalaki – the list is endless – it’s the first place to buy the key pieces every season as well as a guaranteed introduction to your favourite labels of the future, from Roksanda to Joanna Sykes.
The stores phenomenal success has been built on its reputation for providing excellent customer service, understanding its customers and keeping the right stock at the right place at the right time to meet demand.
Knowing who its customers are and keeping them loyal to the brand is a core part of the business strategy. To help meet those business challenges, Matches has implemented Eurostop’s e-pos at its stores and e-rmis at head office for the management of sales, merchandising and stock control.
Matches selected Eurostop as it was able to offer a comprehensive retail solution, from stock management and tracking to sale breakdowns and customer profiling. A fully integrated head office and EPOS system, which enables each store to see what stock is available and where it is being held, it integrates openly to other business systems. In addition, Matches has integrated the Eurostop system with its e-commerce solution enabling seamless stock control for both its bricks and mortar stores and its online presence.
Reports generated by the Eurostop system give the company complete visibility of stock movements, from delivery to sale, whether it was transferred to another branch, sold or returned. The ability to track and trace stock enables Matches to react quickly to meet customer demands for specific items.
Tony Kalha, IT Director at Matches commented, “The support provided by Eurostop is excellent, and the company is very approachable at every level. The system has broad functionality and yet is easy to use, enabling us to do some of our own development work, so that the system is exactly as we need it to be to support our business operations. As a result we are able to run our business smoothly, keeping close track of stock enables us to provide our customers with excellent service, ensuring that we are able to the make the most of every sales opportunity.”
To find out more about Matches, click here.