‘Mecca’ for outdoor clothing in heart of Lake District uses Eurostop systems to manage sales of thousands of items daily in store and online.
Based in Ambleside, Cumbria, in the heart of the Lake District, Gaynor Sports is a long established destination retailer for outdoor pursuits. A family run and owned business for over forty years, the store has grown to offer a comprehensive collection of outdoor brands including Berghaus, The North Face, Lowe Alpine, Haglofs, Montane, Mammut, Merrell, Zamblerlan Regatta, Sprayway, Craghoppers, and many more.
The store offers an unparalleled choice and depth of product that rivals anywhere else in the UK, with knowledgeable staff on hand. Whether buying in store or online, the company prides itself on its customer service underpinned by efficient systems. IT investment is core to the company’s business and it has invested in a fully integrated head office, e-commerce and stock management solution from Eurostop to support its sales operations in store and online.
Retail systems integral to the business
According to Jamie Shepherd, Managing Director, at Gaynor Sports; “Everyone in the business uses the Eurostop systems – the warehouse team, Buyers, sales staff on the shop floor, customer call centre, accounts staff and purchasing. Before we only had two or three people using our stock systems, now it is core to our business.
“At any one time we might have eighty people using the system. We take a lot of pride in having the right staff to talk to customers about our products to help them buy the right items. Making sure the customer is happy is important to us which is why having the right systems to support staff is integral to the business.”
Gaynor Sports has installed e-pos on tills across the different store departments and uses e-rmis and the e-fulfilment module for stock management across the store and the e-commerce site.
In addition, Eurostop built and hosts the retailer’s e-commerce site which is based on its responsive e-commerce platform that adapts to suit the device being
used. For example, a user accessing the site on a tablet will see the site optimised to display well on a tablet, with columns that scroll down rather than across, and easier menu navigation. Gaynor Sports recently went live with a new refresh of its website where Eurostop worked very closely with the retailer to ensure that brand guidelines and company ethos were portrayed in the design, while delivering the power required to manage thousands of orders each day.
Streamlined stock management
The store is busy all year round, the summer with visitors to the ‘mecca’ of the outdoor world, while online the peak business for outdoor clothing starts in October and runs through to February.
The store itself is spread over five vast floors with departments displaying walking shoes (over 700 pairs), walking boots (more than 1400 pairs), clothing, waterproofs, camping and a clearance outlet offering significant discounts.
With tens of thousands of items being sold both on the shop floor and through the website in a week, managing the stock is central to the business. At busy times the store can have as many as 30 staff helping customers the shop floor, while the warehouse is processing and shipping thousands of items daily.
Optimising stock turnover
Eurostop’s e-fulfilment module underpins the success of the stock management to respond to sales orders online. The system prioritises each e-commerce order as it arrives and either auto generates picks for the warehouse if it finds the stock in the warehouse or elects to take the stock from the store. 
If the store is chosen, the system automatically alerts the store e-pos system that it has the items requested in stock so that e-commerce orders are prioritised and the stock is despatched.
“We now physically scan every item in and out of the warehouse in boxes. It is perfect – we know exactly what we have got so the accuracy is vastly improved.
“We use the Eurostop system for replenishing stock in store, reordering and forecasting. The reports are really easy to use and Eurostop has customised some for us. It’s great to have that information so easily to hand – we can see popular lines, where we are against last year and what we have sold – all the information we need to run the business,” said Jamie.
Easy to use and to train to staff
The ease with which staff can use the system makes a significant difference to Gaynor Sports’ business. In busy times, the retailer can take on additional staff to meet demand. “We can easily scale up with extra staff – they can be trained within a couple of hours and can be effective in a vital part of the business with out delay,” said Jamie.
Above all it is Eurostop’s partnership approach that makes the difference to Gaynor Sports. “The support guys are brilliant and give us confidence that when things do go wrong, which they do in real life, they work with us to get back up and running quickly and with the minimum of fuss. They will always listen and work with us to find the answer and things get sorted. They really understand and know our business and act as a true partner,” said Jamie.
