Westborough, Mass. – Keeping up the store is never an easy prospect, especially when you operate hundreds of stores with POS applications and peripherals from multiple vendors. To ensure store upkeep, at least from a hardware perspective, BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. has selected Toshiba TCxCare to manage and be the single point of contact for “wall to wall” maintenance services at its 200 stores.
The scope of TCxCare encompasses Toshiba POS hardware, including servers, and all other third-party original equipment manufacturer (OEM) retail store peripherals. Experts from Toshiba will lead and manage all services, providing maintenance for Toshiba’s System 6 self-checkout and other hardware, and OEM peripherals from other BJ’s vendors. Covered peripherals include in-house scanners, PIN pads, battery back-up devices, printers and displays.
"With a focus on satisfying our members’ demands for value, selection, quality and convenience, especially at the checkout, having Toshiba assume responsibility for our club maintenance, frees up our operations team to focus more on BJ’s core business of driving member loyalty and sales,” said Scott Floeck, CTO, BJ’s Wholesale Club Inc. “Based on a review of several vendors, we selected Toshiba’s critical skill sets and multi-vendor expertise in retail store technology to ensure the same specialized support, with one simple touch-point.”
Toshiba will also provide strategic value by managing replacement stock in support of the store’s equipment needs. Collaborating with Sunnyvale, California-based fleet management services provider Trimble Navigation Ltd., Toshiba sends out vans stocked with parts and supplies specifically tailored to the individual customers technicians will be visiting.
“Our goal is to get the customer up and running on the first trip,” said Eugene Shvartsman, executive director & general manager, North America TCxCare at Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions. “More than 90% of the parts customers need are filled from the van.”
In addition, Toshiba can monitor technicians’ vans in real time, tracking factors such as locations, parts on hand, and parts used for automatic replenishment orders.
“We had a break/fix contract, but want to expand beyond maintenance to give retailers a strategic partner to address all their store IT needs, regardless of the brand being used in stores,” said Shvartsman. “That includes help desk services and installation. We want to be a single point of contact for everything IT-related, so retailers can focus on their core business.”