Ukash voucher sales rocketPayment provider Ukash has reported sales of its online prepaid vouchers rose 140 per cent in the past 12 months. It says that it expects this growth to continue in 2009 as consumers try to rein in credit card spending.

Twenga’s iPhone add-onShopping search engine Twenga has launched an iPhone application to help shoppers find and compare prices, technical specifications and consumer reviews while on the move. The application has been launched for consumers in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands and allows them to compare products sold by 1,300 online retailers.

BrightHouse picks IT chiefBrightHouse has promoted Simon Mouncer to head of business change and IT. He will be responsible for the high degree of business change the retailer is undergoing and oversee major changes to the IT systems. Mouncer was previously head of commercial finance at BrightHouse and prior to this he worked for Marks & Spencer.

Metro extends data projectMetro Group has extended its use of data synchronisation with a project in Russia work-ing with Kraft Foods, Nestlé Group and Proctor & Gamble. The manufacturers are receiving real-time inventory data updates, which they say improves the efficiency of their supply chains and allows them to maximise on-shelf availability.

In brief

retail-week.com Sign up for the technology newsletter News TechnologyFor all the latest news visit 13 January 9, 2009

By Joanna Perry

Carphone Warehouse has declared the roll-out of an appli-cation to support its branch managers a success.

The web-based execution management system from Red Prairie allows the retailer’s head office to communicate with store managers about tasks they need to complete. It also lets the store managers report on what they have achieved.

The system went live in Sep-tember 2008, but its use will become more formalised this year. Carphone Warehouse busi-ness operations director Ashley Cook told Retail Week that the retailer has plans to channel all tasks that aren’t part of manag-ers’ daily routines through the system so it has full visibility of their workloads.

He explained that store man-

Morrisons ploughs on with IT transformationMorrisons will push ahead with its business and IT transforma-tion programme in 2009, having signed Wipro Retail to assist it with its plans.

The grocer first announced a £110 million IT investment in 2007 and confirmed in early 2008 that it would implement Oracle systems across its business in a project that would take five years.

Morrisons programme direc-tor Phil Goodwin told Retail Week: “We have spent the lion’s share of 2008 planning and mobi-lising the teams. Now we have an implementation roadmap that’s been signed off by the board. We are as confident as we can be that it will allow us to be successful and manage risk to the business.”

Goodwin explained that the

implementation process will begin in the first quarter with some financial modules of the Oracle applications. By the end of the year the grocer hopes to have at least completed a pilot of the Retalix EPoS system and begun work on other finance modules,

agers would be told they are not required to complete tasks that are communicated to them in other ways.

In addition, head office staff who create tasks for stores through the system can also see when they have been completed.

The retailer has branded the system as Customer First Com-panion in order to complement its Customer First branch man-ager training programme.

Cook said that the system’s deployment is part of a much bigger strategic programme the company is running to enable it to do more for less in its stores.

Carphone has been pleased with the response the sys-tem has had from its stores. 230 branches gave voluntary feedback on Customer First Companion, with 93 per cent of the feedback positive and 65 per cent very positive.

including one to support not-for-resale procurement.

Morrisons is keen to mini-mise the r isks associated with such a large project and chose Wipro Retail as it was impressed with the work it completed during the project

Carphone Warehouse is the latest retailer to work with Fizzback to assess the experience it provides to customers.

Fizzback’s technology allows consumers to make contact with a retailer and provide any feedback they like. The system analyses the content for meaning and can be used to communicate with the retailer as well as providing real-time reporting capabilities.

Carphone Warehouse says that ensuring shoppers are satisfied with in-store service is critical to keep customers coming back and recommending the company to their friends and family. It says that this cycle of customer loyalty and advocacy is core to the company’s growth strategy.

The platform is already used by Carphone Warehouse’s competitor Phones 4U and is also being trialled by Tesco.

Carphone invites shopper feedback

planning and scoping phase.Goodwin added that another

key factor was the f lexible approach Wipro Retail took to the project and its understanding that plans might change before the project is completed. “The plan we are working to in three to five years’ time won’t be the plan that we have now,” he said.

In addition to the 100 or so staff from Wipro Retail involved with the project, Goodwin said Morrisons has directly hired extra staff to help manage change in the business.

Goodwin said that in some ways the technology aspect of the project will be the easier part, with the organisational change, training and staff buy-in harder to achieve.

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Carphone’s staff support tool given the thumbs-up

Change: the grocer has adopted a flexible approach to the project’s implementation

Web strategy: page 22How to exploit online opportunities to their fullest during the downturn