ORDER AND COLLECT
EJ Harper & Co Ltd, 34 Montgomery Rd, Castlereagh, Belfast BT6 9HL T: 0044 (0)28 9079 2155 www.cablespecialists.co.uk
for example are providing something similar to us. You ring in your prescription and they will make it up and leave it in a coded post box for you to pick up outside. People are getting used to this contactless way of living.”
collection area. When the van driver calls in, they present their key fob to the card reader inside the room (there is no need to queue). A light will automatically switch on to indicate the allocated compartment. The driver then lifts the items, which has all the paperwork attached, and leaves. There is no need to sign for the order, as it is all logged by the card reader and linked to the wholesaler’s account digitally. We get a printout to say the customer has been in and collected it and there is a CCTV record of the visit also.” “Crucially, that person isn’t wasting delivery time by standing in line, delayed while we figure out what the customer in front of him needs.” Importantly, this convenient service is also available out of hours, as Noel explains. “We have installed a large locker room outside our premises. The key fob will unlock the digitally coded door allowing the pick-up driver to
collect their company’s order without even entering the premises. This is both logged electronically and recorded on CCTV. No signature required. Additionally, a customer can be given the digital entry code by their wholesaler for an out-of-hours collection, simply to allow access to the locker outside our premises. During business hours, the facility could be used for the wholesaler’s contractors working in the vicinity to have a quicker service provided the order number and time is given to assemble their requirements. Codes are changed upon operation and collection.” Customer feedback to the order and collect system has been positive, with a huge buy- in from the Harper workforce. “Our staff really appreciate how straightforward and efficient this new system is,” says Noel. He believes order-and-collect is here to stay. “I see the automated collection system being more ingrained in the industry post-covid. It is already being used by some retailers. Chemist shops,
Noel is continuing to develop the automated external system as a
commercial product for wholesalers. “We will provide an external installation of between four-to-eight electronically coded lockers for wholesalers to install outside their premises. The wholesaler then issues key fobs to their clients who can access the box and lift their goods out-of-hours or when they want to avoid queuing at the trade counter. Noel concludes, “Covid-19 has disrupted normal working processes and systems throughout our industry. We have to rethink how we do things. I am hopeful that the take-up of automated order and collection systems will be a positive legacy.”
24HOUR SECURECOLLECTION
OUTOFHOURS:
“I am hopeful that the take-up of automated order and collection systems will be a positive legacy.”
If the order is needed to be collected out of hours it is placed into a secure collection locker. The customer can open with an electronic key fob or manual pass code and retrieve the clearly identified item.
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