Most valuable vendor relationship
To understand Cox Hardware is to know that the business has been an Epicor customer for 34 years. The Epicor Eagle solution has delivered positive results year-after-year at Cox Hardware. "Without a doubt, Epicor is our longest and most valuable vendor relationship," said Virgil Cox, owner of Cox Hardware and Lumber. "The value of the Epicor platform has been immeasurable, it's like asking how electricity has helped your business. Hardware stores are highly complex and anything we can do to streamline and simplify operations is valuable to us. Over the last ten years, we've grown the business 35% with the same number of employees. The Eagle solution takes functional parts and connects them into interdependent business processes. The Epicor Eagle N Series solution was simply the next logical step for our business."
Keeping the business modern and competitive
"It's no small thing to keep our business competitive and up-to-date," said Cox. "Our customers are largely commercial-industrial accounts and we reside in a major market where everything can be bought somewhere else. With fierce competition we must assure customers that we deliver efficient service and have what they need, at competitive prices. A technologically modern store conveys all of that."
"The new generation of shoppers knows what they want when they walk into the store and expect a high level of efficiency that gives them confidence they've come to the right place for small and large purchases. Upgrading to Eagle N Series software gives us a noticeably modern point of sale (POS) interface and an efficient checkout experience. The familiar Microsoft Office look and intuitive screens have shortcuts that connect information and analytics which instantly refresh. With the Eagle N Series solution everything is where you expect it to be and it professionalizes the entire customer interaction at checkout."
The new navigation and support bar, displayed on every screen, within Eagle N Series software allows instant access to training and improved customer service. "The real benefit of providing Epicor Training on Demand at the POS counter is that it removes the bottlenecks that prevent a new employee from getting the full training they need," said Cox. "After the initial orientation and training, the new person needs to be staffing the register. The innovative POS technology of Training on Demand, integrated right into the Eagle N Series solution, facilitates the continuation of their training. Now, I just send an employee a training session link, they register, complete the classes and test their understanding. It automates the training process and is a great tool that leverages our investment in multiple computers at our checkout counters.
Bringing actionable data to decisions
Eagle N Series software takes critical business intelligence functions and blends them into a business's natural workflow as real-time, in-context, embedded applications. "Eagle N Series analytics seamlessly integrate with the Epicor Compass application turning it into actionable data," said Cox. "Epicor Eagle N Series software merges everything we've bought and built to date enabling intelligent, timelier, and ultimately more profitable decisions. The software 'brings to life' Compass analytics because it puts useful information into the user's hands."
"They say the nail that sticks up is the one that gets hammered down. Eagle applications are so highly integrated and the analytics so powerful that it spotlights the nails that are sticking up in every area of the business. All we have to do is execute and sink the nails. We focus on parts of the business that are outperforming or underperforming and capitalize on that to deliver better results," said Cox.