Elmer's Aquarium and Pet Center has been an Epicor customer for over 20 years. The company is well-recognized for its specialty pet products, fish, and aquarium delivery and installation services. "We have a good relationship with a hardware store located a few miles from us, and when we were considering the purchase of a point of sale system we discovered they were operating with Epicor Eagle," said Gary Knabe, president of Elmer's Aquarium and Pet Center. "I knew that if Eagle can manage all the ins and outs of a hardware store, it can surely help us with our business." Knabe researched numerous pet industry specific software companies, but none seemed sophisticated enough for the evolution of their company. "I wanted something powerful that would help us grow our business. The Eagle business management solution was the best choice for our business," said Knabe.
Knowledge at the touch of a finger
Prior to implementing the Epicor Eagle solution, Elmer's was operating on several free-standing cash registers, using word processors, and Excel® spreadsheets for their day-to-day operations. "We didn't have the necessary technology to accurately or efficiently track inventory or pull meaningful analytics. We knew that if we didn't make the switch to a point of sale system we would fall far behind our competition. We are very glad we made that decision 20 years ago to select Eagle as our point of sale provider. Epicor has kept the pace providing us with state-of-the-art technology and continues to grow with us as we expand our business."
The company is predominantly supported by their live animal department. "We keep practically all information about our pets and fish on the Epicor system. Having good access to information is very important in this industry and our business because our staff needs to know specific details about fish life expectancy, appropriate food levels, water temperatures, etc. Using the system we create labels with images of the fish and maintain up-to-date information on each fish for sale and where they are located in the store. Prior to using Eagle we had to dig through mounds of catalogs to find the specific information the customers requested. With Eagle, the detailed information is at our fingertips. We are able to provide faster, more efficient service to our customers, while simultaneously saving valuable employee time," said Knabe.
Inventory accuracy improved with Eagle
Elmer's maintains the largest inventory of tanks, stands, and lights in Western Pennsylvania. "Because we also put together a lot of specialty component and aquarium packages-aquarium filters, heaters, etc., we take advantage of the categorization features Eagle provides," said Knabe. "With the push of a button our staff can customize an aquarium setup for any customer that comes into our store."
Prior to their selection of Eagle, the company was manually managing their inventory. In order to become a better retailer, they needed to develop new pricing strategies and know what they were selling in real time. "We would walk through the store and manually take inventory of all our products and animals in stock-this was a slow process," said Knabe. "With Eagle we went from walking through the store and faxing the order, to having the system keep track of everything.
Eagle greatly simplified and accelerated the inventory process, it is much more accurate. Once we implemented Eagle, ordering became a much smaller part of my day. Before it took me multiple days to accurately order inventory-Eagle has cut that down by at least 50 percent."
Cultivating the customer experience
Elmer's also credits Epicor to their increase in the quality of customer service they provide. With Eagle, the company has all the information they need at their fingertips. "The customer experience has been greatly improved since we implemented Eagle," said Knabe. "It helps us pull together all the necessary components and information that keep our customers' fish alive and healthy. Eagle provides our company with the necessary information as soon as we request it in the system. Eagle has been a wonderful investment for our company. As a small, independent pet store, our competitors are online stores and large big box stores like Petco and PetSmart. Epicor provides us with the technology to remain competitive, and our size advantageously allows us to provide a more personalized experience."
