A leading Scottish EPOS supplier has been helping a family-run garden centre chain to bring its till systems up to date.
Caulders operates five garden centres and restaurants across the Scottish central belt, at Mugdock Country Park, Kirkintilloch, Braidbar, Erskine and Cupar. When the company bought the Erskine business, it inherited an existing software-based EPOS system off the previous owners – something it did not yet have in place in its other stores.
That also brought Caulders into contact with ACR EPOS Systems, the Ayrshire-based supplier that had installed the Bleep EPOS set up at Erskine. ACR then played a key role in helping Caulders roll out a similar system at all of its sites, using the Bleep platform run on brand new AURES touchscreen terminals. 
Caulders IT manager, Ewan Moody said: “We knew the limitations of our old existing system and we could clearly see the advantages to Erskine. Within a short time we could see the flexibility & benefits. With the excellent customer support we received from ACR and the system’s adaptability, we knew it would be able to grow with us.”
ACR, which started out as Ayrshire Cash Registers in the 1970s when it was set up by the present owner’s grandfather, has been supplying AURES EPOS hardware across Scotland for 14 years. For Caulders, it recommended the AURES YUNO, a flexible and robust all-in-one touchscreen terminal that combines stylish looks with high class performance.
Roddy McKenzie, Retail Systems Support at ACR, said: “Caulders wanted a system that was easy to maintain and use day to day, they also wanted local support from someone with many years of retail and wholesale experience. My priority was to supply hardware I was confident was reliable and of quality manufacture with support I could rely on if I myself needed help. Cost was also important and I needed to provide the hardware at a competitive price.
“The quad core processors in the YUNO offer great performance and as Caulders’ product file is in excess of 60,000 lines, speed of product lookup is important. Feedback about the YUNO in general is good, the design is sleek and suits any environment, it also popular with large retailers so the brand is often seen on the high street which adds to its credibility.”
Ewan agreed. “The AURES tills and printers we use are gloss black, they look good and are compact and neat. The tills’ processing power is fast and the touch screens are adjustable, responsive & clear. The integrated loyalty card readers on the side are small and unobtrusive too.
“All of this allows for a clean, fresh look and a faster, smoother till experience for the customer – a happy customer is our ultimate goal. With over 200 staff, many have come from other shop environments so they are used to using other EPOS systems. Many comment on how easy the tills are to use. Most staff with no previous EPOS experience can be trained to use the tills or back office within 30 minutes. It is very straightforward and logical.”
Founded in 1989 and listed on Euronext since 1999, the AURES Group is an IT manufacturer of a complete range of hardware solutions for the international POS market (point of sale and service, retail, hospitality, etc) and the Integration KIOSK sector.
AURES has global presence, with its head office in France, subsidiaries in the UK, Germany, Australia and the USA – and a network of distributors and resellers in over 75 countries.
End of 2018, AURES acquired Retail Technology Group Inc (RTG), a major services provider to Retail and Food sectors across the Atlantic (POS hardware & software).
Last October, the Group confirmed its ambition to exceed €100 million in revenue for the 2018 financial year.
