Case Study: Visible Advantage Corp.

When Radio Shack Canada wanted to wire its stores to the Internet, it had multiple objectives. An in-store retail kiosk seemed an obvious solution.

The company, with about 750 retail locations in Canada, had one unusual request. It wanted its in-store kiosk program to run on computers the stores kept in inventory.

The computers were equipped with software that did many things. First, it allowed customers to search the company's Web site for product offerings and information. The same computers were to be used for training employees and for communicating pricing information from the home office. It was even equipped to print pricing flyers produced by the home office for display in the stores.

Radio Shack went to Visible Advantage Corp with this laundry list of requirements, and the software company designed a system that met the demands of the application. The system is installed in about 500 stores, according to Margo Weeks, vice president information systems for Radio Shack Canada.

"Originally we just wanted to put kiosks in the stores, but we didn't know how," said Weeks. "We decided to use the computers in the stores with special software. We didn't want a huge investment.

Bob Maloley, president and CEO of Visible Advantage, said his company was able to meet the project's objectives in a minimum amount of time.

"We were able to design and install the software for the Radio Shack project in a matter of weeks," Maloley said. "It was a challenging project, but we were able to get it done on time with no problems."

He said Radio Shack employees used his companys "Kiosk Advantage" software suite to design their solutions. The kiosk solution is also used to sell third party products and services.

Weeks said the kiosks have been an unqualified success.

"The fact that it worked is always a nice thing," Weeks said, adding she gets plenty of positive response from the public. "Customers love to see the Web site and can print shopping lists. You can do the work (research), see the product and purchase it."

Visible Advantage designed an interface with a high level of security, so that customers could not access corporate information through the stores, but could check product attributes and inventory levels at stores anywhere in Canada.

So if you're in, say, Saskatoon seeking a satellite system, you can check the Web site (radioshackcanada.ca) and see if the item is in stock at the store there. It also provides consistency in product offerings throughout the country.

"Even with the Web site, we still want them to come in to the store," Weeks said, noting that individual stores get credit for sales made online through the in-store kiosks, even if the product is not in stock at the store.

Another important feature is the remote management capabilities of the system. When the corporate office decides to promote a specific product through its stores, it can simply send that message through the system and even send instruction to print signs for posting in the store for those promotions.

Weeks said the program has exceeded expectations.

"The whole venture has been more successful then anyone thought it would be. We were going to rotate it through the stores, but now we're installing them in most of our stores."