BRACKNELL, United Kingdom ““ (BUSINESS WIRE) ““ Dec. 16, 2003 ““ Electrical retailer selects Descartes Fleetwise to manage home delivery operations; offering customers more choice and flexibility through enhanced delivery services
The Descartes Systems Group Inc., (Nasdaq:DSGX), (TSX:DSG), a trusted provider of supply chain services, today announced that Dixons Group plc, Europe’s leading retailer of consumer electronics, has selected the Descartes routing and scheduling solution, Descartes Fleetwise(TM), to manage its UK home delivery operations, offering customers more choice and flexibility through enhanced delivery services.
With group-wide revenue turnover of Pounds Sterling 5.8 billion a year, Dixons Group is the parent company of four leading UK retail brands ““ Dixons, Currys, PC World and The Link ““ which operate through a network of 1,150 stores. Descartes Fleetwise will enable the four retail chains to offer their customers more choice and flexibility in delivery times to better suit their lifestyles while maintaining the optimal use of driver resources.
In general, more and more retail sales in the UK are being delivered directly to consumer’s homes. According to UK retail analyst, Verdict Research, the home delivery market is expected to grow by nearly 50 per cent between 2001 and 2006 to US 59 billion and that nearly 17% of all retail sales will be delivered directly to consumers.
“Innovative retailers, like Dixons, will be among those leading the growing home delivery trend, providing customers with services that offer more variety and convenience in home delivery options,” commented Per Norling, Descartes’ general manager of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “We are pleased that Dixons chose Descartes Fleetwise as a part of their solution to address this growing need.”
With Descartes Fleetwise, Dixons Group will be able to provide customers with more delivery choices regardless of whether the order is placed in-store or online through the company’s websites. The solution enables retailers to manage the delivery process from point-of-order through to route planning, dispatching and final delivery by synchronizing information from multiple customer service representatives, drivers and dispatchers for real-time customer response.
“Providing outstanding service to customers and continually seeking to improve our performance are what Dixons is all about,” said Martin Fletcher, Dixons Group’s Distribution Development Director. “We are pleased that Descartes shares our philosophy and we look forward to working with them as we strengthen our home delivery operations helping to drive customer service levels with the help of Descartes Fleetwise.”