Optomany and R&SS bring secure omni-channel payments to the UK’s top sports clubs.

Professional sports clubs have a very particular set of requirements when it comes to payments. Any system must be able to cope with high volumes of card-present transactions on matchdays, as fans queue round the block to get their hands on the latest merchandise.

But it also needs the flexibility to deal seamlessly with the ecommerce sales that are increasingly important to the bottom line of many clubs, and provide insight and efficiencies to help their business to grow.

Finding a vendor that can do both on a single, highly secure platform isn’t easy. That’s why consultancy Retail & Sports Systems (R&SS) and Optomany have already had some big wins with a range of sporting outfits, including Premier League football and Premiership rugby clubs.

Why omni-channel?

R&SS is a specialist in the industry with a reputation for delivering highly reliable, cost-effective omni-channel retail platforms. Its offerings are now live with over 25 high profile partners including 16 football clubs and 3 rugby clubs.

The concept of omni-channel retail has been with us for several years now, but there are few providers out there capable of delivering on its much-publicised promise.

It offers retailers an opportunity to consolidate across web, mobile and bricks and mortar channels, providing a seamless shopping experience for an increasingly digital-savvy customer base, as well as new back office efficiencies and increased insight into spending that can be used to continually improve service.

The Optomany platform

R&SS was wowed from the start by the Optomany payment platform, built from the ground-up from the very start with omni-channel in mind.

The Optomany platform significantly reduces the PCI DSS compliance scope for clients by ensuring no sensitive card data is stored on their systems, saving time and money. In fact, the firm was the first to be certified as providing a PCI P2PE v2 approved solution.

The Optomany Control Centre (OCC) is the platforms’ user interface, offering access to features like software version tracking, billing, account configurability, estate management and more. Administrators can generate in-depth reports on transactional history at a highly granular level, providing insight to help the organisation keep improving.

Winning with omni-channel

The results have been outstanding. R&SS has already rolled out or is migrating over to the Optomany-powered platform clients including; Brentford, Barnsley, Blackburn, Fulham, West Ham United and Cardiff City, as well as Ospreys, St Helens and Saracens rugby clubs.

They’re thrilled with the customer experience and operational improvements. For example, having just one retail platform helps to provide visibility across payments and inventory at-a-glance rather than having to juggle different platforms for reconciliation and stock visibility.

Optomany’s tokenisation capabilities not only make transactions more secure but enable one-click payments, as well as providing a single real-time view of each customer’s spend which can be used to enable cross-channel refunds and the like.

“The omni-channel platform and real-time information provided by the system provides a wide variety of useful insights into purchasing behaviours and really helps steer our retail strategy,” says Scunthorpe United’s head of marketing, ticketing and retail, Rob Noble.

Optomany has also recorded exceptional matchday performance.

Noble adds: “Optomany and R&SS’s omni-channel payment system provides a very quick and efficient method of taking payments instore while operator errors are non-existent mainly due to how easy the system is to use.

“The ecommerce platform is up there with leading online retailers and provides a smooth and secure process in which orders can placed by the supporter while the back-office management enables orders to be fulfilled very easily and efficiently.”

Oxford United club shop manager, Lee Barton, agrees, claiming it’s made a “considerable positive impact” on the business.

“Its speed of payment on a matchday is crucial; we are able to serve more customers in a shorter period of time,” he reveals.

“The ability to track all sales channels is a powerful tool to measure productivity on any given day of sales and retrospectively analyse sales over a period of time.”

The plaudits don’t end there. Optomany and R&SS were also able to transform the retail fortunes of West Ham United after its move to the London Stadium, managing peak day sales of £200,000 in store and helping increase Black Friday sales from 2015 to 2016 by over 40%.

For more information visit: www.retailsportssystems.co.uk

T: 0115 871 9451 or E: sales@retailsportssystems.co.uk