The Client
Harold’s Lighting is a company based on tradition. Harvey Hanson started the business during the depression when he used his artistic skills to create lamps and then sell them door-to-door. Four generations later, Kim Hanson and his wife Cheryl run the 10,000 square foot store located in Seattle.
They work alongside their son and daughter and 15 other employees selling lamps, shades, and even custom designed lighting fixtures, as did their grandfather. “We are not your typical retail lighting store in that the customer can chose from as many as 50 custom options when choosing a fixture,” said Cheryl Hanson. Harold’s takes pride in customer service and superior products.
The Challenge
With 17 workstations and a rapidly turning specialty stock, Harold’s Lighting needed a sophisticated point-of-sale system at a reasonable cost. Wasp brought big business solutions at a price this small company could afford.
While Harold’s continues to experience great success in the lighting industry, their business systems struggled to keep up with sales. “At the end of the day I just did not trust our inventory records,” said Cheryl Hanson. “We need a continually updated inventory that can be accessed by 17 stations and our current DOS-based system is just not able to keep up with our rapid inventory turnover.”
The current system cannot effectively access inventory and this affects sales and operational efficiency. However, Hanson was skeptical that a solution existed that could fit her unique product sales, and feared that the cost of such a system would prohibit use in a small company.
The Solution
Harold’s Lighting needed an automated data capture system to maintain and distribute up-to-date inventory information to numerous stations. The system must also handle order tracking, customer check out, as well as provide quick verification and processing of credit cards at the point-of-sale. Harold’s was concerned that the system is affordable, yet advanced and flexible enough to adapt to their custom order features and multiple station design.
Wasp's point-of-sale solution and Wasp's barcoding equipment provided the perfect answer to all these problems. “We were delighted with the Wasp concept and even more thrilled with their customer service. Todd Hall, our Wasp manufacturer representative, traveled to our store location to help with the onsite installation and customization of the system to fit our needs.” The introduction of barcoding was simple and efficient and created a reliable way to control inventory. The Wasp barcode labeler and printer allowed for the creation of a high-quality label that met the functional and aesthetic needs of the decorative retail store. “Todd worked with us on the labeling program and the customized labels fit our high standards,” said Hanson.
The Result
Harold's now uses Wasp's point-of-sale solution to update all 17 stations and the data is automatically backed up each night. This creates real-time communication between the 17 independent workstations to one central database. This system eliminates the need for separate point-of-sale terminals (i.e. card payment terminals), and streamlines the checkout process as well as clears valuable counter space in the store.
Wasp's point-of-sale system along with the Wasp barcode system gives this small business a simple to use, affordable solution to their specific retail needs. “Life is so much easier now,” said Hanson. Today, Harold's Lighting has the same powerful scanning and tracking technology that larger companies use. This allows Harold's to be more productive and competitive in the industry. With Wasp, the future looks bright at Harold's.
