The Benefits of a Next Generation,
Purpose-Built Point of Sale

Diving into new omnichannel possibilities

In 2018 Lamps Plus, the nation’s largest specialty light retailer, decided to move on from its previous legacy point of sale solution — as it was deemed an aging point of sale (POS) software that required expensive yearly upgrades — and pivot toward next-gen omnichannel capabilities.

At the time, its legacy point of sale did not provide the visibility necessary to execute a unified commerce experience across multiple channels. Lamps Plus felt they were leaving transactions on the table by catering only to the needs of the physical retail store.

In today’s omnichannel world, convenience is everything. Consumers expect modern solutions that not only allow them to shop from anywhere at any time but provide a personalized shopping experience, complete with a 360-degree view of customer data. Considering Lamps Plus decided to enhance and develop a purpose-built point of sale long before the initial post-pandemic boom of ecommerce purchases, the decision was well ahead of the curve.

“We’ve been live on Manhattan Active® POS for four years. We’re really impressed with the stability and the things it’s done for us. It’s given us the reliability factor that our associates were looking for. It’s modern. It works. It automatically upgrades.”
– Bill Gratke, SVP Supply Chain, Planning and Reporting at Lamps Plus

Delivering memorable experiences with a state-of-the-art point of sale

Lamps Plus has an extended history with Manhattan Associates, dating back to 2006. The retail leader was an early adopter of Manhattan’s WMS, enterprise order management and store inventory and fulfillment solutions. Due to the successes of those solutions, Lamps Plus trusted that point-of-sale software developed by Manhattan would offer more of the same best-in-class agility and dove right into selecting Manhattan Active Point of Sale.

This decision was a leap of faith on Lamps Plus’ part, considering it was the first customer to pilot Manhattan Active POS. That show of trust ended up serving as the bridge to achieving optimal omnichannel capabilities, as the two teams worked together to implement Manhattan Active POS across its entire supply chain network of lighting and home furnishing stores.

The implementation spanned 36 retail locations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, Texas and Washington, and was completed in just six months.

Thus far, the solution has increased point of sale throughput by 35 percent, with added capabilities including:

• an on-premise gift card system
• increased credit card security with secure payments
• a loyalty card capture system
• enabled web returns in-store

The approximate training time needed for store associates to learn how to navigate the new point of sale solution is on average less than an hour.

This quick turnaround and success of implementation was the result of great teamwork between Manhattan and Lamps Plus, according to Gratke.

“From a professional services perspective, we’ve had people from Manhattan that cared and were adaptable. You don’t have that with every company. They listened to us and they built what we needed into the system.”

So, how did we get here?

Attaining an agile and unified omnichannel network does not occur by happenstance. You need a solution purposely built to provide frictionless interactions between the associate and customer. One that empowers the associate to provide a unique experience for each customer.

Manhattan Active POS offers that and more.

It utilizes data from every customer interaction with the brand to customize their shopping experience, bringing selling, customer engagement, and store inventory and fulfillment together on a single app. It allows store associates access to a connected and unified omnichannel network, with visibility of a customer’s entire purchase history, enhancing the retail experience.

All of the solutions under Manhattan Active Omni are cloud-native, meaning upgrades and new features are automatically available every 90 days. The cloud-native and microservices architecture enables Manhattan Active POS to continuously adapt, ensuring it is always current, even when the network is disrupted.

“Picking partners like Manhattan Associates is one of the biggest decisions you’re going to make,” said Gratke. “It’s who you hire. With Manhattan, we’ve learned who the right partner is.”

Results and more to explore

“In just six months, Manhattan Associates has accomplished what it took our previous provider years to complete — and we’ve added significant new experiences for our employees and customers. The difference between this full omnichannel POS implementation and our previous POS deployment was substantial.”
- Clark Linstone, president and COO at Lamps Plus

“With Manhattan Active POS, customers have multiple ways to interact with the brand and encounter a holistic experience, regardless of channel. They can receive an item by their preferred method of choosing—Buy online, pickup in-store, curbside pickup, ship from store—and associates have the tools at their disposal to deliver on customer promises.”
- Stewart Gantt, executive vice president, professional services at Manhattan

This is just the tip of the omnichannel capability iceberg, as Lamps Plus and Manhattan Associates plan to integrate further upgrades under Manhattan Active Omni’s umbrella of solutions.

For now, Lamps Plus is satisfied with getting out in front of modern omnichannel demands, thanks to a point of sale that tailors its experiences to every customer need.

“It’s been peaceful,” said Gratke. “And that’s a good word. Especially in these turbulent times. Peaceful is a good word for how we’ve handled the last four years. In a retailer’s life, the less you have to worry about something, the better it must be doing. If you don’t have to concentrate on it, you’re putting your time into other stuff, which is selling more and making more revenue.”