Monsoon Accessorize upgrades store technology as it expands its estate

Monsoon Accessorize has upgraded the technology in its stores to cut disruption to trading as it continues to grow on the high street and in travel retail.

The fashion and accessories retailer is tackling problems caused by ageing hardware and software, which had made it more difficult to keep store systems running and roll out updates across its shops.

The investment follows a return to profit, which the business announced last year alongside sales up 3.7 per cent at £212m. Its core Accessorize business drove that growth, helped by gains in Monsoon’s ecommerce and marketplace operations.

The retailer is still opening and refurbishing stores in high street and travel retail locations, which makes dependable tills and other store systems all the more important.

Working with technology services provider PMC, it has introduced remote monitoring that spots potential faults before they disrupt trading and fixes some issues automatically.

According to PMC, the system stops more than 2,000 technical incidents each year and now handles in excess of 20 million automated procedures a year. It also covers the retailer’s current point-of-sale systems and helps it roll out software updates.

David West, chief technology officer at Monsoon Accessorize, said the monitoring and automation had helped “prevent incidents and reduce the operational impact of technical issues on our stores”.

West said keeping store operations stable remained important as “some of our underlying hardware and software has aged”.