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Canterbury
Cathedral
Canterbury Cathedral, the mother church of the
Anglican Communion decided to install
Merlin® EPOS systems at their admission
points when the changes to gift aid came to place.
The changes meant
that all charitable institutions could boost the value of their admissions by
20%.
Merlin® had been recommended to Canterbury by another
Cathedral who were using the systems. Canterbury felt that
Merlin® would be the perfect answer to
their problems by providing a fully approved gift aid module that could
calculate the donation and process the admission at the point of sale quickly
and efficiently.
Due to the large numbers of visitors at Canterbury,
there was a distinct need for a system that could process the gift aid donation
and the donors details quickly, without the donor having to fill out any long
forms which delay the queue and often deter the donor from choosing to gift
aid.
Canterbury were also aware that
Merlin® systems could also capture donor
details such as post codes through the fully approved address management
software. This could then be used in marketing campaigns to target potential
visitors through the ACORN classification and inform visitors of any upcoming
events or news happening at the cathedral.
Once the decision was made,
three tills and admission points and a back office system were installed.
Canterbury has already seen clear differences that the system has
made.
“Arrival of visitors has been much faster” said
Theresa Heslop of Canterbury Cathedral “it’s also much more
professional and user friendly and the staff have picked it up
quickly”.
Canterbury have been using the additional revenue from
gift aid to improve the cathedral in various areas and provide their visitors
with an even more memorable experience.
Bressingham Steam
Museum
After the announcement of the changes to the way gift
aid is calculated, Bressingham Steam railway museum in Norfolk realised they
needed to take full advantage of the scheme. Their existing EPOS system was out
of date and after a recommendation, they decided to contact
Merlin®.
Merlin® met Bressingham’s
requirements by offering a Gift aid module as part of their EPOS system that
can calculate and record donations and donor’s details at the point of
sale. Bressingham also needed a system that could link two separate functions
together, ticketing and retail and that could easily transfer data and records
between the two functions. On top of this,
Merlin® also developed a special receipts
printing facility to meet their specific requirements.
The
installation of the systems went well and was completed in just one day.
Bressingham have already seen big differences in operations within the
museum thanks to Merlin®. Alistair Baker of Bressingham museum said,
“The systems have really speeded up the entry process, the gift aid
reporting is much easier and very professional, its just made everyone’s
life much easier!”
The staff at Bressingham have found all the
systems very manageable, “we say they are Pam proof” says Alistair,
“Pam is an 86 year old member of staff who finds some aspects of
technology a little difficult but she manages just fine with the
Merlin® system, that’s how we know
it’s easy to use!”
Bressingham have also used the systems as
part of their direct advertising campaign. Using the post code data obtained
from their gift aid donors they have been able to target specific households
and keep them up to date with any news or special offers that are taking place
at Bressingham.
Bressingham are also planning to set up an online
ticketing system through
Merlin® which will enable customers
purchase advanced tickets and season tickets.
Alistair said, “We
are really pleased with the service we have received from
Merlin®, anything we want they are able
to do for us and adapt things to suit our needs, they seem to evolve and grow
with us”
Ely Cathedral
Ely Cathedral in Cambridgeshire finally took the decision to install an
EPOS system when they realised they could no longer cope with their manual
system. They had no electronic information or ways of processing admissions
easily and were struggling with high levels of visitor numbers and long
queues.
Ely discovered
Merlin® and decided to contact them after
hearing about
Merlin® systems and Gift Aiding abilities
which Ely desperately needed.
After a consultation with
Merlin®, it was decided that the most
effective way to deal with Ely’s problems was to install three tills at
admission points and a back office system.
“The systems have made
a huge difference here” said Judith Kerridge of Ely Cathedral, “its
so useful having all the information you need at the touch of a
button!”
The systems have made operations a lot easier at Ely,
especially after using a manual system for so long. The cathedral has also been
making full use of the Gift Aid module incorporated into the EPOS systems,
allowing the cathedral to process admissions whilst collecting Gift Aid
donations which are calculated automatically. The system can also record
donor’s details such as names and addresses that can be used again in
targeted marketing campaigns.
The staff at Ely have taken to the
systems well and find them easy to use, “the majority of them are non
computer literate elder ladies, but they are very good at working the
systems.”
“Overall we have been extremely happy with the
systems”
Success at
Sundridge!
Sundridge Premier Store in Kent has recently
become the flagship store for the new Booker Link module from
Merlin®.
Sundridge was the
perfect site for the first Booker Link as it is an extremely popular store
which gets very busy, proving Booker Link’s capabilities in both large
busy stores and smaller stores. High demand meant that owner Sithamparanathan
Thiruthaninathan, known as Nathan, needed an EPOS solution that could help him
out by offering an extra pair of hands in the shop. Nathan decided to choose
Merlin® as the system can help in his
store by quickly processing transactions, keeping queues down and analysing
reports. On top of all of this Nathan also has the help of Booker Link.
Booker link helps Nathan by ordering new stock, updating current stock and
receiving delivery notes all on line within the EPOS system. With Booker Link
there is now no reason for Nathan to go to the cash and carry, it can all be
done with the touch of a few buttons on the EPOS screen.
The system
has enabled Nathan to successfully manage his Premier Store by handling large
numbers of customers, making sure the shop is fully stocked and keeping on top
of his accounts and reports. This all ensures the smooth running of his
convenience store keeping customers and Nathan happy!
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