Computill

Computill provide IT solutions exclusively for the Hair & Beauty Industry. Established as the UK's premier supplier of salon management software, their clients include top Salons such as Vidal Sassoon, Worthington's and Umberto Gianni. Computill's software system - 'i-salon', was developed to improve salon performance. It utilises Information Technology to give full support to the salons from the point of sale, through to their direct marketing activities.

In the increasingly competitive Hair and Beauty Industry, it is becoming essential for Salons to maintain strong customer loyalty through regular effective communications with their customers. More and more salons are using direct mail as the medium of choice for doing this. However, for direct mail to be fully effective, having the correct customer contact and address details is essential.

Always aiming to be responsive to client needs, Computill discovered that integrating an address management solution with i-salon would improve the accuracy of their client's direct marketing activities, in particular Direct Mail. By verifying address details with the 27 million addresses on the Royal Mails Postal Address File, address management software ensures that contact and address details captured at the point of sale are as accurate as possible. This means that mail is correctly delivered, the costs associated with undeliverables and returned mail are minimised, and customer perception is improved through correctly spelt contact details.

In 1998, Computill made the decision to integrate an address management solution with i-salon. They needed a solution that was both cost effective and easy to integrate, for them Capscan's Zapcode was the obvious choice. David Levine, Managing Director explains, "After researching the market, we found that Zapcode was by far the most cost effective solution for our needs. The Capscan Software Developers Kit was also a major plus point in their favour. It ensured that integration was a quick and hassle-free process. As a result, our customers were able to profit from the benefits of address management almost immediately."

"The benefits Zapcode has given our customers since the integration are immense," continues David Levine, "Zapcode has not only supported the direct marketing activities of our clients through accurate addressing, but has given Salon's other benefits such as reducing in store queues, more professional service and improved customer perception. These benefits are a result of Zapcode's ability to capture full contact details from just a postcode. This means that fewer keystrokes are needed to capture the address details at the point of transaction, therefore reducing transaction time."

As the popularity of Zapcode within i-salon continues to grow at a rapid rate, David Levine reflects on the importance of the relationship with Capscan: "Zapcode has become a major part of the solution we provide. Over 80% of our customers use Zapcode through i-salon, and we actively try to push it to our new customers because of the benefits it gives them. With Capscan on our side we are able to offer a fully comprehensive system that supports all of our clients needs and maintains our position as the leading provider of software for the Hair and Beauty industry."