A Melbourne chocolate institution, and now expanding to other states, “The Chocolate Box” harks back to the days of handmade chocolates.
With currently eight stores located in Melbourne and Sydney, the company has its sights set on expansion.
Established in 1958 by Rose and Richard Adler in the leafy suburb of Camberwell, the business manufactured handmade chocolates on site to be sold on the same day via the front of house retail shop.
The European styled chocolates comprising of coated creams, nut clusters, hard toffees and hand-dipped jellies and fruits became a hit and the business grew.
Fast forward to today and the business is still family owned and run by the founder’s siblings Gary and Marion. Under their direction, “The Chocolate Box” has transformed with the times into a modern, boutique chocolate business whilst maintaining the core values founded by their parents.
The SANGO solution
When “The Chocolate Box” knocked on AURES’s door, they had a very clear rationale behind the POS hardware they were looking for. Two solutions were offered, the YUNO and the SANGO.
Though both were considered as suitable solutions, it was the revolutionary style of the SANGO that won the hearts of the owners.
There are not many POS terminals that move people like the SANGO.
The POS Dilemma
“The Chocolate Box” has been a great POS user since the year 2000.
As with most POS solutions, a time comes when an update is required. Whether it be the search for greater functionality, performance or simply old solutions that have become tired and unreliable.
A shift to a new cloud based POS software that could easily expand to suit the growing business was adopted and this drove a re-evaluation of the hardware requirements for “The Chocolate Box”.
The business identified a number of key criteria when it came to selecting new POS terminals.
The new hardware had to be touchscreen based that would make the staff interface with the new POS software more intuitive. The hardware had to be stylish and add to the attractiveness of the stores.
Access to terminals for maintenance purposes was essential as well as a terminal that offered a small POS footprint.
Customer displays were added to allow for customer facing promotion.
That “wow” factor that we feel when we see something that visually strikes a chord with you is rare in the POS industry but the SANGO is a terminal that achieved this for «The Chocolate Box».
Besides the sleek styling of the SANGO, it offered a strong backbone of functionality to support the change in POS software.
Being touch enabled met the need to provide a more intuitive POS interface for staff.
From a technical perspective, the performance of the terminal exceeded the requirements but ensured that there is performance in reserve as software requirements grow in the future.
“The Chocolate Box” added customer displays to the terminal to allow for customer facing promotions and interaction.
The usual retail peripherals combination has been deployed including a barcode scanner, receipt printer and cash drawer.
A bright future
With the challenge to keep the POS system simple and more intuitive for staff to use, the AURES SANGO has met all expectations, greatly in part to the shift to a touch enabled terminal.
The SANGO’s striking look feels at home in «The Chocolate Box» stores, extending their visual merchandising efforts all the way to the POS terminals.
The all-in-one footprint of the touch terminal has reduced the POS space required as well as made it easier for the terminals to be maintained. No more climbing under the desks to get to POS PC’s to maintain.
Above all, “The Chocolate Box” has built a solid foundation in a cloud based POS solution coupled with the AURES SANGO that can support the growth of the business as it pushes expansion in the coming years.
