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Arch Fuel, an all-in-one integrated forecourt solution

Arch Fuel, an all-in-one integrated forecourt solution

Arch Retail, leading supplier of integrated retail management solutions in the Southern Africa retail market, have joined forces with Stowe Holdings in the development of an integrated forecourt management solution, addressing the needs of both the convenience store and the forecourt. One system ensures consolidated management control and performance reporting. The convenience store software component of the solution has been developed by Arch through years of retail experience, whereas Stowe developed from their field of expertise the NetFCC forecourt controller, ensuring a fully integrated operation. The entire solution has been locally developed by two partners understanding African requirements, is supported locally and backed by continuous product enhancements. The fact that the product is local also counteracts unfavourable foreign currency exchange rates, which makes imported technology relatively expensive.

Arch Fuel is compatible with a variety of pump types/manufacturers, i.e. MPI, Doms, Postec, Enabler and Fusion. In the forecourt the solution caters for all important functionalities such as attendant tagging, vehicle tagging and tank gauging. In the convenience store, Arch Retail meets all the functional needs of a typical convenience store, but further offers the following integrated value adds for the benefit of the customer: EFT, pre-paid airtime, loyalty/rewards system, electronic shelf labels (ESL) and automated cash handler.

The management requirements of owners with multiple sites, is addressed with Arch Enterprise (AE). AE maintains and centrally manages merchandising to the stores, but also uploads operational data from the multiple sites. Business intelligence from AE empowers owners to make quick informed decisions, stimulating business growth. Arch Financial Integration (AFI), another solution in the Arch suite of products, ensures operational information flows seamlessly to Sage Evolution, thus ensuring timely, accurate information is available on any of the sites, or the operation in total.

The following diagram summarises the Arch Fuel solution:

David Geldenhuys, Marketing Executive at Arch Retail, commented as follows: "The market has been asking for one integrated solution for some time now. Arch Fuel is proudly South African, locally developed and supported, resulting in a cost effective solution which addresses local requirements".

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