Lewis Stores, leading retailer of household furniture and electrical appliances, has selected Metacom as its exclusive South African communications service provider. The retailer has an impressive South African footprint of more than 645 stores nationwide with a further 116 stores in Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland, which Metacom has already been managing for the past year. Metacom beat out several other service providers thanks to its commitment to customer service, reliable connectivity and delivering an extensive product offering.

Gregg Abrahams, General Manager IT, Lewis Stores, says: "The experience we've had with Metacom has been exceptional, and this played no small part in the selection process. On more than one occasion their commitment to going the extra mile and resolving our connectivity challenges has surpassed our expectations."

Metacom will be providing Lewis Stores with a full managed WAN connectivity solution that will make use of Fibre, ADSL or satellite as primary communication medium, with LTE as failover default. All stores will have primary and failover WAN connectivity and Metacom will deliver significant technical WAN management expertise alongside a 1GB fibre into the retail outlets backend. The system is designed to assure Lewis Stores of comprehensive and reliable connectivity across the country.

"Lewis went through a thorough due diligence process whereby Metacom was awarded some of their most challenging stores across SADEC to operate for more than a year." says Metacom MD, Réan van Niekerk. "We like to think of our commitment to exceeding customer expectation as The Metacom Way."

The Metacom Way is an ethos that has permeated throughout the company, and is something upheld by every employee, leader and decision. A can-do attitude is part and parcel of Metacom's service delivery, as is their commitment to solving a problem, no matter how complex it may seem at first. It is this focus that made an impact on the company's relationship with Lewis Stores.

For Abrahams, Metacom's hands-on approach is crucial: "Their ability to make a plan is extraordinary. Last year we were about to open a store in Opuwo in Namibia when our service provider let us know they couldn't do it. We asked Metacom if they could make a plan. Their engineer got in a car that very afternoon and had the site up and running in a matter of days. We were very impressed."

The Metacom team will do whatever it takes to ensure customers are happy, and proactive steps are always taken to ensure that communications are reliable 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
"Service excellence is a part of our DNA and as leaders, we not only expect nothing less of our people, but we expect even more from ourselves," says van Niekerk. "Lewis Stores have full access to management any time of the night or day – if they have a problem at 1am, I'll be on the phone making a plan to resolve and provide solutions. From experience to accessibility to commitment – this is the Metacom Way."

"There is a superb synergy between the two companies and we share a vision of an immersive retail experience, building a loyal brand community through opportunities to introduce innovative interactive media, using retail video, retail audio and Wi-Fi technologies. This shared vision, together with common goals when it comes to connectivity, collaboration and a commitment to customer service excellence, makes for a great business partnership" concludes van Niekerk.