Social Enterprise Invests in the Future with Powerful, Scalable and Easy-to-Use Cloud-Based POS
Since 1921, Goodwill of Greater Detroit has been working to improve the quality of life of individuals, families and communities by helping people in need reach their greatest potential through work and other opportunities. The Goodwill mission of “building pathways to independence through personal development and the power of work” is brought to life daily through six locations across the region.
The adventure of finding quality merchandise at a value price entices customers to visit Goodwill on a repeated basis. “From unique clothing and essential home goods to rare treasures, Goodwill offers a dynamic shopping experience while also helping metro Detroiters with employment barriers and supporting sustainability,” explained Jeff Ukrainec, Vice President – Donated Goods Retail, Goodwill of Greater Detroit. “Our offering is a triple-win – for consumers, for those we serve through our mission programming and for our environment.”
Well-curated resale treasures have helped Goodwill of Greater Detroit survive—even thrive—during economic storms. “The economy impacts our business, so our revenue goes up because people aren’t buying new. Instead, they’re buying resale,” Ukrainec revealed.
Sustained success demands not only a vibrant selection of attractive merchandise but seamless operations and a pleasant customer experience. Epicor Propello deployed in the cloud fit the bill for Goodwill’s needs. Ukrainec shared, “Our previous point-of-sale (POS) provider didn’t have the bandwidth to take us to the next level. I worked with the Epicor team to get exactly what I wanted, and they delivered. They had the capacity and expertise to get it done.”
He continued, “What attracted me to Epicor was the eagerness, persistence and willingness to learn and understand the needs of Goodwill. They took my feedback and came back with solutions that I liked and that worked.”
Ukrainec had high expectations for Epicor Propello and Epicor met the challenge by investing in a solution that could be easily adopted by other Goodwill locations. He noted, “Epicor reached out to better understand what features and functionality would address the needs of a Goodwill store and they incorporated it into the system design.”
Despite a positive implementation experience, Ukrainec was understandably anxious leading up to the actual go-live date. The plan was to implement one store per week until all were upgraded to Epicor Propello.
Ukrainec admitted, “During this time, one of the store servers crashed and we decided to upgrade to Epicor Propello right on the spot. We went live Monday morning with zero training. It went so smoothly, without missing a beat, and it was awesome. That was a true success story for the Epicor Propello system.”
One of the things that sold us on Epicor Propello was the ease-of-use at point of sale. At another Goodwill location, we watched a trainee efficiently checking out a customer without any hesitation.
He added, “We had a good launch team for our Epicor Propello go-live and a great Epicor customer service team. Beyond go-live, I’ve continued to have a great relationship with the Epicor Propello product management team.”
From POS to analytics, Epicor Propello seamlessly integrated into the fabric of Goodwill of Greater Detroit. “One of the things that sold us on Epicor Propello was the ease of use at the point of sale,” Ukrainec remarked. "At another Goodwill location, we watched a trainee efficiently checking out a customer without any hesitation.”
User-friendly Epicor Propello reporting features give Goodwill of Greater Detroit management the power to monitor store operations easily. Built-in analytics and reporting capabilities support both tactical and long-term strategic decision-making, and Epicor Propello's next-gen reporting engine helps provide real-time data whenever the user needs it. Ukrainec acknowledged, “It’s easy for management to generate reports and perform real-time analysis from Epicor Propello.”
My staff can use the Epicor Propello offline mode and not miss a beat if the internet is down. The stores can still operate without turning away customers. There’s no down time and I’m not losing sales.
“Additionally, the system’s offline function helps ensure uninterrupted service during internet outages. With my old provider, if I lost my WiFi connection, I couldn’t do credit card transactions,” Ukrainec recalled. "My staff can use the Epicor Propello offline mode and not miss a beat if the internet is down. The stores can still operate without turning away customers. There’s no downtime, and I’m not losing sales.”
Ukrainec appreciates the myriad of benefits that come with cloud deployment, from data protection and secure access to seamless software upgrades and server maintenance. He noted, “Because Epicor Propello is cloud-based, software updates are done automatically. With my prior system, I had to manually update 24 different servers, so the automatic updates are a real time-saver.”
Ukrainec’s experience has transformed him into a loyal Epicor evangelist. He highlighted, “If other Goodwill stores ask me if the Epicor Propello system can do something, I’d have 100% confidence that Epicor can make it happen.”
