Bleep UK PLC, the Leyland-based designer, manufacturer and supplier of touch screen EPOS systems, deployed 450 EPOS terminals for the in venue retail stores at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
After supplying the London 2012 Olympics and then the FIFA 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Bleep were approached to deploy their market leading EPOS solutions for all the retail and merchandise stores covering 3000 product lines, 80 sites and 37 venues in Rio and surrounding cities from the 5th until the 21st August 2016.
This represented a new challenge for the firm, as it was one thing supplying the same event in London but another in a foreign country over 5,000 miles away. Not to mention, this event came one month after supplying another highlight of the sporting calendar, the UEFA EURO 2016 Championships in France.
Bleep’s core model, the TS-915 Touch Screen Terminal, complete with integrated built in laser scanners, receipt printers and Ingenico EFT devices was rolled out across all retail outlets, including megastores in the Olympic Park and on Copacabana beach and smaller stores across the rest of the venues.
Each terminal featured an intelligent customer facing video display to engage with customers at the point of sale in the form of upselling and advertisements from sponsors and partners, such as Visa.
They had to be simple and easy to use, as thousands of temporary staff needed to operate them effectively and efficiently on a daily basis, with little training, something which Bleep’s bespoke software ensured.
The Bleep system is a multi-currency, multi-language solution with no single point of failure. Each EPOS terminal within the network is a master in its own right and every terminal receives data from each other, preventing data loss and ensuring reliability. Terminals can operate offline and self-heal when the network is reconnected and back online.
All terminals reported back to Bleep’s cloud based Web Back Office in real time, allowing for live sales information, from any outlet, which was accessible from any where in the world on any internet connected device, giving management complete control and a clear picture of pricing, stock and staffing.
Due to the footfall in all of these stores during events, fast transactions were essential to ensure a quick and efficient customer experience. Customers could pay using cash or Visa cards, with the latest payment methods in contactless and Apply Pay accepted, where transactions could be processed in as little as 3 seconds. Visa also trialled some new payment innovations at these games in the form of NFC payment wearables, like a ring and bracelet, in addition to Olympic theme commemorative pre-paid cards.
Benefits of the system included reliability, transaction speed, accuracy, efficiency and the high quality data capture and complete control over all aspects of the operation, provided by Web Back Office. Since successfully supplying the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Bleep have undergone significant growth and expansion in the stadia and events sectors and have gone on to supply clients including the FIFA 2014 World Cup, Golf’s Open Championship, the Rugby World Cup in 2015, UEFA EURO 2016 in France and the Principality Stadium, the national stadium of Wales, as well as continuing to provide hospitality solutions for establishments like bars, restaurants and nightclubs of all sizes.
Gordon Bolton, managing director of Bleep UK PLC, said: “This has been a very busy summer of sporting events for Bleep UK PLC. We strive to provide the biggest and best events and stadia across the globe, not just on our doorstep in the UK, but where ever they are.
“What we achieved at London 2012 has opened many doors for us as a business and while this approach has been risky due to the high profile nature of these events, we believe in our credentials as a designer, manufacturer and supplier of EPOS solutions and were always confident that we could excel in these high pressured environments.”
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