IT manager Boris Belski has his office at the top floor of Stockmann in the Mega Mall Teply Stan shopping centre, located in southern Moscow. On the door to the office premises there is a sign that says ”Ofis” in Cyrillic letters.

Boris Belski and his team are in charge of the IT operations of the Stockmann Group in Russia and Ukraine. The unit is responsible for IT functions concerned with opening new stores and for various support activities.

Similarly to other Stockmann’s countries of operation, the Stockmann department stores and Seppälä stores use Fujitsu’s GlobalSTORE as POS system in Russia. The current system is the fourth generation of Fujitsu’s POS system for Stockmann.

”Our POS system, as well as our logistics and accounting, for example, are integrated in the group level systems. Our operation is not detached from the rest of the company,” Belski points out.

While there are typically some 60 tills at a Stockmann department store, there are almost 100 in Moscow’s largest unit. The POS system is one of the most vital systems for the company. Its operational reliability and information security are extremely critical to the business.

Disrupted service is unthinkable

The most significant special features required from the POS system are brought about by differences in the accounting and tax legislation. A similar fiscal law is also effective in the Baltic countries, for example.

”In our country, we can only deploy POS systems that are approved by the government officials. When the laws were changed at the end of the 90s, Fujitsu adjusted its point-of-sales software accordingly. This operation took a whole year, but on a positive note it gave us a chance to test the most important feature of a POS system: its flexibility in the face of changes.”

Belski stresses the importance of system reliability: tills must be up and running even when the server is down. ”I can’t even imagine a situation where we had to put customer service to a halt due to a POS system failure.”

In addition to a POS system, Seppälä uses the StoreCENTER back-end system that allows chain concepts. In other words, the same campaigns and sales can be run at all stores simultaneously and managed centrally.

Handbook gives guidance

According to Belski, Stockmann has a refined process for launching new stores and department stores that has been compiled into a handbook. As IT systems are imported from abroad, sufficient amount of time must be reserved for customs formalities, for example.

It is not uncommon that opening dates of new department stores are delayed in Russia. The opening schedules are naturally kept as tight as possible, which puts pressure on engineers. 

System installations may here be held up by difficulties in getting power supply, for instance. ”When we were scheduled to start installation work at the Metropolis department store in Moscow, we only had access to temporary power supply in the unfinished building. We weren’t able to install our systems in those circumstances,” Belski says.

Deficient data communications

The level of infrastructure and other conditions vary within Russia depending on which part of the country you are in. ”Away from Moscow, in the outskirts of Russia, it can take weeks or even months after store opening before data communications to our centralised system actually work. We always have to have a plan B and C in place, in other words some alternative ways to make things work to secure our business. That is sometimes rather challenging to our partners,” Belski says.

Sometimes data transfers must be handled using traditional means, paper and telefax. “In Volgograd in Southern Russia, for example, we did the reporting of our newly opened Seppälä store from our store in the neighbouring city.”

The farthest Seppälä store is located in Novosibirsk in Siberia.

How do you cope with these massive challenges, then? ”Keep calm! The ability to tolerate stress is among the important qualities of my team members, along with professional skills and the ability to take responsibility,” Belski says.

As to the cultural differences within Russia, Belski says that farther away from Moscow, using email and other basic applications may be a complete novelty to the employees.

Local partner knows best

Fujitsu provides support and maintenance on the POS systems for Stockmann and Seppälä, too. Through its specialist network Fujitsu has found a local partner for all its Russian stores.

”Uniform functions optimise costs and increase the operational efficiency of the store chain. In the early years, the support services were provided from Finland, which had its difficulties due to different languages and different practices.”

IT services supplier Pilot is Fujitsu’s retail partner in Russia. ”It is a significant benefit for us to have reliable IT services. In embarking upon our expansion plans, we are able to be confident that our POS systems work”, Belski says.

Pilot provides helpdesk services in Russian. ”According to our experience, providing helpdesk services in the local language is vital to be able to locate and solve problems as quickly as possible.”

Long opening hours and time differences require long service hours from the helpdesks. In Moscow, department stores are open from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day. POS system support is available at all times while business application and office application support offers support from early in the morning till late at night.

» Ways of working are coloured by cultural differences