New purchasing system at Choppies

TUMELO SETSHOGO
Correspondent | Friday January 25, 2008 00:00

The system has been named Choppies Gram. It started last December and was installed at all the 47 stores countrywide. Says the chain's Director of Public Relations Ben Stegling: 'Simply put, Choppies Gram is about buying groceries from one store and collecting them conveniently from any other Choppies store in the country.' Stegling sees the system as one way of apportioning credit among its well-deserving customer base and has been 'made possible by the nationwide spread of Choppies stores.'

He says their IT department has designed a particular entry system in the form of a code: 'It acts like a postal address where you write the address you want your letter to reach. Every village has its own code, which is sent to the store the customer wants the groceries to be collected from. The code will also appear on the till slip.'

The system is available to anyone interested. 'All they need do is make arrangements with the store manager for expeditious system activation,' says Stegling. 'In 'Choppies gramming', one no longer has to cover distances with loads of groceries and hardware,' Stegling says. 'The days of carrying lots of cash into non-credit card service areas are a thing of the past.'

The group's PRO points out that they are mindful of the fact that any new system comes with teething problems and that they will therefore 'keep our ears open for feedback from customers.'

Stegling says judging from the low number of people who have used the system so far, its existence is not widely known.