AllSaints is nominated for Digital Initiative of the Year at this year’s RG Excellence Awards following the fashion brand’s roll out its new mobile point of sale (MPOS) system across its stores, as it shifted away from its legacy electronic point of sale (EPOS) system.
The business made the shift as it sought to “reimagine the in-store experience,” allowing its teams to spend less time behind its tills and freeing up more time for them to engage with customers.
The fashion brand partnered with software development firm NewStore to launch the system, after AllSaints previously chose the company to replace its homegrown direct-to-consumer mobile app.
AllSaints began the rollout with its UK shops, before moving to tackle its stores in the US, Europe and Canada.
Before the shift to MPOS, AllSaints described its EPOS system as “a burning platform and siloed channels”.
AllSaints chief transformation and technology officer Alfie Meekings says that the transition to MPOS was “really about transforming the customer experience” in its stores and “giving our 1,200 team members across our mainline and outlet stores globally better tools to do their jobs”.
“One of the four key pillars of our global transformation focuses on our customers and, this year, a big part of that has been giving our teams the technology to create more personal connections and experiences,” he explains.
“Moving away from fixed till points gives our teams much more flexibility in how they interact with customers and allows them to stay with the customer throughout their in-store journey.”
As a company that describes itself as being “a business of feelings,” the in-store experience is clearly of high importance to AllSaints.
Meekings elaborates: “It’s not just about selling clothes – it’s about creating the feeling you get when you find something you love and know you’re going to feel great wearing it.”
He explains that its new MPOS system has changed its in-store customer experience by helping it to “make the experience of buying clothes much more engaging and personal”.
“Our teams no longer need to be tied to a fixed till point,” he says.
“They can stay with customers as they browse, scan items as they go and complete the transaction from the shop floor.
“If customers would rather take a seat while one of our team scans everything and brings it all to them – wrapped and ready to go – we can do that too.
“The tap-to-pay functionality makes the process even simpler, allowing customers to make a contactless payment directly with a member of the team.”
MPOS “the foundation for what comes next”
Ultimately, the exec notes that the clothes specialist sees MPOS as “the foundation for what comes next”.
“With NewStore now in place, we have introduced clienteling across 14 stores globally, giving our teams new tools to provide a more personalised service and build stronger relationships with customers,” he says.
“Further capabilities such as endless aisle and remote cart will follow as we continue to elevate the experience.”
Of course, the system change has meant an adjustment for AllSaints in-store teams.
However, Meekings assures that its teams have “adapted brilliantly” to the new technology.
“A big part of that was making sure the rollout was led by people who understood what it’s actually like to work in our stores,” he says.
“We had team members from across North America, Europe and the UK delivering the training, which helped make the change much more relevant and practical for the people using the technology every day.
“We’ve also been careful not to impose one way of serving our customers. If someone wants a traditional experience at a till point, we can provide that,” he assures.
“If they’d rather sit down and have their purchases brought over to them, we can do that too. The technology gives our teams the flexibility to meet the customer where they are.”
A learning curve for AllSaints
Aside from working well for its staff, the new MPOS system obviously also needs to deliver benefits from a commercial point of view.
Meekings says: “It can be difficult to isolate the impact of one change on measures such as conversion or basket size.”
However, he highlights that it has seen “a really meaningful increase in units per transaction in MPOS stores compared with a control group”.
“That gives us confidence that the additional flexibility is having a positive impact, whether by allowing customers to continue browsing while their purchases are being prepared or enabling our teams to transact with them directly on the shop floor,” he says.
“We’ve also seen operational benefits, including increased speed in areas such as receiving deliveries and replenishing stock, so the impact extends beyond the transaction itself.”
Transitioning to MPOS has undoubtedly been a learning curve for AllSaints.
“Every transformation project is ultimately about people,” Meekings says.
“The technology has to work and you need a solid plan behind it, but an initiative like this succeeds because the people using it understand it, believe in it and can see how it makes their jobs better.”
He also advises any retailers considering a move from EPOS to MPOS to “spend as much time thinking about the experience for your teams as you do about the technology itself”.
“Think about how they are going to learn to use it alongside busy day jobs and involve people from within the business to help you make the change rather than relying on external support,” he advises.
“Having colleagues who already understand your stores and your customers involved in the process can make a huge difference.”
AllSaints joins McDonalds, Ann Summers, B&Q, Currys, The Very Group and many more in the Digital Initiative of the Year category at this year’s RG Excellence Awards. See the full shortlist, and all categories here. This year’s RG Excellence Awards will be hosted at the Underglobe on 14 October 2026.
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