The challenge
Facing steadily increasing competition in the market, one of the world’s largest pawn companies knew it needed to continue investing in its industry-leading customer experience. As part of that, the company wanted a solution that would increase customer engagement with retail associates in its 800 stores worldwide.
In addition, because the company does business in multiple territories, each with its own regulatory requirements and operational rules, it needed to update its legacy point-of-sale (POS) system into a scalable, microservices-focused solution.
Our approach
Using agile best practices, Cognizant Softvision created two “Virtual Pods” with team members located across the U.S., Argentina and Mexico and then leveraged a virtual workflow to build the client’s solution.
The first Virtual Pod focused on modernizing the client’s legacy back-end system. The second built the core solution—a tablet-based POS system designed to get retail associates out from behind counters and onto sales floors in the company’s stores. This total solution would drive a top-notch customer experience in the form of more personalized interactions and incremental sales.
After a successful 25-store pilot, a global rollout was planned for 2020. Then an unforeseen roadblock emerged: the COVID-19 pandemic. As social distancing disrupted the company’s new in-store business model, Cognizant Softvision’s Virtual Pods nimbly pivoted and provided new features designed specifically to adapt to a remote environment.
