Paris Gallery: Deploying a platform for the greater good

Dubai:

The high-end cosmetics and fragrance retailer Paris Gallery is looking to create greater synergies within with the rollout of an enhanced internal communications platform.

‘PG Connect’ represents an overhaul of Paris Gallery’s existing communications platform and has been jointly developed by Avaya and Eutech Cybernetic. It will connect employees, franchisees and stakeholders to aid communications using multi-user audiovisual interfaces in real time. In-store staff, for instance, can dial a common number to communicate with one another and exchange information.

“How we communicate with our customers affects their shopping experience,” said Mohammad Abdul Rahim Al Fahim, CEO of Paris Gallery. “How we communicate with each other internally determines how we share information and work together in a timely and effective manner.”

By enhancing collaboration, the company also aims to improve productivity. “PG Connect will not only increase the productivity of all personnel and help them maintain a healthy work-life balance but it will also result in us being more responsive and attentive to the needs of our customers,” Al Fahim said.

The platform is currently aimed at improving collaboration and not for e-commerce purposes, although online shopping will be integrated eventually. “Eventually it will link into e-commerce and home shopping as well so that the experience between the home and the shop becomes seamless,” Gunasingham said. “The idea is that it’s pervasive.”

The PG Connect platform will use video and web conferencing for training in order to reduce travel and save on training costs, according to Nidal Abou-Latif, vice-president of Avaya Middle East, Africa, and Mediterranean. And he has personal hands-on experience to back what he is saying - using video for training purposes helped Avaya reduce travel expenses last year. “We saved more than 40 per cent of training costs by using this type of technology,” said Abou-Latif.

Connectivity will also be boosted as Paris Gallery’s employees can access the platform from mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, even when abroad. “Executives will be able to travel around the world and be able to always be connected,” Abou-Latif said.

Furthermore, Paris Gallery aims to enhance customer service through the platform, which will help the staff assist customers better at the stores.

“If somebody comes into a shop and wants to purchase something they can through a tablet talk to a person who’s really an expert on that subject and find out about inventory,” Eutech CEO Hari Gunasingham told Gulf News.

— The writer is an intern with Gulf News.