A comprehensive data solution is putting a leash on a pet specialty retailer’s technology costs and is helping its employees focus on serving customers.

 

As a leading pet specialty retailer, PETCO associates are trained and responsible for helping pet parents select the right food, products and services to best care for their pets. That job is now easier due to a recent partnership with Sprint (News - Alert) that helps PETCO associates spend less time gathering information and more time directly advising customers, while also helping PETCO reduce operational costs.

 

Through the partnership, Sprint is now providing PETCO with a comprehensive communications solution, including 3G wireless data services, router hardware and Sprint on-site technical support. The solution has improved connectivity and performance for each of the more than 1,000 PETCO locations across all 50 states. Sprint managed the staging, testing, project management, specialized fulfillment services, coverage enhancements and on-site installation.

 

“Sprint offers a truly unique set of technology and project management capabilities,” said J. Smith, vice president, network and store systems for PETCO. “It’s now much easier for our employees to access vital information, and they can devote more time to helping our customers take the best possible care of their pets.”

 

“PETCO provided Sprint an opportunity to serve a major U.S. retailer with a cost-saving integrated solution that includes connectivity to a dependable nationwide 3G network, a high-performance Wireless Wide Area Network and network monitoring for coverage and performance,” said John Dupree, vice president, enterprise and federal sales, Sprint. “PETCO is an excellent example of an innovative company that used its partnership with a telecom carrier to develop an effective and complex wireless solution – that came with minimal impact to daily operations during the implementation phase.”

 

PETCO previously relied on local exchange carrier connections for back-up data connectivity at their distribution and retail locations. To increase productivity and lower their information technology costs, PETCO selected Sprint to develop a new wireless backup connectivity that offers full functionality if the primary wireline connection is unavailable. The wireless solution was integrated with PETCO’s existing routers, enabling management capabilities not previously available. With the Sprint solution, PETCO achieved substantial cost savings by removing analog modem lines at every location.

 

Sprint serves PETCO though its Business Markets Group, which is composed of sales, support, marketing and operations personnel solely dedicated to enterprise, small and medium-sized business and public sector customers. BMG delivers wireless, wireline and converged solutions for companies, drawing from a dependable nationwide 3G mobile broadband network, 4G capabilities that are well ahead of Sprint’s competition, the fastest national push-to-talk network, and a portfolio of devices and applications.