National Apparel Retailer — POS Strategy, Selection & Deployment
Facing aging POS technology, payment limitations, and legacy host dependencies, a national apparel and home retailer engaged CRA to lead the full POS lifecycle—from requirements and vendor evaluation through QA, implementation, and rollout across 600+ stores.
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The Challenge
A value-focused apparel and home retailer with a broad U.S. store network needed a comprehensive POS strategy as aging hardware and software approached end-of-life.
The program also had to address complex business requirements beyond standard POS functionality, limitations in payment processing, dependencies on legacy host systems, and the need for a unified QA-driven roadmap that connected business objectives to a future-ready technology platform.
Our Approach
- Led end-to-end POS strategy, selection, quality assurance, and implementation.
- Defined and validated business, functional, and technical requirements using a test-first approach.
- Built and maintained a requirements traceability matrix connecting business needs to vendor capabilities, test cases, and validation outcomes.
- Established the QA vision, success criteria, and roadmap aligned to the broader POS strategy.
- Supported the RFP and vendor evaluation process by assessing testability, quality processes, and solution readiness.
- Oversaw implementation testing, defect management, risk mitigation, milestone validation, user acceptance testing, and deployment readiness.
The Results
Successfully deployed a modern POS solution across 600+ stores, improving operational efficiency and customer experience while creating a more scalable foundation for the business and IT.
- Successfully deployed a modern POS solution across 600+ stores.
- Improved alignment between business and IT while supporting long-term scalability.
- Enhanced operational efficiency and customer experience through a unified, future-ready platform.
- Mitigated risks associated with outdated POS hardware and software.
What CRA Delivered
A practical, hands-on engagement built around the decisions and execution support the client needed.
- POS strategy and future-state roadmap
- Business, functional, and technical requirements
- Requirements traceability and validation framework
- RFP and vendor evaluation support
- QA strategy, test planning, and defect management
- Implementation, UAT, change readiness, and rollout support
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