The company offers a wide range of services, including duty-free shopping, restaurants, hotels, airport lounges, and passenger transportation.
Business case
To drive growth and improve efficiency, SASCO started leveraging smart technology solutions early on. However, the company faced several challenges in its digital transformation journey, which included:
- Dispersed data: The use of multiple systems within the company led to inconsistencies and errors in customer data, making operations more complex.
- Strict organizational regulations: Operating in a highly regulated legal environment with stringent customs regulations required careful compliance measures.
- Security: SASCO needed to protect its data from unauthorized access or leaks to maintain the confidentiality and integrity of sensitive information.
Additionally, SASCO struggled with creating a solid financial strategy, effectively allocating resources, and securing buy-in from both leadership and staff for adopting new technologies.
Solution
To improve business productivity and ensure compliance with customs regulations, SASCO chose to implement LS Central, a solution already trusted by numerous airports and companies in the travel retail industry worldwide. LS Central offers a comprehensive software platform that connects operations for retail, food service, and bookings in one solution.
Benefits
Thanks to LS Central, SASCO has successfully streamlined internal operations, ensuring efficient duty-free sales and competitive pricing across 20 airport stores with over 30,000 products. Some key benefits include:
- Guaranteed regulatory compliance: Each item sold is tagged with a duty-free label that meets regulatory standards, enabling efficient control over declaration numbers, selling prices, and cost prices through the Point of Sale.
- Streamlined supplier management: Communication and relationships with suppliers has improved significantly through commission policies linked to sales performance, effective contract oversight, debt management, and an interactive ordering platform.
- Effective integration for customs: LS Central integrates seamlessly with the Vietnam Customs system, ensuring compliance with customs regulations and tax-free limits for duty-free products, including alcohol, tobacco, and high-value items.
- Better insight into customer trends: The Analytics for LS Central add-on makes it easier to view comprehensive reports about customer preferences, trends, and store performance. With a single click, authorized employees can access the relevant data through a centralized platform, available anytime, anywhere.
Another key priority for SASCO was to enhance the customer experience in the waiting and landing areas at Tan Son Nhat International Airport. The benefits of LS Central in this area include:
- Faster checkout: Through the integration of e-invoices, product labels, loyalty cards, and electronic payment gateways, along with international cards for easy currency conversion, the company now works with up-to-date information and can quickly process payments for their customers. This all facilitates quick transactions, preventing long wait times that could cause passengers to miss their flights. "Customer feedback indicates an improved shopping experience at the duty-free store, highlighting increased convenience and reduced waiting times during transactions," says Director at SASCO.
- Optimized product mixes: "We can always ensure popular items are readily available at the store, preventing customers from being disappointed due to stock shortages," says Director at SASCO.
- Effective customer personalization: External scanning devices efficiently capture passenger information by scanning passports and boarding passes, enabling SASCO to customize promotions and VIP rewards effectively.
- Consistent, real-time information: The system provides real-time data to the logistics team, optimizing material preparation and meal processing for restaurants and flights, all while meeting ISO standards. Comprehensive product support services are readily accessible from the warehouse to the airport duty-free stores.
With the implementation of LS Central, SASCO has not only enhanced operational efficiency but also achieved significant measurable results. The company has experienced:
- Enhanced reporting capacity: "We’ve increased our reporting capacity fivefold, which has improved our reporting time and consolidated financial reports," says IT Manager at SASCO. "This supports the leadership team’s decision-making and management, with integrated data linked to directly to customs."
- Reduced operating costs: "We’ve cut personnel costs by more than 20% while maintaining work efficiency and improving administrative processes," says IT Manager at SASCO.
- Positive economic growth: According to the end-of-year 2023 report to the Board of Directors, SASCO saw a 17% increase over planned targets, with pre-tax profits reaching 334 billion VND, a 22% rise compared to the plan. The company had never seen this level of growth before implementing LS Central.
The LS Central solution for travel retailers and airports empowers SASCO to improve operational efficiency, ensure compliance with customs regulations, and enhance the customer experience at the airport. This positions the company for continued growth in the Vietnamese aviation and duty-free services sector. "We express our profound satisfaction with the all-encompassing solution delivered by Naviworld Vietnam," says Director at SASCO. "This comprehensive approach, spanning consultation, design, and implementation, has greatly improved operational efficiency at the SASCO airport."
