Catching up with Alacarte Software Tailors

The Floradat EPOS system launched in 2001 has reached every corner of Ireland. Photo Credit: Markus Spiske

Husband and wife team, Tim and Anne Gunning talk to us about their successful garden centre IT systems and the future

Retail

22 March 2017

For garden centres across Ireland, the IT systems and services implemented are just as important as stock and customers. We caught up with Tim Gunning of Alacarte Software Tailors, who together with his wife, went on to develop Ireland’s most widely used IT system in garden centres – the Floradat EPOS system.

For the past seventeen years, an entirely Irish owned company has provided IT systems and services to the Horticulture sector in Ireland, offering a diverse array of innovative products for nurseries and garden centres alike. When husband and wife team Tim and Anne Gunning established Alacarte Software Tailors almost two decades ago, they could have never envisioned the success this family business would soon come to be.

Origins

AST launched the Floradat EPOS system in 2001. Since then, users in both garden centres and nurseries from across every corner of the country have built on the system. Features are regularly added to Floradat in order to service the ever-changing marketplace and to keep the system fast, efficient, and easy-to-use for customers and employees alike.

Current products

Now in their seventeenth year trading, AST offer a complete range of products and services through Floradat 15 (Retail EPOS) and the Ultra compact Floradat Ti Touch Screen system.

Launched in 2016, Floradat 15 merges the original, easy-to-operate Floradat interface with a variety of additional features. Each addition to Floradat is based on a suggestion by one of the many establishments using the system. This approach to development allows Floradat 15 to remain ahead of the curve, as the system provides everything necessary for today’s fast-moving industry.

Useful extensions

The addition of Bia-POS provides an integrated extension for Cafe / Restaurant management. This allows both businesses to operate smoothly with one another, avoiding the clutter and confusion often seen when nurseries and garden centres branch out to include a cafe.

Looking forward

At GLAS 2017, AST will release Floradat N, their Nursery management system. Floradat N monitors nursery stock from plug to sale. The system records stock location, spray and treatment records, status, and projected maturity date.

Each of these details can be reported in real-time, with all the necessary information available at a glance. At point of dispatch, the system produces custom pre-priced labels, delivery docket, and invoice.

AST provide the complete range of Horticulture Grade labels – Stick on, Stick in, Looptie, and Swing tie. All versions of Floradat, including Floradat N, include full colour label design capability as standard, allowing you to customise sleek, stylish labels to your preference.

Support

AST provides comprehensive training and support services 364 days of the year (Christmas day excepted). The company is dedicated to its customers, with unparalleled access available for any support or inquiries. The support mantra is ‘If you are working, we are working’. It’s a big promise, but keeping this promise is what has lead to success, and to build a reputation as the number one provider of EPOS systems and IT solutions for Irish garden centres and nurseries.

Contact:
Tim Gunning
t. 098 50821
m. 087 2122266
e. info@alacarte-software.com