Case Study: Chef Works Implemented PCI-Compliant Solution

Chef Works, a global leader in culinary and hospitality apparel, operates in regions including the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK, serving thousands of customers worldwide.

With over 250 employees in the US, Chef Works is committed to digital transformation, starting in North America and expanding globally to streamline its contact centres with Amazon Connect.

Challenges

Chef Works looked for ways to improve cost and operations when replacing their existing PCI-compliant phone payment system, which relied on a rigid licence-based model.

This limited the number of agents who could process payments, leading to high costs and inefficiencies. Agents had to switch between multiple systems, which led to inefficiencies and decreased productivity.

Ultimately, the high cost of scaling due to per-agent licences restricted both growth and cost efficiency. As Chef Works advanced its digital transformation plans, it became clear it needed a robust, scalable, and cost-efficient payment solution for its Amazon Connect migration.

The new solution had to offer global scalability and seamless integration with existing systems and eliminate the cost and limitations of per-agent licences. Additionally, it needed to improve payment-handling efficiency and ensure ongoing PCI compliance throughout the migration to Amazon Connect.

Solution

SequenceShift’s PCI compliance solution was the ideal fit for Chef Works, addressing the limitations of their previous licence-based system by offering a scalable, cost-efficient PAYG option as they migrated to Amazon Connect.

The quick deployment of a proof of concept allowed Chef Works to evaluate the solution efficiently, providing the confidence to move forward.

Chef Works seamlessly implemented the PCI-compliant phone payment system, integrating it with their existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and new phone platform, which helped streamline payment processes across their US and Canadian operations.

The solution enabled all customer service representatives to process payments in a compliant manner without needing individual agent licences, significantly improving operational efficiency.

SequenceShift provided dedicated support throughout the implementation, ensuring the solution met Chef Works’ specific needs and was deployed smoothly.

As a result, Chef Works found the best solution for their needs during the migration to Amazon Connect, ensuring PCI compliance while improving payment processing efficiency and setting the stage for
future scalability across their global operations.

Calvin Nguyen, Director of Analytics and Digital Transformation at Chef Works, said, “PCI compliance has been a big topic, not just in the US, but globally. So we needed a robust and scalable solution to be able to satisfy that compliance. And SequenceShift was able to provide all of that for us.“

Benefits

Chef Works experienced several key benefits after implementing SequenceShift’s scalable, PCI-compliant solution. By transitioning to a flat fee per transaction (PAYG) pricing model, they eliminated per-agent licence costs, allowing all customer service representatives to process payments over the phone.

This switch led to significant cost savings, reducing both implementation and usage costs, which was a critical factor in their decision to switch to SequenceShift.

It also boosted operational efficiency for agents. The seamless integration into Chef Works’ systems improved agent productivity by unifying platforms and reducing the need to switch between multiple screens, thereby minimizing errors.

The set-up was efficient, with a fast proof of concept and a smooth integration with Amazon Connect, ensuring minimal disruption to business operations and maintaining ongoing PCI compliance.

Chef Works laid the foundation for future global scalability by selecting a solution capable of supporting its contact centres beyond the US and Canada.

The simplified payment process, now consolidated into a single interface, enhanced both compliance and
agent experience, preparing the company for a seamless global expansion while safeguarding customer card data.

Reviewed by: Rachael Trickey