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ProphetLine POS has been our lifeline for seven years in our four retail stores. The software is robust and offers many more functions and ...
Read MoreMost small retailers have many things to worry about and good inventory assortment does not have to be one of those. Their inventory assortment dictates the profitability of their store and makes a statement to the public about who they are, the clientele they would like to attract and their originality. Not enough of the proper assortment will tend to reduce the chances of your customers coming back and too much inventory will ruin your profits. POS Software with built-in merchandising functionality, like open to buy and a retail stock ledger will give you the information needed to make informed decisions on assortments and availability. The cost of inventory is the largest expense item on a retailer’s income statement. If not managed carefully, the cost of excess inventory can be the difference between a small retailer being very profitable and losing money.
Many small retailers think that they need more inventory to be sure they don’t miss any sales, but the truth is that too much inventory almost always will cost you more. When retailers bring their inventories in line, clean up their assortments and make it easier for the customers to shop, sales will go up. The cost of slower turning inventory is much greater than the cost of faster turning inventory. These costs happen from lost sales, lower margins and increased expenses. Retailers that properly manage their inventories, the assortment their customers want and not being overstocked are going to be much more profitable and good POS Software with built-in merchandising will get you there.
When times dictate frugal spending instead of the mentality that price is no object, your customer loyalty is much harder to build and keep. Building trust with customers begins with the retailer, not the customer. They have to see and feel that we genuinely care for them and have their best interests at heart. When was the last time you ran a report on your POS software for your best buying customers and sent them an appreciation of their continued loyalty? It is ten times harder to get a new customer than keep an established customer in the fold. Why is it so hard to call these good customers on a regular basis and thank them, ask if there is anything that would improve their experience in your store and in general, make them feel as if they are appreciated?
Sometimes the retailers that are questioning the loyalty of their customers are the ones that have not been loyal. Build your customer database in your POS software and keep your good customers happy. This is where your Point of Sale (POS) Software can be a valuable tool. ProphetLine POS Software has integrated customer marketing that will give you the availability to stay in touch with the customers that do the majority of your business. User definable fields can easily give your customers that personal touch that will keep them as a valued customer even if you don’t have the best prices in town. High quality customer Service is something we at ProphetLine know is valuable and is one of the reasons our POS Software makes it easy for you to give higher customer service to your clientele.
Yes, we sell inexpensive POS software and yes it is full featured, but why am I very rarely asked when the product is demoed about our support. POS software without a great support staff is useless. Most Pos software can do all the basics like perpetual inventory, cash controls, sales analysis and the day to day functions. The really good POS software companies give you support that helps you understand how to use information that should be fully automated, seamless and will give you an advantage over your competitors. Don’t over analyze, keep it simple with an easy to understand retail stock ledger that gives you department/class comparatives, vendor comparatives and an open to buy program that requires very little work and gives you information to make you an informed buyer.
Almost all POS software can act like a glorified cash register and track money, inventory and your basics. They also give you a bunch of lists at the end of the day that you don’t have a clue about how to use to improve your business’s bottom line. There is no reason that you should not be using a great POS software system instead of a glorified cigar box that gives you this bunch of lists. To put everything in perspective, yes we sell POS software with great technical support, yes we are full featured and nothing on the market can compare with the bang for the buck you get with ProphetLine POS Software.
Small retailers are getting all this advice on a daily basis on how to weather the economic downturn. Most of this advice comes from consultants who don’t have a clue what the small retailer is going through. It’s really quite simple, lower your variable expenses to the bare bones and treat your inventory like gold. Differentiate yourself from your competitors by finding niche markets and merchandise that can’t be found anywhere else. Going green is also stylish and handling eco friendly products and promoting an environmentally friendly business model is also a big positive.
Investing in technology in a downturn can also pay you dividends over the long haul. Don’t think of technology as an expense, but an investment in the well being of your store. Small retailers need to understand that investing in POS/Retail Management Software in hard times will enable them to change and improve their business processes and reduce their in-store costs. The real difference is they are moving forward with technology and their competitors have pulled back. Hard times don’t last forever and when the good times are back again, the retailers that have invested in store efficient software will put a gap between themselves and their competitors that will be hard to overcome. POS/Retail Management Software enhances the business processes, streamlines the inventory supply chain and gives you better analytics to make more informed stocking decisions.
Now is not the time to put a shell around you and hope times get better, it is a time to implement positive changes and ready yourself for a brighter retailing future. All good things come to those that wait, as long as they work like hell while they wait. Call us if you have any questions about POS Software and what it can do for your business or if you need help on the purchasing.
Why does ProphetLine POS software offer so many features that you might think it is too complicated or overkill for your particular need? Because it is an all-in-one POS software powerhouse that provides the convenience of having multiple program feature sets in a single interface. This saves you money because you won’t have to buy all the different packages to perform a family of related tasks. If you only want to use the basics, you can do it, but you will never outgrow our POS software. You want it simple, then you can use it simple, you have demands that exceed normal, then you have a POS software product with a rich history of handling complex businesses.
Our price is slightly above our low end competitors, but much less than others that try to sell you high price because they are a bigger company. With ProphetLine, low price does not mean you get low quality. There is no reason you should pay more if you are willing to do some of the POS software implementation yourself. We do as little or as much as you would like us to do. ProphetLine POS software is less because we have a lower overhead and price structure than larger companies, and the savings get passed on to you.
If price is the first thing you ask when inquiring about POS Software, you have it entirely backwards. Your first question to the POS software company should be how can your POS software transform my business processes and improve my profitability? The only two reliable and efficient ways to improve your business sales and cash flow are to market more to existing customers or expand your geographical territory by making your products and services available through the Internet.
Capturing information at the point of sale is essential to mining more business from your existing customer base. Your customers will gladly give you some personal information if they know that preferential treatment or special pricing is the end result. Notifying them of new product arrivals, private showings or a pending sale are a few of the ways to build your customer loyalty and keep them shopping with you and not your competitors.
The next best way to improve your business is to implement an easy to maintain and efficient Internet presence. A brick and mortar retailer can expect a ten percent increase in sales, according to industry averages, within the first year if the web store is properly worked and maintained. It’s just another way to get your product line in front of the buying public. If it is seamless, integrated brick and mortar POS software with a complimentary web shopping cart, that makes it all the better. Now that you know that the POS software can pay you dividends, price and great support are the next items that you should ask about.
I’m going to market and buy my summer line and I have a $50k budget. No sooner do I arrive than I turn into a binge buyer and buy everything I like and would like to wear myself. Pretty bad decision. You buy what you know sells and especially in these fragile times, leave the hard to sell items alone. Detailed sales and inventory planning may seem tedious and time consuming, but when you’re running low in a key item and can’t get your next shipment in before you run out altogether, you’ll wonder why you didn’t take the time to plan ahead when it could have made a difference. And when you’re taking your clearance markdowns, remember that excessive markdowns are frequently a function of inadequate sales and inventory planning months earlier. What happened to that open to buy plan your POS Software prepared for you?
Unsold inventory is a problem for most every small retailer at one time or another. When you find you have a large supply of unsold inventory the key to protecting your profitability is to act quickly, mark the dead inventory down and do whatever it takes to get rid of it. Typical retail inventories lose between 20% and 50% of their market value per year. The time is now to clean up your excess inventory, because the longer you wait, the bigger the markdown will have to be. Use your POS Software best/worst list by net and replenish the items that have always been a winner in the past.
Google Labs is one of my favorite hang outs. If you haven’t been there, you might want to take a look by going to Google Labs. One of the newer things they are working on is ‘Audio Indexing’. What is Audio Indexing you might ask. Well, imagine being able to search Youtube (www.youtube.com in case you don’t know), but rather searching the video titles, tags, or comments, you can search based on the comments spoken IN the video. This is Audio Indexing.
What does this have to do with Point of Sale (POS)Software? Absolutely nothing, but since you asked, I will give a plug. ProphetLine POS Software allows you to search your data to find trends, do intelligent purchasing (unlike the government), Open-to-Buy, Comparative reporting and much much more in a way that is as easy as Google searches Audio. If you need to get a better handle on your cash flow and manage your business rather than letting your business manage you, give us a call at 800-875-6592 x310.
