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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 MoreWindows Vista is finally upon us and has a lot of nice features, but some are a little hidden.
The number of open windows prior to grouping on the taskbar is one of these features. If you want to change the value, you will have to use an addin or edit the registry manually.
For more information on making this change via the registry, click here…
Exception reporting is the viewing of various functions that you feel are outside the normal selection at the POS station. You don’t need to see normal full retail sale transactions, but you would want a report on the employees that are trying to void, discount, mark-down and other actions that might impact the cash drawer reconciliation. This information should be automatically printed every morning for your review in order to detect poorly trained or dishonest employees. You can tell after a very short period if you have a store that is being managed properly or there are problems brewing. All good quality POS Software should have this feature available for you.
If you are looking to upgrade the memory in your computer, I found MemorySuppliers.com to be very helpful in finding, selecting and ordering. They are well worth looking to for you memory needs.
They assisted me when I was looking for memory for a Dell Dimension 8100 desktop with RamBus memory. RamBus appears to be one of those real great ideas that works well, but lost due to price and acceptance (much like the Betamax).
Dell ‘found’ some 256 meg chips, but could not come up with any other sizes and/or quantities. Since Rambus on this Dell required installation in pairs, I had to look elsewhere and MemorySuppliers.com was that place.
With computers being so common place these days, retailers often purchase hardware and then attempt to make it work with software. While this is typically not too difficult with standard Windows software, POS Software can be some what different as it performs specific tasks and can require/support specific hardware.
Imagine purchasing a part for ‘a’ car and then trying to get it to work with ‘your’ car. No one would purchase a random part for a car without verifying it is the correct part for ‘their’ specific make and model, however, many retailers will do this with computer hardware and then ask ‘why doesn’t work?’.
It is always good to remember that your POS Software is a vital part of you business and to verify requirements/support for hardware prior to purchasing the peripheral. Think of your POS Software vendor as your partner in charge of helping your business run smoothly. The more questions you ask prior to hardware purchases, the smoother things will go. Planning and Preparation are always rewarded and often avoid frustration.
Retailers, whose margins are under more pressure than most other industries, have experienced some tough cost cutting years. While some closed their doors, others embraced new technology developments to turn their operations around. Not surprisingly, the point of sale system has become the focal point of the retail operation. This is where errors in retail transactions can be controlled, and it is where the customer’s last impression is made by checkout time, accuracy, and ease of transaction.
Also, today’s point of sale systems have become instrumental in gathering customer data to use in the four major marketing decisions that store managers must make: product, price, place, and promotion. These are the variables that can be worked with to attract and retain customers.
Photo Pro – Dave Johnson discusses how he is changing his business model to better adapt to today’s market requirements with ProphetLine.
“Sales associates don’t make errors if I’m not available. Discounts, specials, and pricing are all accurate providing for greater gross margins with the ProphetLine POS system.” Dave Johnson, owner, Photo Pro. “Any business that is challenged by working hard but not being profitable, this system can turn it around. By managing the store operation, the system paid for itself in less than a year.”
ProphetLine software is used to manage both his retail store and photo finishing business. When an item goes up in cost, the system immediately and automatically transfers the increase. Pricing is increased or decreased, whatever is determined as appropriate. It allows you to look at an item, see if the gross margins are correct, and if not, make an immediate adjustment. Then it controls the inventory on the backside. It moves and tracks a product through its life cycle.
Tony Miresse – Art’s Cameras Plus extols the virtues of the gift card function to increase repeat sales. Art’s uses the gift card function, not only as a “gift” purchase, but as a promotional vehicle. For example, instead of giving a discount on a product, Art’s gives the customer a gift card at a certain value to use in the store on a future purchase. This brings the customer back. For example, a customer buys a camera, they are given a $50 gift card, and this brings them back into the store to become a repeat customer.
If you are interested in retail technology, then New York in January is the place to be. Everyone that’s anyone will be there showing their product line at the NRF Big Show. From POS Software to gift card solutions, there is something for everybody. If you need a free expo pass, give me a call or email and I’ll make sure you receive one. They are normally a $100. value and you want pay a dime, what a deal. The show is January 15th and 16th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center.
