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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 MoreA very Happy Thanksgiving wish to ProphetLine POS Software users and all small retailers. We find ourselves in the midst of a good economic period for large corporations, but sometimes difficult for the small retailers. Consumer confidence is iffy, world unrest and terrorism dominates the headlines. But you still have a retail business to run. There are issues that you can control and those that you cannot. The challenge is for you to put effort into what you can control, put the past behind and seize new opportunities in the future.
As much as times change, retailers are still faced with the problem of creating more revenue out of the existing square footage they occupy. Information gathered with point of sale software is a vital part of the process of generating business opportunities by making available information allowing you to open new markets, attract new customers and find new ways to optimize revenue. Most POS systems can manage to do the basics, like perpetual inventory, billings and compile various lists. To succeed in today’s business climate, you have to have a system that gives you the ability to build your business around processes that generate more revenue out of existing customers, services, products with better margins and utilize the Internet as an extension of your POS software. The reports you generate from your POS software must be precise accounts of your customers buying habits in the past, an accurate projection of their future purchases and the inventory levels required to satisfy their needs. Buying more inventory than necessary or purchasing the wrong piece selection is a formula for disaster. Prior to purchasing extensive amounts of inventory or investing in new fistures or equipment, a store must review their sales performance by department, by vendor and formulate a sales plan or revise an existing plan. Based on trends, the sales plans are adjusted upward or downward so that the right amount of investment is made in each department.
Data gathered at the Point Of Sale can provide valuable information, such as which customers are profitable and which ones only do business with you when there is a sale or they have no other choice. The bottom line is the need to better understand your customers and use this information for promotions to different customer groupings.
No matter what size your company, building and nurturing a base of Loyal Customers through targeted marketing efforts contributes to a better bottom line. Information gathered with POS Software is how the most profitable companies separate themselves from the pack.
Controlling inventory investment is a primary reason retailers purchase POS Software/Retail systems. Properly “timing” inventory means gaining control over cash flow. A well-planned Open-to-Buy lets sales revenue pay for incoming merchandise rather than having to borrow money.
An Open-to-Buy serves as the “budget” for inventory, sales and purchases. The Open-to-Buy report is the “financial statement” for your inventory.
Open-To-Buy has helped many retailers gain financial control of their businesses. With ProphetLine’s Open-To-Buy Module added to your system, you will be able to develop and execute your buying plan easily and accurately. With a properly managed buying plan, you can improve your stock turn rates, cash flow, gross profits and return on inventory investment.
At the end of each month, you can identify and respond to trends as they develop. You can achieve optimum stock turn rates, while keeping inventories at the proper level to support expected sales. Isn’t that better than kicking yourself at the end of the year?
Most retailers know they should utilize an Open-to-Buy, but do not know how to properly develop and exercise an Open-to-Buy Plan. We can help there, too. Our on-staff retail consultants have extensive experience in OTB planning, implementation and reaction.
This single sheet of paper can give you comparatives on vendors, items, classes, and departments. Who gives you the best turn rates and sell-thrus, vendor A or Vendor B? Knowledge to make smart business decisions. The typical retailer is overstocked by 10-25% at any given point in time, meaning that for every $100,000 in sales, there can be $5,000 to $25,000 (at retail) in excess inventory on the shelves. When you start looking at $500,000 in sales, the wasted investment runs into six figures. Imagine converting $100,000 of excess inventory into cash.
I talk quite a bit to not only prospects but also recently sold customers new to the use of ProphetLine and often new to PC Based Point of Sale Software. These are courtesy calls to make sure things are progressing as expected after the sale. My first contact this morning expressed this sentiment. "Now that we have ProphetLine, we have learned who pays promptly and who does not. we were surprised to find that we were wrong in what we thought". This company is operating multiple store operations; effectively three stores, two of which are mobile stores located on trucks. Additionally this account said, "For the first time, we know what we need to reorder and when we need to reorder before we run out." This is Retail Management.
ProphetLine is constantly developing POS Software that will enable small retailers to react to changes in customer buying habits and give them an advantage over the big box retailers. Read the full story in the Dow Jones Market Watch.
“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up somewhere else,” said Yogi Berra. If you don’t have a roadmap for your business, you’ll probably end up at that fork in the road that Yogi talks about and it’s a different spot than you intended. Your POS Software should watch your inventory and purchasing decisions by using the POS transactions and showing you logical actions to take to be a RETAILpreneur. You don’t need a technical staff and professional buyers to make good purchasing decisions. You just need information that is simple to obtain and easy to understand. If you are not using a good Retail Stock Ledger, you are not maximizing your revenues.
