Retail SOP

As a business, you want the maximum return on your business investments. When thinking about implementing new technology to work with your retail point of sale system, the costs of start-up and training need to be low and the benefits high to make it a sound business decision. You want to be confident that the increased business will more than compensate for the initial outlay. Some suppliers seem to have forgotten this as they charge exorbitant prices for on-site servers and require expensive long-term commitments. They even charge extra fees for training and technical support. However, it is good to know that there are some retail point of sale system suppliers who have the medium to large business in mind. For businesses with anywhere from three to fifty locations, there are many options that will improve quality of service and profitability.

With the ability to manage your data on their servers at a secure location, costs associated with on-site servers and administrative overhead are eliminated. Upfront capital costs become monthly pay-as-you-go subscriptions that fit neatly into your business budget. Integrating your existing retail point of sale equipment, such as bar-code scanners and credit card swipes allows you to realize additional savings. The maintenance and upgrades for your retail point of sale software system are managed at the supplier’s state of the art data center. This ensures that each upgrade or new release will work seamlessly with your current equipment.

Your retail point of sale information can be accessed in real-time so that you can determine accurate stock on hand, in receiving or on order. Imagine the benefits of accurate, up-to-the minute information. Your sales will increase and your costs will be reduced. By having the information about merchandise at your fingertips, you will be able to better serve your customers. If an item is out of stock at one location, you will be able to determine immediately where a duplicate item is located and how quickly you can have it to your customer. A happy customer is a return customer, which leads to increased sales. Costs are reduced as the possibility for duplicate orders is eliminated. With each location knowing what the other is ordering and so forth, costs can be reduced.

Having retail point of sale software that you can connect to from anywhere the Internet goes allows you incredible freedom. You can access information directly whether you are at a trade show or from any of your locations. If a problem arises while you are at home or even on vacation, you will be able to get accurate real-time information and make informed decisions. You won’t have to worry about not having the retail point of sale information that you need because it will all be yours at the click of a mouse or even on your iphone.

Sophisticated retail point of sale system software that is reasonably priced and easy to use is not just wishful thinking. Suppliers have jumped on the bandwagon to supply businesses with the tools they need and want to make their companies grow. In less time than you might think possible you can be receiving real-time reports on your merchandise that will help improve your bottom line.

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Now that 2013 is a distant memory, what’s in store for retailers in 2014? Here are a few predictions based on consumer behaviors, technology trends, security breaches, and holiday mishaps experienced in 2013.

More Consistency Across Channels
Consumers shop at physical stores and online. They increasingly use multiple channels to communicate with their favorite brands including email, social media, web chats, text messaging, phones, and video chats. In the past, these channels may have been handled by different departments or even different third party providers. As a result, the customer experience was often spotty. As retailers move forward, they are recognizing the importance of brand continuity across channels. Thus, more retailers will deliver consistent interactions and brand messaging regardless of the customer’s desired channel.

More Personalization
Technologies exist that make it possible for marketers to understand the entire customer journey. Not only can detailed analytics and marketing attribution models ensure that all channels that influence a customer are properly credited for their contributions, marketers can use these insights to personalize offers.

More Mobile
Smartphones are here to stay, and they influence how users shop. Investments in mobile and cloud computing will help marketers know more about where each customer is in their personal customer journeys, where they happen to be right now, and which channels they prefer.

In 2014, expect to see smarter apps that entice users to stores. For example, when a user walks past a coffee shop, a coupon might pop up, enticing that user into the store for a latte. Smartphone apps can also combat the problem of “show rooming” by offering in-store visitors an incentive to buy now rather than try to get a better deal online.

Better Shipping
Last year’s robust online holiday season coupled with extreme weather caused extensive shipping delays. Many packages failed to arrive in time for Christmas, disappointing gift givers and recipients alike. Expect shipping companies to be better prepared for both bad weather and this year’s holiday rush.

At the same time, more retailers are being forced to offer free or low-cost shipping in order to compete with Amazon Prime which offers free two-day shipping to its members.

Stronger Security
The Target data breach was another holiday mishap that is now serving as a huge wakeup call to retailers, the financial industry, and consumers alike. Some banks have responded by issuing new credit and debit cards to affected cardholders. However, that step alone does nothing to prevent the new cards from being compromised in the future. Merchants may be more willing to escalate their investments in stronger security.

Business software providers offers a wide range of business process improvement tools that cater to several industries including retail. For example, it offers everything from accounts payable, accounts receivable, and invoicing tools to online and outlet store solutions. Many retailers concerned about protecting the integrity of sensitive company, employee, and customer data can benefit from SAP data encryption, data archiving, data masking, and data destruction.

Owning a retail business can be quite nerve-wrecking if you dont have a proper security system in place. You keep picturing worst-case scenarios of how your retail store being broken into, vandalised or have its merchandises stolen by your own customers. Product loss through theft and damage is actually a common problem faced by shop owners and retailers. Without a reliable security system in place to protect the products and the stores, you will be in constant fear of what ifs. Avoiding this type of situation is simple once you learn how retail security systems can provide your business the protection it deserves.

Retail security systems explained

A retail security system is basically a set of tools and equipments designed specifically for retail businesses. These may include, but not limited to, security cameras and CCTV, product monitoring and inventory, and point-of-sale monitoring.

For businesses that dont have the budget for hiring security personnel, getting security cameras and CCTV would be an effective way in keeping an eye on customers as well as the stores. To be more effective, however, a technical security guard is still required to monitor the camera.

Electronic Article Surveillance (EAS)

A more comprehensive protection system would require the use of CCTV coupled with anti-theft tags or EAS (electronic article surveillance) and exit sensors. To use the system, an EAS tag or label will be attached to each item. When someone tries to take the merchandise out of the store without paying and the tag has not yet been deactivated the exit sensors will pick up the signal and will sound the alarm. Though it will not deter theft 100 percent, it can decrease it by at least 60 percent.

How much does the retail security system cost?

Depending on the retail security system, it can range from a hundreds of Euros to several thousand. It is important for your business not to consider the cost of purchasing the security system as just another expense; because it really is an investment that can provide the assurance and security your business needs to flourish and grow.

Which system should your business uses?

Every store is unique and may have different security needs. Therefore, it is important to consult with experienced security service provider such as Techstore to ensure that your business is protected. You will be explained of the benefits and drawbacks of each system and get recommendation of the system that suits your business the most. There are many systems that you can choose from. The systems range from the basic one to the highly sophisticated one, such as one that requires little human intervention.

Do many of us realize that we are working an unpaid part time job for the grocery stores and some home appliance stores? We are ringing up our own goods, are not getting any price discount for doing so and are saving these retailers money.

Each self-serve lane contains two to three self-serve scanners. Retailers have an average of two to four self-serve lanes. Retailers are saving each store an average of four to eight cashiers salaries per store. One attendant is assigned to these self-service machines. Hypothetically, if stores are paying full time cashiers $7 per hour, they are now saving $14,000 annually in wage expenses for each cashier that they do not have to hire. Multiplied by four to eight cashiers, each store saves $56,000 to $112,000 per year on wage expenses. This simple calculation does not even count other benefits that companies pay to their cashiers, such as healthcare, vacation pay, sick pay, 401(k), pension benefits and tuition assistance.

Are these savings passed on to the consumer? Nope!

Why should we work an unpaid part time job for the grocery industry?

1. Self-serve scanning machines are not always user-friendly

When grocery bags get filled up and you have nowhere else to put your groceries, the machine will say something like Please place your item back in bag and not even let you know what the problem is. The machine treats you like youre an imbecile. The machine is wasting your time while an attendant has to correct the problem.

2. Self-serve scanning machines do not always scan every bar code.

Some of the machines do not scan deposit bottle return slips, which requires an attendant to manually scan the deposit slips. If there is other merchandise that the machine will not scan, an attendant also has to manually override the system, which is consuming more time for the customer.

3. Self-serve scanners cannot correct price variations.

If an item should scan at a certain price, but the stores system scans the item at a different price, an attendant has to manually override the scanner to give the consumer the correct price.

4. Risks of alienating senior citizens

If self-scanners are challenging for younger people, imagine how intimidating the machines must be for seniors. Sometimes, perception and not reality can dictate a retailers success. If seniors perceive that cashier-scanning is going to be phased out by self-scanning, seniors may take their business where the human touch is still being utilized.

5. Gas stations offer a price break for self-serve

Although full-serve gas stations are becoming more rare, those stations that still offer full-service and self-service combinations offer price breaks to those customers who pump their own gasoline. If gas stations can offer a price break to customers who pump their own gasoline, why cant grocery stores offer a price break to customers who ring up their own goods?

6. Impersonal aspect could dissuade customers

Many customers go to the same store, restaurant or tavern because people who work at the establishment remember them. Remember Norm from Cheers? They want to go where everybody knows their name A U-Scan Machine is not going to know you from Adam.

7. Self-scanning is currently not set up to handle large amounts of goods.

Currently, U-Scan machines are set up to handle about fifteen items or less, which is fine with the light shopper. What happens with customers who are purchasing over fifteen items? Are the larger-quantity purchasers being rewarded by not having to scan their own goods? Why do shoppers with fifteen items or less have the opportunity to do voluntary part time work for retailers? Is it a case of if customers purchase enough groceries, they dont have to work for the store today?

Should this concept be called self-scan or self-scam? Fortunately, ringing up ones own goods is still optional. Yes, it is still optional to do part time unpaid work for a retailer in which you are patronizing. Customers are doing the retailers a favor by purchasing goods at their stores. Is this how the customers are being rewarded? What will be next? Will customers go into a restaurant, order their food, be expected to prepare the food and pay the same price as if someone else had prepared the meal?

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This is the very first retail chain of online stores serving consumers on the Internet. KaChing KaChing instantly enables you to sell over 2.5 million brand name products at great low prices.

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