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ANNOUNCING THE 2005
ISLAND PACIFIC USER
CONFERENCE
Island Pacific is
bringing together some
of the best known
retailers and product
experts during it's
upcoming User
Conference, Sept 11-14,
2005 to meet and discuss
Retail Pro®, Island
Pacific Merchandising
System™ (IPMS), and
Synaro®. With a business
update, solutions
forums, and in-depth
product specific
sessions, there's great
product and industry
information to satisfy
everyone's needs.
At the Island Pacific
User conference,
attendees will have the
chance to meet with
other retail executives
and product experts and
learn the tips and
tricks for success.
You'll also be able to
learn about the full
suite of Island Pacific
products, including
merchandising, store
operations, point of
sale, loss prevention,
and multi-channel
applications. Attendees
will be able to share
ideas, participate in
open forums, and attend
sessions focusing on how
to get the most out of
their products.
Conference Highlights:
·Discuss Island
Pacific's strategic
company and product
direction
·Preview new
functionality
·Learn tips and tricks
directly from the
developer
·Meet successful users
from around the world
·Special discounted rate
for those on an
Membership
Representatives from
Advanced Retail
Management Systems,
including Bruce Klepper,
Stacy Ryan and Randall
Diederich, will be on
hand throughout the
conference. We look
forward to seeing you
there.
For more information,
contact Jim Phillips,
Event Manager, at:
jphillips@islandpacific.com,
Phone: 949-399-3803.
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Video Surveillance
Systems protect you from
theft!
Retailers are challenged
by theft and store
liability. Customer and
employee theft as well
as worker's compensation
claims eat into a
retailer's profits.
RemoteManager. IP
integrates Retail Pro®
point-of-sale with video
surveillance systems to
provide an efficient and
effective means of
managing these
challenges. With
RemoteManager.IP, you
can:
• Monitor employee
performance from the
store or remotely
• View customer
transactions
• Investigate security
and liability issues
RemoteManager.IP allows
you to store and
retrieve information
easily and is scalable.
Retailers can view
synced video and sales
information on one
screen. This helps
retailers determine if
items were rung
up/scanned correctly.
RemoteManager.IP also
allows the retailer to
store an unlimited
number of transactions.
ARMS will be
conducting a live
webinar demonstration of
Remote Manager IP on
Wednesday August 17 at
10:00 am mountain time.
To sign up for the demo,
contact Bob Evans at
bob.evans@armsys.com.
Space is limited.
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Microsoft Business
Solutions Retail
Management System (RMS)
Over the last few years
we have expanded our
product and services
that we offer to retail
businesses. Some of
these products and
services include custom
programming, integrated
video security, expanded
E-commerce offerings and
other products that help
retailers run their
business.
As part of this effort,
we are pleased to
announce that we have
added Microsoft Business
Solutions Retail
Management System to our
product line. Advanced
Retail Management
Systems became a
Certified Microsoft
Partner in January 2005.
In addition to offering
Retail Pro, we now also
offer Retail Management
System for single and
multi-store businesses.
Retail Management System
is an affordable, easy
to use point-of-sale and
inventory control system
that integrates to a
number of other business
applications.
Our focus with Retail
Management System is on
vertical markets such as
liquor stores, hardware
stores and front-end
pharmacies. In order to
maintain our current
business standards, we
have put together a
separate team of sales
and technical people in
our office that are
trained and certified on
Retail Management
System. We offer a
complete line of
hardware, training
programs, support plans,
custom add-ons, and
custom integrations for
Retail Management
System.
For more information on
Retail Management System
please contact Bob
Evans, Director of Sales
and Marketing, at (303)
738-1800 Ext. 303 or
E-mail him at
bob.evans@armsys.com
No Customer Left Behind!
- 3 Ways to Guarantee
Your Service Gets
A Passing Grade! By:
Anne M. Obarski
Have you ever been a
lost customer? I mean a
"real customer" who was
left behind, left alone,
feeling like you were
taken for granted?
Sometimes it's a subtle
feeling and other times
it's like a slap in the
face.
Well, I'm still feeling
the bruises of my last
brush with being left
behind. It happened last
week when I was rushing
to make a very early
morning flight. As
usual, everything was
going wrong, from
hitting the alarm one
too many times to not
packing the night before
like I should have to
racing to the airport at
5 a.m. in the pouring
rain.
And did I mention, NO
COFFEE!
I parked the car, ran
into the airport with my
carry on bag barely
touching the wheels to
the ground, up the
escalator around the
bend scanning the signs
for my airlines. Now, I
must tell you that this
is an airline I rarely
fly and the reservations
were made by the client.
I finally spied the
counter and then stopped
in my tracks. There had
to be 75 people in line!
Who would have guessed
that many people on a
rainy, Thursday morning
would be on the same
flight.
I looked at all of their
"happy faces" as I took
my place at the end of
the line. I glanced up
at the monitor to
happily see that the
flight was going to take
off a half hour late!
Ahh, there is a God!
I have now been up since
3 a.m. and the
anticipation of a 4 hour
flight ahead of me and I
am already breathing
hard when what to my
wondering ears I hear,
the voice of the airline
employee yelling at the
top of his voice, "Next
time you fly this flight
you better get here
extra early as there is
ALWAYS a long line"!!
I remember the silence
of this primarily
business crowd. I guess
we were all a little
bleary eyed to realize
we were being spoken to
like little children. I
wonder what his point
really was. Did he feel
sorry for his fellow
employee who was the
"only" person checking
all of these people's
bags or was he using
reverse psychology on us
so that we wouldn't
start complaining to
him!
Either way, what flashed
in huge letters across
my mind was, "Buddy,
there's not going to BE
a next time!"
For rest of article,
press here.
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Tech Tips
Tip for Version 7 & 8:
Here is something you
should try first if you
are having trouble
authorizing a credit
card or polling.
1. Close all programs
including Retail Pro and
Credit Pro.
2. Turn off all
computers, servers and
modem(s) and leave them
off for
30 seconds.
3. Turn the modem(s)
back on.
4. Restart the server.
5. Restart all other
computers.
6. Try to authorize a
credit card sale or poll
as usual.
Tip for Version 8:
Suppose that the Main's
customer file is correct
and you want a remote to
have an exact copy of
the file, with no
additional records. If
you simply poll All
customers to the remote,
the extra records at the
remote would not be
deleted. Instead, first
rename or delete the
customer file at the
remote and then poll All
customers.
Tech Tip Version 8:
Non-inventory and
Committed Fields
The Non-inventory field
is provided in inventory
to mark items as
non-inventory items.
The on-hand quantities
for items marked as
non-inventory items are
not updated when these
items are listed on
documents, nor is
information consolidated
for these items on
reports. This is a
useful field for jackpot
items that don't pertain
to an actual, physical
item in inventory, as it
prevents Retail Pro from
accumulating unnecessary
data for an item that
isn't typically carried
in inventory.
The Committed field
designates whether or
not the jackpot item
should be included in
committed calculations
and the committed window
displayed for the item.
If selected, the item is
included and the
committed window can be
displayed when the item
is selected (assumes
your preferences are set
to use the Committed
window).
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Retail Pro Membership
Plan
Island Pacific (IP), the
developer of Retail Pro,
is dedicated to
maintaining an on-going
research and development
effort to provide the
best possible software
solutions for Retail Pro
customers. Every new
software release is
provided with a smooth
upgrade path to ensure a
seamless integration.
When you are part of the
Retail Pro Membership
Program, you insure that
your system will never
become obsolete.
Experience has shown
that during a period of
just a few years,
advances in technology
can result in
significant system
improvements - in a few
years, software can
become relatively
outdated.
When this
happens, a customer
usually has to purchase
a brand new system,
completely reinvesting
in their software. In
contrast, the Retail Pro
Membership Program
protects your software
investment by providing
the latest software
available.
Your participation in
the Retail Pro
Membership Plan entitles
you to the following
benefits:
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Benefits
of Membership |
Non-Members |
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Free software
enhancements and
upgrades to
insure your
systems stay
updated with
each new
generation of
Retail Pro
software.* All
version updates
are shipped
regular mail or
UPS Ground at no
additional
charge.^ |
No major updates
to a new series
of software
(i.e., V8 to V9)
are provided
without a
current
Membership. |
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No-cost product
E-manual updates
and special
manual
supplements to
fully document
new features |
Not provided.
Only available
with a new
series of
software. |
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Receive hot-fix
CD's when needed
at no charge.
Hot-fix CD's are
shipped regular
mail or UPS
Ground at no
additional
charge.** |
When available,
Non-Members are
charged a $10
fee for
hot-fixes plus
the cost of
shipping |
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Access to a
"members only"
web site with
on-line
documentation,
E-newsletter,
product
information and
customer forums. |
Access is for
Members only. |
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Developer news
briefings on
planned product
enhancements,
with the
opportunity to
provide your
input and
suggestions
directly to our
engineering
team. |
Limited
information
available. |
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Product
bulletins with
tips and
information
about maximizing
the features of
Retail Pro
to better manage
your business
and increase
your ROI. |
Limited
Information
available.
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If you have any
questions about
Membership or if your
Membership needs to be
renewed, please call us
at 1-800-305-0461 to
talk to one of our
representatatives.
*Client Services,
required for
installation, setup and
training are billed
separately.
^Updates requested to be
shipped 2 day or next
day will be billed
separately for shipping.
**Hot-fix CDs requested
to be shipped 2 day or
next day will be billed
separately for shipping.
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Whether you are a
serious athlete or just
serious about your
running, Boulder Running
Company is the store
that provides the best
in product knowledge,
customer service and
value. This Boulder,
Colorado retail
establishment with
stores in Boulder,
Denver, and Colorado
Springs is one of the
leading specialty
running stores in the
country; providing the
right shoe for running,
walking,
jogging, racing or
standing.
Boulder Running Company
was one of the first
retailers in the country
to provide customers
with a video gate
analysis (treadmill
analysis). This combined
with their expert staff
will fit the customer
with the right footwear.
Boulder Running Company
has been a client of
ARMS for the past seven
years. In regards to
comparing older versions
of Retail Pro to the
current Version 8, Aaron
Bouplon, Store Manager
has seen the benefits.
The gains he received in
the latest version of
Retail Pro have been
very helpful. Longer
field sizes have allowed
for more accuracy in the
naming of products.
Aaron has found with
Version 8, that physical
inventory is much easier
and the filtering of
documents better. When
asked what part of
Version 8 he found most
helpful, Aaron stated
that he was able to see
an impact on the
business in a relatively
short amount of time. As
a windows program, his
staff was finding
navigation to be fairly
easy within a week or
so. According to Aaron,
the best part of version
8 is, "stability."
Advanced Retail
Management System
provides a complete
upgrade of inventory,
customer records and
history from Retail Pro
Versions 6 and 7 to
Version 8.51. If you are
interested in the
upgrade process, please
contact your Sales
Consultant.
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Meet Our Staff
Keli Nelson,
Certified Retail Pro
Technician
If you purchased Retail
Pro from ARMS in the
past 5 years, chances
are you had the
privilege of having Keli
as your trainer. Keli is
one of the most
enthusiastic employees
in ARMS Technical
Services Department.
Keli brought several
years of retail
experience to ARMS from
her service with The
Limited and Tommy
Hilfiger. Beyond retail,
Keli has also worked as
an Inventory Control
Manager.
Keli is originally from
Overland Park, Kansas
and earned her B.A. from
Colorado State
University. The
enthusiasm Keli has for
her work emanates from
her enthusiasm and
compassion for people.
She is one of the most
civic-minded people in
the ARMS family. Keli
makes at least 3 to 4
different pledge walks
for charitable causes
each year. We all count
on her to keep us aware
of those less fortunate
by her actions to help.
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Inventory Reduction
Sale!
Advanced Retail
Management Systems is
reducing the price on
specially marked
inventory items. Only
while supplies last,
quantities are limited!
Press here to view
the list.
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8100 Southpark Way #
A-10, Littleton, CO 80120
303-738-1800 | Fax 303-738-9563
Denver - St. Louis - Chicago
www.armsys.com
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Retail Pro Training - Special
July Pricing
Sign up and attend Retail Pro
training prior to September 15th
and receive a 20%
discount on any scheduled
training*. Choose from
one of the training classes
below or request a training
topic tailored to your specific
needs. This is a great
opportunity for you to learn
more about the features of
Retail Pro that will help you
reduce costs and increase
efficiency in your business.
Trainers and time slots are
limited so give us a call to
reserve your training.
To
schedule a training class,
contact Rosie Grant at
303-738-1800, ext 320 or e-mail
her at
rosie.grant@armsys.com
Available Training
Classes:
Auto Min/Max and Auto Purchasing
Orders
Retail Pro Analysis
Document and Tag Designer
Planning a Sale using the
Price/Cost Manager
The Dynamics of Polling
Using Kits and Packages
Customer Relationship Management
Driving Business with Sales
Orders
Click here for more
information or to request a
custom training topic designed
for your business..
*This offer is only valid
for current Retail Pro customers
that are purchasing additional
training. This offer is not
valid for training time
purchased for updates. Requires
a 2 Hour minimum purchase paid
in advance. Training sessions
must be conducted prior to
September 15th, 2005, training
sessions conducted after this
date are not qualified for this
discount. |
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Advanced Retail Management is
pleased to announce its alliance
with RSM McGladrey.
RSM McGladrey focuses on
Microsoft Business Solutions -
Great Plains to deliver the
highest quality accounting and
financial management systems and
support. Great Plains is
Microsoft's flagship product for
back office accounting. With its
ability to integrate with both
Retail Pro and RMS, Great Plains
is also a great solution for
retailers.
"Our alliance with Advanced
Retail Management Systems is a
natural fit allowing us to
provide clients with a complete
solution from point-of-sale
through headquarters' financial
statements.", said Matt Kenney,
Director, RSM McGladrey-Denver.
RSM McGladrey assists clients
with accounting software
evaluation, implementation, data
conversion from legacy systems,
custom development and report
writing, classroom and onsite
training, and ongoing support.
As
a Microsoft Gold Certified
Partner, RSM McGladrey has
achieved the highest level of
recognition as a Microsoft
Partner. They have worked with
the Great Plains products for
over 10 years and have
implemented systems for over
1,100 clients nationwide. In the
process, they have been awarded
the Great Plains President's
Club and Inner Circle
designations every year since
1995.
RSM McGladrey has offices in
Denver, Rapid City, Kansas City,
Des Moines, Cedar Rapids and
Chicago. If you are interested
in learning more about how RSM
McGladrey can assist in
increasing your business
success, please call
800-435-3467, e-mail them at
Matt.Kenney@rsmi.com
or visit the website at
http://www.rsmmcgladrey.com/microsoft.
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The Stages of Being Different
I
just completed a book proposal
about how businesses and people
differentiate themselves in an
overcrowded marketplace. I want
to share one concept from the
book because I believe it is so
important and powerful to every
business person. (It's one of
those ideas that you can't wait
to share!)
The issue is that what might be
different to one person is not
necessarily different to
another. We think we are
different, but our customers say
"so what".
So how do you know what's right?
Truthfully we will never really
know but there are some tools
that might be helpful. Knowing
the life span of a
differentiator and understanding
what stage a differentiator is
in is an important clue to
better understanding the
effectiveness of that
differentiator.
This is my interpretation of the
stages:
• Weird - Most great ideas start
off with people rejecting them.
We hear, "It's too weird." We
almost always reject something
the first time we hear it. It
took the zipper 23 years to get
popular!
•
WOW - This is the stage that the
trend setters jump on. It has
made it through weird and it has
reached the level of acceptably
different.
•
Wonderful - This is when the
differentiator has been
abandoned by the hip and trend
setters as passé. The Wonderful
Stage is when the differentiator
becomes the popular trend of the
majority
•
Waning - This is the very end of
the cycle. It really isn't a
differentiator anymore; it's
just a memory of the past.
Remembered as once hip and
happening, it is the ball player
at the end of a career. Every
differentiator must get to this
stage in order to go into
hibernation and prepare for its
reincarnation years later.
Saddle shoes are still in
hibernation.
For rest of article
click here.
Tech Tips
1.
If your computer is attached to
a fax machine, you can create a
PO in Retail Pro, choose the Fax
machine when you are prompted to
choose a printer and Retail Pro
will fax the PO to the vendor
complete with a cover letter.
2.
DID YOU BACKUP YOUR SOFTWARE
TODAY? We have several backup
solutions:
• Removable hard drives that
the client trades out every day
or so. Uses batch files that run
from RPro scheduler (or some
other scheduler) to simply copy
files from RPro / BW to the
removable hard drive into folder
named for the day of the week.
This method provides 2 weeks of
backups and the ability to
easily replace single files or
whole folders in Windows
Explorer. It is usually
scheduled to occur at night, but
not during polling or any other
RPro functions.
• Tape backups are more
troublesome. We have set them up
in the past, but have shied away
from this option for about a
year now. Backup program is
usually Veritas or as provided
by the tape drive manufacturer.
• External backup drives are
usually USB, and require PNP
OS's and hardware. This is
becoming the backup of choice,
and works very similar to the
removable hard drive backup
system.
• RPro provides the
safeguard backup system, which
simply zips up key data files
into the RPro folder. Okay to
have in a pinch, but not an
adequate primary backup system.
• The magical backup fairy
which is the backup that clients
look for when their hard drive
on the main master has exploded,
and they haven't done a backup
in over 2 years (when they were
on V6). Apparently only ARMS has
access to this type of backup
system, which is why clients
call tech support for their
backup.
3.
Reconstruct at least once a
month and more during busier
periods.
4. Rent your Percons early for
your yearly PI. Everyone does
them at the same time.
5. A customer greeted with a
friendly smile and a "HI" is
more likely to buy and less
likely to shop-lift.
6. Scheduling reports to run
overnight in Version 8 prevents
your having to run the same
reports every morning, every
Monday or every first of the
month.
7. Remember, never edit or
delete inventory, always use
Clean House.
8. Keep it Clean - clean your
hardware every so often. It can
really make a difference whether
you look clean and professional
or dirty and messy
The Retail Spotlight
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Quality, not packaging and brand
names define Melt, your Colorado
based Skincare Delicatessen.
Melt does not sell product only
based on fragrances, they also
sell product based on
ingredients. Currently operating
four stores in Colorado with
scheduled openings of licensed
partners in Dallas, Las Vegas
and Phoenix, Melt is taking the
bath and skin care retail market
by storm. How are they doing it?
The old fashioned way, with
great products and great
customer service.
When you visit a Melt store,
you know that the staff will
take care of you. A personal
commitment to the products and
the customers is evident in
visiting with Co-Owner and
Co-Founder Thomas G. Smith.
Thomas along with partners and
founders, Steve McNally and
James Saylor has made a passion
into a successful business. With
a corporate mantra of "Purpose
and Pampering" and "Ingredients
and Indulgence," Thomas, Steve
and James focus on the
performance of the product.
Advanced Retail Management
Systems is happy to have
provided Retail Pro to Melt.
With Retail Pro they are able to
sell product by weight and track
inventory at the quantity
decimal level using a Type 2
barcode. Retail Pro's Customer
Loyalty Program is helping them
with their marketing efforts. To
join the program a customer
supplies an email address and to
date they have developed a list
of 18,000 email addresses for
marketing purposes.
A conscientious company, Melt
is proud to provide local jobs
in retail and manufacturing.
Most of their products are
manufactured here in Colorado
and those they acquire from
suppliers are all made in the
United States. There may not be
a Melt store near you today, but
you can check out their products
at
www.meltproducts.com .
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Meet Our Staff
Mike Logan, Hardware
Technician
Mike joined ARMS in November
2003. His wide list of
responsibilities include,
hardware support and trouble
shooting, telephone and bench
setup of Retail pro Systems as
well as a back up to the Support
Coordinator. Prior to coming to
ARMS, Mike was with the Ross
Stores here in Colorado.
When not at work, Mike leads a
very active social life,
combining his love of sports
with music. He is an avid fan
and competitor of both soccer
and football. The rest of
Mike's free time is dominated
with his music, where he works
in both production and
performance. If you are lucky
you can catch one of his
performances at a local venue.
Sign Up For the New and Enhanced
Gold Support Service
Last year we added new features
to our Gold Support Service and
we received numerous thank you
notes and compliments from
existing Gold Support Customers
telling us how much they liked
the changes. Whether you are an
existing Gold Support customer
or a customer considering this
premier support plan, we wanted
to make sure you were aware of
the recent changes. Gold
Support Service now has 3 new
features:
Emergency Technical Support (ETS):
Gold Support now includes ETS at
no additional charge. ETS is
available during the week after
hours and on weekends and
holidays. The hours for ETS
during the week are: 6:00 a.m.
to 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. to
9:00 p.m. The hours for ETS on
weekends and holidays are 6:00
a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (Mountain Day
Time). ETS is offered for
emergency support. Examples of
ETS are customers who have data
corruption, when a system is
down, or when you cannot make a
sale at POS.
Courtesy Calls: Gold Support
Service now includes courtesy
calls. In the past short
training questions and questions
on your hardware were considered
Client Services. Courtesy calls
are now included with Gold
Support Service at no additional
charge. A courtesy call is
typically 15 minutes or less and
could be a training question or
any type of general assistance
on your Retail Pro system. Keep
in mind formal, scheduled
training is still tracked as
Client Services.
Updates within a Series: Gold
Support now includes support
services to do updates within
the same Series of Retail Pro
(example 8.3 to 8.5).
Periodically new features and
hot fixes are released for
Retail Pro within the current
Series of software. The services
to update your system are now
provided as part of the Gold
Support Service. Changes in a
Series of software (e.g. Version
7 to Version 8) are still
considered updates and do
require Client Services.
Just a reminder of the key
features of Gold Support:
Toll free 800 number to call for
support
Unlimited support incidents for
12 months
Available during regular
business hours 8:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. Mountain Time
Includes Emergency Technical
Support (ETS) at no additional
charge
Includes Courtesy Calls for
training questions and general
assistance.
Includes support services to
update within the same series of
Retail Pro, e.g., V8.3 to V8.5
Priority response time - calls
are typically responded to
within 1 hour
Includes unlimited access to
ARMS' Online Support Services:
Log a call online
Search AnswerBook
Review open calls online
Newsgroups
Downloads
If you are interested in
signing up for Gold Support
Service please contact Stacey
Ryan at 303 738 1800 ext 321 or
email her at
stacey.ryan@armsys.com
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Referral Program
Receive $500 credit on account
or 4 Client Service hours every
time you refer a new customer
that purchases Retail Pro.
Retail Pro has grown to be the
premier Inventory Control / POS
software for small to mid-tier
retailers. Whether you know a
single store or a 100 store
chain, Retail Pro provides the
technology for retailers to
excel.
Call your sales person today at
800-305-0461 or
click here to complete the
form on our web site to refer
another retailer and start
earning valuable rewards!
Inventory Reduction Sale!
Advanced Retail Management
Systems is reducing the price on
specially marked inventory
items. Only while supplies last,
quantities are limited!
Click here to view the list.
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8100 Southpark Way # A-10,
Littleton, CO 80120
303-738-1800 | Fax 303-738-9563
Denver - St. Louis - Chicago
www.armsys.com
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