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Retail Pro Version 8.6 Update Summary
New ways to
increase profitability
and manage the security of
your
business
Your Retail Pro software
may already being doing a great job, but there are some
important new features coming out soon that you need to
read about. Retail Pro, Inc. is developing the next
release of the Version 8 Series. Version 8.6 will help
you run your business with the new Promotions Module and
provide you with PA-DSS compliance and certification
that all retailers, whether small or large, need to be
PCI compliant. As you read through the Update Summary
below, you may be wondering how you can get your hands
on these new features. Customers on a current Software
Assurance can be updated to this new version after it is
released: Version 8.6 is planned to be released as Beta
March 2009 and planned for General Release June/July
2009. If your Software Assurance has lapsed you probably
have accumulated significant reinstatement fees. Great
news! You can now reinstate your Software Assurance plan
with a 1, 2, or 3 year plan by February 28, 2009, or
with a 2 or 3 year plan by March 31, 2009, and Retail
Pro will waive all of your reinstatement fees. If your
Software Assurance has lapsed or if you are not sure you
have a current Software Assurance plan contact your
Account Manager at 800-305-0461 or
E-mail us at websales@armsys.com today.
PA-DSS Compliance and
Certification: Credit Card fraud
liability is at the forefront of every retailer's mind,
and remains such as long as their Point of Sale system
is not PA-DSS certified application. Through robust
encryption methods and detailed security logging Retail
Pro 8.6 will provide the retailer assurance his software
is doing its part to protect the customer's payment
information from harm's way.
Promotions Plug-in: The
Retail Pro Promotions module allows the retailer to
create industry standard promotions such as buy one get
one (BOGO), buy this get that, date and time driven
offers, quantity based offers, and prioritization of
overlapping offers just name a few of the key areas
functionality.
Software - Based
Licensing: Retail Pro 8.6's
software-based licensing model will allow a retailer's
IT staff to ensure there is minimal downtime should
their retail system suffer a hardware failure. The days
of waiting for a replacement hardware dongle, due to its
failure, are now a thing of the past as the
software-based licensing has the ability to authenticate
in real-time keeping the retailer open for business and
able to continue selling.
Ingenico i-Series Support:
Retail Pro 8.6 brings hardware support for the Ingenico
i-series pin pads, i6550, I 6580, and i6780 for use with
PC Charge and RPPS (RBS).
Credit Card Holder Name:
Often it is required by various regions around the globe
to print the name of the card holder on a receipt when
making a purchase via a credit card. Retail Pro 8.6 will
provide this needed functionality.
Enhanced Gift Receipt
Support: The Retail Pro 8 series world,
up to this point, has had to utilize an "Off-the-shelf"
plug-in to adequately print gift receipts at Point of
Sale. Retail Pro 8.6 brings this functionality into the
core product eliminating the need to purchase a plug-in
for this POS process.
User-Interface Branding
Updates: To add a bit of modernism to
the Retail Pro 8 series interface, all icons and logos
will be moved to the newer branding established within
Retail Pro 9, providing a cleaner, updated look on a
proven product line.
Small Business Edition (ECI
Support): It has been long established
within the Retail Pro 8 series arena that Retail Pro 8
Shop edition does not allow the integration of ECI
systems. The release of Retail Pro 8.6 will remove this
limitation with the release of Retail Pro 8.6 Small
Business edition.
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Retailers cut inventory to
address shift in consumer
spending
Stores are reducing inventory and
offering fewer pricey items as strapped customers slash
their spending.
Associated Press
January 21,
2009
New York -- For years, retailers
could afford to be sloppy about running their businesses
because customers kept buying.
No more.
Stung by the worry that shoppers -- who cut spending
by the most dramatic amount in at least 39 years this
holiday season -- may not start spending again for a
long time, stores are making drastic changes. They are
cutting out marginal suppliers, hiring outside experts
to keep inventory lean, holding special events for those
who are still buying and making extraordinary efforts to
gauge customer satisfaction.
The new discipline will be mostly good news for
shoppers, who will find stores less cluttered and see an
array of products at lower prices, including groceries
and jeans from brands they could once only aspire
to.
Of course, the downside is that consumers who want
something out of the ordinary -- an olive green prom
dress, for example -- may have to look harder. Stores
are rooting out offbeat, unpopular colors and styles,
which will mean fewer choices.
Sales clerks are also checking back with customers to
see whether they're satisfied with their purchases.
"We are in a sea change," said Millard "Mickey"
Drexler, J. Crew Group Inc.'s chairman and chief
executive.
Pricing goods within reach of strapped consumers is
also a big focus, given the way nervous
consumers
have stopped shopping. Same-store sales, or
sales at stores open at least a year, fell 2.3% in
November and December combined, according to the
International Council of Shopping Centers. And the
worsening sales slump in January has many worried about
the industry's prospects over the next few months.
J. Crew is working with its factories to adjust its
prices on certain key items such as ballet flats, which
now start at $98 rather than $118. It's also stocking
fewer of its high-priced items, such as $1,300 leather
trench coats, and slashing expenses.
Status denim brand Rock & Republic will ship a
new Recession Collection this spring that runs about
half the usual $200 price tag for its jeans.
Even supermarket chain SuperValu Inc., which operates
stores including Albertsons and Bristol Farms, has
promised lower everyday prices on groceries and more
promotions.
Chief executives from such companies as Crate &
Barrel and J.C. Penney Co. acknowledged during the
National Retail Federation meeting this month that they
were navigating new territory, predicting that the
fundamental shift by consumers to spend less and save
more would linger.
The biggest unknown is when or whether shoppers will
ever resume spending the way they did when the housing
market was booming, credit was easy and jobs were more
plentiful.
"Customers wanted and wanted and wanted some more and
we sold and sold and sold some more," said Burton M.
Tansky, president and CEO of Neiman Marcus Group. Now,
"frugality is more important."
This sudden hibernation of customers is leading even
the luxury retailer to try new strategies. Neiman Marcus
is eliminating some vendors and focusing on serving its
best customers. It's trying to retrain its shoppers to
buy regular-price merchandise by throwing more smaller
private events for 20 to 30 customers.
Weaning customers off discounts is a big challenge
for the industry because people have gotten used to them
-- particularly on luxury brands that hadn't been
discounted before sales all but dried up.
For the last two years, many of the nation's best-run
stores such as J.C. Penney had been reducing inventories
in response to the consumer spending slowdown.
But no one anticipated the severe retrenchment that
hit in September as the financial meltdown ravaged
shoppers' retirement accounts, reduced credit
availability and resulted in massive layoffs.
As shoppers simply stopped buying, stores were forced
to discount items by as much as 75% in some cases even
before the official start of the holidays -- resulting
in the weakest season since at least 1969, when the
shopping center council began its index.
Some companies, such as KB Toys Inc., couldn't make
it through the Christmas season, and many more are
expected to file for bankruptcy in the coming months.
Circuit City Stores Inc., which filed for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection in November, said Friday that it
would go out of business -- closing its 567 U.S. stores,
after not being able to work out a sale.
Continue Article
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-retailers21-2009jan21,0,5085360.story?page=2
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 No
sale? No problem for goods prized by
consumers
By ASHLEY M. HEHER
The
Associated Press
Friday, January 23, 2009; 2:32
PM
Washingtonpost.com
In this Sept. 11, 2008 file
photo, customers try out the new Apple iPod Nano at an
Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif. Recession or not, there
are some things that people are still willing to buy at
full price. It's a recipe made from one part habit, one
part psychology and one part economics. (AP Photo/Paul
Sakuma, File) (Paul Sakuma - AP)
CHICAGO -- The 60 percent off sign at
Elan Fur isn't
much different from the others filling the storefronts
on Chicago's Michigan Avenue. But good luck finding a
similar deal next door at Apple Inc.
Even as shops vie for customers by offering
massive markdowns, shoppers are still lining up to pay
top dollar for coveted goods from Apple's iPods to
designer footwear.
The ever-popular Wii gaming console continues to
sell out at the list price of $249, Avon cosmetics just
boosted prices, Nike is releasing its newest Air Jordan
with an astonishing $190 pricetag and designer water can
still command as much as $3.99 a bottle.
While almost everything goes on sale eventually,
some products remain untouched by discounts, or nearly
so, even in this dismal economy. The reasons fall mostly
into three categories: old habits die hard, brand
loyalty runs deep and the Economics 101 law of supply
and demand means the most sought-after brands can
command the best prices.
Beyond that, there are some items consumers
stubbornly just won't forgo _ sale or not _ no matter
how hard they're trying to stretch their budget.
"If you infuse enough values into the product,
people will pay full price," said Candace Corlett,
president of the consulting firm WSL Strategic Retail.
"There are certain categories ... where there are no
substitutes accepted. It's infusing your brand with
those things that people then say 'I have to have the
real thing.'"
But even companies with products that have
traditionally held their value in tight markets are
making some concessions, and the number of items that
can charge a premium is dwindling as consumers make
complicated and deeply personal choices about how
they'll spend their money.
Beverly Bailey isn't buying clothes at full
price. But the stay-at-home mother from Kenilworth,
Ill., will still shell out top dollar for organic milk
and fresh produce for her family.
"I'm shopping a lot less and I'm looking for
bargains when I shop," she said. "(But) we have not cut
back on those items because we think they're related to
health, and we don't want to compromise on health."
Heather Fox, a 42-year-old waitress from
Huntsville, Ala., scours stores for sales and clips
coupons for food and clothing discounts. But she won't
cut corners when it comes to her Marlboro Lights.
"You'll find that most smokers won't switch from
the brand they have," she said after taking a puff.
Morningstar analyst Kim Picciola said customers
often justify paying full price by cutting spending in
other areas.
Continue
Article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/23/AR2009012302433_2.html | | |
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account or 4 Client Service hours every time you refer a
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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
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5 Tips
for More Productivity in 2009
Scott Belsky of Behance | January 21st, 2009 - 04:29 PM
I think we can all
agree: There are too many ideas in the world, and not
enough action. As we usher in a new year during
difficult economic times, we must question the way we
manage our projects and our time. We must be
willing to question conventional wisdom when it comes to
the burdensome, bureaucratic stuff that we do "just
because." As leaders of small businesses and growing
teams, we must challenge ourselves to boost not only our
productivity but the general productivity of our
teams.
As a team focused on
helping people and companies boost productivity to make
ideas happen, we obviously have a lot to say on this
topic!
For starters, our years of
research have caused us to question the status quo of
everyday productivity and project management. We
question the traditional approach to projects. We
believe that too much time is wasted on "filing stuff"
and organizing, and too little time is spent on actually
taking action. And we have discovered that the emotional
and social aspects of managing projects (like the power
of nagging, transparency, and design) are critical to a
productive work environment.
So, consider the
following five "tips for more productivity" and how they
might help you and your team...
1. Actions
should be kept separate from email.
Email
can kill productivity, because the actions you must take
are buried in regular communication. An inbox full of
email - even well-filed emails - still forces you to dig
through every communication to find the hidden task.
Tasks to be completed, or "Action Steps," should be kept
separate. Consider labeling all emails with "Action
Required" and then simply listing the action steps -
each one starting with a verb. And AVOID the "summary"
section of a meeting in these emails. Truth is, very few
people read it.
2. Good
design is great for productivity.
Seeing
through all of the elaborate systems for productivity we
witnessed in our research, we realized that the most
effective systems are distinguished by their design.
Whether you use paper folders, post-its, or some sort of
technology to stay productive, spend more time on how
you design it. Yes, even little features like color,
texture, and font will help keep you focused on taking
action. It's very simple: If you can make action stand
out in a system that is attractive, you are likely to
stay loyal to it.
3. Darwinian
productivity: The "nag" and natural selection.
As great as you think you are, nobody can nail
prioritization 100% of the time. The truth is that the
"importance" of a particular action step is sometimes
demonstrated by how badly other people need it done. We
have found that nagging plays an important role in
productivity - the forces around us help determine which
action steps are most important. Nagging should be a
formal part of project management. Rather than
discourage people from pushing each other, foster a
culture where people can openly discuss the moving parts
of projects and the shifting level of urgency. If you
have an acceptable way for people to nag each other when
necessary, the team will be able to better prioritize
what needs to get done.
4. No more
email-chains - make it a real discussion!
Ideas that are discussed via email often become
cut-up, convoluted, and lost. These infamous "reply-all"
emails also fill up our inboxes and consume our time as
we try to parse it all out. If you could start a
discussion at any moment - share it with anyone in the
world - and organize it within your own
projects....well, the world would be a happier place.
Technology now enables us to start, track, and search
discussions online. It is time for people to crack down
on the discussion-via-email phenomenon. Use wikis,
discussion threads, and other solutions to free up the
inbox for actionable communication.
5. Actions
are only truly "delegated" when they are accepted by
others.
While many collaborative tools
support "to-do lists" that multiple people can see, true
accountability is never achieved unless the designee
chooses to accept the action step that he/she has been
given. As such, develop ways to get people to publically
accept their tasks. At the end of a meeting, consider
having each person quickly state the action steps they
captured during the meeting. When you send around "Next
Step" emails, have each person reply with a
confirmation. Also consider online tools that require
the recipient to actually accept an action step that is
delegated to them (full disclosure, Behance developed
" Action Method Online" to support this
behavior).
And if
nothing else...ACTION ACTION ACTION
In
meetings, too many people focus more on taking notes
than on capturing action steps. We focus more on
communication, storage, and organization of information
than on the one thing that actually moves us forward:
ACTION. So, as a new year's resolution, commit
yourself to living and working with a
bias-towards-action. When in doubt focus on just
capturing and completing actions steps. I can assure
you, you will be among the top 5% of productive
professionals if you can JUST get through your action
steps.
See
Article
http://blogs.openforum.com/2009/01/21/5-tips-for-more-productivity-in-2009/?campaignid=OF2_ola_sb
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HAPPY VALENTINE'S
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