Emerging and Evolving Trends for 2006

CounterPoint SQL

Tech Tips

The Easiest $100 You Have Ever Earned

The Most Demanding Space In Your Store

July Sale on BusinessWorks Accounting Software

Retail SpotLight

Meet Our Staff

Five Questions You Must Ask About Your Business

Emerging and Evolving Trends for 2006
from Hallmark's Marita Wesely-Clough

2006 Retail Trends and Counter Trends

While attitudes, perceptions and behavior continually evolve into trends and as individuals, the nation and the world adjust to change, some trends become cultural characteristics, observes Hallmark trends expert, Marita Wesely-Clough.

"A social trend becomes a part of a culture when it lasts five to eight years or more - bargain hunting, for example," Wesely-Clough says, "or Eastern influences. Of course, countertrends surface, strengthen and eventually can supplant established cultural trends."

An emerging and strengthening trend is the search for meaning in a technological, rapidly moving, pressure-filled society - and the sense of dissonance that results.

Wesely-Clough keeps abreast of evolving societal attitudes and behaviors to help product and creative groups at Hallmark stay "on trend." Her observations add insight and perspective to quantitative information provided by the Hallmark Research Department.
Understanding the consumer is the first step in creating products that are on target, according to Hallmark, and is essential to developing relevant products that help people express their emotions and strengthen relationships.

"It is essential to stay close to consumers to learn what is influencing the thoughts and feelings they want to express," Wesely-Clough says.

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Over the last few years, at Advanced Retail Management Systems, we have expanded our product and services that we offer to retail businesses, including custom programming, expanded E-commerce offerings and additional Point of Sale and Inventory Control software products. As part of this process we are pleased to announce that we are now a Certified CounterPoint SQL Partner. In addition to offering Retail Pro and Microsoft Retail Management System, we now offer CounterPoint SQL for small and medium sized retailers.

CounterPoint, originally developed by Synchronics and acquired by Radiant Systems (NASDAQ:RADS) in Dec 2005, has been on the market for 25 years and is currently being used in more than 10,000 stores. Headquartered in Atlanta, Radiant Systems (www.radiantsystems.com ) provides innovative store technology for the hospitality, convenience retail and entertainment industries. CounterPoint SQL is a graphical point-of-sale and inventory management system built on Microsoft's SQL database designed for single and multi-store businesses.

Our focus with CounterPoint SQL is on vertical markets not commonly supported by Retail Pro, such as hardware stores, garden centers, appliance stores, camera stores, marine supplies and other businesses. 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 CounterPoint SQL. We offer a complete line of Point of Sale hardware, training programs, support plans, and custom integrations for CounterPoint SQL.

For more information on CounterPoint SQL please contact Bob Evans, Director of Sales and Marketing, at (303) 738-1800 Ext. 303 or E-mail him at bob.evans@armsys.com,

Tech Tips

Did You Backup Your Data 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 SUB< 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 backups.

The Easiest $100 You Have Ever Earned 

Tell another retail store that is looking for a Point-of-Sale system about Advanced Retail Management Systems and Retail Pro and receive a $100 American Express Gift Certificate. The first 5 Retail Pro customers each month that refer a qualified lead* will receive this $100 gift - its that easy! We strive to provide the best Point-of-Sale products and services in the industry and want to pay you to help us get the word out. In addition, if your referral purchases Retail Pro, you will receive our standard referral fee of $500 on account or 4 Client Service Hours. So spread the word about Retail Pro and receive a fee gift each month. Click here to submit your referral.

*Qualified lead: must be looking to purchase a system within 6 months and willing to see a Retail Pro product demonstration. ARMS reserves the right to make a final determination as to what is approved as a qualified lead.

The Most Demanding Space In Your Store

One of the most demanding spaces in your store is the last three feet where you consummate the transaction with the customer. Point of Sale hardware is often the most overlooked and under planned component in almost all independent retail businesses. Your Point of Sale hardware should be rock solid and durable. For more than 12 years, Radiant Systems been making Point of Sale Terminals focused on innovation for non-stop sales reliability. The Radiant P1550 is an all-in-one retail hardened POS terminal combing Intel's Pentium M Processor, with Touch Screen and MSR reader. The P1550 is Radiant Systems' premium Point of Sale Terminal built to with stand the rigors of Retail.

Retail Hardened Design
The physical strains placed on electronic devices in a Retail site far exceeds the stresses placed on a device in an office or home environment.

Fit-for-Purpose: The Radiant P1550 has few moving parts with no CPU or power supply fan and only a backup system fan. The retail hardened design offers a spill resistant, high impact enclosure that is built to withstand tough in-store conditions. All this maximizes system uptime with continuous operation.

Design Validation: Radiant's extensive design validation process includes stress testing, accelerated life testing, thermal analysis, agency certifications and alpha and beta test programs.

Integration Testing: Radiant conducts full software integration testing with its hardware products

Experience: Radiant Systems has designed over two hundred boards in the development of its Terminals.

Radiant Systems offers a compact, functional integration tray that combines the P1550 with keyboard, printer and cash drawer in an attractive package for space utilization. The P1550 also comes with an optional integrated Order Confirmation Display or Standard Pole Display.

The Radiant P1550 Point-of-Sale Terminal offers the ultimate in quality and reliability for the most demanding space in your store. The P1550 is tested and approved to work with Retail Pro Version 8. Contact Bob Evans today to learn more at (303) 738-1800 Ext. 303 or at bob.evans@armsys.com.

July Sale on BusinessWorks Accounting Software

Advanced Retail Management Systems has sold and supported BusinessWorks Accounting Software for over 15 years and has found it to be the best solution with Retail Pro and the Accounting Link. Companies with multiple locations will like the way store profitability can be reported with BusinessWorks and the Retail Pro Accounting Link. BusinessWorks comes with a very nice payroll system, the new version 7 coming in October of 2006 will be even better. Save now on the # 1 accounting software with Retail Pro.
                                     BusinessWorks also links to Counterpoint.

Specials for July 2006:
20 % off new installations of BusinessWorks
15 % off Additional user licensees (must be on Ver 6)
15 % off Upgrade from BusinessWorks Ver 12
10 % off Business Software plan renewal., when renewed
             through Advanced Retail Management.

For more information on BusinessWorks contact: Doug Hubka at 303-738-1800, Ext 318 or email at: doug.hubka@armsys.com .

Retail SpotLight

Berey Brothers, Hammond, Indiana

The best in product followed by the best in service.  That is what you find at Berey Brothers.  This 60-year-old shoe store in northwest Indiana has been supplying men's work and safety footwear to their community along with unparallel service.  Rich Koharchik, Operations Manager for Berey Brothers is proud of the fact that his customers still get personnel one on one attention.  At Berey Brothers, customers are seated and fitted by a professional staff.  The quality products sold by Berey Brothers include Wolverine, Red Wing, Carolina, Sketchers and Doc Martin's. 

Berey Bros is an Advanced Retail Management Systems client and have been running Retail Pro for over 13 years.  They have followed Retail Pro's consistent upgrade path and in March of this year upgraded to version 8.52.  According to Rich, the upgrade process was very smooth and painless.   He was very pleased with the technical staff at ARMS before during and since the upgrade process.  Rich notes that his business has very specific needs and issues and the staff at ARMS takes great care to assist him with resolutions.   "The best part of Retail Pro Version 8.52 is the ease of use," says Rich who has been with Berey Brothers for 26 years.  He was able to train his staff on Version 8 with minimal effort.  Rich also appreciates the reporting capability of Retail Pro Version 8.52.

When you are looking for great work shoes and want that purchase enhanced with great service,  Berey Brothers is the place to go.  

Meet Our Staff

Brandon Pierce, Hardware Service Technician

Brandon is one of the newest members of the ARMS family.  He joined the Technical Services Team in March of this year.  As a Hardware Technician with ARMS his responsibilities involve the bench set ups of the various hardware that ARMS sells, this includes computers, receipt printers, scanners, touch screen monitors and hand held devices.  He is responsible for testing and initial set up of the software programs prepping them for the trainers.  Brandon is currently working on his the Microsoft Small Business Server certification as part of his responsibilities at ARMS.

Prior to ARMS, Brandon worked for CompUSA.  He is enrolled in Metro State University in Denver pursuing his bachelor's degree.  Brandon is a native of Colorado and comes from a musical family.  He himself plays a number of instruments and is involved in sound and music production.

Five Questions You Must Ask About Your Business ...and the one that will separate you from your competition.
By Anne M. Obarski

Usually the whole conversation boiled down to those last words, "We know you can do better. Whew, does that mean I'm not grounded??? I would whisk the card right out of their hands and vow that the next grading period would be better.

Report cards are not only given to students but to companies and employees of all sorts of businesses. Some of the report cards come packaged as yearly performance reviews of employees and some come from actual customers in a mystery shopper "survey" format. No matter what the style, those results usually instill panic and cause most people to become defensive, even if the information is good!

I believe everyone needs and should require report cards rating their employees as well as for their overall businesses. Critiquing performance is one of the best ways a company can sharpen their focus on the areas that need improvement and then monitor that targeted performance.

Customers and clients develop mental "report cards" for most businesses that they deal with. The categories can vary but they are usually based on their personal experiences with each and every company, from the initial contact, to the final sale, and any further follow-up that may been needed.

Here's an example:

I think everyone does a fair amount of business with their local post office and you can relate to this example. It's Monday and you have a stack of letters to mail and a package to send to your child in college. You walk through the door of the post office and there are 3 employees behind the counter and there are over 10 people in each line. They are out of the size box you need to buy to send your item and they don't have the stamps you always get. The inventory wall looks like they haven't stocked it in a week. The air conditioning is not working and everyone is sweating bullets! Finally, you hear the words you have been waiting for; next?

Your patience has worn thin and you are anticipating less than perfect customer service. Not so this time! The associate is very kind and understanding and finds a box for your item in record time and just "happens" to have those stamps you had your heart set on. She acknowledges that you look a little warm and moves a small desk fan closer to you as she rings up the sale. She even says you look younger when you cheeks are so pink!!! Yikes, who could be upset with that!
You see you had been giving the post office a mental report card in your mind before you got to the counter. It was probably poor at best in your mind, and the employee had the capability of making it go either way. Her understanding way made your final report card acceptable, maybe even very good even though circumstances were less than perfect.

The next time you go in the post office, the report card slate will be clean again. Circumstances the next time might show a totally different "grade"!
So how can you keep your CRC- Customer Report Card in the "A" range?
Here are 5 simple questions to ask yourself that could separate you from your competition and give you a better GPA!

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