Featured Posts

Food & Beverages Department Management – Fewer Errors,... Food & Beverages department concerns the "food flow", from the purchasing of the raw materials to service to the guests' dining, concerned with the delivery and presentation of the food to the guests,...

Read more

Housekeeping & Maintenance Optimisation at Your Hotels... Guests rate cleanliness as the most important feature affecting their choice to stay in a specific hotel. There is nothing worse than assigning a dirty room to arriving guests. In the morning rush hours...

Read more

Front Office Management: Increased Efficiency with... A front desk at a hospitality property is the place where a guest comes face to face with hotel staff for the first time. More often than not your guest has made a tiring journey and would like to be shown...

Read more

Efficient Inventory Management with Barcodes Inventory accounts for a major part of any business investment, be it in terms of raw materials or finished goods. The profit of a business depends on how efficiently the inventory is managed. If you...

Read more

9 Easy to Implement Tips to Increase Sales in a Retail... If you are keen to increase sales in your retail store, here are some easy to implement tips: 1. You should have a lot of signages that indicate to the shoppers where different types of merchandise...

Read more

  • Prev
  • Next

Efficient Inventory Management with Barcodes

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 13-06-2013

Category : Inventory Management, Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses

Tags: ,

Inventory accounts for a major part of any business investment, be it in terms of raw materials or finished goods. The profit of a business depends on how efficiently the inventory is managed.

If you can manage your operations with a low inventory level without running out of stock frequently, you will save a big amount on holding cost.

Barcode Inventory Management system is an exclusive tool designed for the purpose of managing the stock position in a better and efficient way. A barcode is a series of black bars of varying widths with white space in between, printed on a label. Each barcode has a unique value. A barcode scanner is required to read these labels and it eliminates the need for manual data entry.

Here are some benefits of the barcode technology:

* Using barcode scanners at the POS reduces the human error when it comes to identifying products and price.

* Operators can learn to operate the barcode devices within minutes.

* Placing the barcodes on boxes, crates and barrels can help you easily track exactly what is inside the container.

* The time taken for a barcode scanner to complete one transaction is very fast.

The inventory management systems can then let you identify the fast, medium and slow moving items so that you can plan suitable actions to reduce the inventory levels for such items. Getting accurate and timely updates also ensures you can place orders for the fast moving items in time and avoid losing sales due to stock out.

But you should never add, move or remove anything from inventory without first recording the transaction with either the portable barcode scanner or the desktop software, as it will lead to incorrect reporting. As a result the system will not give you correct reorder, usage or quantity report.

FusionRetail software is highly integrated with a large number of barcode readers and scanners so that you can manage your retail operations efficiently. Download a no-obligation demo copy of the software.

9 Easy to Implement Tips to Increase Sales in a Retail Store

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 09-05-2013

Category : Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses, Smart Tips

Tags: , ,

If you are keen to increase sales in your retail store, here are some easy to implement tips:

1. You should have a lot of signages that indicate to the shoppers where different types of merchandise is displayed. This helps to direct them to the right area where they can look at and buy the products they are wanting to buy. A lot of people are shy and if they cannot see what they want, they will leave your store rather than ask for directions.

2. When you are displaying some off-beat items, it helps to put some literature besides it that explains what this is and how is it to be used. While one may be curious about a new item, one may not understand the use and leave without buying even though it may be useful to one. You can list multiple ways to use it for different types of folks, where possible.

3. If you accept credit cards, you must display a notice right on the glass entrance or in a prominent position after the entrance so that the shoppers know that they can pay by cards even if they are not carrying much cash. This may encourage them to buy some high value items that they might have skipped for want of cash in hand. This notice can also be displayed at prominent places in different departments.

4. You should display some nick-nacks that are small value and impulse buy items like small gift cards, toffees, small soft toys. The patrons may pick up a few of these while they are waiting for the bill and this will add up to a good amount of extra sale at the end of the day.

5. Don’t greet the customer with “What are you looking for?” immediately upon entering the shop as most people find it very irritating. Several of us are just browsing and will buy something if it piques our interest. However a knowledgeable sales person must be around to attend us if we look for one to ask for some details or want some item to be displayed.

6. I went to a shop today with a flight of about 10 steps to eter the shop. This looked quite challenging, specially for older people. The mind of the person can be diverted by displaying some stickers on the vertical side of the steps announcing offers or latest additions to the range. The steps can be used as free promotional space in this way.

7. The display in the store should be well spaced out to give the impression of a luxury boutique shop. When things are stacked on top of each other, it creates a cramped out and devalues the products on display. You can charge a premium price when you exuberate luxury and you have to offer low prices when you create a wholesale atmosphere.

8. Similarly, if you are selling products at low prices, you might like to leave less space around to give the impression of a bargain joint so that more people are interested in checking out your wares.

9. By strategically placing your displayed items, you can create well defined walk ways and place the items you want to push along these. Thus most of the customers will be able to see them while walking around and the sales for these will eventually go up. Similarly, always put the popular items along these channels so that people can easily locate and pick up those items without having to search for these.

Bonus tip: If you are not already using a computerised billing solution, you should seriously consider installing FusionRetail™ to improve your billing speed, increase accuracy of billing and maintain accounts and inventory much more easily. A free demo copy of the software is available here.

How can a retail POS system help me run my business more efficiently?

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 07-05-2013

Category : Inventory Management, Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses

Tags: , ,

Are you looking for a way to operate your business more efficiently? Are you finding it hard to deal with increasing shrinkage issues? Is unnecessary paperwork and time management a big concern for you?

A POS software (Point Of Sale software can take care of all of the above issues. The point where a retail transaction is completed is called a POS or checkout. There are several advantages of a retail POS system. It’s all about you choosing a correct program that will suit your business needs. A good choice of software is half the job done. POS software is not restricted to a retail shop but even there are customized POS for restaurants and food courts.

When choosing a POS system, ensure that the retail software you choose can automate all of your process-oriented tasks, such as physical count, purchasing, label printing and customer loyalty monitoring. Apart from increasing your efficiency, it can help you manage the entire business as a unit. It simplifies the work, eliminating unnecessary chores and also keeps a track of everything.

Advantages of a good retail Point Of Sales software:

    Everything being recorded instantaneously, from sales to inventory, it is easier to reduce shrinkage.

  • With the help of barcode scanner, every item in the store is sold at correct price.
  • With detailed sales reports, it is easier to keep the right stock on hand leading to managing inventory in a better way.
  • POS software, be it for retail store or a restaurant, will increase the efficiency of the transaction by streamlining the process. It also speeds up the process resulting in more accurate service.
  • A POS ensures price consistency if you have store across multiple locations.
  • POS system can replace the lengthy but important paperwork. Thus it saves a lot of time.

FusionRetail is a very user-friendly software for your retail POS and will help you generate lots of profit from your retail store. Download a FREE demo software and see for yourself how streamlined the retail POS can become so easily!

Retail Marketing Success with Enhanced Customer Experience

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 03-05-2013

Category : Customer Loyalty, Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses, Smart Tips

Tags: , ,

It is considered to be 7 times easier to get the customer back in your shop than to get a new customer in. So what are you doing to make your customers come back to your outlet?

Here are some simple tips to keep them connected to you and to convert one-time shoppers to repeat buyers:

Make their shopping a pleasant experience.

Work on the ambience of your retail outlet, display the wares in a well organized fashion, have clear directions to the different sections (clear and ample signage), have knowledgeable salespersons, who won’t bother the “just checking out” people but will have clear explanations for the curious customers.

Work on Quick and easy checkout.

Once the buyers are done with their shopping, they want to check out fast. Have enough billing points and use technology tools like bar code scanners for quick billing. Keep ample change at each counter. Have several payment options like credit and debit cards in addition to cash.

Have courteous staff.

Nothing irritates a shopper more than staff with bad manners. All your touch points like sales persons on the counters, billing counter staff and even the security people at the doors should be well trained in customer relations with polite manners (no harm in being strict with politeness). A soft ‘thank you’ from the security person at the exit adds lots of value to a customer’s experience with your store.

Continue the relationship.

Try to maintain contact even after they have left your store. If you have captured their contact information like email or phone number, thank them for the purchase and write to them at a decent frequency.

This needs a fine balance. You don’t want to bother them with too many emails but want to retain your brand in front of them. Develop a workable frequency with some experimentation.

Actively watch what they could not find.

Sometimes people don’t find what they are looking for. Your sales people should intently watch such reactions and help the patrons locate those items if they are in stock. If many people are asking for something and you don’t have that in stock, consider adding these items soon.

Connect on the social networking sites.

You should handout a simple card with your social networking addresses like those for Facebook and Twitter, to all buyers along with the invoice. Actively request them to connect with your brand to get the latest news, offers and promotions. Ask them to post reviews on Google local, Review Centre and other review sites. This will engage them, attract their friends and also develop a simple bond which you can work on solidifying.

These simple tips will enhance your customer’s shopping experience and they will be tempted to come back to your shop or store rather than waste time at the crappy competitor’s store.

Of course, if you want to take the first big step in streamlining your operations, you can consider taking a demo of our flagship FusionRetail software which will make your billing counter work at wonderful speed.

How to Sell Your Products through an E- Commerce Strategy?

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 24-01-2012

Category : Point of Sale (POS)

We are living in a world that is tuned to being superfast. Every little aspect of our daily life is made to depend on machines and the Internet. Therefore, there is no way as to why marketing should be left out from the cyber world hence, the birth of E- Commerce.

Naturally, a question arises. What exactly is E- Commerce?

→ Continue

How to print barcode using raw EPL?

Posted by Navin Ladha | Posted on 12-12-2011

Category : Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses, Smart Tips

Tags: ,

As you might have noticed that 90% of the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) already come with the product barcode printed on it. These barcodes are called UPC, EAN or GS1 barcode.  These barcodes make it easier to handle the SKU at receiving end and point of sale.For the SKU which does not have the pre printed barcode, you need to print barcode labels using a “barcode printer” to make a faster and error free billing at cash counter.

→ Continue

Change Coins in Retail Shops

Posted by Navin Ladha | Posted on 12-12-2011

Category : Customer Loyalty, Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses, Smart Tips

Most fortunes are built on innovation. Innovation has always been a vehicle for growth of humankind. Businesses have also advanced and grown on original ideas helping the innovators to greater fortune. On the other hand, before implementing these innovations a lot of thought should be given to the feasibility of the idea.

Let us consider the tale of a businessman who observed that the business was paying 10-20% more to buy changes and coins. At the same time it was essential to have them for efficient running of the business. Then he came up with an idea.

→ Continue

How can POS Software Ally in Preventing the Problems of Sales Return Fraud

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 26-11-2011

Category : Customer Loyalty, Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses, Smart Tips

 

Imagine this. You own a retail clothes outlet. A customer buys an expensive shirt. Two days later he is back complaining about a stain or the fit or a torn button. He returns the garment and gets his money back. You end up with a shirt which you either put on sale or discard completely.

Or think about this. A man walks into your shop with a pair of jeans and a receipt. He shows you some defects in the jeans. You have no choice. You have to refund the money to the man and throw the piece of clothing away. Then you find out that the receipt is a fraudulent one.

Or worst case. Your employees just make a return entry of existing stock from display rack and pocket the money.

In either case, you lose money.

These instances are called sales return fraud. There are various other ways of swindling your business for money.

Now, if you are using a point of sale (POS) software, you can use it to prevent these losses from occurring. Here’s a look at how you can make your POS software and ally in sales return fraud prevention.

POS software will help you track your return statistics

You can be sure of return fraud occurring by checking a few things:

  • Sudden increase in the return rate
  • More number of returned items have to be discarded
  • The number of items returned that can be resold has gone down

POS software features can easily track down this information. Additionally, you can stop store employees from committing this crime.

POS software enables you to print digital signatures

Another cause of return fraud is when stolen merchandise is returned for cash or gift coupons. If you have digital receipts, the returned item can be verified. If there is no such receipt, then you are sure to have a thief on your hands.

It is easy to train the staff to use the POS software to check for digital receipts. This would allow you to have less strict return policies. Customers would remain happy.

Posting notes against customers in the POS software

The POS software can display special notes or reminders about customers. Now, if you have a customer who is a habitual returnee, you can always check the items returned closely and follow return policies.

Using a “Exchange module” of POS software to counter fraudulent return

In apparel retail store, it is common that customer comes back asking for changing this size to that size or changing this color for that. POS software can be programmed where it can scan the item to exchange AND then scan the new item. This will help you know what's going on. And this will also help the cashier to handle the case. 

So, if you have a retail store business and you are constantly disturbed about sales return frauds, stop worrying. Make your POS software an ally and you can sleep peacefully knowing that your business is safe.

 

 

 

Why Use Retail Management Software for Restaurant Business

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 25-11-2011

Category : Customer Loyalty, Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Restaurant Businesses, Simplifying Retail Businesses, Smart Tips

 

Why do you run a restaurant? May be you like cooking or you like to feed people or it is just another business for you. But it is definitely a hectic business. Remember orders, sending KOT to kitchen, manually create bills, keep in mind the pricing. Its a lot to ask for.

Wouldn’t it be really nice if a software could take care of these necessary but time consuming and difficult tasks? It would leave you with enough time to develop the business or create new recipes and add to the menu.

Many restaurants are opting to give up the cash register and manual billing and using available new technology. Whether it is taking orders or customers using their credit cards to pay the bills. Retail Management Software are helping to make restaurant business once again a pleasurable option.

Here’s a look at some reasons why restaurant businesses should use retail management software.

Convenience

In a restaurant business, there has to be constant communication between the waiters and the cooks. Constant relaying of messages can be a time consuming as well as a tiring process. Specially in case of fast food joints. Fast food restaurants survive on the speed of delivery. A retail management software can take care of these orders and communication between the kitchen and the dining area remains minimum.

Versatility

Retail management software are very versatile. It can be programmed for any type of restaurant whether you run a cafe, a bar or a multi cuisine restaurant. It can also take care of links between suppliers and retailers from whom you purchase the raw materials to run your business.

Calculation

Sitting and counting the money in the cash register in the middle of the night is probably the worst thing you have to do as a restaurant owner. Then there is the division of tips. Balancing the ledger and a host of other things that need to be done on a daily basis. Retail management software would help you do that in a jiffy.

Customer relations

Cafes and bars generally cater to a section who are commonly known as “regulars”. They have a set routine of what they would eat and drink. Retail management software helps keep track of who is buying what and thus helps to serve the customer better. In cases where there are time bound elements like “happy hour” involved, retail management software can be used to spot which product sells more during which point of the day.

Less human resource

Installing a software can reduce the cost involved in keeping extra people for accounting and other functions. It can also calculate accurately thus reducing the risk of human error.

The inventory control is the heart of a restaurant business and retail management software is just ideal at doing it. It is not wrong therefore to conclude that retail management software used in restaurant businesses are definitely a huge help.

Planning a restaurant or got one already? Check out how FusionRetail software can help you manage your day to day work much more efficiently.

 

How to handle cash drawer balancing through Retail Management Software!

Posted by Nilesh Shah | Posted on 25-11-2011

Category : Point of Sale (POS), Simplifying Retail Businesses, Smart Tips

Many a times, we have asked people what time do you close your shop? They say actually we close the sale at 8 pm but close the shop by 9.

Why? We need time to do the cash balancing.

Cash drawer balancing seems to be easy at first. It’s only when you actually sit down to do it that you realise that you could use some help. One mistake and you have to start all over again! That’s a real bother.

While there are a number of technologies which can help make our jobs easier, we sometimes don’t trust them enough to actually try them out. Most people find them too complicated to understand. However, in today’s day and age, you have to go with the times. Not being technology savvy can work to your disadvantage.

Retail Management Software helps you to handle your cash when balancing the cash drawer. The cash count always takes place at the end of the day – the time when you are exhausted and tired. In such a state, you can end up making mistakes unintentionally. That’s why it is always a better option to use a Retail Management Software to handle your cash drawer balancing.

A few tips which you can follow when managing your cash by using a Retail Management Software are:

  • Choose the software carefully to suit your needs. If you need the software to record sales according to employees, make sure this facility is available before using the software. It allows an employee to conduct himself or herself in a responsible manner and reduces the errors which can otherwise be made.
  • Make sure that the amount which is given by the customer is entered. This makes the job easier for the employee. It also reduces mistakes while returning the change.
  • When you are managing the cash and balancing it, make sure there are certain rules which are maintained. For instance, rules for handling notes must be established and upheld.
  • Make sure that the cash is kept in an orderly way inside the register drawer. If you keep the drawer messy, you will have problems when it comes to sorting out the notes later.
  • Finally, in order to secure the safety of your money, keep an upper limit for the cash count, above which a trusted person should be given the responsibility to count.

By following these simple guidelines, you can make cash counting an easier job. 

Avoid wasting too much time on handling cash drawer balancing. The FusionRetail software has been created in order to make the task easier for you – check out a free demo version.

 

 

Previous