The POSsibilities

Old fashioned cash registers should be a thing of the past, especially in this industry.

Regardless of whether you have one shop or 20, if you are not yet using an automated POS system in your business, you could be costing yourself time and money, as well as giving your competitors an advantage. “By simply automating the stores, [retailers] are going to get a reduction in time at the register with customers so an increased throughput [is a benefit] that really can’t be underestimated,” says Bruce Lode, executive vice president of sales and marketing at TAM Retail, a division of Lode Data Systems, Inc.

He also says that using very small barcodes and quick SKU keys on POS systems, like those available on the TAM Retail system, will clear up any pricing errors or product confusion on individual items by employees at the register, saving you lost revenues.

All POS system companies agree that the biggest benefit to implementing a POS system in a business is for inventory management.

“I think the most beneficial part of the automation system is the ability to get control of the inventory,” Lode says. “We have some special tools within our product that allows them to track sticks versus bundles and boxes. If they are not automated already, that ability gives them the best return on investment.”

“Inventory management is key to any retailer because it is one of his largest expenses (or investments),” says Brian Jennings, director of product management for Cougar Mountain Software. “Our POS system gives the retailer the benefit of knowing re-order points, creating multiple pricing levels for an item, tracking movement, profit margins and sales of inventory.”

If you are considering adding a POS system to your business or are contemplating a new POS system, consider these three tobacco industry leaders of POS technology systems and what they can do to help you be more profitable.

TAM Retail, a division of Lode Data Systems, Inc.

TAM Retail offers The Assistant Manager™, or TAM, a fully integrated solution, which is designed to utilize the operating systems from Microsoft®. “We provide a complete suite of tools that are used to automate [retailers’] shops—everything from the basic point of sale, inventory control, sales management, all the way up through e-commerce, order tracking, customer reward programs and customer management systems,” says Lode. “We’ve been doing this for 29.5 years, so we have pretty much everything.”

He says that the TAM system has become a very intuitive product, for tobacconists in particular, because the company continually works with its customers learning what software components are most useful and which are not. In the end, you are left with a valuable software product tailored to meet the needs of tobacco retailers.

This level of commitment is carried through with each new prospective client as well. Representatives from the company meet with each client and work to customize the product to fit the needs and address any problems the client has. An online demo is also set up for each potential client to familiarize him with the software. “Then [we] tailor a proposal specifically for his needs and budget and get him up and going,” says Lode.

System: The Assistant Manager™—Its features include inventory management, point of sale, sales management, customer profiling, reward programs, layaways, special orders, time and attendance, gift registry, hand-held computing, credit card authorization, ShowEasy™ and e-commerce.

Equipment: All needed equipment can be purchased through the company, as it is a Dell® reseller. However, clients may already have usable hardware and then only the software would need to be purchased. 

Training: Unlimited training is included in the purchase price of the system. “Generally, I would say that a single-store retailer is going to need anywhere from three to five hours of training to get going with the basic operations,” says Lode. “Then there should be some follow-on training later to help them use the information … collected by the system. But each retailer is different; their level of experience with computers varies so we allow them to have unlimited training should they need it, until they are ready to go.”

Support: “We do have a help desk that supports the product,” he says. “The ongoing support products include any type of support [the retailer] needs seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Then through a subscription program, they can get any new releases that come out, so that help desk is free to them as long as they are running the current version of the software.”

Final thought on using POS systems: “In today’s tough marketplace, [retailers] should be automated to help them survive and there are very low-cost ways to do that,” says Lode. “You become much more efficient, you become proactive and you are going to make more money. It’s going to help you find out where you are doing well and where you’re not. The goal would be to save time, get a little more vacation time and make more money!”

ECR Software Corporation (ECRS)

ECRS currently offers four retail technology solutions—Catapult™, Supplier Gateway™, DVR and Fuel. “ECRS solutions provide the ability to completely manage inventory on all levels—even more important now because of SCHIP—automated buy-downs and tracking, easier customer check out, easier cashier training, age verification, electronic signature capture and detailed reporting to keep track of areas of your business,” says Otis Flieth, vice president of sales. “Our system allows complete business automation and control in one solution.”

Systems & Features:

• Catapult™—A complete POS and Back-office system with an integrated gift card program, electronic signature capture, customer billboard advertising, customer loyalty and extensive analytics and reporting.
• Supplier Gateway™—This system provides complete “one-click” inventory automation. It facilitates automatic electronic data interchange (EDI) between the retailer and supplier for automatic PO generation, PO acknowledgements, shipping notifications, vendor catalog updates, invoicing, automatic price updates, promotions and combos.
• DVR Integrated video surveillance—This optional Digital Video Recorder (DVR) feature is completely integrated with Catapult, enabling users to search surveillance footage using a wide range of criteria for the search parameters, including voids, all voids, refunds, specific inventory items and more. The DVR allows you to audit employee transactions and monitor customer service procedures from any remote location with Internet access, providing retailer operators a new level of store security and welcome peace of mind.
• Fuel—The ECRS Fuel pump interface allows complete fuel automation from the POS. This allows retailers to have one complete system as opposed to a fuel system and POS system.

Equipment: ECRS offers a completely integrated system, including software, hardware, installation, support, training and consultation services.

Training: “We have several options for training, including monthly Catapult University sessions (4 days), onsite training customizable to fit the needs and size of the retailer, specialized consulting services and remote training,” says Flieth.

Support: Beyond the Basic and Advanced user training classes, the company has a 24-hour, U.S.-based support team and a Web-based customer issue tracking system.

Cougar Mountain Software

Jennings says there are many key benefits when using Cougar Mountain’s software.

Below are a few of the company’s helpful systems and their features.

Systems & Features:

• CMS Professional POS—The software includes inventory and point-of-sale modules.
• CMS Professional POS with Back-office Accounting—This includes inventory, point of sale, accounts receivable, accounts payable and the general ledger features.
• Denali POS & Denali POS with Back Office—This retail and POS software can incorporate any combination of its available modules, depending on the specific needs of your business. Modules available with this software include accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank reconciliation, general ledger, inventory management, order entry, payroll, point of sale and purchase order. Each module is available independently. This software can also be complemented with a complete line of POS hardware and merchant transaction services, according to the company’s Web site (www.cougarmnt.com).
• Specialty Shop Module—This was designed for tobacco and liquor stores and offers buy-down/coupon-code pricing, promotional and multi-pack pricing, age verification and more.
• Multi-location Inventory—This software can track inventory held in multiple locations.
• CMS Professional Payroll
• Purchase Order—This has the ability to automatically generate a purchase order when inventory items are low.
• CMS Total eCom—It is an e-commerce solution that is integrated to the company’s accounting software.

Equipment: A shop’s current hardware is acceptable, once it is verified that it can support the system requirements of the company’s software. If hardware is needed, Cougar Mountain offers various equipment options that can be purchased, including, barcode scanners, data collectors, pole displays, monitors, cash drawers, pin pads, receipt printers and more.

Training: “Basic POS training takes between two and four hours,” says Jennings. “POS with back-office training can take up to three days. We offer several training options to accommodate a customer’s schedule and budget, including our Cougar Mountain Regional trainings, client onsite learning, online/telephone training and our learning resource center.”

Support: Cougar Mountain support includes installation services that ensures all software, upgrades and updates have been installed correctly, as well as the option to subscribe to the company’s Software Assurance Program. Two packages—the Standard and Premier—are available in the program and both include access to the customer service center and FAQ knowledge base, maintenance releases and service packs, version upgrades, a discount on support and classroom and telephone training, and basic eLearning. Additional benefits of the Premier package include premium eLearning and 20 hours of online/telephone support.