Tuesday, September 29, 2015

Using Me and My Sites as a Resource for Your Chain, Franchise, Association, or Organization

Just a quick note that you are more than welcomed to use myself and my sites as a source of unbiased point of sale information as needed. This works well for the following:
  • Franchises
  • Chain Stores
  • Organizations (non-profit and government)
  • Retail Associations
  • Retail Conferences
  • Retail Trade Shows
I'm actually already a point of sale contact for multiple businesses and organizations (representing well over 5,000 retail stores in the US) whose members/stores/leadership need any or all of the following:
  • Free and unbiased point of sale advice
  • Unbiased in-depth onsite point of sale consultation
  • Speaker for events
  • General point of sale advice
Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Thursday, September 24, 2015

Take Aways from the 2015 Envision Retail Conference/CounterPoint Users Conference

I was honored to be a guest speaker at the 2015 Envision Retail Conference/NCR CounterPoint Users Conference in Denver Colorado and wanted to share some observations from the conference:

  • CounterPoint users are champions for both NCR CounterPoint as a point of sale systems and Retail Control Systems as their CounterPoint Partner
  • NCR is very dedicated to supporting and growing the CounterPoint software
  • Retail Control Systems has a "rock star" staff that is very dedicated to providing the best point of sale solution and growing your business or organization
  • EMV adoption is slow in all aspects (banks, processors, software companies, hardware companies and in stores)
  • There are a lot of companies that offer enhancements for NCR CounterPoint that I was not aware of. These include:
    • Avalara for tax calculations and tax compliance
    • Vend Lease for funding and financing
    • 2B Solutions for warehouse inventory management, hand held mobile inventory, and mobile order picking
    • Outbound Software for ticketing, performance seating, and tour groups
    • Red Rock for CounterPoint and Magento integration
    • Clutch for customer profile and markting
    • NCR Merchant Solutions for merchant services (debit and credit card processing)
  • There is a need to have more of these conferences across the country so more NCR CounterPoint users can take full advantage of their point of sale systems. I'm pushing for similar events to be held in other areas like Salt Lake City and Boise
  • There is a need to allow attendance for business and organizations searching for point of sale systems to attend these conferences. What a great way to interact with other business owners and learn more about NCR CounterPoint in a non-sales environment!
I'm sure that I have more thoughts to share.

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Wednesday, September 23, 2015

Thanks!

A quick thanks to everyone that attended my most recent free and unbiased point of sale workshop at the Boise, ID location of the Idaho Small Business Development Center!  It was great that we had a chance to interact!



If you are in need of unbiased point of sale advice, paid in depth on-site point of sale consulting, or a point of sale speaker for your event that is completely vendor neutral, please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Saturday, September 19, 2015

Unbiased Consulting for Goodwill Stores

***2018 Update***

I started offering a 10% discount to all non-profit organizations plus some very large software license discounts if you happen to be using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software. You can reach me at 2208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com for more information (and references as well).


A quick note that I have a great deal of experience providing in depth (but unbiased) point of sale consulting services for Goodwill stores. This also applies to thrift stores in general. As this normally involves some travel, there are some fees involved (unless you are only in need of some general advice which is free) but the outcome is solid recommendation of the next steps your organization should take.

Here are some videos that highlight my processes for in depth consulting. As always, visit my contact page to learn more and to see whether I can help you chart the best course for point of sale, warehouse management and/or inventory control software and systems.

Process Overview:


Cost of Using an Outdated POS System or No POS System:


Advantages of Using an Unbiased Consultant:


Thursday, September 17, 2015

Envision Retail Conference/CounterPoint Users Conference

Getting ready to speak at the Envision Retail Conference/CounterPoint Users Conference.  #Rcsenvision#Redefineretail #pos


Another Option for Microsoft Dynamics RMS Users: eMobilePOS

I recently had the opportunity to learn more about eMobilePOS who actually offers an option allowing businesses and organizations using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software to use mobile devices like tablets while still using the core RMS SQL database.

eMobilePOS has multiple different options and solutions available depending on what type of business you have. You can learn more about eMobilePOS by visiting: http://www.emobilepos.com/

Monday, September 14, 2015

Advantages of Using an Unbiased Point of Sale Consultant

A brief video highlighting the advantages of using a unbiased point of sale consultant for point of sale consulting services.



Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Cost of Using an Outdated Point of Sale System or No Point of Sale System

Video explaining how using an outdated point of sale system or no point of sale system could be costing your business or organization 3% to 5% of your annual gross sales in lost or unrealized revenue.  This is based on real world data and professional experiences having worked with over 4400 business and organizations.



Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.

Speaking at Envision in Denver, CO and SBDC in Boise, ID

A quick reminder that there a couple of speaking engagements coming up rather quickly that you are welcomed to attend and even coordinate a time for us to meet in person if you so wish.

First up is the Envision Conference taking place in Denver, CO on September 17th - 18th, 2015. Here is a link to more details and registration information: https://www.retailcontrolsystems.com/envision-conference/

Note that Envision has multiple sessions to cover the following:

  1. Beginner, Intermediate and Advanced CounterPoint SQL point of sale software users
  2. Retail Marketing
  3. EMV Information
  4. Unbiased workshops for businesses and organizations searching for a new (or first) point of sale system
After Envision, I will be conducting a free and unbiased workshop designed for businesses and organizations searching for a POS system. This will also be the last workshop that I will be speaking about EMV at.

The workshop location is at Boise State University in conjunction with the Idaho Small Business Development Center in Boise, ID and will take place on September 22nd, 2015 from 2pm to 4pm. More details and registration information can be found here: https://business.idahosbdc.org/workshop.aspx?ekey=40350090

Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Friday, September 4, 2015

More Big News at Bindo

(my thoughts appear below the press release)
Bindo to Unveil New Restaurant POS Solution with $2 Million Investment
Leading retail technology company secures $2 million for its bridge round to develop an iPad POS solution for brick-and-mortar merchants in the F&B industry
NEW YORK, Sept. 3, 2015 - Bindo, a leading cloud-based business management solution for brick-and-mortar merchants, today announced it has debuted a beta version of its new iPad POS system, Bindo POS for Restaurant. The company also announced it has secured $2 million in funding from strategic investors eager to see the POS solution expand into new verticals.
Bindo will use the investment to launch the new POS system globally, enabling restaurant owners to have one complete and holistic business solution that can integrate telephone orders, online ordering, table management, reservations, and ingredient-level tracking all in one platform. Bindo POS for Restaurant is now available in beta at a few select restaurants, and will become publicly available in mid-September.
Bindo POS for Restaurant provides a simple way for restaurants to easily manage their inventory and sales from a centralized back-office dashboard, whilst also allowing them to accept and schedule reservations from a centralized cloud-based platform. Restaurants are given the tools to better forecast inventory and supply needs by accurately recording the ingredients that go into each dish. Bindo POS for Restaurant will also maximize seating capacity and table turnover by enabling front of house to seamlessly schedule bookings through an integrated CRM and floor planning system.
“We wanted a mobile and elegant POS solution to complement our modern restaurant theme and came across Bindo,” said Ivan Yeh, Owner of Shoku Bar and Restaurant and first-time user of Bindo POS for Restaurant. “Since deployment, Bindo has helped us cut down on excess inventory and vastly improved the way we run our operations. Best of all, Bindo’s integrated mobile credit card processing allows our servers to take orders and payments at the table, making way for that ‘wow’ factor and allowing for a better dining experience for our customers.”
“We met with so many restaurateurs who were fed up with the choice of POS systems available (both iPad & traditional POS). The iPad POS systems in the market were not sophisticated or robust enough for their needs, and the traditional systems were expensive, inflexible and difficult to use,” said Brad Lauster, Co-founder of Bindo. “Bindo POS for Restaurant fills that gap in the market with a solution that’s powerful, customizable and a pleasure to use.”
The investors that led the new funding round have decades of operational expertise in the F&B industry, and played a pivotal role in fine-tuning the customizations needed for the many restaurant-types supported by Bindo’s solution. Bindo POS for Restaurant will be available for use in private beta by signing up on bindopos.com or calling 1-800-MYBINDO.
A quick demo of the Bindo POS for Restaurant technology is also available upon request.
ABOUT BINDO
Founded in 2011, Bindo is the one-stop iPad Point-of-Sale (POS) solution that connects local brick-and-mortar merchants to their customers, giving businesses a more cohesive and competitive technology solution that complements the ever-changing and dynamic needs of their consumers. With Bindo POS, businesses will be able to better manage their stores, keep track of their customers and have access to sophisticated tools to allow their business be run more efficiently. Coming soon, the Bindo Market iPhone app will allow everyday consumers to make on-demand delivery purchases directly on their smartphones, thereby closing the Online-to-Offline loop for merchants.
For more information about Bindo POS, visit https://bindopos.com
For more information about Bindo Market, visit https://bindo.com
SOURCE Bindo
Bindo
CONTACT: Catherine Lowe, North 6th Agency, Inc. (For Bindo), +1-917-916-2609, bindo@n6a.com
Web Site: https://bindo.com
My Thoughts on the Above:
Obviously the funding and  restaurant specific version of Bindo is pretty cool news given the popularity of Bindo on the retail side.  Even though there are a bunch of mobile POS systems for restaurants, Bindo brings that right balance of price/feature/function as well as not being a company that has outgrown themselves to the point of having to outsource technical support to India. 
Bindo also has the drive to win customers and clients one at a time versus 'turning and burning'.
There is some other big news related to Bindo that is very positive as well which I hope to be able to share in a few more weeks.  

Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me..


Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Envision Retail Conference/NCR CounterPoint Users Group Conference in Denver, CO

A quick note that I will be speaking at the Envision Retail Conference in Denver, CO on September 17th-18th, 2015 at the Marriott City Center.   A schedule and more details will follow but this is an excellent opportunity for unbiased advice related to choosing and selecting a point of sale system for your business or organization.

Envision will focus on offering the following:

  1. In depth sessions for users of the NCR CounterPoint point of sale software
  2. Sessions for retail marketing, social media, and EMV
  3. NCR CounterPoint Lab staffed with CounterPoint technical specialists
  4. Sessions offering free and unbiased advice and information for businesses and organizations searching for a new (or first) point of sale system
Are you  in the US and in need of no cost retail point of sale advice?  I'm happy to help and can be reached on my cell at 208-340-5632 (I am on Mountain Time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com. There is also a contact form to the right that can be used to reach me.