NCR Silver Leasing Option & Update on CP Mobile

Information on a leasing program for the hardware required to use NCR Silver: http://www.bsminfo.com/doc.mvc/ncr-silver-vend-lease-introduce-leasing-plan-small-business-0001?sectionCode=Stories&templateCode=BusinessSolutions&user=2320483&source=nl:35911

NCR Silver is a hosted point of sale system than runs on iOS (Apple) devices.  The article states that the leasing term runs for 12-60 months but does not (?!) include the monthly cost to use the NCR Silver POS software (which runs around $79/month).  The idea is somewhat confusing as the hardware bundle for NCR Silver only runs around $1000 - $3000, depending on hardware options.  I suspect that if your budget is really limited, it would be a way to obtain a point of sale system for about the same cost as a typical monthly utility bill.

Speaking of NCR, a few details have been made available related to the next release of CP Mobile. CP Mobile also runs on iOS devices but runs in conjunction with NCR Counterpoint (traditional point of sale system designed to run on Windows based computers).

Here are the details:

We are excited to announce the pending release of NCR Counterpoint Mobile 1.5.  This new version will be available in the App Store on January 3!

NCR Counterpoint Mobile 1.5 introduces several corrections and new features, including: additional payment types, support for the Socket Mobile Bluetooth cordless barcode scanner, and performance enhancements.

Due to changes Apple has made in their App Store approval process, we are no longer able to access the unique device ID (UDID) used to register devices. Therefore, all CPMobile devices must go through a re-registration process when you complete the upgrade to CPMobile 1.5.  

Note that both NCR Silver and NCR CP Mobile are designed for 4th generation iPhones and iPod Touches as well as iPads.  

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 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Year End Physical Inventory

Physical Inventory Tip for Retail Stores: CounterPoint, Microsoft RMS, and QuickBooks POS Pro all have the ability to conduct year end physical inventory counts. In a hurry?  CounterPoint, QuickBooks Point of Sale Pro, and Microsoft RMS allow you to perform physical inventory counts for just specific departments or categories – a great way to do some spot checks on a rotating basis for items susceptible to theft or cashier error.

Want to speed up the physical inventory count?  There are a variety of hand held devices that allow you to scan inventory and then send a file to your point of sale computer to generate an inventory variance report.

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 (mountain time) or via email at kevinantosh@gmail.com.

Point of Sale email marketing

$10,007 in sales generated from one email marketing campaign.  That is what one retailer just shared with me.  Not only is the sales total very impressive but so it the fact that the retailer was able to track the full email marketing campaign from total emails sent to number of emails read to total sales generated by the campaign.  And this was all done from their point of sale system - not a third party email marketing program like Constant Contact.

This retailer uses the CounterPoint point of sale solution from DirectPOS. CounterPoint is unique in that the software has an available email marketing tool called Customer Connect (this website has a video overview: http://www.directpos.com/retail-counterpoint).  Rather than using third party email marketing programs, Customer Connect actively collects data using customer purchase history, customer segmentation (specific products that the customer has expressed interest in) and customer activity to send targeted emails automatically.

Besides normal newsletters, Customer Connect can automatically send out standard emails like "We Miss You" (for customers who have not shopped in the store within a set time frame), "Thank-You" emails (send after certain purchasing criteria are met), and more.  Because the Customer Connect is part of the CounterPoint point of sale system, the emails can be more targeted and automatic than what third party email marketing software can offer.

Even better, Customer Connect can track the full marketing campaign.  All the details are provided including number of emails sent, number of emails opened, number of emails clicked through, number of emails flagged as spam, and - most importantly - total sales generated by the email campaign.

Congrats to Northwest Pets!

Proof that the right point of sale system can help your business grow.  Northwest Pets ( https://www.facebook.com/NWPets) is celebrating the grand opening of their second Idaho location on Dec 1st.  Northwest Pets uses the CounterPoint point of sale system from DirectPOS which allows the owners to manage both stores from a single location. Congrats to the entire team at Northwest Pets!