Common Sense Advise for Retail Stores and Restaurants

 As travel season wraps up for 2024, I noticed some things missing from the hundreds of retail stores and restaurants that I visited with in person over the last year.

In no specific order, some common sense advice specific to things that every retail store and restaurant owner should be doing to help increase profits:

1. Have a website
2. Have active social media accounts (Instagram and Facebook are the most popular)
3. RESPOND TO ALL REVIEWS (Yelp. Google, etc - respond with a positively worded reply to all reviews)
4. Be part of an industry association specific to your "niche" or vertical
5. Comply with all state and local statutes when it comes to things like sales tax rates and age verification
6. Use/invest in technology that saves on labor costs
7. Take a look at newish trends like Dual Pricing - consumers are used to paying more when using a credit card so why are you still paying those payment processing fees?
8. If you are dead-set against Dual Pricing - at least shop around for better merchant services rates
9. Have signage that matches your business name (seriously - when the sign on the building doesn't match the actual business name, how are customers supposed to know that they are at the correct business?)
10. Keep the aisles clear so customers are not stepping over boxes to find what they are looking for
11. Use technology for inventory ordering - nothing more disappointing that dining at a restaurant where 1/3 of the menu is 86'd 

OK - what suggestions do you have that should be added to the list? Please send the suggestions to kevinantosh@gmail.com

Want me to swing by your retail store or restaurant to help advise on some way to increase profits or decrease expenses?  You can use the same email address to reach out to me.

Why a Cash Register Can Still Be the Best Solution

Even with all the tablet, smart-phone, and computer based point of systems available on the market, there is still a large market for high end cash registers ("high end" means the $500 -$2000 cash registers and not the "do it yourself" cash registers that the office supply and warehouse stores sell).

The main market for the Sam4S (Samsung) line of cash registers fits in to some or all of these bullet points:

• No need to track individual items
• No need to have the system generate purchase orders
• No Internet access (this is a big one)
• Volume and technology needs do not justify investing in anything beyond a cash register (generally a sales volume under $250,000 annually means that a cash register is a better investment).
• Business is seasonal or only open for specific events

The Sam4S line of cash registers actually has some fairly advanced features, depending on  the model that be fits your business needs. Some of these features include:

• Touch screens
• Built in credit card processing
• Connection to a Windows based computer for reporting and programming
• Cash registers can be networked together
• Data from the cash registers can be sent to QuickBooks Accounting
• Barcode scanner can be attached to the cash register
• Remote kitchen printer for use in bars and restaurants

There are quite a few other options - it just depends which model is best for you and your business. Pricing starts around $500 so these are also very affordable (and durable) when compared to the "do it yourself" cash registers sold through warehouse and office supply stores.

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.

Traveling

Just a quick note that if you reside in Eastern Idaho, Western Wyoming, Eastern Idaho, or Northern Utah, I will be traveling to your area over the next ~4 weeks.  You can reach me at 208-340-5632 if you would like to schedule an appointment for us to have a (non-sales related) conversation about your business.