Review of NCR Silver

I've had the opportunity to work with the NCR Silver point of sale app and thought that I should pass along my thoughts on NCR Silver.

The Good:

• Very easy to use
• Set or flexible monthly pricing
• Seasonal pricing for seasonal businesses
• Designed for both retail and food service
• Great for mobile businesses that sell products and/or services
• Backed by NCR
• Monthly price includes updates and technical support
• Manager/Owner part of the app can be accessed through a web browser

The OK:

• Average interface for food service businesses
• Offers more than what a cash register can do
• Basic customer email marketing functions
• Fairly limited hardware compatibility
• Unclear how secure all the data is

 The Not So Good:

• Only very basic customer and inventory tracking
• No purchasing and receiving
• Limited reporting
• Somewhat confusing merchant service options

Summary:

NCR Silver is a great solution for businesses looking for more than what a cash register can offer but do not have the volume to justify investing in a full blown point of sale system.  NCR Silver has also found a niche with seasonal or mobile businesses like concession related businesses, firework stands and Christmas tree sales.

NCR Silver is also a tough product to sell as there is little to no revenue for the dealer/partner to sell it. Most folks end up dealing with NCR Directly unless their local dealer/partner can offer some sort of incentive.

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.

Microsoft Dynamics RMS Store Operations Review (including HQ)

A quick reminder that sales of Microsoft Dynamics RMS and HQ to new users as well as mainstream support ends next year (2016) so please keep that in mind if you are thinking of purchasing RMS or HQ as point of sale software for your business or organization (not a wise investment at this point).

Update August 8th, 2015: Blog post and video covering all the options available for RMS users related to EMV: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/06/options-for-microsoft-dynamics-rms-and.html

Update June 28th, 2015 - special discount and incentive from a national NCR CounterPoint Partner for RMS and HQ users: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/06/big-discount-and-incentive-for.html

Update June 13th, 2015: A quick note that I have been receiving multiple calls and emails from Microsoft Dynamics RMS users looking to replace RMS due to the upcoming October 1st, 2015 EMV liability shift deadline as well as the "end of life" status for Dynamics RMS and HQ. I have personal experience with RMS users upgrading to NCR CounterPoint and would be happy to share - just visit my contact page for information on how to reach me. I can also put you in touch with a trusted NCR CounterPoint SQL partner.

Update January 1st, 2015:

At this point RMS and HQ users will need to pay to use a third party software applications in order to use EMV hardware and comply with the US EMV liability shift date of October 2015. Please also keep in mind that Microsoft RMS and HQ are end of life so now might be a good time to look at alternative point of sale systems like Retail Essentials or similar. 

Confused? Contact me for more information.

Update 9/23/2014:  In case you missed my other RMS related posts, Microsoft announced that mainstream support and sales of RMS to new users will end in July 2016.  The other issue of bigger concern is that Microsoft has made no announcement related to whether RMS will be updated to work with EMV hardware and the date for EMV compliance in the US is Oct. 2015.  As much as I have enjoyed working with RMS over the years, it is time for everyone to start making plans for RMS alternatives.

You can always contact me directly for more information and free advice as needed - I've already spoken with well over 400 businesses and organizations already related to what some possible options are.

I worked with the Microsoft Dynamics RMS Store Operations (RMS) software extensively over the last decade - including multiple installations of RMS HQ.  Here are my thoughts on RMS:

The Good:

• Very easy to learn and use
• Very easy to modify or use add-ons for special functions
• Stable and quick interface
• Extremely cost effective compared to other point of sale software programs
• Large user base
• Low ongoing annual costs to keep the software updated
• Easy upgrade to multi-location "HQ" interface

The OK:

• Technology is getting outdated
• Somewhat flexible hardware options
• Reporting interface can be confusing
• Touch screen interface is limited
• HQ interface technology is getting outdated and does take time to learn and use 
• Basic update was just released in Dec 2013

The Not So Good:

• Won't know until April 2014 what the future holds for the 38000+ businesses using this software
• Better communication from Microsoft
• Sales and mainstream support for RMS and HQ end in July 2016. Extended support ends on July 2021.
• Costs related to using RMS with payment gateways in order to accept chip based credit and debit cards in order to meet the October 1st, 2015 EMV Liability Shift Date in the US for card present transaction.

Summary:

The RMS/HQ has accounted for nearly 70% of all the solutions that I have provided over the last 14 years. I really like the affordability of the program, the feature set, and ease of use. However, until Microsoft provides more guidance on the future of RMS, I can not recommend the software to anyone at this point.
Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Shopping Habits and the Gen-Y or the Millennial Generation

If your business markets products and/or services to the Gen-Y or the Millennial Generation (born in the ~1980's to early 2000's depending on who you reference), then this recent survey from Retail Pro and Merchant Warehouse will be of interest to you.  The idea behind the survey was to gain a better understanding of the shopping habits of this generation.  A better understanding can lead to better marketing as well as gleaning better data from your point of sale system. Here are some of the highlights of the survey along with how you would use a point of sale system to cater to the shopping needs of Millennials):

• 60 percent of Millennials do pre-purchase online research (does your point of sale system have an integrated online shopping website with detailed product information, images and reviews?)
• When it comes to actually driving to your store, 50% of the survey respondents said that they would want at least a 20% discount to make an in-store purchase (does your point of sale system offer a loyalty program or an automatic discount function?)
• 68% of those surveyed primarily purchase products using a debit or credit card and not cash (does your point of sale system include a pin pad and the ability to shop for the best merchant services rates?)

The survey also covers some additional product specific purchasing habits but I just wanted to include only some of the survey results specific to specialty retail stores and point of sale systems for specialty retail 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.