$2M Mark Surpassed!

Just a quick note that folks that have contacted me via this blog site have gone on to spend $2 million in point of sale hardware, software, supplies, and related labor.   Not bad considering the basic nature of this blog site!

New Point of Sale Software from Microsoft and Retail Realm

***Note that this software program is no longer available. Please contact me for other options***

Some more information was made available related to the new "Microsoft Dynamics Retail Essentials" point of sale software. As I have mentioned before, I have fielded a lot of calls and emails from upset Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management Store Operations (RMS) users over the last year due to the official "end of life" announcement from Microsoft related to RMS and lack of clear communication related to EMV compatibility in RMS.

What we know about Retail Essentials:

• Retail specific version of Dynamics AX
• Will be sold and supported via trained Microsoft partners
• Tentatively will be available for deployment in late February 2015

What we don't know about Retail Essentials:

• Cost
• Specific features and functions
• Mobile device compatability
• EMV compatability
• Data conversion for RMS users
• Multi-location features (if any)
• Peripheral compatibility

With so many stores looking to me for advice (well over 700 stores in the US), I'm hopeful that someone from a Microsoft Partner, Microsoft, or Retail Realm will work with me to learn more about Retail Essentials so I can share that information with you.

UPDATE: Retail Realm was kind enough to reach out to me so I am going to hold off on making any recommendations until I get a chance to learn more about Retail Essentials.  Then I can hopefully share more and help you make an informed decision on what to do (whether you are searching for a replacement for RMS or whether you are searching for your first POS system).  I hope to have more information to share with everyone by mid December.

Here is a link to the official press release - contact me if you have questions:
http://www.rrdisti.com/announcements/microsoft-and-retail-realm-jointly-announce-microsoft-dynamics-retail-essentials-with-retail-realm

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.

Best Practices for Switching Point of Sale Systems

I've likely covered this before but it never hurts to keep the following in mind should you ever need to upgrade or switch point of sale systems.

1. Make sure that you have full access to all of your data (inventory information, customer information, history, vendor information, employee information).
2. Ensure that all the information is backed up and accurate (good time to perform a physical inventory if you haven't done one in awhile).
3. Ask what the options are related to importing all your inventory, customer, supplier, and vendor information in to the new system - usually this can be done for a nominal cost.
4. Depending on your situation, you may not be able to transfer any historical information. Don't panic!  What you need to do is make sure that you can run your old point of sale system for another year or so to access any historical information (eg: customer comes in and whats to buy exactly what they bought 8 months ago).
5. Make sure that you have all the financial data and reports needed to account for the last 7 years
6. Take time to learn and use the new system - there is likely a good reason why you upgraded or switched systems do get the most out of your hard earned dollars!

Those are the basics - Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.