Wednesday, January 31, 2018

Blue Chip Accounting Integration to Retail Management Hero

As I work more and more with the deployment of the Retail Management Hero (RMH) point of sale software, retailers have started asking about the various add ons for RMH like a QuickBooks Accounting interface.

The folks at Blue Chip Consulting have created just such an interface and I have one retailer here in Idaho testing it right now. While the testing will take a couple of weeks before I can pass along any feedback, I will share that this integration for RMH is very affordable!

There is an initial setup and installation charge but the on-going monthly cost is very modest - likely much less that paying someone to hand enter journal entries.

For more information on the Clue Chip Consulting integration for the Retail Management Hero point of sale software, please visit http://bluechipconsult.us/

You can also reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 for general questions.

Monday, January 29, 2018

What Does a Point of Sale Consultant Do? What are the Costs? How does this Save Me Money?

Brief video explaining what happens when I'm engaged in a point of sale consulting project, how this type of consultancy saves your organization money, and what the typical costs are.



For more information, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Cloud Retailer - The "Yes We Can Do That" Retail Point of Sale Program

So I've had the opportunity to work more and more with the Cloud Retailer point of sale software over the last year - including a few deployments. While Cloud Retailer is still catching up to include a few features and functions, one area where Cloud Retailer has excelled is in the area of custom configurations.

While most of the point of sale software programs require that you follow the processes built in to the program (or devise a workaround), Cloud Retailer actually can be configured to match your processes in most cases.  I've seem this first hand with liquor stores, mobile locksmiths, a chain of airport gift shops, a trampoline park, a gun store, and a theater.

The secret is that Cloud Retailer was designed to be easily configurable so little to no actual coding or programming is required. That means retailers can use a point of sale program that follows their processes instead of paying for costly customization.

I do have a full copy of Cloud Retailer if you are interested in learning more - Cloud Retailer is positioned to meet the needs of retailers and franchises with between 1 and 300 locations.

You can reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 for more information. Cloud Retailer can be reached at 888-267-7483 or sales@rite.us.

Friday, January 19, 2018

Latest Posts in The CounterPoint Users Group

POSTINGS FROM OUR FREE  

Counterpoint® Users Group (CPUSER.ORG®) is an independent Support Group for users of Counterpoint® Point-Of-Sale Software by NCR Corporation (formerly by Radiant Systems, Inc. & by Synchronics, Inc.).  We have been serving the
 Counterpoint® Community since 2003.  Please see our Legal Disclaimer at the end of this e-mail.
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This NCR Counterpoint® SQL User wants to stop users from Adding & Deleting SKU's.    
See some innovative thinking at Posting #3132, "Items."    

3.)  HostGator Error 404:  Page Not Found:
If you are trying to connect to our Forum and get an Error 404 Message, change the 50.87.144.104  IP Address in the link towww.cpuser.org and the link will work. 
       
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CPUSER.ORG® and Counterpoint Users Group provide independent technical support services and information specifically for users of COUNTERPOINT® point of sale systems.
 
COUNTERPOINT® is a registered trademark of CheckPoint Systems, Inc. and a licensed trademark property of NCR Corporation (formerly licensed by Radiant Systems, Inc. and by Synchronics, Inc.
 
CPUSER.ORG® is a registered trademark of Counterpoint Users Group.
 
CheckPoint Systems, Inc. and NCR Corporation neither endorse nor have any affiliation with CPUSER.ORG® or Counterpoint Users Group.

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Cloud Retailer Versus On Premise POS

Guest article from Rick Feuling, CEO at RITE, discussing the unique design of the Cloud Retailer point of sale software:

Cloud-based technology is where a group of businesses that use the same technology tools shares infrastructure that is hosted somewhere outside of their physical location (on the cloud) and that infrastructure is maintained by a 3rd party.  An example would be where if each business would need a $2,000 server on-premise OR instead 100 businesses could use a $20,000 server setup somewhere else (90% lower cost) and share it and actually end up with a more reliable system.

This idea is not actually new, it's been around and done for a long time but some newer technologies make it easier to implement, more user friendly, and the clear economies of scale it has become very popular over the last few years and is continuing to gain momentum in all industry sectors (government, Fortune 500 companies, and small/medium enterprises).    

When you hear "cloud-based" that very often means that the software is fully in the browser and you install zero software on the computers that use it.  Your email is fully cloud-based unless you use Outlook (which is software installed on your computer).  One of the main upsides of cloud-based is you never have to worry about upgrading or maintain the local software, the downside is when the internet goes down or if the company that makes the software has a server crash, you cannot use it. Technically speaking Cloud Retailer is NOT pure cloud-based - it's "hybrid-cloud" which is the best of both worlds.  When the internet is down you can keep using the POS to ring customers but the back office software is fully in the cloud.  In this article, we're going to discuss how we leverage this technology deployment method with Cloud Retailer and the benefits of doing so.

As mentioned earlier, with Cloud Retailer get access to technology infrastructure that no single reasonably sized retailer (IE $500M in rev per year or less) would have access to on their own.  Here are a few key examples:

Network firewalls
Most of our clients have limited to no network security.  They don't have a commercial grade firewall that monitors for hack attempts.  They don't have proper network segmentation, they don't have firewall experts on staff.  They should, but it's not feasible, for most, it's too costly to put the equipment in place let alone have the staff required to monitor it.  Cloud Retailers servers are protected by sophisticated and monitored network firewalls. 

Database servers
Most of our clients don't have multiple daily backups.  They don't have hard drives mirrored, they don't have redundant power, redundant servers, etc.  With Cloud Retailer that's in place.  In terms of performance, reliability, and redundancy, You share server resources that no single retailer could typically afford.

Additionally, the resources you need as your business grows are automatically scaled up.  If you went from one to five stores would you need a new server?  You'd need to have a discussion with an IT person to hammer that all out.  With Cloud Retailer, if there's a problem with our database servers we deal with it and you likely never even become aware.

Access to technical people 24-7-365
If a key part of your infrastructure fails at 2 am in the morning, how quickly are you aware of it?  Our team always has team members on call 24-7-365 to deal with any critical emergency should it arise.  If your server is on-premise you likely won't know until the store opens at which point you're scrambling to figure out what's wrong and who can help you (local hardware guy or your software people, etc).

POS resiliency
A feature of the Cloud Retailer system is that each POS can operate independently of any other systems so if you have a networking issue or we have a server issue your POS will never go down unless the computer or tablet it's hosted on breaks and when that happens, no other POS stations are affected.

 As mentioned above the POS software lives on the device itself and stores some data locally for emergency operation.  This is a significantly better type of "cloud" solution (hybrid cloud as mentioned in the introduction).

Security - credit cards
While strictly speaking our credit card technology does not relate to how we're using the cloud to host your systems the security question is often wrapped in the "cloud" conversation.   Pretty much all of the "hacks" that have occurred over the years (Target / Best Buy / Home Depot / etc) have been the result of credit card swipe data going to a POS computer for a fraction of a section and then relaying that data to a credit card processor for approval.  There are two issues with that:

1)  A computer is a device built to run many different programs.  That means POS software - and unfortunately viruses which are just programs.
2)  In the technology world, a fraction of a second is ample time to steal data when a virus is sniffing for it.

Cloud Retailer uses "Card Defender" which are specialized payment terminals (that face the customer) and are built to do one thing and one thing only - process credit cards securely.  They encrypt the card data before it touches your network and are built to stop working if they are tampered with (software AND hardware wise).  NO CREDIT CARD NUMBER EVER TOUCHES YOUR COMPUTERS / POS.  Traditional POS where you use the old swipe on the side of the screen is very dangerous in this day and age.

For more information on Cloud Retailer please visit www.cloudretailer.com or call 888-267-7483

Wednesday, January 10, 2018

Microsoft RMS vs Retail Management Hero vs Cloud Retailer

***Updated video coming early 2019 as there have been over 60 enhancements to Cloud Retailer like the ability to use purchase planning to auto-generate purchase orders***

Comparing Microsoft RMS vs Retail Management Hero vs Cloud Retailer in the areas of
  •  included modules
  •  ringing up sales
  •  looking at inventory items
  •  creating purchase orders
  •  running reports
  •  merchant services options
  • differences between customization and configuration
Helpful not only for Microsoft RMS users seeking low cost RMS replacement programs but also for retailers searching for a new POS system that are not using Microsoft RMS.




You can reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 for more detailed information or to have a general conversation about your retail business.

Monday, January 8, 2018

Cloud Retailer Discounts for Microsoft Dynamics RMS Users

With more and more retailers looking to replace their Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software, I figured that now is a good time to explain the various discounts offered to RMS users who migrate to the Cloud Retailer point of sale software:

For RMS users who are current on software maintenance:
100% Discount on the up front license cost of Cloud Retailer (normally $500/lane).

Please note the following as well:
  • The RMS database can be imported in to Cloud Retailer - including 3 years (or more) of customer purchase history.
  • Cloud Retailer includes Card Defender which offers the latest in payment processing technology and security.
  • Cloud Retailer is a single or multi-location point of sale program. No additional modules (or servers) are needed to use Cloud Retailer across multiple locations.
  • Cloud Retailer is licensed by the number of check out lane licenses that you need. Back office/manager licenses are free.
If you have any questions, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com. I have also created a couple of videos about Cloud Retailer as a low cost Microsoft RMS replacement which can be found here and here.


2018 Travel Schedule

For 2018, I'll be headed to the follow cities and states. Please let me know if we should schedule time to meet in person - no cost or obligation!
  • Twin Falls, ID
  • Mountain Home, ID
  • Pocatello, ID
  • Idaho Falls, ID
  • Boise, ID
  • Sun Valley, ID
  • McCall, ID
  • Jackson, WY
  • Ontario, OR
  • Baker City, OR
  • LaGrande, OR
  • Seattle, WA (and surrounding cities with 100 miles of Seattle, WA)
  • Salt Lake City, UT (and surrounding cities with 100 miles of Salt Lake City)
  • Phoenix, AZ
  • Tuscon, AX
  • Texas (likely Dallas - Ft Worth but possibly San Antonio, Houston and Austin as well)
  • Denver, CO (and surrounding cities with 100 miles of Denver)
  • Minneapolis, MN (and surrounding cities within 100 miles of Minneapolis, MN)
  • Forest City, IA
My travel expenses are already paid for with these trips so our meeting would be at no cost or obligation assuming that we can cover everything in around an hour. Additional time would be at a rate of $125/hour.

Contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com for more information or to see about adding your city to the above list.

Friday, January 5, 2018

Latest Posts in the CounterPoint SQL Users Forum

POSTINGS FROM OUR FREE  

Counterpoint® Users Group (CPUSER.ORG®) is an independent Support Group for users of Counterpoint® Point-Of-Sale Software by NCR Corporation (formerly by Radiant Systems, Inc. & by Synchronics, Inc.).  We have been serving the
 Counterpoint® Community since 2003.  Please see our Legal Disclaimer at the end of this e-mail.
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Here is a NCR Counterpoint® SQL User who reports he cannot get a dry-run upgrade of 8.4.6.7 to 8.5.4 (latest version) to work.  
He has decided to upgrade to 8.4.6.18 instead! 
 
See a great example of users-helping-users at Posting #3218, "Upgrade from 8.4.6.7 to 8.5.4 not working."    

3.)  HostGator Error 404:  Page Not Found:
If you are trying to link to our Forum and get an Error 404 Message, change the IP Address in the link to www.cpuser.org and the link will work. 
       
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Questions???  Call or E-mail us!  
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Toll-Free:  (888) 434-0844 
 
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Website:  www.cpuser.org   
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CPUSER.ORG® and Counterpoint Users Group provide independent technical support services and information specifically for users of COUNTERPOINT® point of sale systems.
 
COUNTERPOINT® is a registered trademark of CheckPoint Systems, Inc. and a licensed trademark property of NCR Corporation (formerly licensed by Radiant Systems, Inc. and by Synchronics, Inc.
 
CPUSER.ORG® is a registered trademark of Counterpoint Users Group.
 
CheckPoint Systems, Inc. and NCR Corporation neither endorse nor have any affiliation with CPUSER.ORG® or Counterpoint Users Group.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Welcome to Some New and Upgrading Customers!

A quick shout out to the following retailers who signed on with me over the last 30 days. I look forward to working with you!
  • O'Loony's Wine in Arkansas: Card Defender
  • A & E Ramirez Market in California: Card Defender
  • 4 Way Meat Market in California: Card Defender
  • Greenfield Custom Meats in Idaho: Retail Management Hero
  • One Stop Pool Shop in Texas: Microsoft RMS Dynamics support
In need of point of sale advice, you can reach me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.