Resellers/Dealers/VAR's/Partners Ending Support for Microsoft RMS

As the July 2021 end of life date comes closer specific to the Microsoft RMS point of sale software, more and more Microsoft RMS Partners/VAR's/Dealers/Resellers are setting firm dates on when they will stop supporting Microsoft RMS and RMS HQ.  So far, the following has been reported to me:

1. Positive Technologies: January 2021
2. Compass/Interdyn: Already ended
3. Retail Technology Experts: Already ended
4. New West Tech: Pending
5. RITE: Will support past July 2021 - no near term plans to end RMS/HQ support

If I come across others - I will be sure to pass along. If you are in need of Microsoft RMS/HQ support and/or are looking for a POS software program to replace RMS, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com. Besides the consulting services that I offer, I also work for a Microsoft Dynamics RMS Partner that will continue to support RMS past July 2021 (but not forever given the resources required to support RMS/HQ once Microsoft officially ends RMS/HQ support).

Honest Feedback on Retail Management Hero (RMH)

As we start a new decade, I wanted to pass along my personal experience in working with retailers who are using the Retail Management Hero point of sale software. I have been onsite with many of these retailers and/or spoken with them via phone and helped with installation and training.

First, the negative reviews: https://www.softwareadvice.com/retail/retail-management-hero-profile/

I can vouch for almost all of those reviews as being valid (these retailers did not acquire RMH through myself, or RITE, but I am familiar with their stores).

As for retailers who did acquire RMH via myself and RITE, there seems to be a 80/20 split between those who love RMH (80%) and those who are struggling to use RMH (20%). These are retailers across just about all industries and are located across the US.  The biggest concerns to note about RMH are:

1. Needing to use add-ons for credit card processing
2. Differences between Microsoft RMS and RMS as covered here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqPTxoSgHHo
3. RMH Central is NOT ready for general release
4. Not being able to see cost at the POS screen
5. Not being able to add new items at the POS screen
6. Lack of a manual or users guide
7. Too many releases and cost to install each new release
8. No support is included with annual software maintenance

The retailers who love RMH have expressed the following to me:

1. POS is really easy to train cashiers on
2. Liked that they could move their data from Microsoft RMS to RMH
3. Plenty of third party plug ins for e-comm, and accounting software interfaces
4. Uses fairly standard point of sale hardware and peripherals
5. The built in customer loyalty program is a nice feature
6. Physical inventory counts are easy to do using the built in tool
7. New options for shipping, age verification, and liquor store integrations

There also seems to be a trend of various RMH re-sellers abandoning retailers mid-deployment which myself and RITE have done our best to help clean up. Never an ideal situation but it seems to have gone well 90% of the time in fixing what the RMH re-seller promised but never delivered on.

Are you considering RMH and/or have RMH feedback? Then please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

New Page: Client Map

http://www.pospondering.com/p/client-map.html

Idea is to pin retailers on the map who contact me for on-site or remote point of sale advice, consulting, sales or service.

Want to appear on the map? You can contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 for point of sale related advice, consulting, sales and service.

Cloud Retailer POS for Beer/Wine/Liquor Stores

Over the last few years, the folks at Cloud Retailer have been working on including specific features and functions within the Cloud Retailer point of sale software that are vertical specific. Recent examples include the following retail verticals:

• Gun and Archery Stores
• Furniture Stores
• Convenience Stores (no fuel sales)
• Cannabis Retail
• Corner Markets and Specialty Food Stores
• Mobile Retailers
• Trampoline Parks
• Gift Shops and Tourist Attractions
• and more on the way...

This post will focus on the Beer, Wine and Liquor Store vertical.  There is a lot that Cloud Retailer offers for the Beer, Wine and Liquor retailers.  Specific examples include:

Age Verification:

Automated Cash Discounts:

Supplier Purchase Planning:

Unit of Measure:

Detailed Product Attributes:

If you own or operate a beer, wine or liquor store, it is worth taking a look at Cloud Retailer. Free trial versions are available by contacting me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com (US and Canada only please),.