Cloud Retailer Liquor POS Pricing

 I've had several folks ask me what the price is for the Cloud Retailer Liquor POS software. Pricing starts at $980 per check out loan for the hardware, software and training. The monthly subscription starts at $0.

Electronic Shelg Tags: Are they worth it?

 It has been a good 4 or 5 years since I last looked at digital or electronic shelf tags as a replacement for paper shelf tags.

I met last week with a electronic shelf tag vendor and was pretty impressed.

Not only has the cost come way down, but the capabilities of the latest generation of electronic shelf tags goes way beyond just showing the price.

Some cool things that I learned:

• battery life is 8 to 10 years
• they have a secure mounting to prevent theft or swapping of devices
• they come in a huge variety of sizes and mounting options for just about any retail stores needs
• you can sell ad space to suppliers
• you can even promote products and services like a loyalty program on the device
• you can get devices with blinking lights to help customers or even delivery drivers find the correct product
• integration to POS systems makes updating the devices a breeze

All in all, the ROI on the up front cost against labour savings, theft prevention, mislabeling of products, and advertising is around 6 to 12 months.

The ongoing monthly subscription is based on the number of devices so smaller retailers can benefit without paying as much as a larger retailer.

 I'm liking what I learned!

Contact me if you have real world feedback or interest in electronic shelf tags for your store: kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632

 

 

Error on the cost for the Cloud Retailer Point of Sale Software for Liquor Stores

 A previous video on YouTube indicated that the monthly cost for the Cloud Retailer liquor store point of sale software starts at $650/month. This is not correct! The up front cost for Cloud Retailer starts at $650 per lane for hardware, software and training. The monthly cost for Cloud Retailer starts at $0/month per lane (yes zero dollars).

A video correction of the error notification can be found below.

For more information on the Cloud Retailer point of sale software for beer, wine, and liquor stores, please visit www.cloudretailer.com

News Flash: Important Retail Management Hero (RMH) Upcoming Price Changes

I wanted to pass along some VERY important information regarding the pricing for the Retail Management Hero (RMH) Point of Sale software. this includes information on the Microsoft RMS to RMH discount schemes.

1. Effective Immediately: RMH iPOS license prices are now $495/each instead of $695/each.
2. Effective August 1st. 2019: RMH Base license price will be $1300. Additional lane and manager licence pricing will remain the same.
3. Effective August 1st, 2019: Payment Processing through RMH will carry a $7/month per lane charge to new users or users who let their annual maintenance lapse. This will not apply to users who do not process payments via RMH.
4. Effective October 1st, 2019: Microsoft RMS users who wish to migrate to RMH will only receive a 50% RMH license discount if current on RMS maintenance. The discount will be reduced to 20% for RMS users who are lapsed on maintenance.
5. Effective April 1st, 2020: All RMS license discounts end. There will be no RMH license discount available to RMS users.

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

News Flash: Important Retail Management Hero (RMH) Upcoming Price Changes

I wanted to pass along some VERY important information regarding the pricing for the Retail Management Hero (RMH) Point of Sale software. this includes information on the Microsoft RMS to RMH discount schemes.

1. Effective Immediately: RMH iPOS license prices are now $495/each instead of $695/each.
2. Effective August 1st. 2019: RMH Base license price will be $1300. Additional lane and manager licence pricing will remain the same.
3. Effective August 1st, 2019: Payment Processing through RMH will carry a $7/month per lane charge to new users or users who let their annual maintenance lapse. This will not apply to users who do not process payments via RMH.
4. Effective October 1st, 2019: Microsoft RMS users who wish to migrate to RMH will only receive a 50% RMH license discount if current on RMS maintenance. The discount will be reduced to 20% for RMS users who are lapsed on maintenance.
5. Effective June, 2021: All RMS license discounts end. There will be no RMH license discount available to RMS users.

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

April 1st, 2018 Important Retail Management Hero Price Changes

***Information on new pricing for RMH as well as the phasing out of RMS user discounts can be found here: http://www.pospondering.com/2019/07/news-flash-important-retail-management.html***

Very important information related to the pricing scheme for Retail Management Hero (RMH) and RMH Central as well as the iPad version of RMH. be sure to note the effective dates as this may effect your decision related to upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics RMS to RMH. Please note that this is subject to change.

RMH, RMH Central & iPOS Pricing Scheme – New User

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st 2018	Starting April 1st 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$1190 + $215	$1250 + $225	$1250 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$1190 + $215	$900 + $162	$900 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 & Above	$400 + $72	Same	Same	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
IPOS for iPad	$650 + $117	Same	Same	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
RMH Central – User	$360/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q2 2018
RMH Central – Store Connection	$360/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q2 2018

RMH Pricing Scheme – Lapsed RMS Users

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st, 2018	Starting April 1st, 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$250 + $215	$500 + $225	$875 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$250 + $215	$360 + $162	$630 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 & Above	$0 + $72	$160+ $72	$280 + $72	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance

RMH Pricing Scheme – Non Lapsed RMS Users

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st, 2018	Starting April 1st, 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$0 + $215	$0 + $225	$0 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$0 + $215	$0 + $162	$0 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 +	$0.00	Same	Same	Up to 10 manager licenses total

Questions or need help? You can reach me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

April 1st, 2018 Important Retail Management Hero Price Changes

This is outdated!!!! Please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com for more information.

Very important information related to the pricing scheme for Retail Management Hero (RMH) and RMH Central as well as the iPad version of RMH. be sure to note the effective dates as this may effect your decision related to upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics RMS to RMH. Please note that this is subject to change.

RMH, RMH Central & iPOS Pricing Scheme – New User

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st 2018	Starting April 1st 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$1190 + $215	$1250 + $225	$1250 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$1190 + $215	$900 + $162	$900 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 & Above	$400 + $72	Same	Same	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
IPOS for iPad	$650 + $117	Same	Same	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
RMH Central – User	$360/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q2 2018
RMH Central – Store Connection	$360/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q2 2018

RMH Pricing Scheme – Lapsed RMS Users

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st, 2018	Starting April 1st, 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$250 + $215	$500 + $225	$875 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$250 + $215	$360 + $162	$630 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 & Above	$0 + $72	$160+ $72	$280 + $72	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance

RMH Pricing Scheme – Non Lapsed RMS Users

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st, 2018	Starting April 1st, 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$0 + $215	$0 + $225	$0 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$0 + $215	$0 + $162	$0 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 +	$0.00	Same	Same	Up to 10 manager licenses total

Questions or need help? You can reach me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

Retail Management Hero (RMH) Central Pricing

Very exited for the annual Retail Realm Conference coming up in November so we can finally see what the RMH Central program looks like!  Many Microsoft Dynamics RMS users that I've worked with also use RMS HQ and have been holding off on the replacement of RMS and HQ pending more information on RMH Central.  Until November rolls along, I just have pricing information to pass along::

RMH Central User License: $360/year
RMH Central Store License: $360/year

As you can see, RMH Central will be subscription based pricing.  More details to come - contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com in the meantime with any questions.

Thanks!

Important Retail Management Hero Upcoming Price Changes

***Information on new pricing for RMH as well as the phasing out of RMS user discounts can be found here: http://www.pospondering.com/2019/07/news-flash-important-retail-management.html***

Very important information related to the pricing scheme for Retail Management Hero (RMH) and RMH Central as well as the iPad version of RMH. be sure to note the effective dates as this may effect your decision related to upgrading from Microsoft Dynamics RMS to RMH. Please note that this is subject to change.

RMH, RMH Central & iPOS Pricing Scheme – New User

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st 2018	Starting April 1st 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$1190 + $215	$1250 + $225	$1250 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$1190 + $215	$900 + $162	$900 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 & Above	$400 + $72	Same	Same	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
IPOS for iPad	$650 + $117	Same	Same	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
RMH Central – User	$360/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q2 2018
RMH Central – Store Connection	$360/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q2 2018

RMH Pricing Scheme – Lapsed RMS Users

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st, 2018	Starting April 1st, 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$250 + $215	$500 + $225	$875 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$250 + $215	$360 + $162	$630 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 & Above	$0 + $72	$160+ $72	$280 + $72	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance

RMH Pricing Scheme – Non Lapsed RMS Users

License	Before Oct 1st 2017	Oct 1st 2017 – March 31st, 2018	Starting April 1st, 2018	Notes
Base License: 1 POS + 2 Manager	$0 + $215	$0 + $225	$0 + $225	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
POS 2 & Above	$0 + $215	$0 + $162	$0 + $162	“+ $XXX” is required first year software maintenance
Manager 3 +	$0.00	Same	Same	Up to 10 manager licenses total

Questions or need help? You can reach me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

Reminder on Consulting Rates

A quick reminder that I am still able to offer a large variety of on-site consulting services based around retail point of sale systems. Here are the common requests that I receive:

• you need a better understanding of your existing POS system
• some help documenting processes
• looking for gaps in your existing system
• budgeting for a new POS system
• creating a wish list for a new/replacement POS system
• comparing options
• What to do about Microsoft Dynamics RMS/HQ
• Replacement options for Microsoft Dynamics RMS/HQ

Generally you are looking at costs of $125/hour for these types of services but I also have flat daily or weekly rate options which run $2000 to $4000/week, depending on travel expenses. This would mean that my time would be exclusive to your organization for the entire length of my stay (example - a retailer in Minnesota with 40+ locations paid to have me onsite for 2 weeks and that my time was exclusive to them).

Discounts are available if there are multiple retailers that I can meet with in the same geographical area (example - multiple retailers in Texas combined to have me onsite with each of them during different days of the same week to save on travel expenses). 

On-site consulting costs can also be rebated towards the purchase of Retail Management Hero, Cloud Retailer, Dynamics 365, Microsoft RMS/HQ, Card Defender, or the other POS systems that the company that I work for is certified to sell, install, and support.

As each situation is unique, please contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com to have a no cost conversation about your specific situation. If you would rather contact me via my employer, my work contact information is 208-994-9404 or kevina@rite.us

Retail Management Hero Deployments and Updates

A quick note that we are progressing through some more Retail Management Hero (RMH) deployments and I should have some feedback for you in the next 30-60 days. One thing that I highly recommend is getting a good in depth demo of RMH and/or checking out a 30 day trial version of RMH. There are a few differences between RMS and RMH so better to do your homework ahead of time.

A reminder on the current pricing scheme for RMH:
RMH Lane License New User: $1405 with first year software maintenance (includes 2 free RMH manager licenses per store location).

RMH Lane License Lapsed RMS/POS 2007/POS 2009/POS 2.0 User: $465 with first year maintenance (includes 2 free RMH manager licenses per store location).

RMH Lane License Non Lapsed RMS User: $215 with first year maintenance (includes 10 free RMH manager licenses per store location).

In other RMH news, Card Defender for RMH and RMH Central (RMH version of RMH HQ) are still in development - I'll pass along ETA's as soon as I have them.

In the meantime, do contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com with any RMH or retail point of sale questions.

Whats the Deal with Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Retail?

As Microsoft Dynamics RMS users start to think about plans for beyond July of 2021, more and more options are becoming available. While Retail Management Hero is the least expensive and least stressful migration option for most RMS users (pending the release of the RMS HQ replacement for Retail Management Hero come the end of 2017 which should scale up nicely for RMS users with multiple locations and will not be cloud based as previously reported), Microsoft Dynamics 365 has some retail/point of sale functionality that might appeal to retail chains who want a cloud based solution to save on hardware expenses.

Dynamics 365 allows for the modular based approach like Dynamics AX does and features a very robust enterprise level solution that would appeal to retailers with multiple locations and/or complex operations.

A single user license cost for Dynamics 365 - including the retail module - is $12,600 over the course of 5 years so retailers really need to balance costs/needs against other solutions. It basically boils down to factoring all costs associated with a POS system over the course of 5 to 7 years (hardware, software, network, deployment, support, updates, network, etc) against what your organization needs in a POS system.

More information on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Retail can be found at https://explore.dynamics.com/operations-retail or please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.

RITE Card Defender for Microsoft RMS Wins Big Over Shift4

Quick Update: Card Defender is no longer available for Microsoft RMS unless you are a beer, wine, or liquor store that will be moving to the Cloud Retailer point of sale software in the near future. 

I am pleased to pass along that RITE recently closed a large sale with a retail chain using the Microsoft RMS point of sale software to deploy our Card Defender EMV solution.  The main competition was Shift 4 and the retailer initially balked at the up front costs for Card Defender when compared to the up front costs for the Shift 4 solution.

As both Card Defender, and Shift 4 provide an EMV/chip card processing solution for Microsoft RMS, a cost comparison was done to show the true long term costs of Card Defender versus Shift 4 over the course of 5 years.

The 5 year total costs for the Card Defender solution from RITE came in around $14,000.

The 5 year total costs for the Shift 4 solution came in around $48,000 (!).

Needless to say, the retailer choose Card Defender as their Microsoft RMS EMV solution.  This is an important example in terms of factoring long term costs (or Total Cost of Ownership) and not just comparing initial deployment costs when looking at EMV options for Microsoft RMS.

More information on Card Defender can be found at http://www.pospondering.com/p/card-defender-emv-for-rms.html , by calling me at 208-340-5632, or emailing kevinantosh@gmail.com

New Lower Pricing on the Retail Realm Essentials Point of Sale Software

Retail Realm recently announced lower pricing on their Retail Realm Essentials (RRE) point of sale software which is basically Microsoft Dynamics AX without the non-POS modules.

RRE is best designed for retailers with 5 to 200 users and $5M to $250M in annual gross sales but can be scaled for retailers needing up to 1000 users and up to $500M in annual gross sales.

Here is the updated (list) pricing which does not include the required first year software maintenance or factor in discounts for Microsoft Dynamics RMS users:

RRE Server:      $3000.00
Store Server:     $1200.00
POS Device:     $600.00
Manager:           $400.00

Due to there being so many variables, please contact myself or your Dynamics Partner to discuss in more detail. If you are in the US and do not have a Dynamics Partner, I can be reached at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com

Microsoft RMS Upgrades and Retail Management Hero Pricing

Update July 2016, Retail Management Hero demo and overview: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/07/new-version-of-rmsretail-management.html

Wow, so it's obvious that there are a lot of folks using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS point of sale software who want to upgrade to the new version of RMS which has been rebranded under the Retail Management Hero point of sale software name.  We'll call the new version RMH.

RMH is also proving to be of high interest to stores who want the speed and reliability of a computer based point of sale system without the expense of other point of sale software programs like Retail Pro and NCR CounterPoint.

I'm working on demo videos, price lists, and deployment options but it may take me a few weeks to get everything recorded, written and posted.  I also need to share some individualized information with specific stores.

The plan is to offer RMH nationally with on site deployment available as well.  I'm pretty excited about this opportunity since so many of you expressed that you needed an actual provider of retail point of sale systems.

That being said, all initial point of sale advice will still be free and unbiased.  My blog site and YouTube Channel started while I was selling and supporting point of sales systems and will continue to be a source for news, reviews, videos, and (once again) sales and support of multiple different retail point of sale systems.

I'll be adjusting my blog site and YouTube Channel to reflect the sales and support options.

How to obtain a 30 day trial version of Retail Management Hero: http://www.pospondering.com/2017/01/how-to-obtain-30-day-trial-license-of.html

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.

Restaurant Point of Sale Comparison Costs: Tablet vs. PC

A video showing the differences in the costs over 7 years related to the different types of restaurant point of sale systems - including comparing the long term costs of the mobile restaurant point of sale solutions that run on iPads versus more traditional point of sale systems like MICROS, Aloha, Digital Dining, Aldelo, and Sapphire.

These are estimates only as there are a lot of variables. Please visit my contact page for information on how to reach me for unbiased point of sale advice.

Retail Point of Sale System True 7 Year TCO

Whether you are searching for a computer, tablet, or cloud based retail point of sale system, a summary of the true cost of ownership over 7 years for NCR CounterPoint SQL, Microsoft Dynamics RMS, Retail Management Hero, Bindo Point of Sale, and NCR Silver.

All based on real world numbers as I have worked with all four of these systems.

Remember that cost is only one aspect of your purchasing decision as you may find that you have the need and sales volume to justify purchasing the most expensive or the least expensive system. The goal in the video is not to pit one solution against the other but to show that mobile and cloud based POS systems have similar long term costs as traditional point of sale systems that you purchase outright.

Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me for questions, input or paid on-site unbiased point of sale consulting services.

Cost of Using an Outdated Point of Sale System or No Point of Sale System

Video explaining how using an outdated point of sale system or no point of sale system could be costing your business or organization 3% to 5% of your annual gross sales in lost or unrealized revenue.  This is based on real world data and professional experiences having worked with over 4400 business and organizations.

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.

Budget for a POS System but Don't Focus on Price

One thing that irks me is when someone focuses solely on price and ignores value. While it is important to budget for a POS system, ignoring value and focusing solely on price is the wrong way to approach investing in a POS system for your business or organization.  Things to avoid:

• Attempting to save $100 by finding the lowest hardware price from different vendors. For the sake of setup and ongoing support, it is much better to purchase everything from one source.
• Comparing costs of completely different systems. POS programs have different features and functions - a nominal difference in upfront or monthly costs is minor when compared to finding a POS program that does what you need it to do for your business or organization.

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.

HarborTouch Point of Sale is Not Free - Part 2

A quick update to a very popular post on my site related to the true cost of HarborTouch Point of Sale.  Over the last year I have talked to multiple retail stores, restaurants and museums about HarborTouch and none ended up purchasing HarborTouch.  The main reason is the contract. Why? Take a look at the true or real cost of HarborTouch over time:

Monthly cost of $69.00/month over 5 years equals $4140.00
Quarterly cost of $59.00/quarter over 5 years equals $1180.00

Note that the above costs are what is stated on the HarborTouch website and are required fees. Your fees may be higher depending on the number of stations that you have in your business or organization.

Now comes the fun part that I think most people miss.  You are locked in to using one company for merchant services (credit and debit card processing services). I've gone back to stores who are on merchant services contracts and they are paying about 1/2% more in merchant services fees.

Now a 1/2% may not sound like much but look at the following:

$250,000 in annual credit and debit card sales X 1/2% X 5 years = $6250.00

So, your actual 5 year cost for a free system is $11,570.00

For reference, here are some other 5 year costs based on businesses that have worked with in the past or spoken to recently:

Bindo Point of Sale (Professional Version/Single Station): $8,256.00
Microsoft RMS (single station): $6,956.00
High end grocery store cash register: $3,055.00
NCR CounterPoint (single station): $11,056.00
NCR Silver (single station): $7,093.00

I'm trying to keep 'all things equal' by including 24/7 support, supply, installation, training, warranty, and hardware costs in the 5 year total.  The only item not included is sales tax.

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.