Monthly Welcome to Some New Customers!

Time for another shout out to retailers who recently signed on with me:

• Greenfield Custom Meat, Idaho: Card Defender for Retail Management Hero (RMH)
• Redmond Farms/Real Foods, Utah: RMS Hardware
• Universal Police Supplies, Arizona: Card Defender for Retail Management Hero
• A and E Market, California: Card Defender for Microsoft Dynamics RMS

Welcome to some new and upgrading customers!

Very happy to share that the following retailers have signed on with myself over the last 30 days. I look forward to working with you!

• Four Way Meat Market, California: Card Defender for Microsoft Dynamics RMS
• Waterski Pro Shop, Idaho: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics RMS to Retail Management Her (RMH)
• Universal Police Supplies, Arizona: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics RMS to Retail Management Her (RMH)
• River and Adventure Toys, Idaho: Upgrade from Microsoft Dynamics RMS to Retail Management Her (RMH)
• The Caring Place, Texas: Card Defender for Microsoft Dynamics RMS
• The Jug Shop, California: Card Defender for Microsoft Dynamics RMS
• Plano Cycles, Texas: Card Defender for Microsoft Dynamics RMS
• Picuris Smoke Shop, Arizona: Card Defender for Microsoft Dynamics RMS

As always, contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com with retail point of sale related questions.

The True Cost of Ignoring EMV

Update July 2016: Since many Microsoft RMS point of sale software would like to keep using RMS for another couple of years but still need to deal with the EMV Liability Shift Date, visit this post for more information on the Card Defender EMV add-on for Microsoft RMS versions 1.3 and higher (and HQ as well): http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2016/06/card-defender-emv-add-on-for-microsoft.html

I've had a few businesses and organizations mention to me that they plan to do nothing related to the EMV Liability Shift Date coming up on October 1st, 2015 in the US in relation on how to accept and authorize chip based credit and debit cards for payment.

Their mindset is that it is not worth investing money in new hardware and software to accept the new chip cards as the businesses average transaction is only around $30.00. Thus, it would be OK to lose $30.00 in sales revenue via a fraudulent transaction versus spending money on hardware and software upgrades.

These folks are forgetting the following:

• Cost of a chargeback (read your merchant services agreement but just about all merchant services companies charge you a chargeback fee for fraudulent transactions).
• Cost of bad press - any sort of fraud will likely be picked up by the local media or even shared via social media and review sites like Yelp.  Bad press + bad reputation = more lost revenue.
• Easy target. If word gets out that your business or organization is not using EMV/Chip Card hardware, then you could become a target for future fraudulent transactions.
• Loss of ability to accept any debit and credit cards as payment. I have seen this happen - too much fraud and no one will offer you merchant services. You will become a cash only business or have to use Square or similar more expensive options.

The EMV Liability Shift Date is not something to be ignored. We still have several months to plan and budget for any equipment upgrades or replacements as well as any software upgrade costs.

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.

New Features Added to Bindo Point of Sale

The popular Bindo point of sale system (www.bindopos.com) has seen some recent enhancements:

• Accept payments from any source by adding a custom payment button 
• Scan pre-existing custom barcodes and add these products to your inventory
• Sell items at $0.00 (like free services or give-aways)
• Allow for card present and card not present transaction tracking
• Support for smaller sized barcode labels

It is nice to see that Bindo listens to their user base and adds features and functions on a very frequent basis! More reviews on Bindo POS can be found here: https://bindopos.com/reviews

A Little More Information on Retail Realm Essentials - Powered by Microsoft

A note of thanks to the folks at Retail Realm for letting me know that some new content has been added to their website specific to the new Retail Realm Essentials - Powered by Microsoft Dynamics (RRE)  point of sale program.

Retail Realm has assured me that they will pass along more details as they become available - I know many of you are waiting on license cost information as well as any information related to possible license swap options for businesses currently using the Microsoft Dynamics RMS and HQ point of sale programs.

Here is a link to RRE website: http://www.rrdisti.com/products/retail-realm-essentials

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.

Big Upgrade for Bindo Point of Sale

Wanted to pass along that the folks at Bindo point of sale (www.bindopos.com) have released a new version of the Bindo Dashboard which allows users to perform non-selling functions from any device with an Internet browser.

Definitely a major improvement! Here is a quick video that I created showing how the Bindo Dashboard works on my laptop running Chrome (thanks to the folks at Bindo POS for allowing me access so I could give the system a "test run"):

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.

Retail Realm Essentials - Powered by Microsoft Dynamics

Just a quick note that I should be able to share more details related to the new Retail Realm Essentials - Powered by Microsoft Dynamics point of sale software by Mid March 2015. I'm just waiting on a few specifics from Retail Realm related to license cost, hardware requirements, and license swap options for folks using Microsoft Dynamics RMS who are current on their annual maintenance agreement.

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.

How to Get More Information on Retail Realm Essentials - Powered by Microsoft Dynamics

While I am still waiting more details related to costs and license swap options for the new Retail Realm Essentials - Powered by Microsoft Dynamics point of sale software, I have found someone at Retail Realm who has offered to be a point of contact for retailers interested in the software.

As a reminder, Retail Realm Essentials is a good fit for retailers with 2-24 locations or a single high volume location. This applies to current Dynamics RMS/HQ users as well as folks searching for a new or upgraded point of sale system.

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.

New Features Added to Bindo Point of Sale

The folks at Bindo Point of Sale (www.bindopos.com) have been hard at work adding new features to Bindo. Here is a list of the most recent enhancements:


• Mix & Match Discount - apply a discount when enough qualifying products are purchased

• Customer-facing Display - with our new Bindo Display app, your customers can see their order as you ring it up!

• Choose store credit as a payment-type for Split Tender transactions

• Add new inventory when creating an invoice

• Support for variably-priced items on invoices

• New payment-type filters on the Sales screen

• New filters on the Customer report

• Allow extensions for customer phone numbers

**Improvements:**

• Cash Management improvements

• Improve offline cash and check checkout

• Stability improvements

• Various bug fixes

Here is a video highlighting some of the new features:

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.

New Retail Essentials Point of Sale Software from Retail Realm & Microsoft

***Note that Retail Ream Essentials POS Software is no longer available. Please contact me for other options***

Update January 13th, 2015: a video highlighting what we do and do not know about Retail Essentials can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AUEllil8SI or below:

Update January 2nd, 2015: The correct name of the software is Retail Realm Essentials - powered by Microsoft Dynamics.

A note of thanks to the folks at Retail Realm for taking some time earlier today to share some information on the new Retail Essentials point of sale software. While we are all waiting on a few more details, it is great that I am able to pass along any information - especially to the many stores that I have worked with in the past who are presently using the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management Systems Store Operations (RMS) point of sale software as well as the multiple other RMS and HQ users who have contacted me since we all received the end of life announcement from Microsoft related to RMS and HQ.

While no licensing cost or license swap information is available, I can share that Retail Essentials is a good match in features and functions for large single location stores using RMS as well as multi-location stores using RMS HQ.

Like most Dynamics products, Retail Essentials will be deployed through trained partners to ensure that end users receive top level training, installation, and on-going support services. Retail Realm is also working to ensure that third party solutions are ready to go for mobile sales devices, e-commerce integration, and accounting software integration.

As we get closer to the expected release date for Retail Essentials (Late February 2015), I'm hoping that I can share more about Retail Essentials related to license cost, hardware requirements, hardware compatibility, specific features and functions, transfer of data from RMS and HQ, and places in the United States that will be authorized Retail Essentials Partners.

My gut instinct would advise you to make sure that you are staying current on your annual maintenance agreement if you plan on continuing to use RMS/HQ whether or not you might be considering switching to Retail Essentials.

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.

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.

Korona POS from Combase Expands in to the US

German company COMBASE has announced that they are expanding their point of sale app into the US market under the name KORONA.pos.

The website information and pricing indicates that this solution appears to be similar to other mobile point of sale systems but with a few unique features:

• Age Verification
• Best Price (ensures that your customer is getting the lowest price possible)
• Rapid Cashier Change
• Bind and Split Items

I'm not able to find any customer reviews on this solution and there is only a long distance phone number so I am a little lost as to how active the US expansion actually is. Hopefully I will get a chance to take a look at KORONA POS from COMBASE USA and offer more in depth information.

In the meantime, you can visit https://www.combase-usa.com/products/cloud/terminal/ for more information.

Visit my contact page for information on how to reach me.

Retail Pro Releases Retail Pro Prism

Adding to the tablet and smartphone point of sale market is Retail Pro Prism from Retail Pro. Prism offers some unique functionality related to being able to continue working when an Internet connection is lost (no information on how credit card authorizations are handled). Prism also appears to have some flexibility when it comes to languages and database connections.

Here is a description/overview of Prism:

Retail Pro Prism- $7K-$9K Browser based Modular POS Application. Deploy iOS, Windows, Android or even mini-devices. Market first Mobile 2.0 Solution, Real-Time, Scalable to tie to back end RPRO or an ERP solution. Lower demands on hardware. Database Neutral – Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, and MySQL. Fully customizable User Interface (UI). Automated email reporting for store. Best for retail stores generating $750,000+ annually per location.

I would be very interested in talking to anyone actually using Prism for a more complete review - especially as this is the 5th new mobile point of sale system to come on the market within the last 45 days.

You can visit the Retail Pro website for more information on Prism: http://www.retailpro.com/Solutions/Prism.php?htm_source=solution&utm_medium=prism&utm_campaign=solution_prism

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.

Microsoft RMS Store Operations Update

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 28.June.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

Quick update - I have mentioned that there are 40,000 users of the Microsoft Dynamics RMS Store Operations point of sale software - the actual number is 60,000.

So, the conference has ended and Microsoft made public their plans for the RMS POS software. The good news is that some of you will be eligible for some new software while others will need to invest in a new solution.

Since I have worked with nearly 500 stores and museums across the country that use the RMS solution, I will be doing my best to contact each of you to explain your options. Any and all RMS users are also welcomed to contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 for free advice on your different options. I will break things down in to two different scenarios:

Currently using RMS but Not Current on an Annual Maintenance Agreement:

• Support for RMS will end in July of 2016 (no word on whether RMS will be updated for the EMV requirements coming up in 2015).
• With no maintenance agreement, you need to consider the following options:
• renewing your maintenance agreement
• explore investing in a different point of sale solution

Currently Using RMS and Current on your Annual Maintenance Agreement:

• If you are happy with your system then keep running as normal - you will be eligible for an equal numbers of licenses for newer point of sale software from Microsoft (but will still have to likely invest in costs related to labor and possible replacement hardware and peripherals).
• If you have been thinking about upgrading, then it is a good time to look at other POS solutions on the market - you can always contact me for some free general advice.

Bottom Line: there is no sense of urgency at this point but it would be good to start looking at your options and have a plan in place before things get busy this fall.

Here is a link to a great article summarizing Microsoft's announcement related to RMS: 

http://msdynamicsworld.com/story/microsoft-maps-out-dynamics-retail-plans-enterprise-smb-markets-retail-realm-event-las-vegas

Again, I can be reached at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 if you want some free advice related to your specific situation.

Note to those of you needing to renew your annual maintenance agreement and/or need help with your RMS solution: I have a meeting with a national RMS Partner in a few weeks and hopefully they will be able to offer some more detailed options after we meet.  

VEND Receives Investment Funding to Expand

Auckland, New Zealand based Vend has received $8,000,000 in funding to expand operations in the United States and Australia. Note that the amount is in New Zealand dollars.

I haven't heard much about Vend other than it is a monthly fee based retail point of sale system designed to run on tablet computers (appears to be iPad based for sales functions and PS/Mac browser based for management functions).

Vend appears to offer the core point of sale functions along with some additional add-ons for more specific needs.

Since I have no personal experience with Vend, I can't pass along any detailed comments related to the functionality, satisfaction, reliability , or user satisfaction with Vend. I would make a general comment that there are already 100+ point of sale systems to choose from in the US so hopefully Vend will find the niche to differentiate what they can offer specialty retailers in a point of sale solution.

Note: I have asked Vend to schedule a demo of Vend and offer more details of what makes Vend different from the other POS solutions designed for mobile devices. I will let you know if I hear anything from them (24.April.2014).

Future of Microsoft RMS and RMS HQ

Updated information on Retail Management Hero as a direct replacement for RMS as of December 3rd, 2015: http://retailpospondering.blogspot.com/2015/12/updated-information-on-new-retail.html

New video discussing options for Dynamics RMS and HQ users as of December 5th, 2015: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evVWS7dj0Bs

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 28.June.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

For the 38,000 users of Microsoft RMS Store Operations (of which I know many of you personally):

Just a quick reminder that the Microsoft Retail  conference is this weekend (25.April.2014 - 26.April.2014). Microsoft has indicated that information will be shared related to the future of RMS and HQ.  This will finally allow the 35,000+ users of RMS to start planing for any upgrades or migrations that will need to be made over the next year.

I will post any and all information related to RMS as quickly as it becomes available to me (so please ignore any spelling and grammer errors).

I have also scheduled a meeting with a national RMS partner in May so I can also pass along information related to how a Microsoft Partner can assist both my personal former client base as well those of you using RMS and/HQ that I have not had a chance to meet yet.

-Kevin

New Service Pack for Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009

For those of you using the Microsoft POS 2009 point of sale system, a new service pack was recently released. Note that you must be current on maintenance in order to download the service pack (you can do this via your CustomerSource account or by contacting your Microsoft Dynamics partner that provided your point of sale equipment.

Here are the service pack highlights:

New Features

• Detailed Sales report directly in Microsoft Office Excel with improved performance - You can now view the Detailed Sales report for all departments, categories, or suppliers, directly in Microsoft Excel with improved performance. For more information, see About Detailed Sales reports in the Manager View Help.
• Report viewing in Microsoft Office Excel - Certain additional reports can now be viewed in your choice of either the standard report window or Microsoft Office Excel. Simply select the new View in Microsoft Excel check box in one of these reports, and then click Refresh Report as usual. To view the list of reports that have this functionality, see List of reports in Manager View Help.
  Note Consult with your Microsoft Certified Partner to have this functionality added to additional reports.
• New configuration option to disallow manual entry of weights when a scale is in use on a register - The store manager can now configure whether cashiers are allowed to manually enter the weight of an item while a scale is attached to the register. For more information on this feature, see POS Workflow Options in Manager View Help.
• NCWM NTEP certification 13-005 - Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 Service Pack 2 is compliant with National Conference on Weights and Measures, U.S. certificate number 13-005. For details, see About weighed items in Manager View Help.
  Note This is applicable in the United States locale only.
• Support for the Ingenico iSC350 payment device - We have completed compatibility testing and provided some code changes in support of the Ingenico iSC350 payment terminal. To set up and install the iSC350 device, follow the steps in the Ingenico iSC350 setup document available in the Download section of the Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 SP2 download page.

Other Improvements

In addition to the new features listed above, Service Pack 2 includes fixes for the following issues:

• Payment processing settlement requests do not contain card-level information and could lead to higher fees.
• During label printing, long item descriptions overwrite the adjacent labels.
• The Sold Price values in the Detailed Sales report are incorrect.
• The days of the week headers in the graphs calendar in POS View display as Monday through Sunday instead of Sunday through Saturday. The days of the week do not line up with the correct days of the month.
• You receive the following error message when you try to tender a transaction with a debit card:
  A problem occurred during payment processing verification.
  Details: Error receiving response from Vital. Failed to Read SSL Stream.
• Credit cards that do not pass the Luhn algorithm fail to process. To resolve this issue, a new configuration option has been added to the Advanced Options dialog box for credit card payment methods.
• In limited scenarios, vouchers (gift cards) can be redeemed for more than their value.

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.