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

Updates on Retail Management Hero Central (RMH Central)

A quick update from the folks at Retail Management Hero regarding RMH Central for retailers who currently use the Microsoft Dynamics RMS HQ software and/or retailers who have multiple store locations and are searching for point of sale software:

"As it stands today RMH Central is in the Early Adopter stage of release."

I'm not sure what this means time wise but it sounds like the release of RMH Central is getting close but it not quite ready for a general release. The biggest concern for Microsoft Dynamics RMS HQ users is whether RMH Central will be in general release before the RMS discounts for RMS users end. The first phase of RMS to RMH discounts ending is coming up Oct 1st, 2019 with all discounts ending April 1st, 2020. This has prompted RMS HQ users to communicate 3 things to me:

1. We are going to move from RMS HQ to RMH Central so we are buying the RMH licenses now to take advantage of the larger discount and will plan on actually deploying RMH  and RMH Central in 2020 or 2021.
2. We can't wait and have eliminated RMH as a potential RMS replacement.
3. We are going to gamble and wait another 12 to 18 months before deciding on a replacement for RMS HQ.

For response # 2, the replacement programs these retailers have decided on include the following point of sale software programs for retailers with multiple store locations (in no particular order):

1. Cloud Retailer
2. Epicore
3. LightSpeed
4. NCR CounterPoint
5. Catipault

Are you a retailer using Microsoft Dynamics RMS HQ? A retailer who has multiple store locations and searching for point of sale software? Please contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 for general advice as well as more in depth on site consulting as needed.

Updates on Retail Management Hero Central

Fresh off of a webinar regarding the status of the Retail Management Hero (RMH) Central software designed for retailers with more than one location, here are some updates to pass along:

• 50 partners have been trained world wide to sell and support RMH Central
• Uses background services to sync data between store and central HQ (no worksheet required, looks for changes and syncs automatically)
• Near real time data sync
• Can have store specific customers (customer record doesn't have be stored at all the stores)
• Can return products at a store that is not the same store as the original purchase
• Global customer loyalty program included
• Global voucher (gift card/gift certificate) included
• Very simple and straightforward inventory transfer abilities in near real time 
• Regional suppliers

At this time, no release date information on RMH Central was shared. My best guess is that we are looking at very late 2019 or early 2020 before RMH Central will be stable and deploy-able.

Please let me know if you have any questions on RMH Central by contacting me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632.

New Pricing Options for the Retail Management Hero (RMH) and RMH Central POS Software

***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. Also note that subscription based pricing is listed below the pricing matrix as well (based on 12 month minimum commitment)

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	$72/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q1 2019
RMH Central – Store Connection	$360/year	Same	Same	Expected release Q1 2019

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

RMH Subscription (based on 12 month commitment)

$59/month per POS station which is $708/per 12 month period. The software will check to ensure that the subscription is paid.

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

What Came Out of the 2018 Retail Realm Conference

Some news, thoughts, and observations from the recent 2018 Retail Realm Partner and User Conference:

1. The folks at Retail Management Hero (RMH) are making strides to ensure that RMH is a stable and competitive product.
2. Look for RMS Central to be released in early 2019 (but allow time for the program to stabilize)
3. Look for some improvements in how reports are generated in RMH over the coming year

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

2018 Retail Realm Conference Agenda

Wow - so the 2018 Retail Realm User and Partner Conference is just around the corner. This is a great event to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Retail (D365), Retail Management Hero (RMH) and Retail Management Hero Central (RMH Central).  Dates are Monday August 20th - Wednesday August 23rd, 2018.

This is a good event for any chains using RMS HQ that want more information about D365 for Retail and RMH Central. With the RMS/HQ end of support date coming up in under 3 years, many chains are getting pretty serious about RMS/HQ replacement options.

I won't be attending this year as it is too expensive for me to pay out of pocket (would cost me nearly $1500) but I'll pass along any information that is provided to me.

Here is a link to the full agenda: http://retailrealmconference.com/agenda/

Retail Management Hero and RMH Central Update - June 2018

Some long awaited and much appreciated updates specific to the Retail Management Hero (RMH) and RMH Central retail point of sale software programs. Here are the bullet points and some screen caps:

• New Leadership and renewed commitment at Retail Management Hero
• Roadmap to a better and more feature rich program towards 2019/2020
• Now offering an Avalara integration (nice!)
• Q3 2018: Completely new version of RMH
• 2019: Android version
• Future Integrations (2019-2020):
• Accounting: Nav, Dynamics GP, QuickBooks Accounting
• Business Intelligence: Power BI
• E-Commerce: Shopify, Magento, Amazon, WooCommernce
• Shipping: ShipRush
• Plan to offer custom layouts and skins
• RMH Central Updates
• Beta release "soon"
• On premise/locally hosted for now - cloud version down the road
• Near real time communication using VPN/Web that is also bi-directional
• Worksheets are mainly only used for future tasks (eg: change sale price in 60 days)
• Item creation is only at the RMH Central level - not at the store level
• Can have multiple layers (eg: groups of stores, RMH Central and the RMH Central again at a higher level)

RMH Central Screen Caps (looks like RMH Manager but with the worksheets and easy to use multi-store settings):

Summary:

Overall it is very clear that the folks at Retail Realm and Retail Management Hero realize that they needed to re-commit to enhancing and stabilizing RMH in order to capture more of the 50,000 retailers world wide that use Microsoft Dynamics RMS and RMS HQ. The biggest concern at this point is that many RMS and HQ users can't wait another 2-3 years for a RMH and RMH Central to stabilize and include all the features and functions that today's retailers want and expect.

Advice:

My overall advice remains the same - if there are no compelling reasons for you to move away from RMS / HQ, then we still have until at least 2020 to keep using RMS. If you compelling reasons to replace RMS /HQ now (TLS 1.2 or 1.3, outdated hardware, credit card processing issues, missing key features/functions that are required by your organization, etc), then you will likely need to either look at Card Defender or other POS options like Cloud Retailer unless you have some fairly simple needs that can be fulfilled by RMH now.

Given that new technology and payment industry requirements may require the replacement of RMS sooner than 2020 or 2021, I would strongly advise having 2 plans in place if the initial thought is to continue using RMS for the time being. One plan would be more long term for RMS replacement and the second plan would be to replace hardware, payment processing equipment, and peripherals as needed in the interim. 

I do see RMH and RMH Central as great replacement options for RMS and HQ for retailers and franchises who can wait until the programs stabilizes and matures over the next 1-3 years.

Next Step:

Can I help? I've now worked with well over 1700 retailers using RMS (and HQ) and can provide the following in conjunction with the entire team at RITE:

• Retail POS Sales, Support and Service
• Paid onsite consulting (process documentation and improvement, ROI for a new POS system, POS feature/function/requirement wish list creation, vendor comparison, RFI/RFP/RFQ creation and review)
• Onsite POS Sales, Support and Service
• General Advice

Please do contact me at kevinantosh@gmail.com or 208-340-5632 so I can learn more about your business and specific goals. 

Retail Management Hero Central Updates

Some much awaited updates on the Retail Management Hero (RMH) Central multi-location module which is designed to replace Microsoft Dynamics RMS HQ as well as being a solution for chain retailers looking for a new point of sale system.

Training has Started:

RMH Central Training

April 30 – 31

Location: Napa, CA

RMH Central Training

May 3 – 4

Location: Napa, CA

Beta sites are set for May - July.

General release is set for August 2018.  

Please keep in mind that this has changed in the past and will be subject to potential bugs, etc.

Contact me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com for more information - I already have a dozen or so RMS HQ users that I am meeting with over the coming months to out line migration plans to RMH Central.

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

Planning for 2018

OK - first thought to pass along is that there is still time to get in payment for a POS system to write off as a business equipment expense deduction on your 2017 taxes (consult with your bookkeeper or accountant first). Just about ever year since 1998, I seem to have retailers who want to pay for a POS system to "get it on their 2017 taxes". No problem at all as along as payment in full is processed before the last business day of 2017.

Now on to advice for 2018:

• Plan for new payment processing requirements to be introduced and ensure that you have payment processing hardware in place that can be upgraded or updated to handle any new requirements.
• Still on Microsoft Dynamics RMS? We still have a couple of years before full support ends for RMS and HQ. Never hurts to start planning now to replace RMS (and HQ). There are several low cost replacement options that allow you to keep your existing information so you are not starting from scratch with a whole new point of sale system.
• Omni-channel: most of the retailers that I work with have a single store in a small town and have no need for, or interest in, e-commerce, customer business intelligence, or similar offerings beyond the in store point of sale system. Unsure? Let me know and we can chat about the different options and how they can effect gross sales. Other chains that I work with have grown their e-commerce revenue to exceed a million dollars in annual revenue.
• Cloud versus non-cloud: Don't feel pressured to hop on the cloud band wagon. Instead, look at your operations, staff, equipment, and budget. A 5 to 7 year total cost of ownership, along with personal preferences, will help determine whether you are a "cloud" / subscription based type of POS user or not. Even Microsoft had to cave on the recently released Dynamics 365 software to offer a locally hosted version. The decision to go cloud/non-cloud and subscription/upfront purchase can be complicated so please let me know if I can help.
• Solution and vendor consolidation: There are flat out too many point of sale systems on the market presently. Look for some of these solutions to fade away or consolidate with other vendors. I'm also seeing the various software companies start to tighten their requirements for dealers, VAR's, and re-sellers. Be wary of working with anyone who has a staff of less than 3 and a limited customer/client base.
• Given what happened in the Atlanta airport, don't forget to have battery backups/UPS's in place as well as some sort of payment processing backup if this is critical to your business. The reality is that long term  power outages will effect everyone but its nice to have protection for your hardware to help reduce damage due to power outages or power fluctuations. 

I can think of plenty of other topics that should be discussed but this would turn in to a short book instead of a blog post. Key points are to plan, budget, analyse, research and seek help for point of sale resources.

You can reach me at 208-340-5632 or kevinantosh@gmail.com as needed. For those of you keeping track, I've well exceeded helping over 1500 retailers with advice or sales & service needs. 

2017 Retail Realm Conference News

A few highlights out of last weeks Retail Realm Conference. Lots of great things happening but do note that just about everything is subject to change!

• Microsoft is working on a retail specific solution within the Dynamics family (eg: AX and D365)
• Work on Retail Management Hero (RMH) Central continues. Initial release should be in late spring or summer 2018. Much easier to use when compared to RMS HQ (few to no worksheets) and also web based syncing. Pricing for RMH Central is tentatively set at $360/year per user and $360/year per store.
• iPad version of RMH was shown - requires (for now) that Shift4 be used for merchant services.

A quick reminder that http://rmhpos.com/marketplace/ is updated regularly as new add-ons become available for the Retail Management Hero point of sale software.

Please do call (208-340-5632) or email me (kevinantosh@gmail.com) with any retail point of sale related questions.

RITE Wins the "Strategic Solution Provider" award at the 2017 Retail Realm Conference

Some news out of the 2017 Retail Realm Conference: RITE (Sartell, MN and Boise, ID) won the "Strategic Solution Provider" award at the 2017 Retail Realm Conference.

As more news comes out of the conference, I will pass along. Specifically, anything related to Retail Management Hero (RMH), RMH Central, and Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Retail.

Questions? 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

Retail Realm Conference, RMH Central Launch, & Dynamics 365 for Retail

So much packed in to just 3 days with the upcoming Retail Realm Partner and User Conference! Besides the usual conference activities, there are 2 big things happening that I'm really excited about:

1. Launch of Retail Management Hero Central
2. More details on Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Retail

This is going to be a great conference - especially for Microsoft Dynamics RMS HQ users who are looking at low cost direct migration options for RMS HQ.

More information and registration details can be found at http://www.rrdisti.com/news/retail-realm-announces-2017-global-retail-technology-conference

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