Custom Point of Sale Development

I started writing Point of Sale Software tools a half a dozen years ago and almost a decade ago I was writing database tools to keep track of sales and inventory. What I?ve learned in the last decade is that no two businesses are the same even if they look like it. There comes a time in a small businesses life where a magical transformation can take place. If the business model is sound and it can be replicated in multiple locations then suddenly a small business starts to become a large business. Information management is one of the largest factors in speed and success of growth. Companies that have solid computer networks and point of sale systems that can be managed easily across locations have a much larger chance of success. Imagine if Wal-Mart had really bad cash registers that didn?t provide inventory and sales data. Do you think Wal-Mart would be the company we see today? Of course not, the simple idea is almost laughable.

Businesses that use off the shelf generic software tools are missing out on the growth potential a custom solution can provide. Technology is accelerating at a rapid pace and the abilities for vendors, warehouses and retail outlets to exchange information are changing the way businesses operate. Many companies may feel trapped into the system they bought ten years ago and fear any kind of change. But the increased profit potential makes the risk of custom development pale in comparison to the benefits.

The key is in finding the right company to develop your software and creating a strategic relationship with them. Would you grow the food you sell in your restaurant? In most cases the answer is no, you pay someone else to provide the raw ingredients. So having your own in-house tech support division seems silly, restaurants serve meals not support software systems. Get a good solid technology partner and be prepared to pay a monthly fee. In some cases you may want a separate hardware company and a separate software company.

Ask yourself some basic questions when looking for a custom software development company. How long have they been in business? What kinds of tools have they created? Have they created tools for my vertical market before? How reasonable are their support rates? Can they also provide hardware support? Can they work with a separate hardware support company? Can they expand and grow with your business? Will they be the right company to be providing your support five years from now? Can they develop software that is well documented and easy for another company to take over support? Do you own the software they develop or do they own some portion of the software? If you can answer these questions and feel satisfied with the answers then you?ve found the right company to design your custom point of sale software.

There comes a time in the life cycle of all successful businesses when they must decide how far they want to grow. It is at this time that a business must make a serious evaluation of the software systems they use. Making a poor choice can be the factor that determines the success of the growth of the business or its demise. Custom software development is not the solution for every business model but the majority of franchise companies that make it big are the one?s who have taken the time, put in the effort and spent the money to direct the development of the software they use.

Please consider this article for publication in your newsletter or on your website. Permission is granted to reprint for free with author box and byline intact. Please send me a copy of your publication if you choose to include my article. TITLE: AUTHOR: Ed Duval URL: www.AndTechComputers.com

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Author Box - ? Ed Duval (2006) Ed Duval is contract writer and software developer for www.AndTechComputers.com and Creator of the HotPotato Restaurant Point of Sale Software System. With over a decade of experience in software development he shares his unique insight on today's point of sale software systems

For Maximum Profit Growth: Advertise Beyond The Cash Register

Much of the advertising by small to mid-size businesses leaves the real money on the table. Here's how to extend your profit strategy beyond the initial sale.

Most of the retail advertising I see offers "bargain basement" discounts with painfully low profit value to the seller. Sure, there's the expectation that a buyer will make an additional purchase, but as someone very accurately said, "hope is not a strategy"! Using a more proactive conversion strategy will give you far more profitable results.

Formulating longer-range objectives in all of your ad campaigns will, ultimately, lower your overall marketing costs by increasing the profitability of each campaign.

You Know They're Coming, So 'Bake A Cake'
Attracting buyers isn't the same as acquiring a customer, and your marketing strategy has to take this distinction into account. A business that's not converting buyers into customers is just an endless series of promotions!

Why not have your salespeople ready with pre-planned up-sell and cross-sell strategies, as well as bundled offerings to go along with your initially advertised 'specials'? Granting authority to offer discretionary 'one-off' discounts to complete a bundle can add tremendous power to your sales force and turbo charge their effectiveness.

When an ad campaign is well thought out, your product offering gives a lot of clues about what the buyers who respond really want to accomplish. Instead of thinking about the products you're selling, consider what problem your buyers want to solve as a result of the purchase.

Show The Advantages Of Being A Customer
Do you sell to a return trip by offering a 'first time buyer's certificate' that is good for some special offering if redeemed in the next 15 or 30 days? What about a 'bring a friend coupon' that may get an additional buyer your campaign may have either missed or failed to convince.

Your sales staff should have a range of 'bounce-back' options since the same offer isn't going to be attractive to everyone.

Capture Their Personal Data
Do you enroll them in your automatic 'birthday discount shopping spree' program to capture their personal information? You'll need it in the future to involve your new buyer in your relationship marketing efforts. When you can begin to acurately correlate this data, you can begin to develop accurate individual customer profiles.

As time goes by you'll know the buying patterns and preferences that will let you deliver laser focused, offers that generate high volume, high profit responses.

The Takeaway
The deliberate planning of your conversion process will generate higher returns on your advertising investments and ensure a continuously widening customer base. You'll soon see a dramatic upsurge in revenue that you may have otherwise thought impossible!

Kamau Jackson is a Chicago marketing consultant who helps business owners leverage their existing assets to dramatically increase profits without increasing advertising costs. Get more info about online and offline small business marketing strategies at www.internetknowledgesolutions.com.

Selecting the Right POS Software and Hardware for Your Business

POS, also known as "point of sale", is a must have for any service or retail business. The POS software and hardware of today replaces the old cash registers of yesterday. POS software and hardware will increase efficiency as well as help you keep better track of your sales and cash flow. Overall, with a good point of sale system on your side, you will have better control over the financial operations of your retail store or service business.

It is important that you consider different options for your POS solution. It?s paramount that you find the right solution that directly meets your business needs.

The most basic of POS hardware consists of mainly general components, such as a computer, cash drawer, a computer and Pole display, as well as a printer for receipts and a scanner, Credit card reader and a bar code printer. All of this hardware ultimately helps in keeping operations for your business as smooth as possible. POS hardware is perfect for the retail industry, and is also popular in the hospital industry as well. The correct POS solution will increase productivity, and thus profits.

When you are out looking for the right kind of POS hardware, consider all the different aspects that you can take advantage of. For example, the decision as to wether you?d like your POS input to be either a keyboard or a touch screen is an important thing to consider. Most prefer the ease of touch screens over keyboards, but each have there own separate places in different industries. For example, keyboards are perfect for grocery stores since checkers will be able to input item codes in order to check prices.

There is also the scanner that you will have to consider as well. Scanners vary widely, from low end scanners to high quality laser scanners. It's best to consider the volume that your store does when you are thinking about the right kind of scanner. If the line in your store doesn't go past one or two people, a basic scanner will suffice. If a fair amount of customers come through your store, then you might want to opt for a laser scanner to increase speed at which items are rung up. This will help decrease the wait time in your store, and thus increase overall customer satisfaction.

Written by Antonio Smithston. Find the latest in POS Software and hardware from Positive Retail Manager.