Today the operator is the slowest part in a computer system doing a sale. So the challenge now is to reduce the number of actions the operator needs to enter in order to do a sale. In order of slowness scanning is the slowest as the operator has to take the item and put it under the scanner, then keystrokes as most people are not touch typist, so they need to look at the screen as they type, and then mouse clicks.

This transaction was done with one scan and one mouse click  as shown here in red.

If it is a commonly sold item in the shop it can be done with two mouse clicks.
 

 

The operator clicks the woman's day where the green arrow points, then clicked where the red arrow points to finalize the transaction. The transaction is done with no key strokes or barcode scans.

Note if you had a touch screen using our software, it would be two touches which would be quicker still.

This is a step by step instruction on how to get into the sales security indicators which gives you a detailed analysis on your cash register which among other particulars gives you the breakdown per operators, no sale, voids, count, totals, refunds, negative items and discounts. If something is wrong, it will be there. It is in an excel format so you can edit it to your own requirements or merge it with other reports.

Go to cash register reports

 

Open Staff and click on "Sales security indicators"

 

Select required period

 

Our advice would be to run it twice, the first time with the previous twelve months and then with the last four weeks. Then compare.

 

Click on the Back Orders Button.

 

Search for the customer account or create a new one. 

 

 

 

Once you choose a customer you will be returned to the register. 
From here enter the item by either searching for it or entering a bar code if you have it. 

 

 

 

 

Once the item is in the transaction press enter to finish the process. You will be asked if the customer is making a deposit payment which you will be able to enter. Note you can process the order without a deposit if you wish. Enter an amount if you wish and press enter. 

 

The register will print a POS order receipt if required.

Once the order is in place you can check on the details in customer Maintenance. Find the customer. Go to the Transactions tab. 

 

You can check on all the current back orders with the Back order report in the Customer Reports section

 

Once you choose to run the report you will have a choice of time period and status of order

 

Once you have entered your choices click on the Show button to run the report, The transactions and the orders will be listed in the report as per the example below. When running the report you can choose to hide the transaction details so the report only displays the amount of the transaction rather than it's contents.

 

The back order will monitor each stock received invoice. If the item is invoiced into the database you will receive a label marked as a back-order and which customer it is for. To ensure that this takes place you must have the Adjust Allocations for Customer Orders ticked. If this is not ticked the system will not be able to automatically issue a back-order label.

 

Not only is it fast but a POS system also means that the paperwork is available on any screen in the organisation, no lost paperwork.

Analysis of a receipt

The green arrow is pointing, is where you generally put your logo. Most people because they are trying to save some ink and get more speed use text.

Where the arrow is in blue is where the search barcode is. This search barcode allows a receipt to be called up quickly by scanning it. As it aids in security, most people want it on.

Highlighted with the red arrow is the QR codes.  These codes today are everywhere now days. I have seen them on advertising billboards, magazines and newspapers. More and more suppliers are requesting that the retailer add a QR code to your receipt for their promotions.

The yellow arrow points to an advertising image. A magazine company might request that you put an advertisement for them on all your receipts. You could of course use it for your own advertisement.

You can also print your logo on the top of your receipt, which is both inexpensive and a highly effective form of marketing and the bottom of the receipt which is a perfect place for you to print “a call to action” on every receipt. This gives a customer a reason to keep your advertisement (receipt) and to shop at your establishment again so building company recognition.

You can also put messages on receipts. This is a great way to communicate with your clients.
For example, when it is a coming festive season, you can let people know that you are open and wish them something nice for the season.

A typical message would be

Receipt printers

We do recommend a receipt printer as to print your receipts which is faster, looks more professional and is cheaper.

 

 A comparsion costing between a laser printer and a receipt printer is available here.

Bottom line, a receipt printer expenses are .4 cent a receipt to print whereas a standard laser printer will cost about 5 cents a receipt.

At the end, this is what your customer expects

Loyalty rewards program

 

Our loyalty rewards system is used by The Lucky Charm Group. It is now the biggest rewards program in newsagencies in Australia. Here are some figures about successful our product has been.

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In October 2011 the first promotion was done during which was supported by emailing all customers of Lucky Charm who bought stationery plus put in a catalogue, a Sunday full page TV guide advert and widely displayed in-store point of sale.

-Average number of ink purchased (quantity) increased 111%
-Number of customers buying ink +78%
-Basket size increase by 12%
-Total ink sales increase by 100% over the promotional period.

Shortly afterwards another promotion which was for for a Delonghi coffee machine this was promoted via email to all customers who bought magazines plus point of sale

-Average weekly combo sales increased 215%

The third promotion was for an Ipad

-No of transactions increased 20.7%
-Total average weekly increase (overall) on cards 44.5%
-Average card basket size increase 19.8%
 

In Mar 17, 2012 Lucky Charm released figures that their sales went up this year by 10.21% in a retail market that was down.

These figures from the Lucky Charm was taken to LotteryWest and compared to their Lotterywest figures

Ave shop	Jan 2012 v Jan 2011 % Lucky Charm	Feb 2012 v Feb 2011 % LotteryWest
Instants	+13.8%	+11.7%
Lotto	+22.9%	+16.7%
Syndicate	+27.2%	+4.8%

Here is what the manager of Lotterywest had to say when he was presented with these figures.

 

 Hi Mike

Thanks for sending this through. Our figures support your data and show that your growth in February was significantly ahead of our retail network as a whole.

Feb 2011 v Feb 2012	Lucky Charm	retail network
Scratch'n'Win	+7.0%	+3.6%
Lotto	+14.4%	+8.5%
Total	+13.4%	+7.8%

...

Regards

Greg Cumming
Manager, Retailer Relationships and Development
Lotterywest
Ph: 08 9340 5350

On Apr 10, 2013 here are the raw figures of the program showing the growth of the rewards program. 

Date	Members
23-Sep-11	25,000
29-Sep-11	30,000
11-Oct-11	35,000
28-Oct-11	43,000
13-Dec-11	54,000
2-Jul-12	80,000
8-Apr-13	130,000

 

 

 

 

 

Adding logos and pictures to a cash register

It is amazing how adding a few logos and pictures can change the look and feel of a cash register screen.

Here is a picture of the cash register with word descriptions.

Here is the same cash register with logos and pictures which a retailer set up.

Here is the drink department.

As you do need to get permission, it would be advisable if you intend use a company logo to first contact them. I would suggest sending an email as then you get something in writing. Based on our experience this is easy. We just sent them a description of what we wanted to do. All of them replied fine almost all immediately.

I confess that I prefer words but the beauty of posbrowser is you get a choice on how you want the cash register to look.

 

 

 

Advanced point of sale system - Data mining

What is happening now is many retailers over the years have built up large amount of computer information thought their POS system.It is now can be one of their most valuable assets but only if they know how to find the hidden information in the raw data. Data mining is the technical term used to try and find these diamonds of information. This is what it looks like while searching