Microsoft antivirus no longer supports XP, AVG anti-virus no longer supports XP, AVAST no longer supports XP,  etc. Most no longer support Windows 7 either. 

As such some of our clients, of our point of sale software are running into a problem that old versions of windows are no longer supported and now it appears that most of the antivirus companies are not supporting XP either.  This leaves them open to most viruses and ransomware. 

For these users, I am recommending

Our point of sale software is a living, breathing entity. It is continually being improved. We are extending its functionality all the time, even if you know it today soon you will have questions, and it does matter how good our point of sale software is and ours is very good if you do not know how to use it? To reach its full potential you need proper training. 

Many of the management functions in your point of sale software such as voiding a transaction, changing prices and stock quantities should only be accessed by senior management. 

To protect these functions, the best, the quickest and easiest method now available are fingerprint scanners.

Westpac has offered our clients, particularly if they are with Westpac, some exciting news. For the next few weeks, they are offering six months of free EFTPOS fees.  For a grade A, integrated EFTPOS system its an extremely good offer.

As this promotion is only running for a few weeks - if you are interested, I suggest you get onto it ASAP. 

One point that surprised me when I went to the New Retail ’19 conference which is considered  Australia’s largest retail gathering was directed I think at the medium to large retailers was the importance that these people saw in the Chinese market. 

What became apparent is that almost every Australian retailers there is looking at this market, now are you?

 Whitfield in North East Victoria is the Gracebrook Vineyards a lovely winery, it rates 5 out 5 on trip advisor.

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Two people are required to make EFTPOS fraud. This is a particular problem with those people that do not have an integrated EFTPOS. It does happen accidentally too.

To make it work, the thief needs a person who pays goods and then signifies that it was paid with an EFTPOS. They then enter in nothing in the EFTPOS unit.  If you do not reconcile your EFTPOS amounts, you will never know that it happened.

Here is a report that can help you.

You will find it here marked in red.

Some queries on yesterday post, it is mandatory for a business to issue a receipt if requested by the client.

It is an ACCC requirement that all receipts must include the following

Just a quick question?

Say you brought some software with a lifetime licence, how long would you expect that this software will work for you? 

This question has been puzzling us since a client of ours brought it to our attention yesterday. They purchased some software over the net, subject to the laws of the "State of New York, USA" and paid extra for a lifetime warranty.  After six (6) years it has stopped working. 

The Lott is changing their commission structures, the following organisations

• Australian Lottery and Newsagents Association

• Lotteries Retailers Associations (LRA)

• The Victorian Associations for Newsagents (VANA)

are now busy explaining to their members what is happening.

I am trying to figure out what to do with my life since Instagram & Facebook are STILL down

Safety stock is an additional quantity of an item held in the inventory to reduce the risk that the item will be out of stock. It acts as a buffer stock in case sales are greater than planned and/or the supplier is unable to deliver the additional units at the expected time.

According to Wikipedia, safety stock is:

This report now available makes quite interesting reading.

Many smaller businesses are now using tap-and-go terminals for financial reasons as customers are much more likely to do small transactions, e.g. $2 using contactless more convenient and quicker as they do not need to enter in any PINs.

For this reason, I think mobile wallets will work even better in SMB businesses as people tend to be reluctant to go to their wallet to take the card out and since most people have their mobile handy, it will be extremely convenient for them to use the mobile instead like here.

You can know how you are doing financially with daily figures from your point of sale software.

This will show you some of the most crucial retail KPIs to give you a detailed insight into your shop. These insights provide you with better business decisions and let you know exactly how you are doing.

Go to cash register reports

Select in sales

Dissection Sales /Profitability for a given period

Our point of sale software has an extremely powerful layby system, which many of our clients use. It does everything in laybys.

One problem that came up a few days ago was a customer took a layby from one of our clients. They then paid a deposit, over the next two weeks they came and paid off a bit more. A few days ago they came to make a final payment and to pick up their product.

Omni-channel retailing is now all the buzz in retail, a recent example I spoke about here was from Tabcorp which in their  Retailer_Information_Pack_Tatts in their future marketing plans show this diagram to show how much extra business they get from a retail customer if they can get him to go online too.

I found this article very interesting about the state of counterfeiting in Australian dollars. 

I tend to agree with the writer that small business with small profit margins is most at risk, how much for example does a lotto dealer have to do to make up of accepting one counterfeit $100 dollar. 

Next month, Windows 7 users will start getting pop up reminders from Microsoft that Windows 7 will no longer be supported after January 2020 and that its life is up after ten years.  

If you want to know more then, I found this excellent article which discusses in depth the details. 

A point that surprised me when I went to the New Retail ’19 conference which is considered  Australia’s largest retail gathering was the importance of parcel delivery in retail today. here were some figures.

Recently we have seen great deals on EFTPOS being made available for our clients. Now by the nature of how EFTPOS works, it is easy to determine its costs to your shop but have you ever asked yourself what the cost of cash is? These costs are often hidden. 

I was asked a few days ago about whether I thought it was worth it for a retailer to hire a digital display? To do it, they were quoted $3,000 which they believe is a reasonable price.

Here is an example, which I think you will agree with me looks effective. 

In your point of sale software in the menu, you will find a series of reports under the heading Customers. 

Now start dividing your customers into four groups.

I recommend that you go through these to find the one that you like. At the very least generate a “sales by customer” report. This will allow you to identify your top customers as well as those who are not engaging with you.