from The Wizard of POS

Combining point of sale and digital technology gives you the new and modern small retail business. Many retail establishments are far behind when it comes to new technology which with the high cost and the many available options makes this understandable. The issue arises when the customer is looking for their favorite retailers to implement the new technology options because they fail to realize the overall picture of the small business owner. This weeks round up will help bring new ideas for improving every aspect of your small retail environment allowing you to retain loyal and happy customers.

1. In-Store TV Works! So Say We All! – A report released by Nielsen suggests that through the use of DOOH (digital out-of-home) media increases sales up to 33% at the point of sale.

“These results are a clear call to retailers to increase their use of DOOH formats in the future. The results are important for us because they promote acceptance of our industry – an industry still in its early stages.”

2. ZigBee adds retail services to the mix – ZigBee, a non-profit organization traditionally serves energy management and the electronics industry has announced it will begin serving the retail industry. The goal of the company is to bring a new standard to the small retailer experience from the point of manufacture to the POS.

3. Digital Receipts, Now Please! – This is a short piece that is very easy to relate with on both the consumer and retailer end. The mass amount of work, space and time that paper receipts require. Going digital would be a great idea and Intuit is already working on it. Read more about this perfect solution for everyone involved.

4. Study: Loyalty programs are failing to connect with customers – Loyalty program have become very popular and consumers love them but this study shows how they may be failing to connect in the right way. This must read information article will help you attain deeper engagement and personal contact that will help make your small retail loyalty program a success.

5. Five great uses of social media at retail – It’s never too late to jump on the social media bandwagon to connect with your customers. This article features five retail businesses that use social media effectively to gain consumer trust. This does not just involve site like Twitter and FaceBook but also gives ideas on search friendly and content sites.

This weeks roundup again shows the growing trend in mobile technology and web trends. Our first article talks about Subways new way to order and then we move into a few trends in point of purchase advertising. As a small retailer you are always looking for new ideas to promote your establishment to the local community. Our third feature this week introduces Promotion through local shows and events. This leads into the top highlights form the National Retail Federation convention and ending the roundup is the latest technology that small retail businesses need to be learning about.

1. Subway sees promises in text ordering – Subway is now using Zingle, a text-message ordering solution to allow their customers to text a to-go order. They process makes it easy for the employees at Subway to receive orders, it has increased order correctiveness and time in delivering the order to the customer. This eliminated the need to hold on the line for someone to write down your order and possibly make a mistake. A new great way to get a quick lunch.

2. Point-of-Purchase Advertising Trends – There is an increasing need for innovative media, techniques and materials for POP advertising. This article goes into some findings that reveal information about various point of purchase advertising trends.

3. Promoting Your Store Through Local Shows – Since local shows are open to the local community it’s a great place to showcase your business. The Retail Specialty Expert lays out a few tips on how to use local shows for promoting your small retail business.

4. NRF 2010: Highlights from the show floor – The end of the 99th annual NRF convention is here and so is the Retail Customer Experience to show you the top highlights from the Expo. These are simply amazing technologies and ideas that should be learned about to gain that competitive edge.

5. The Right Technology Can Take Your Business to the Next Level – Again you need to stay up on the latest technology that could be benefiting your retail business. This article goes into some specific numbers that will have you thinking differently about how you interact with your customers and run your business as a whole. A very informative and knowledgeable article.

In this weeks roundup you’ll find three new point of sale hardware products that have been unveiled and will stand to improve POS processing power. The first is a touch enabled system released by HP, the second is Dells new OptiPlex XE and last is a mobile POS from InfoGain. We then feature a company that has breached the barrier of small retailers and social networking by integrating a way for the point of sale software to interact with popular sites such as Twitter. The last piece of the roundup this week is an extensive, informative article on the four parts of a CRM program that are crucial for retailer success in 2010.

1. HP Unveils Touch-enabled Point-of-sale System for Retail Stores – The HP ap5000 all in one point of sale solution has a touch enabled display and features a space savings design. It boasts high performance for areas such as hospitality and retail environments. Although it’s not available publicly until March be sure to read up on the latest technology offerings for the POS environment from HP.

2. Dell Unveils OptiPlex XE For Retail, Healthcare – Dell also announced their new POS hardware solution this week. The OptiPlex XE will fit into video rental kiosks or medical carts and withstands high dust and heat for 24 hour operation. The system supports a wide range of software and comes with a variety of peripheral connectors.

3. Mobile Phone POS – An interesting twist on the latest in mobile POS technology. Instead of the square why not just take credit cards with a magnetic strip built directly into the phone. Short but interesting article on the latest and greatest technology.

4. pcAmerica bridges the gap between social networking and customer loyalty – Using pcAmerica’s Restaurant Pro Express a company called Tasti D-Lite has integrated their customer loyalty account with Twitter. When loyalty customers use their card an automatic Tweet and Foursquare will be posted to their account stating how many TastiRewards points they’ve earned!

5. The 4 Cornerstones for CRM Retail Investment in 2010 – The customer is frequently the focus when it comes to building and sustaining a retail establishment. To be successful as a small retailer you must have a strong CRM system put into place and this article does a great job of explaining exactly what should be included to achieve maximum results.

What could be more exciting than starting a new year with new goals and expectations? This drives almost every human to make some type of change for the upcoming year. This weeks round up features some ways you can change your small retail business in order to attain those goals of success. First Panasonic has unveiled a new POS workstation that will enhance the overall point of sale experience for the consumer. The next article is about the importance and new innovative ways to gather and analyze customer data. The last three articles that are featured are about the future of small retail including a cities perspective on what lies ahead, keys to a great customer experience in 2010 and the top small business ideas for the upcoming year. Start planning your goals for 2010 today to help provide an advantage for your retail location.

1. Panasonic Introduces Lite-ray POS Workstation – This is the newest addition to the Panasonic point of sale workstation line. The Lite-Ray POS offers an open platform that provides excellent flexibility to run a variety of point of sale software. The all in one unit also features a customer facing LCD in addition to the employee LCD to help increase sales through POP (point of purchase). If you’re considering a new POS for your retail business this deserves a good look.

2. A Data Explosion Remakes Retailing – A very informative article that expresses the changes in the amount and the types of consumer data that retailers now have access too. It goes on to talk about better tools and programs that have been put into place with the advancing technology that makes it easier to determine your target customer base.

3. What lies ahead – A straightforward opinion of what lies ahead for the city of Charleston as well as the entire country. The author touches on banking, real estate, medical, retailing and more. There are many valid and interesting thoughts that are expressed including three excellent questions we all have on our minds as we enter 2010.

4. 7 keys to customer experience in 2010 – Great advice as always form the Retail Customer Experience on 7 key ways you can focus on improving your customer experience in the upcoming year. This is one of the most important areas that any business whether large or small can always improve on.

5. 2010 Top 10 Small Business Ideas – Many of these ideas deal with the online aspect of running or starting a business but a few are ideas that could transform your existing retail establishment in the year 2010.

An article posted in the small business section of the New York Times is a must read for all small retail business owners. The comprehensive piece entitled 7 Businesses That Did Not Survive features an in depth look at the reasons these small retailers failed.

You will be able to read about the business (when it opened, closed and where it’s located), what the business was doing at it’s peak, what went wrong and what the retailer has to say looking back on the situation. These are real words from other small retail businesses that tried to survive the economy but failed to do so.

If you think these are new start-ups that have failed…you’re wrong. The first business featured was opened in 1920 and they were forced to close their doors in June.

Read the original article: 7 Businesses That Did Not Survive

The weekly round up will resume on Friday, so don’t forget to check back for the latest small retail news stories.

The holiday shopping season is nearing its end and that means its time to focus on resolutions for the new upcoming year. This week we feature three ideas that you might consider implementing into the business plan for your retail establishment. Starting the New Year with at least one of these solutions could mean an increase in profits, upgrading your small retail POS to accept EBT cards, hiring a small business sales broker or being chosen as a favorite place by Google. We also feature a new requirement for retailers in New York in regards point of sale signage for returns. Ending this weeks round up is the best retail stories of the year as picked by the Retail Customer Experience.

1. Retailers See Market Opportunities Below the Poverty Line – Considering the numbers it’s not surprising that many small retail stores are upgrading their point of sale equipment to be able to accept EBT cards. EBT cards are used by food stamp recipients and according to the numbers that’s one out of every eight people at the present time. The number of retailers that accept food stamps has increased by 17% since 2007 and can account up to 12% of the revenue in some cases.

2. Law aims to make returns easier – If you’re a small retail business operating in NY as of Dec. 1st you’re required to post the conditions for merchandise returns at the point of sale. This includes any details such as restocking fees, amount of time you have to return and item and receipt requirements. Small retailers quoted in the article agree that the new requirement is good for customers and they try to always make the customer happy.

3. Brokers a necessity for small retailers – An interesting way to get your product out in the public eye to increase sales. A broker for a small business essentially finds places for your product to be shelved that you might not the extra time to do.

4. Google Comes to Brick and Mortar Store Windows – Google creates more help for the local business by deploying a great new feature. They have chosen over 10,000 local businesses in the US to receive a window decal that features a bar code. When a consumer scans the bar code on the decal with their mobile phone, they receive details, reviews and coupons for the store. This article is extremely interesting, it also contains a video to see it in action with a real retailer.

5. The 5 biggest retail customer experience stories of 2009 – If you read the weekly retail news roundup often you’ll already know that we love the articles featured at the Retail Customer Experience. This week they have a great one on what their top 5 retail stories of the year are. From Walmart, Apple to generic brands they cover the best customer service experiences to learn from.

The increase in technology often leads to an increase in price which has many small retailers wondering if they should buy or lease their point of sale systems. Our first article this week deals with just that, some tips on whether you should fork out the funds to own your point of sale or find a reliable company to lease from. Our next feature of the week has to do with the announcement of Coupons.com iPhone app which looks like it will be an upcoming retail trend in the mobile coupon market. The third and fourth featured articles this week are inspiring stories from small brick and mortar retailers from around the country that have become successful in their shop local campaigns. Both contain some great ideas on how small business owners can take a step forward in promoting local shopping in their communities. Last we jump into a last minute tip to increase your holiday sales. After reading an a survey this morning stating that 44% of consumers still have the majority of their shopping to do, this ones important.

1. Should Businesses Buy or Lease a POS System? – Good information about the pros and cons of buying or leasing a point of sale system for your business. Many retailers are currently trying to make the decision of whether to upgrade or not with new more secure regulations being put into place. An informative read if you’re trying to make that decision.

2. Coupons.com’s iPhone app now available – This free application lets the iPhone user save coupons to their grocery store loyalty card, print the coupon or redeem the coupon at the POS by showing them on their cell phone. I have to say the last one in that list will have consumers jumping for joy…no need to connect the mobile device and use the printer.

3. Shop local movement picks up steam in Merrimack Valley – An amazing story about a group of small retailers forming a merchants accusation to bring awareness to the community about how important it is to shop in their hometown brick and motor stores.

4. Shopping locally yields new perks – Local small businesses could learn a lot from a town named Pullman. They have implemented a program called Pullman Bucks which essentially gives the residents rewards for shopping at their local merchant stores. Consumers that spend $100 at participating local businesses will receive $10 Pullman Bucks that can be used as a check at any Pullman business.

5. Increase Christmas Sales by Gifting Your Customers – It’s not to late to increase those holiday sales figures. This article featured on About.com provides five ways to reward customers for shopping at your store such as free gift wrapping, special customer discounts, charitable donations and more.

In the wake of the recent focus on point of sale security our first article featured in this weeks round up deals with the POS problem. This extensive two page article will help you use the best point of sale practices to protect you and your customers. The next article may come as a shock as it deals with the fact the discounts can actually hurt small retailers. You’ll be very intrigued when you read the interesting way your customers may look at a discounted product and it’s may have you thinking twice the next time you place an item on sale in your store. Our third featured article is a short but sweet holiday sales tip from the retail specialty expert that’s sure to bring spontaneous holiday cheer. Then we go into an article about retaining customers through social media with some great advice posted on Mashable. The last article in this weeks round up will affect the majority of small retail establishments. It’s some great tips on how to make your small store look bigger.

1. The Point-Of-Sale Problem – This has to be the far best article I have found that deals with POS security and protection. Greg Shipley from InformationWeek goes into the cost of a point of sale breach, POS best practices and smart steps you can take to protect you and your customers. The article is also available for download in PDF format.

2. How discounting is hurting retailers – I was actually very surprised when I read this wonderful piece posted at Retail Customer Experience. I was expecting the information to say something like your taking money out of your own pocket by discounting merchandise but quite the opposite. The article describes an experience of a customer’s thoughts as they find an item they like that’s suddenly available for a much cheaper price. You have to sit down and read this one for some valuable tips on how a customer may view your discounts.

3. Last Minute Holiday Selling Tip #4: Product Themed Tables – As always Patricia has some fantastic advice on how to bring in those last minute holiday sales. A product theme table whether it’s stocking stuffers, gifts for men or unique gift ideas this is one practice you should put in place as soon as possible.

4. HOW TO: Use Social Media to Retain Customers – More great recommendations at Mashable.com on how to retain customers using social media. Let’s just say that the article was tweeted 886 times when I view it so there has to be some great information here. The article speaks about how to find new customers, building an online community and playing favorites.

5. How to Make A Small Store Feel Big – This problem is one that affects many small retail businesses, small spaces. This offers four great ideas on how to make your tiny establishment give the appearance of being larger than it really is.

Welcome to another weekly roundup that features five informative articles about point of sale and small retail news. This week the internet had two highly talked about issues that involve small retailers so we have included them. The first deals with who is responsible in a point of sale software security breach and the second is about Square, a new mobile point of sale solution created by a co-founder of Twitter. The third feature this week is an advanced idea for retail coupons on the back of sales receipts issued at the point of sale. The next article is about a new search engine for local retailers that you should take advantage of immediately because it’s going to be big! We end the roundup with a quick but cheerful Holiday tip to increase the urge to buy.

1. Restaurants Sue Vendors After Point-of-sale Hack – It never crossed my mind before I read this article that a small retailer could be fined for a security breach in the software that connected to the point of sale software provider. Keith Bond is suing his POS vendor due to a security flaw that made the software non PCI compliant. This is a must read if your point of sale software connects to the internet to process payments.

“Bond and others blame the maker of his Aloha point-of-sale system, Radiant Systems, and its Louisiana reseller, Computer World (Computer World is not related to IDG’s ComputerWorld magazine).”

2. Square-up the Bill on your iPhone – Everyone’s talking about “Square”. Jack Dorsey, the co-creator of Twitter is developing an iPhone application that will be able to authorize a credit card, take the signature and email a receipt by using a magnetic card reader that attaches to the bottom of the iPhone. It looks like a “square”.

3. InStream sees big bucks in targeted coupons on sales receipts – InStream Media has introduced a system that enables extremely targeted coupons to be placed on the bottom of sales receipts using the precision of Google Adwords. The program has revenue sharing and they place your ad on the receipt too. It’s a very interesting concept that could prove to be very effective.

4. Local Shopping Search Engine Attracts Big-Name Investors – This article was the most exciting news for brick and mortar small retailers this week. It’s a new local search engine that lets shoppers check product inventory at their local retail stores. The company is Milo.com and they have already raised $4 million from much respected investors. This is an ideal place that local stores can take advance of online shoppers with minimal effort.

5. Last Minute Holiday Selling Tip #3: Music Increases Store Sales – A simple tip to keep the Holiday cheer in your customers and a proven way to increase sales. The price of a $5 CD could bring a smile and maybe a little singing from your shoppers.