Note: The Weekly Roundup will be moving to Mondays featuring Point of Sale and Small Retail News from the previous week.
It was great to hear this week that small retail businesses are finally gaining ground in the battle of credit card fees at their POS terminal. Although the amendment still has to pass The House, experts are confident this will be a huge win for the small retail industry. This is outlined in the first article in this weeks roundup. We then move on to an article that focuses mainly on mobile POS advancements but the beginning has an encouraging update on Dairy Queen’s success using the technology. The third feature this week lead into much bigger things as excitement and curiosity took over. The article showcases new tools that add incredible functionality to restaurant point of sale handheld devices.
I found another great video demonstrating a new restaurant point of sale system that uses the iPad. I decided to write a review post on both systems that will be featured tomorrow morning…so be sure to check back.
Our fourth article this week was an interesting point of view that small retailers should be seeking small suppliers to do business with. Then the last feature is a few marketing tips that will help your small business grow profits even when tines are hard.
1. Swipe This: Small Businesses Smile About Card Fee Controls – On Thursday the US Senate passed an amendment that small retailers across the country are excited about. Although it has yet to pass The House, it could essentially limit the fees that retailers pay for debit and credit card sales. Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who proposed the amendment said:
“Making sure small businesses can grow and prosper is vital to putting our country back on solid economic footing.”
2. Shoppers Check Out of Stores Via Cell Phone – There has been much talk about mobile point of sale technology and it is growing by the day. The retail industry needs to start embracing and preparing for the types of mobile POS options on the market. We featured an article last summer announcing Dairy Queens plan to implement a mobile loyalty program for cellar customers with a “certain” chip attached to their phone. Well according to this article co-owner Dave Reasner says its working and customers are returning at a 3% increase.
3. New Tools Push the Boundaries of POS – The announcement of ASI’s Restaurant Manager POS software being available for the iPod Touch was amazing to me. The new tools that add profitable benefits for restaurant owners’ especially small ones who are looking for a way to compete with large chain restaurants. For a low cost a small business owner could have a handled system that increases customer satisfaction tenfold. That’s the reason for tomorrows review on two “new” restaurant point of sale handheld options.
4. Small Retailers Should Foster Big Relationship With Small Suppliers – This article is slightly hard to read but the information contained is valuable. It focuses on the reasons small retailers should consider partnering with small local suppliers versus larger wholesale suppliers. The overall benefits could easily outweigh any additional cost you would be saving dealing with a big brand company.
5. How retailers can market their way out of tough times – I agreed with these authors when they said
“In an economy like this, cutting back on marketing is flirting with business suicide.”
This article gives five great tips on how to bring marketing back into your small retail business plan without emptying your bank account.