Our retail industry news this week is full of tips for small businesses. We start off with our third article with seven must do things that will keep customer loyalty. Then we found an article with seven tips for small retailers to be successful when lobbying a government office. The last article we feature has a few common sense low marketing ideas that will work in any business, small or large.

1. HP Tablet Goes Enterprise, WebOS Tablet Due Too? – The Enterprise tablet will be released by HP in the near future and will be available to enterprise customers only. The tablet will run the Windows 7 operating system and will be able to perform mobile point of sale operations. There is not an official release date but this will offer small retailers another option for a mobile POS.

2. ScanSource POS & Barcoding Enhances Hospitality & Retail Services Offering Through Distribution Agreement With ParTech – This partnership is sure to take off in the businesses in the retail industry using or interested in using PAR’s technology solutions. Here it is straight from the president of ScanSource POS & Barcoding, Jeff Yelton.

“PAR has a laser focus on the hospitality industry, delivering rugged, robust and reliable hardware and peripherals for resellers selling into the industry. We are pleased to be the only distributor offering these high-performing solutions to hospitality resellers.”

3. Seven requirements for becoming customer-centric – As a small retailer you can never read enough tips on customer service. That’s why we feature so many articles from the Retail Customer Experience. Yet again, here’s an information packed article that will help you become more customer-centric.

4. Seven Lobbying Mistakes Small Businesses Make and What to Do Instead – This article is so unique that it makes itself valuable. There might only be a small select few small business owners that benefit from the advice given but it’s advice that hard to find. Learning how to influence your state and local government could be an essential survival skills…read more to find out.

5. 8 Low-Cost Marketing Tips for Small Retailers – This is a clear and concise article that outlines eight great tips on using low cost marketing methods. The number one tips is to develop a budget including the time you spend, after all time is money.

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1. Heartland Payment Systems(R) Commercially Launches State-of-the-Art Payment Card Security Technology – Heartland Payment Systems is now offering a way small and large businesses to assure their customer data is safe across all payment options without any increased fees.

2. Accelerated Payment Technologies Introduced Following Sale Of CAM Commerce Point-Of-Sale Software Division – I was surprised at the sale of Cam Commerce this week but the good news is that this will help customers of the company’s point of sale software with a higher quality. Accelerated Payment Technologies is the company that will take over and provide POS customers with a 100% focused integrated payment system with new innovative technologies.

3. Opinion: Why mystery shopping isn’t enough for retailers – Although this is an opinion article, it raises some very valid point when considering using mystery shoppers to evaluate your overall customer service. Many small retailers use mystery shoppers to provide insight on satisfaction, spending, loyalty and employee knowledge but the numbers might not be as they seem.

4. Study: 60 percent of customers look for coupons before shopping – Coupons are still a valuable way to retain and gain new customers according to a recent study by The Integer Group. They state that 60% of consumers look for coupon before entering their favorite retail establishment and this could greatly affect their spending. As a small retailer offering coupons at the front of your store could bring the satisfaction and sales you’re looking for.

5. BizSugar Sweetens Your Small Business Social Media Marketing Campaign – As a small business owner you need to be up with the times, fads and new technologies in order to compete with larger brand name stores. This article outlines some of the fascinating things you could be learning at a comprehensive retail website called BizSugar.

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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.

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Company Website:

Salon Touch POS Software Overview

Salon Touch POS is a complete all in one package for salons and spas. The robust software combined with the innovative touch screen hardware makes this an efficient low cost solution for any small business owner in the beauty industry. The hardware resists damage from common salon products that can be hazardous and comes complete with a cash drawer, receipt printer, mouse, credit card reader, extra keyboard and all the cables for easy connection. The Salon Touch POS offers two low cost solutions that can either be leased or a rent to own plan. You pay $89 a month for three years and you own this excellent all in one salon point of sale system free and clear.

Salon Touch POS Software Features

• Intuitive touch screen interface that will reduce training time and cost
• Easy to use integrated appointment book and commission tracking
• Free, real-time web reporting with batch and deposit details
• Free gift card balances and easy to use gift card processing
• Real-Time up to the second inventory control
• Full customer sales histories
• Ability to do Email Blasts marketing to your entire customer list
• The credit card reader has built in full PCI card compliance
• Intuitive graphics reduce training costs
• NCR retail Tested durability for a harsh retail environment
• Small design to save counter space
• Low monthly cost

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1. POS: Are you leveraging this? – This is an excellent article written by Sean Greeley, a leading fitness business owner. In the article Sean outlines the importance of a POS in your retail business and how improve the efficiency of your point of sale.

2. How to Increase Sales With a Company-Wide Clean-Up – This article reminds a small retailer of something you might overlook that could be costing you time and profits. Cleaning and organizing the clutter around your point of sale and other areas of your business is an easy to do task that will bring a ton of benefits. The author offers tips on where to start along with five steps to getting organized in your small retail establishment.

3. The 10 essential strengths of front-line retail employees – All small retailers know how important your retail staff is in retaining customer satisfaction. This article offers some wonderful tips on helping your employees have a better initial engagement with customers. There are also 10 essential traits or skills your retail employees need to have in order to provide the quality you need to succeed.

4. Retailer SmartMomma gains trust, grows business with RatePoint – an inspiring story of a small retailer that has used RatePoint’s small business service to grow her business by establishing trust through her customer relationships. RatePoint offers a 30 day trial for small retail business that would like to try their services.

5. New study reveals impact of Facebook on retail – The latest Morpace Omnibus study shows that small retailers using Facebook to connect with their customers have a distinct advantage over their competitors. This is positive news for small retail businesses that have implemented some type of Social Media strategy for marketing customer service.

6. Six Web 2.0 Tools Retailers Need to Know About – This is the bonus article of the week and the most important especially after reading the article above. The author lays out six essential Web 2.0 tools that small retailers should be using. Some of these tools are Foursquare, Groupon, Yelp and more. The author does an excellent job at describing the service as well as the potential of each for small retailers.

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1. What Retail Point of Sale (POS) System is best for my business? – This is not your typical article about buying the right POS. The author gives you very poignant questions you should consider and answer before attempting your point of sale purchase.

2. 101 Tips from 50 Small Business Bloggers – This article is invaluable and a must read for all our viewers. There are 101 tips from small retail business just like yours. These are tips you can use and put in place immediately to help conquer any obstacle you may encounter.

3. Three rules for digital signage audio in the retail environment – The retail customer experience pull it off again with a fantastic article about digital signage. This is one of the latest, most effective advertising technologies but it can be ineffective even annoying if not used right. Take these three rules for displaying your audio digital, implement them and reap the rewards.

4. The Slow Drift From Great to Good – This writer makes a great analogy comparing the way to get a good cup of coffee to the way small retail hospitality has declined. Just like the taste of your coffee dwindles as it ages so does the generous experience from your local retail shop. The change is slow and you might not notice but this spells it out and gives you something to think about.

5. The enduring wisdom of Mom & Pop – A truly inspiring story about the time when small retail shops lined the city streets. It was not just a matter of retail style it was about the values, the experience and always the friendships.

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The biggest problem for Point Of Sale system vendors are the traditional cash registers. Cash registers not only take a big part of the market, they also influence what shop owners expect from a POS terminal. Many shop owners switching from a cash register to a complete Point Of Sale simply want the same functionality and the ease of use of their old equipment.

I have done some POS implementations where I delivered exactly that: a POS system configured to emulate a cash register, with a few buttons on the sales screen to book sales on the various product groups, but without inventory control, reporting and all other features that make a POS system worth its money. The idea is to provide them the same way of working in a new environment to get the employees used to the new system. Once they now how to sell using the old-fashioned buttons I have them take an inventory so they can start selling using the barcodes on the items. Little by little they get deeper into the available features of the system, and the system becomes more valuable.

Business Information (or business intelligence) is what differentiates a full Point Of Sale system from a cash register. Registering your sales is only part of the equation, only once you know the costs of each sale you will be able to optimize your stocks, focus your promotions and take balanced management decisions.

Some shop owners don’t understand that, since they are still stuck in the ‘cash register’ way of thinking. For them a POS terminal is nothing more than an expensive cash register with way too many bells and whistles. Changing the way of thinking of these clients is by far the biggest challenge in a migration project.

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When I recently visited a restaurant trade show, I noticed that there were just as much companies presenting POS systems as there were stands with on-line reservation systems, while I haven’t seen any reservation system on previous visits. When something new comes up that fast, I immediately suspect a hype.

So when talking to the good ol’ POS dealers, I asked them if they had received customer requests for on-line booking systems and whether their systems includes or can be linked to such a tool. As I already expected and according to my own experiences, no-one had received requests for on-line booking systems from their customers, and therefore none of them had included such a tool in their system. Some POS systems did have a bookings screen, and I even found one system that offers an API to connect external applications to the reservation module.

After that I went to the other ‘side’ —the on-line reservation providers. I asked them for their experience in the restaurant business and whether they had linked their system to a point of sale. I found that most of these companies were technology driven businesses that only recently entered the restaurant market. With the exception of one —OpenTable—, none of these companies seem to know the way restaurants work. What surprised me even more is that nobody could offer integration with a Point Of Sale system. Restaurants need to install a dedicated terminal using either proprietary software —like OpenTable— or a web browser —like RestaurantDiary.

In my opinion the companies offering on-line reservation systems seem to miss two crucial points: space is scarce in restaurants, restaurateurs don’t want to put in another terminal of it is not absolutely necessary. And if they do, they will place a full POS system, and not a dedicated reservation system. Furthermore, the Point Of Sale is the centre of the restaurant’s automation system. The POS controls stocks, sales and workflow. Having two separate systems is a waste of resources. Client information should be available on the Point Of Sale, since client tracking is important.

So my conclusion is that on-line restaurant reservation systems are indeed hype, generated by techies with no feeling for what is going on inside a restaurant. In my view, restaurant reservation systems do have a place, but not implemented the way it is done now.
First of all, the system should be completely integrated in the POS system, for reasons I have explained above.
Secondly, these systems should target more. I never search the Internet for a restaurant in my home town, and I always phone to make a reservation, since the decision to go to a specific restaurant is usually taken on the street when meeting friends. When I am out of town for business or pleasure and have some time on hand, I never reserve a restaurant, but rather walk around and decide where to enter based on how the restaurant looks. The only time when I could need an on-line reservation system is when I am out of town, am very busy and do not have somebody who is taking care for me —usually my clients select and reserve restaurants. In that case I need a reservation system that:

1. Has data for any place in any country I might be;
2. Let’s me enter my current position and shows me all restaurants sorted on the distance from my current position;
3. Shows me the basic details of the restaurant and comments/recommendations of other users;
4. Preferably it should give me some suggestions based on previous reservations just like Amazon does: people who like restaurant X also like restaurant Y.

In other words: restaurant reservation systems have to be made with the guest in mind and not as an on-line marketing instrument for restaurants.

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A recent study by Fujitsu Siemens claims that about $217 million (123 million pounds) is wasted every year in the U.K. alone powering PCs that could have been shut down or left in hibernation mode. The report also pointed out the environmental impact of all the wasted energy.

Though the study involved generic PCs, its results are also valid for Point Of Sale systems. Many shops leave the POS terminal running during the night, in order to start working directly when opening the shop the next morning, not realizing that they could save an significant amount of money on the energy bill.

Switching off POS systems has another benefit: many POS software perform maintenance tasks when shutting down or starting up the system. This might even include tasks as sending the Z reading to the central office or importing new price lists into the system. By switching off the system every night, you make sure that these tasks will be performed.

Some people have claimed that regularly turning computers off can, over time, weaken links between components and damage hardware such as the hard drive. This fact has not been proven yet, and most certainly is not true in POS systems without moving parts as hard disks and CPU fans.

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