The third feature of the week, is one you won’t want to pass up. It’s a new mobile app that will have small retailers getting their products online in a hurry. This leads into our fourth article that states online sales for the holidays will increase again this year. If you haven’t made an online presence for your retail establishment yet, you will be after you reading these two articles.

We end our round up this week with a great customer service lesson. The author showcases how one major corporation has alienated their customers while forcing change and it’s not a pretty situation.

1. ThePOSWarehouse.com is Named Intuit Solution Provider (ISP) Partner of the Year – Out of 550 qualified ISP’s ThePOSWarehouse.com won the award form Intuit as partner of the year. We say, congratulations! The company offers discounted POS hardware, software and supplies including Intuit’s Quickbooks point of sale.

2. Starbucks Extends Mobile Payments to Nearly 300 More Stores – The company will be equipping hundreds of stores in the New York City and Long Island area with their mobile payments. The company started in small areas testing the concepts and it must being doing well although there has been no official word from Starbucks as to exactly how well it’s working.

3. iPhone App Scans Product Barcodes for Self-Checkout at Stores – Hold onto your hats small retailers, here’s an app that will knock your socks off. It’s called AisleBuyer and if you have an extension of your retail store online you’ll love what this can do for you. The app allows customers to scan your product barcode in store, check out without waiting in line and records their information for future use such as sending a mobile coupon. The article is featured at Mashable.com and is full of great information on the use of the app PLUS there’s an incredible video that shows you how it works.

4. NRF expects strong online holiday sales – It’s no surprise that online retailers are expecting another jump in holiday sales. Reading this article has to convince any small retail business that has not yet expanded to the virtual world.

“In addition to using websites to bring in sales, retailers are leveraging the internet to encourage shoppers to head to nearby stores, featuring store locator information, product availability, and store circulars on their websites.”

5. BOA’s Whiplash Strategy – I was shocked when I read the details of what the Back of America has put in place for their new customer service policy and I believe you will too. After you read this article you will know everything that you should not do to your customers including CHARGING them for personal human contact.

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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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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. Cashier Live Launches Web-Based Pharmacy Point of Sale – Cashier Live has announced they have secured their SIGIS certification which is a first for a SaaS point of sale application which means pharmacies can accept FSA (flexible spending account) cards. The low subscription price for Cashier Live’s Pharmacy POS is sure to draw many businesses owners looking for a way to comply with the new regulations and keep it within budget.

2. NewLeads Offers a Point-of-Sale Ordering System – This new and innovative show order system (SOS) is going to be a big hit with small retailers that attend trade shows. New Leads unique point of sale system allows merchants to scan or looked up items, take orders or perform a checkout, the reseller information is attached the order, securely enter credit card information (either swiped or manual entry) and automatically print invoices or regular receipts.

3. How do I create and memorize reports in QuickBooks Point of Sale? – This is a great visual tutorial provided by TechRepublic. If you’re a user of Quickbooks point of sale and you need to know how to create and memorize reports, grab a pen and paper then start learning.

4. Adoption Of Social Media Doubled Among SMBs – Small retailers are staring to jump on the social media bandwagon according to a new study by The Center for Media Research that states the number has doubled in the last year. The author gives an interesting take on which sector of small businesses were including in the jump.

5. Social media for retailers: Focus on Facebook – This article featured at the Retail Customer Experience speaks for itself the minute you visit the site. As many of you may know we offer many articles from this excellent retail website and they too have embraced social media. Take a look at their new engaging look while you read about why your small retail business needs to be focusing on Facebook.

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1. New Online Magazine Launched for Point of Sale Industry - Expert Retail Knowledge and Breaking News on Pointofsale.com – PointofSale.com is a new website directed at giving information to business owners and small retailers about various POS topics. This online magazine covers many topics such as hardware, mobile products, specialized retail software and software for various niche retailers.

2. Leave The Credit Card, Take The Cell Phone – Marketing director of Wallace Oil, Rachel Wallace has a review of a new mobile point of sale payment solution that is affordable for small retailers. This service called Bling Nation is a mere $40 a month but could save thousands in the long term.

3. Radiant Systems Announces Launch of Widely Adopted Employee Theft Deterrent Application – Radiant Systems may be trying to redeem itself after the major security breach that is making headlines. They are introducing a new application that promises to deter employee theft.

“Aloha Restaurant Guard has been the most impactful application to our operations that we have installed since Aloha POS,” said Jim Nichols, owner of Nichols restaurant in Marina Del Rey, Calif. “We discovered that more than 40 percent of our employees were stealing, and in one instance with a single person, the overall theft equated to a loss of $10,000 per year.”

4. How to Use Your Business Blog for Brand Evangelism – If you don’t already have a blog for your small retail business, create one according to these great branding tips. If you currently have a blog for your small business, hurray, just tweak what you have to help build your brand and bring in new customers. The Noobpreneur has some expert advice on what will work to get your blog noticed.

5. The pros and cons of concealing product prices online – Some great advice on how to decide if you should display the price of a product or service online. This is a great article that features a panel of retail industry experts called BrainTrust

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1. FaceCash: a simple, elegant mobile payment application – FaceCash is a new mobile POS application that can be run on a computer with an internet connection and barcode scanner. Payment processing is done through the FaceCash program for a fee lower than the traditional credit card networks. Users load their FaceCash account (much like PayPal) and they can use a barcode on their mobile phone to pay for their purchases.

2. J.C. Penney to launch mobile coupons – JcPenny is joining stores like Kroger, 7-Eleven and Tom Thumb in offering mobile coupons. They are testing a different 2D type barcode but it’s sure to prove effective considering the average paper coupon redemption rate is 1% and for mobile coupons it’s 15%-25%.

3. 8 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs A Website – This is a must read and study hard type of article posted at Noobpreneur.com. It’s advice meant to reach small business owners that still believe the internet will not improve their business. Grab a pen and paper, take notes and start implementing your start to reaching customers online.

4. Why Generation Y isn’t buying your products – If the article above did not convince you that you have to embrace technology I guarantee that this one will. This article is written from the perspective of a real 23 year old consumer. He reveals some very important insight into the mind of generation Y and how to better understand their buying habits plus how to market to them.

5. What the iPad means for booksellers – The announcement of the new iPad might have some bookstore owners a bit weary but don’t worry you have the overall true experience of read a good old fashion book. The iPad offers digital copies of books through a service called iBook that delivers a close to real experience as you can get with technology. These tips for bookstore owners will help you remind your customers of the true experience of reading a book like taking it to a sandy beach, reading in the tub and passing it along when you’re done.

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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.

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The release of TranZfinity’s new mobile point of sale solution is the first review on our roundup this week. It’s important to education yourself on new POS technology in order to be successful when making decisions for your business. We then go into a few ways that social media can help your small retail business which is a must read to be prepared for the Holiday shopping season. The peak-end rule is an interesting concept for transforming your customer service it’s definitely an eye-opening article. We end the roundup this week with two features on Holiday sales but from different spectrums. How the flu may affect sales and some tips for increasing your sales this season.

1. TranZfinity Launches New Mobile POS Solution for Global Markets – The new mobile point of sale solution is called Myztro. The concept is using an existing mobile with Myztro and a secure mobile POS application you can move freely and perform secure POS transactions from anywhere. At this time it only supports pre paid cards but will eventually support other payment options.

2. Social Media and Your Business – A few simple ways that you can start gaining a web presence for your small retail business. The article gives a short background on why you need this and suggestions to get started.

3. The ‘peak-end’ rule: Can it transform your customer experience? – This was by far the most interesting piece I read this week. I had never heard of the peak-end rule so it immediately sparked my attention. As I was reading it all made sense to me and it was very easy to see myself in that situation as a consumer making it an important article for all small business owners to read.

By “peak” we’re not just talking about the most enjoyable or positive moment or aspect of the experience; peak in this case refers to the moment that is either the most positive or negative.

4. Study: H1N1 flu could have a big impact on holiday retail – The thought never crossed my mind but when I read the headline it makes total sense. This is something that could have a huge impact on the small retailer during the Holiday shopping season. That’s why it will be so imperative that you establish an online presence with your business. A TIP from me to you (as a consumer): Maybe you could give out free samples of hand sanitizer or antibacterial wipes. :-)

5. Brighter Outlook for Holiday Retail – On a lighter note the Specialty Retail Expert gives a more positive outlook on the Holiday retail season. Plus she adds five suggestions for increasing sales during the shopping season.

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