Can you run a decent sized business out of a shoebox? Many successful retailers do and will continue to do so in the future. But I believe as time goes on and our world becomes more automated and the consumer demands more and more customization and convenience: it will be more and more difficult.
The young people of today have been weaned on technology and are used to just pressing a button. I am becoming very guilty of this! If I can't purchase something instantaneously or have to wait for something I don't really need I have walked away or abandoned the sale entirely. Lines anywhere make me dizzy and I think twice about waiting.
Now if people are waiting because they can't live without what they are selling fine; but, if it is because the retailer is still using a cash register, the price is missing, the customer wants another and they don't know if they have it in inventory or they don't take credit cards (this still exists) that is a different story. The list could go on and on.
Now let's imagine a world where everything works together: inventory tracking, customer marketing, sales tracking, accounting.
Our case study: is a 2 store women's clothing retailer in a small bustling city (pop. 50,000) in the northeast. The stores depend on local traffic as well as seasonal tourists. They cater to the 35+ women, but also to the tourists with certain novelty items.
They use QuickBooks Point of Sale this way:
• Inventory: they order inventory for each store by preparing purchase orders and email or fax to their suppliers. When the order comes in: depending on the store the merchandise is received in to the software. At that point a bill can be created for the supplier (more about this later). The retailer now knows at a glance how much inventory they have in each store and can transfer between stores, etc. Very flexible. They can also take special orders.
• Sales: A new customer comes in and they love the merchandise! Retailer can input contact info about this new customer into the system and send specials, discounts, events, etc. (with permission). If they see an item but don't see size, the retailer now has that information at their fingertips. They can get it from the other store or have it shipped directly to customer. They also have the ability to open preferred client accounts and offer layaways.
• Reporting: On the dashboard is up to the minute sales information and this retailer really likes comparing their sales to a year ago by day, month, quarter, and year. They immediately know what their best and worst sellers are and what time of day it was sold.
• QuickBooks Point of Sale allows owners to setup each employee to track their time and add security rights as needed. Preferences can be set so that they have to login after every sale or not. Now because the system is password protected, you know who sold/returned what.
• And here is the best part: Their point of sale system is setup to integrate with their Financial Accounting software. At the end of the day, second store z's-out and sends sales, inventory vouchers, etc. to the main store; the main store receives in the information and then does its own end of day: z-ing out, etc. But the main store is integrated with their Financial Software and it sends all the accounting over to QuickBooks Financial: which includes sales, money received by category, vendor bills, inventory adjustments, etc. This brings the retailer into the 21st century
Margaret L Crosby, EA of Pace Consulting Beverly MA Advanced Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor can assist you in solving your business issues.
call 781-738-1669 or go to http://www.paceltd.com/ for your free report.
No comments:
Post a Comment