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Comparison guide: Choose the Microsoft point of sale product that
is right for you
Below are seven key benefits for sporting goods retailers from
Microsoft Retail Management System.
1. Better inventory management
2. Give your customers a great shopping
experience
3. Improve employee productivity
4. Use customizable management tools
5. Get quick, comprehensive reports
6. Get benefits of centralized information
7. Grows with your business
1. Better inventory management.
- Work with matrices in up to
three dimensions, such as size, color, and brand.
- Simplify inventory tracking of
serialized items with up to three unique serial numbers per
item.
- Use aliases to expedite item
lookups by supplier part number, UPC, or abbreviated
nicknames.
- Quickly identify inventory
replenishment based on reorder point/restock level or quantity
sold.
- Reduce physical inventory counts,
too!
2. Give your customers a great shopping experience
Your sales clerks can process complex transactions more quickly and
accurately ? which pleases customers. They'll also have access to
complete customer information and buying histories that helps them
sell more effectively.
- Instantly access a complete
history of purchases, payments, and account information at the
POS. Capture and show customer contact and demographics on the POS
screen.
- Reprint electronic receipts to
resolve disputes, speed rebates, and verify purchase dates and
amounts. Accommodate partial and full account payments. Serve
others while keeping a stalled transaction "on hold."
- Leverage customers' buying
histories to easily market to their preferences, suggest
relevant up-sells, sale items, and volume discounts. Grant
automatic discounts and differential pricing to special
customers.
- Target your mailings directly
to customers' special interests.
- Accept multiple tenders,
credit and debit cards, coupons, gift vouchers, and foreign
currencies. Continue to process transactions even when your network
is down.
- Handle work orders,
backorders, layaways, and quotes.
- Support multiple suppliers for
each item.
Check item availability for specific
customer requests
3. Improve employee productivity
Jump-start productivity with a solution that's easy to learn and
use, and lets you maintain tight control over information and
inventory to protect data and reduce theft.
- Employees can learn basic POS
functions in minutes.
- Lock out ? or empower ? an
employee from sensitive data.
- View and print daily sales
reports and journals at the POS terminal.
- Manage ad hoc commissions and
"spiffs."
- Know which associates sell
best. Predict what days and hours to staff up ? or cut
back.
- Automate inventory management
to reduce shrinkage.
4. Use customizable management tools
Get help managing every aspect of your store. In addition to
automating the point-of-sale and inventory, Microsoft Retail
Management System lets you set up pricing levels and promotions the
way you want.
- Configure POS screens to
display the information your clerks need.
- Streamline buying with ordering
levels, best-price suppliers, and automatic POs.
- Customize receipts and price
labels with logos and promotional messages.
- Use many flexible pricing
structures for mark-ups and discounts.
- Set up new sales and promotions ?
fast.
- Make point-of-sale wizards do your
work. It takes just minutes to input new items, manage
inventory, set prices, and perform everyday chores.
5. Get quick, comprehensive reports
Microsoft Retail Management System has more than one hundred
reports with extensive formatting options so you get the
information the way that makes sense to you.
Stay on top of performance with accurate, timely data about
sales, profitability, inventory, and customers. Know exactly what's
selling best, who's buying, and when. Decide on a dime what to buy
or mark down, and track return on investment (ROI) for marketing
initiatives. Do analysis by department or category, too!
Here are a few examples:
- Easily export data to
Microsoft Excel for viewing and analysis.
- Generate sales and inventory
reports that help make it easy to decide what to buy or mark
down.
- Track return on investment from
your ads, mailings, promotions, sales, and
discounts.
- Preview, print, or export data
in multiple formats.
- Add logos and graphics for
formal reports.
Keep track of sales and profits by
department
6. Get the benefits of centralized information
Want to send financials to your accounting program? Or sell through
an e-commerce storefront? Microsoft Retail Management System can
help.
Built on the latest Microsoft technologies, this integrated
solution keeps information moving smoothly across your entire
business and connects easily with other applications, platforms,
and peripherals, such as Microsoft Office. The solution:
- Works with the Microsoft Office
System, making it easy to create and deliver communications
that connect you with your best customers.
- Can be integrated with legacy
systems, accounting or financial software, Electronic Draft
Capture (EDC), credit card services, and e-commerce storefronts ?
with the help of a Microsoft partner and third-party solutions. It
also can be integrated with all your business channels ? in-store,
catalog, phone and e-commerce ? to provide a superior customer
experience. You can ship and track orders online.
- Manages accounts receivable
and it trades summary POS data with popular accounting software to
eliminate double entry.
- Uses EDC to integrate with leading
credit card services to reduce fraud and keyboard
errors.
- Smoothly integrates Web sales from
multiple sites with the help of a Microsoft partner and a
third-party application.
- Uses the POS as a data
collector for back-end Electronic Retail Planning (ERP)/Customer
Relationship Management (CRM) applications. You can also work with
a Microsoft partner to set up your system to enable PDA and
mobile/wireless stations.
7. Grows with your business
Ready to open a new store? You can help protect your investment and
keep the same software and systems as your business grows into
multiple stores and retail channels with Microsoft Retail
Management System. Here's a few things to keep in mind:
- You can add new lanes or
stores to your system with minimal disruptions to retail
service.
- A common point-of-sale
platform that spans single or multi-store locations is offered
through Microsoft Retail Management System.
- Add customers and products to your
system, and flexible Microsoft SQL Server technologies let you
store and manage virtually unlimited amounts of
information.
- Invest in your business, not in IT
support. Microsoft Retail Management System does not require an
expensive IT staff to set up and maintain, and it adapts to meet
specific retail needs. As your business changes and grows, your
Microsoft Certified Business Solutions Partner can provide support
and assistance with customizing, integrating, and scaling your
solution.
- Count on Microsoft. Start a
long-lasting relationship backed by one of the world's leading
technology providers. Microsoft Business Solutions is a family of
connected applications and services for small and mid-sized
businesses, with years of experience delivering business
applications and services known worldwide for top
quality.
Easily set up information for new
items