With so much to think about these days, the last thing many retailers—perhaps you included—want to think about is taking inventory of the merchandise you have in-store. While we agree with you that it’s not exactly a “fun” job, someone’s got to do it—and here’s why.

Your merchandise is not only the biggest asset in your business; it’s your most significant business expense. Knowing exactly how much of each item is on your shelves and in the warehouse is the first step in overall inventory management, and great inventory management is the major catalyst for higher profits.

Inaccurate inventory counts can also cause you to inadvertently overpay your taxes. That’s because overestimating the dollar value of inventory drives your cost-of-goods downward and your profit (on paper) upward, leading you to pay taxes on income you did not actually earn. Who wants to pay Uncle Sam an extra cent, especially when every penny you can actually put ring up, rather than put in the Tax Man’s pocket, counts?

By contrast, underestimating the dollar value of your inventory instead of performing an inventory count will cause you to show less profit. This may have a negative effect on your relationship with your banker, investors or other creditors.

In short, to obtain a true picture of how well your retail business faring, you need a completely accurate accounting of how much inventory you own. And computerizing your point of sale system with a solution like pcAmerica’s Cash Register Express makes that job a lot easier.

To get more information about pcAmerica point of sale solutions, visit www.pcamerica.com.

Following up on last week’s blog entry, there’s even more good news for restaurant operators. Market research firm Technomic Inc. has revised its 2011 foodservice industry, citing as its rationale improved macroeconomic data and increased fourth-quarter sales momentum among many establishments. The firm anticipates a 0.7 percentage point increase in expected sales of food and beverage, including alcohol, across the U.S. foodservice industry during the upcoming year; its expectations for sales at U.S. restaurants and bars also were increased by 0.7 percentage points.

Additionally, the restaurant industry is expected to post nominal sales growth of 2.3 percent. Technomic’s original forecast, issued last fall, projected restaurant sector growth of 1.6 percent on a nominal basis.
On the flip side, Technomic raised its projected menu price inflation for 2011 from 2 percent in the September forecast to 2.5 percent in the January forecast. Joe Pawlak, vice president, said the move reflected increasing commodity prices that will most likely lead restaurants to raise menu prices. Such large players as McDonald’s and Einstein Noah have already announced plans to jump on the price increase bandwagon as the cost of commodities trends upward.

What does this all mean? For starters, maximizing the potential for anticipated increased sales and growth necessitates maintaining a handle on what customers are ordering and altering the menu mix accordingly. It also necessitates as well as engaging in marketing endeavors, from email blasts and newsletters to loyalty programs and social media. That’s where a multi-functional point of sale solution, such as pcAmerica’s Restaurant Pro Express, comes in.  Meanwhile, monitoring ingredient usage and item sales with a solution like Restaurant Pro Express will go far toward minimizing the impact of commodity price increases.

For more information on how Restaurant Pro Express can benefit your business, visit www.pcamerica.com.

Sports teams have long evaluated and reevaluated their “playbooks” to ensure that they play the best game possible. With 2011 now in full swing, retailers and restaurateurs should take the same approach with their businesses.

If your business is not performing to your liking—either entirely or partially—step back and give your playbook an honest evaluation. What’s working? What’s not? Why? Some of this information can be gleaned through a thorough review of point of sale data maintained in systems such as pcAmerica’s Cash Register Express and Restaurant Pro Express. Solicit honest feedback from others by establishing a spot on your operation’s Web site where customers and even employees can post anonymous comments and suggestions. Leverage the Internet by looking at online reviews of your store or restaurant on Web sites like Yelp, Merchant Circle and Yahoo Local. This will truly allow you to identify what’s “broken” and needs to be fixed.

Keep an open mind when going through this exercise. You may only need to adjust your merchandise mix or menu, adjust employee scheduling to reflect store or restaurant “traffic patterns”, or simply change your hours. Or, you may find that it’s necessary to make more substantial changes. For example, if customers complain that you do not “connect” enough with them or go the extra mile to make them want to patronize your establishment, you might consider running e-mail specials, sending text messages about “exclusive” deals to top customers, or adding a social media component to your loyalty program as frozen dessert chain and pcAmerica customer Tasti D-Lite has quite successfully done.

Today’s consumers are no longer willing to settle for second best—in the products they buy, the foods they eat and the businesses they patronize. By scrutinizing the playbook—and changing the rules often—you’ll come out in first place.

Find out more how a point of sale system from pcAmerica can help improve your business by visiting them at, www.pcAmerica.com.

We at pcAmerica have been blogging for quite some time now, bringing you both updated information about our company and its solutions as well as information designed to help you do a better job of operating your store or restaurant. And now it’s time for us to tell you why you, too, should set up a blog for your operation and use it to its greatest advantage.

1.    Blogs allow retailers and restaurateurs to bolster their search engine visibility and Web traffic.  Every time you update your blog, it will rank higher in consumers’ search engine results and, in turn, will drive more users to your Web site. The more consumers who view the Web site, the more visits to the store or restaurant. Maintaining and updating a blog also serves as a catalyst for increasing online business.

2.    Consumer receptiveness to the use of blogs is growing.  A study by buzz logic indicates that over the past five years, there has been a 300% increase in the number of people who read blogs a minimum of once a month. Given a choice of patronizing an establishment whose owners share information via a blog, and one that doesn’t, many consumers will go with the former.

3.    Blogs build consumer confidence. Blogging comprises one of the most effective means of getting to know you and “humanizing” your store or restaurant. Consumers these days are skeptical—but the more they feel they know you, the more loyal to your business they will become.

4.    Blogs make it easier to get to know the target market. In addition to allowing retailers and restaurateurs to communicate with a wider breadth of customers and potential customers, blogs—through the “comments” section below each post—make it easier to find out what consumers want, what they expect from you, what they think of your merchandise or menu, and the like. Adjustments can then be made based on fact, rather than on guesswork.

Entering the “blogosphere” is not difficult if you use a tool like WordPress (www.wordpress.org). So get out from behind the cash register—and start bloggin’.

Blogging is just one way to enter the realm of social marketing to improve repeat business and build repoire. pcAmerica offers solutions that can get you started with social marketing with solutions from behind the counter.

To learn more about pcAmerica and social marketing tools visit, www.pcamerica.com/socialmarketing

Recessionary conditions, followed by some 18 months of slow recovery, have left many retailers and restaurant operators reluctant to invest in technology. However, current predictions and trends indicate that the time may be ripe to loosen the purse strings. For one thing, retail sales are trending upward, and other factors justify an optimistic forecast going forward. During the recent NRF Big Show, Moody’s chief economist and co-founder Mark Zandi noted in his “Retail’s Road to Recovery: Status Report on the Global Economy” Super Session presentation that,  “economic statistics are looking measurably better.” Christmas, he noted, “was good, and even very good”, and “5% to 6% nominal core retail sales growth is good performance, particularly in the context of the last several very lean years. We’re making progress.” Zandi deemed an improving job market, increased availability of credit, and the recent tax cut extension other rationales for retailers to be upbeat, predicting that “after three very lean years—a year and a half of recession and a year and a half of very weak economic recovery—2011, 2012 and 2013 are”, despite significant lingering economic challenges, “going to be very good years”.

pcAmerica stands ready to assist with point of sale and related technology implementation. To learn more, visit www.pcamerica.com.

pcAmerica, a leading developer of retail and restaurant point of sale software will be at the 2011 NRF Annual Convention and Expo. The annual event held in New York, NY, at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, will feature pioneering solutions and services for your business and offer a great forum for networking with the biggest names in retail.

On January 10th and 11th stop in and speak to pcAmerica to find out how their software solutions are right for your business. You can meet with them at several booths including some of their partners like PAR Technology booth #230, ELO Touch booth #2829, and Dell booth #211.

If you are unable to attend the event and wold like to learn more about pcAmerica and the services they offer you can visit www.pcamerica.com. We look forward to seeing you there!

In Part Two of this series, we discussed how discovering purchasing affinities in point of sale data has a positive effect on displays and promotion. Going one step beyond, mining point of sale data to discern “who buys what with what” –and when–can also serve as the linchpin of effective individualized marketing campaigns.

Here’s how it works. Customer files collected during each card use and tracked by the database or data warehouse include shopper name or household, address, demographics or additional geography, purchase records, response to promotions and total purchases made at the store by the consumer. While leveraging this data, retailers can analyze what products customers are most likely to buy and what products they buy simultaneously during shopping trips.

Then, instead of generic print ads, retailers can tap into individualized digital messaging, personalizing product promotions and discounts using consumer point of sale data and appropriate analytics software. For example, if a customer bought lipstick on her last visit to your store, email her a coupon for a second lipstick—plus eye shadow.  In a variation on this idea, one independent grocer creates a personalized ad flyer deliverable over e-mail, the Web, or in-store kiosks—whichever vehicle customers designate when they sign up for the merchant’s frequent shopper program. The program, which gives loyalty discounts based on previous POS data, is now used by more than half of the retailer’s customers.

Similarly, some retailers are taking a look at point of sale data analyses and tailoring their pitches to a wireless world with time- and location-based mobile marketing. For example, a convenience store owner might text information about a lunchtime deal to a “frequent shopper club” member’s  cell phone at noon, and then, once he’s in the store, offer additional personalized promotions in line with previous purchases.

Of course, a comprehensive point of sale solution such as pcAmerica’s Cash Register Express seals the deal. To learn more, visit www.pcamerica.com.

In addition to enabling category management (as discussed in Part One of this series), analyzing point of sale data amassed by such solutions as pcAmerica’s Cash Register Express paves the way for merchandising products according to “common purchasing affinities”.  Here, data mining tools are used to determine which specific items are most often bought with other specific items. Planograms based on these findings are then created, in turn boosting incremental sales.

Here’s a real-life example. While re-configuring one of its stores, an independent grocer used point of sale data to determine where garlic should be showcased within its produce department.  An analysis of the data revealed that the item was most commonly purchased with green peppers, so the products were arranged in adjacent displays. Utilizing the same type of analysis, the retailer determined that floral bouquets should be displayed next to the greeting cards, as both items frequently ended up together in shoppers’ carts. Sales of garlic, green peppers, greeting cards, and floral bouquets increased as a result. You can really apply this technique to almost any kind of merchandise. For example, if you sell apparel and accessories, you may discover that customers often buy scarves at the same time as a collared blouse and then set your displays accordingly. If you own a toy store, you may, through an analysis of point of sale data, figure out that puzzles are best merchandised with board games rather than in their own section in another part of the shop.

Data analysis that reveals common purchasing affinities can also be used to put together more creative, effective promotions.  For example, if you notice that two particular items are frequently bought together, you can structure a “buy two of each, get one of each free” offer. The possibilities are endless. For more information, visit www.pcamerica.com.

Next up in this series, find out how to leverage point of sale data to create individualized marketing campaigns.

Let’s get right to the point: There’s a lot more you can do with point of sale data than casually seeing what’s selling and what’s not and perhaps adjusting your orders in accordance with your own instinct.

Consider this example. Increasingly, smart retailers are warehousing point of sale data in databases and then, via software tools, mining it to engage in category management practices either in conjunction with their vendors or on their own. In these situations, the tools create demand forecasts for each item based on sales patterns. The benefits are significant. In addition to reducing inventory, including overstocked promotional items, category management allows you to recover sales by having in place, based on forecasting, appropriate quantities of individual SKUs. One retailer recently leveraged a software-generated analysis of its point of sale data to slash inventory levels by 30% and reduce the volume of overstocked promotional items on its shelves by about 65%.

Additionally, mining point of sale data for the purpose of practicing category management leads to more “efficient” assortments. For example, retail category management experts have long said that within the cereal category, retailers can garner a full 99% of their profits from 85% of the SKUs they carry. By applying analysis tools, they can then weed out slow movers and discontinue poor sellers,  yielding merchandise mixes that consistently produce a higher volume of sales.

pcAmerica’s Cash Register Express software offers retailers a cost-effective point of sale solution that makes data easy to access. More information is available at www.pcamerica.com. And for other ways to do more with point of sale data, see Part Two of this four-part series.

Data breaches: the hits just keep on coming.  The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), received 336,000 complaints about Internet fraud in 2009, representing $559 million worth of financial losses by consumers as well as a 22% increase over $265 million in losses recorded last year. The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), a non-profit organization whose 4,200 members include financial service firm provider organizations (among them processors and ISOs); banks, and credit unions, gets 500 data breach incident reports per month, up from about 10 per month as was the case until September of 2010; such data compromises affect 1.5 to 2.5 million computers.

But what’s even scarier about these statistics is the increasing sophistication of the perpetrators who are behind them. For example, criminals have recently figured out a way to “hijack” checking account data from point of sale and other systems and use the Automated Clearing House (ACH) system to fund and replenish gift cards. Others are hacking into databases to generate ACH debits they then apply to gift card purchases. Both of these schemes are more difficult to track and uncover than those that involve “straight” hijacking of checking account data to turn it into illicit money.

In another twist, criminals have discovered a way to covertly replace merchants’ POS hardware with “rogue” equipment that can intercept credit and debit card data—and the size of the rogue devices is such that is difficult, if not impossible, to detect their presence within a terminal. To further pull the wool over operators’ eyes, “bad guys” will apply a small (usually dime-sized) fake label or sticker on the exterior of the “replacement” equipment. At first glance, these stickers may look like they are official and that they carry legitimate product serial numbers. But don’t be fooled: they’re there to hide drill holes or other criminal entry points in the terminal. Similarly, criminals are installing rogue devices near terminals and “splicing” them into payment terminal network connections, as well as setting up more hidden cameras near payment terminals to capture PIN data.

While PCI compliance is not a guarantee against data breaches that result from schemes like the ones described above, achieving it is a critical step towards minimizing problems in the future—and pcAmerica can help. One of the first companies of its kind to offer PCI-compliant point of sale solutions, pcAmerica has upgraded its PA-DSS-certified Cash Register Express retail point of sale and Restaurant Pro Express restaurant software to satisfy requirements set forth in the latest PCI standards. For more information, visit www.pcamerica.com.