3. Reduce Theft
Employee theft of cash and inventory, as well as unwarranted discounts are among the leading causes of shrinkage. By using a secure POS system, you can reduce theft by an average of 2.5% because all cash transactions and every piece of inventory in your business is being monitored. Cash Register Express (CRE), a POS system from pcAmerica, has multiple theft prevention features that ensure your employees are accountable. Control access to every system function of the program that has an effect on the store’s cash or inventory levels based on an employee’s unique login ID or job code. Strict cash control features can be used to identify cash discrepancies down to the shift or the cashier. Owners can also easily add digital video security systems for visual verification of employee transactions.

Pearl River, NY – Dec. 17, 2009 – pcAmerica announces that Epson’s new TM-T70 space-saving thermal receipt printer has been tested and is certified to work with Restaurant Pro Express and Cash Register Express software from pcAmerica. The innovative TM-T70 is the industry’s only all-front-access single-station printer designed to fit any point of sale environment.

“Part of creating an efficient point of sale system is choosing the correct receipt printers for your needs,” said David Gosman, chief executive officer of pcAmerica. “The Epson TM-T70 is a strong addition to our certified line-up. It’s compact size, coupled with the all-front access design of the printer which allows under-counter mounting, reduces or eliminates the counter space required by other receipt printers.”

Epson TM-T70 Features:

• Easy, All-Front Access: The TM-T70 is the only receipt printer available today with all-front access including front-facing controls, paper loading and receipt dispensing. The printer is equipped with a near-end paper detector, paper out, power and error LEDs, an auto-cutter and optional annunciator.
• Small, Space-Saving Footprint & Mounting Option: With its small size and low height, the TM-T70 is designed to fit under a counter or in other places where space is at a premium and it is also available with an under-counter mounting option.
• Spill-Resistance: The TM-T70 features a sealed top for superior resistance to spills and an optional cable management system, especially important in food service and hospitality environments.
• High-Speed, High-Resolution: The TM-T70 prints receipts and graphics at the same fast speed of 170mm/second at 180 dpi resolution, and supports a variety of bar codes, including 2D.
• Reliability: Backed by a two-year warranty, with an MCBF of 52 million lines and an auto-cutter life of 1.5 million cuts, the TM-T70 is ideal for high-volume environments where reliability is crucial.

pcAmerica point of sale software has a long-standing relationship with Epson. For over 20 years, pcAmerica has been instrumental in providing reliable POS systems for over 50,000 users worldwide.

About Epson
Epson is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of highly reliable point-of-service technology, including printers, precision printing mechanisms and digital image scanners. For the fourth year in a row (2006-2009), retailers have ranked Epson first in POS peripherals in the RIS News “Hardware LeaderBoard.” For more information, please visit pos.epson.com.

About pcAmerica
Founded in 1985, pcAmerica has been providing computerized point of sale software solutions to the retail, restaurant, and hospitality industries for over 20 years. With over 50,000 users worldwide, our point of sale software solutions are used by both chains as well as single location independent operators. Our lengthy track record as a proven point of sale solutions provider is driven by continuous product innovation, uncompromised customer service, and simplicity of use. Some notable pcAmerica users include Flowers Foods, Goodwill Stores, Baskin-Robbins, Tasti D-Lite and various United States Embassies and Consulates. Headquartered in Pearl River, New York, pcAmerica is a division of Automation Inc, a privately held corporation under the leadership of David Gosman, CEO, and Richard Rotbard, President. For more information, please call 1-800-722-6374 or visit www.pcamerica.com.

Source: http://www.pcamerica.com/pos_press.html

2. Increase Checkout Accuracy and Speed
A point of sale system, like Cash Register Express, utilizes bar code technology to accurately ring up items and also provides an easy interface to edit item information to provide fast invoice processing and efficient inventory control. Even if you aren’t using bar code scanning, POS systems specify and track the price of every item in your store or on your menu. Being able to easily recall the price of an item takes away the hassle of having a customer wait and ensures that every item is being sold for the right price.

Shrinkage occurs when the inventory on hand is less than what it should be according to purchase and sales records. According to Retail Info Systems News, shrink costs retailers $114.8 billion in 2009, an increase of 5.9% over last year’s average shrink. Inventory shrinkage is most often due to employee theft, shoplifting, and/or paperwork error. Here are a few ways to reduce inventory shrinkage using a POS system.

1. Increase Inventory Accuracy
Track and manage inventory with a POS system. Computerizing can reduce inventory shrinkage by up to an additional 2.5%. POS systems like Cash Register Express from pcAmerica, which includes robust inventory tracking, helps reduce or eliminate shrinkage, stock discrepancies, and improve visibility for overall stock movement.

Stock can be counted or received away from the POS register, using the integrated Pocket Inventory Software on a mobile computer. Edit your inventory “on the floor”. Change pricing, costs, and product descriptions. The data automatically synchronizes with your POS system.

Computerized inventory reports allow you to track inventory stock levels, run discrepancy reports, and track overall inventory movement. Inventory reports can help you monitor your margins and stock more products that bring greater profits, helping you increase your average ticket amount.

Selling alcohol or tobacco to a minor can result in substantial fines for your business. Using an omni directional bar code scanner that can also read drivers’ licenses to verify proof of age can mitigate the risk. Both Cash Register Express and Restaurant Pro Express from pcAmerica offer age verification capabilities for liquor stores, bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and tobacco outlets.

For age-sensitive items such as liquor and tobacco, the POS can now be configured to verify the age of the customer before authorizing purchase in conjunction with a specialized bar code scanner (the Honeywell Focus or Genesis scanners with easy ID). Specific items can be marked as age sensitive products that require the cashier to check the ID. As soon as the item is scanned, the cashier is prompted to scan the customer’s license. A scan of the 2-D bar code on the back of most licenses will quickly verify the birth date attached to the license, and will clearly notify the cashier if the customer is underage or of proper age to purchase alcohol or tobacco.

The POS can be configured to prompt for an ID scan once per check, or can be set to nightclub mode, where IDs can be continuously scanned on a terminal located by the entrance. ID scanners are also a great way to quickly gather a marketing list – one simple scan will capture a customer’s name, mailing address and birth date and enter it into a customer profile. Using age verification within your POS system ensures that your cashiers are only selling to customers old enough to purchase these age-sensitive items.

You can take the guesswork out of pricing and further automate your store by purchasing a weight scale for your point of sale system. POS scales can improve the productivity in your store and decrease the cost of service. For instance, upgrades can be performed at the checkout lane, decreasing the cost of service and independent scanning zones can maintain productivity. Simply put the item on the scale and find out exactly how much you should charge from the weight displayed. Own the ability to choose the scale’s weight capacity and measurement interval depending upon the needs of your business. For instance, more precise intervals can be programmed for higher priced items.

Point of sale scales come with a variety of functionality. POS scales can be used with Cash Register Express (CRE) from pcAmerica to help aid in ringing up customers. There are two types of scales that can be used with CRE. One type will send the amount directly to Cash Register Express, so that you place the item on the scale and CRE will invoice the appropriate amount based on what the scale weighs. The other type of scale prints a bar code for the item, which contains the price, and is then scanned into the POS system via a bar code scanner. One such example is the Honeywell Stratos MS2320, a high performance in-counter bi-optic scanner/scale designed for the most demanding high volume supermarket and point of sale applications.

In a restaurant environment, customer service is as important as the food. The ability to cater to the needs of large parties by offering split checks is critical. Servers need to be able to split checks fast and accurately. With Restaurant Pro Express, checks can be split evenly any number of ways for guests that want their own bill. The ‘Order by Guest’ feature allows you to assign each item to a specific guest. The server can also split each guests items onto their own check with the touch of a button. If you need even more flexible check splitting, you can touch individual items and move them to their own check. Your servers will no longer dread the two words “split checks” with the feature from Restaurant Pro Express.

There are many factors to consider when choosing the right POS software for your business. Below are some additional questions you should ask your POS supplier:

• Does the POS software integrate with my accounting software?
• Does the POS software have the ability to scale up as my business grows?
• What customer loyalty/marketing programs are included with the POS software?
• Is the POS software easy to learn and use?

POS Service/Support
The ability to eliminate or reduce downtime for your POS system is crucial. If your POS system is not working, you cannot conduct business! A down POS system can not only cost you sales, but also repeat business. pcAmerica offers one hour of over-the-phone training to ensure that your POS system works properly and technical support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Here are some questions to ask your POS supplier:

• Make sure that you understand how your POS provider handles support and technical issues. Do they offer only phone support or also on-site support?

• Do they offer replacement POS equipment to keep your operations running?

• What type of warranty comes with a POS system?

• What do they charge for technical support?

• Does your POS software vendor offer training?

Software Demos
Try before you buy. Take the time to ensure that the POS software that you choose meets your business needs. Always demo the software before buying. For instance, pcAmerica offers an online demo of Cash Register Express that teaches you the ins and outs of their product.