Increased Profitability With Retail Management Software

Retail Business are embracing new technologies like retail management software systems in order to keep in pace with the changing customer environment and business needs. The customer today is informed and is looking for quality service delivery, decreased turnaround transaction time, convenience, value for money and appreciation. On the other hand, the retail businesses want to meet the increasing customer demands, higher costs of operations and stiff business competition.

The retail management software application tool can offer help transform business processes. An integrated retail management system can offer the following benefits;

  • iVend Retail for Apparel RetailersCentralized business operations control.
  • Improved customer service delivery.
  • Enhanced understanding of the customer needs.
  • Understanding of the business trends.
  • Ability to make wise and informed decisions.
  • Reduced costs of operations.
  • Improved inventory management.
  • Enhanced customer satisfaction.

Why Adopt Integrated Retail Systems

As businesses expand their operations they are compelled to install advanced retail management software systems in their retail stores. These systems ensure that there is a coordinated, configurable, scalable, convenient and cost effective process management in the retail stores. Information management is streamlined with use of software integration in all departments from the front of the house, through back of the house, to the head offices.

Managers can monitor and analyze business activities including inventory management to ensure that there are no stock-outs. The systems also helps customers buy products from anywhere anytime at their convenience. In addition, the retail management software helps business monitor their sales and costs to ensure that they maximize on their profits. The retail management system simplifies business process management- BPM.

When you are seeking for retail management software, you need to ensure that it is able to offer the following;

  1. Improved Point of Sale- POS

Point of Service- POS tool that is incorporated in the broader retail management software, ensures that customers do not waste time waiting in the queue to check out. The system also ensures accuracy in transactions which minimizes financial loses that arise from manual of unreliable POS systems. A sophisticated yet intuitive POS handles aspects such as pricing, promotions, discounts, returns, and layaways.

The system can customize the receipts to include graphics and logos as part of the brand name identity promotion.  In addition, with a mobile POS retail management software application, a business increases its Point of Service interaction with the customer on the store floor. This means that there is increased capacity without increasing floor space. This is able to reduce check outs and also any abandoned carts, which make customers satisfied.

  1. Customer Retention Programs

Losing customers can dearly cost a business. It is therefore important to understand their buying habits and needs. A loyalty system that can help retain customers is a prerequisite for retail businesses. With increased competition, it means that businesses need to know when to entice their loyal customers so that they can strengthen their bond with them.

A retail management software tool with a loyalty programs application feature can help add value for customer money. With a loyalty application that is based on informative customer behavior analysis, this can help know the right time to offer special deals for the loyal customers. Also a retail business can know the type of loyalty plans to develop. More than one loyalty plans can be devised and run concurrently. This helps in getting new customers, retaining the existing customers, making existing customers spend more, as well as shifting the customers spending on goods with higher margins.

Effective retail management software should be able to offer multi channel retailing whether it is retail store buying, online retain store purchases or mail order catalogs.

Benefits Of Using An Integrated Software Solution In Fashion Retail

As a retailer, you understand that selling products is not the only thing you have done by the end of the day.

You also:
  • iVend Retail for Fashiontrack the sales of the day
  • sell gift certificates
  • keep an eye out for loss of inventory
  • print sales reports
  • ship items to website customers
  • communicate with the staff
  • open registers and then close them out
  • create new customer accounts
  • look up information about products
  • inventory your merchandise

It is humanly not possible to carry out all these functions manually. As a  retailer you would for sure need some assistance by way of automation to carry out these tasks.

Retail management software provides this much needed assistance. A Retail Management System can help you with all of the above and more! It helps manage all of your day to day functions, ranging from point of sales, to accounting, tracking of customers, schedules and ledgers, etc.

There once was a time when working with retail management software was considered being cutting edge, today it is simply a necessity. What is cutting edge, is being able to put all the programs together and make them work as one cohesive unit. To have an application suite which works together seamlessly saves you time, money, effort and frustration.

Point Of Sale Engagement With Retail Management Software

First impression on a customer is vital. This is one of those moments that will determine whether you will see the customer ever again.
Similarly, the last impression is just as important. This is where you thank the customers for coming in, and making them feel special so they wish to return. This goodbye could either create a lasting relationship or push them away forever. Customers are very sensitive and choosy. They want to be recognized for their worth and to know they are spending their hard-earned money in a place that remembers them. Everyone likes to be greeted by their name, so ending a transaction with, “Thank you for coming by, Mr. Smith”, goes a long way. This is all can be achieved with a good retail management software at the cash register.

Making For A Loyal Customer

In the days of old, when folks bought items at the local grocery, sometimes they were given an extra, be it a piece of meat, an ear of corn or a lollipop for the child accompanying the parent to town.
That tradition has continued through the decades and taken on many forms. Retail stores are not the only business to see the wisdom of this type of action. Think about all the rewards programs with credit cards, gas stations and frequent flier miles. This has been a way to ensure the customer will return to your particular store, or chain.

Retail management software introduced reward cards. These allow for the retailer to offer incentives. This may be done with vouchers. For instance, every five hundred dollars equals a voucher of twenty dollars sent to the customer. Or, perhaps when a customer buys merchandise, points are added to the account and a flier on the register shows what can be acquired for free with specific amounts of points.

Good Retail Management Software Does It All

With a good retail management software package, you can track all your activities in the store, track what each customer buys and reward them accordingly and help them check out more quickly and efficiently. And all the while, refer to them by name. This keeps a lasting relationship for years to come between you and the customer.

Why Australian Online Retail Has Been Behind Everyone Else

Australian online retailThere are two very simple reasons why Australian online retail has lagged behind the rest of the world: an unwillingness to adopt it, and an inability to adopt it.  The unwillingness of most businesses to adopt full scale online sales can be attributed to the perception that there’s simply not a local market to support the investment required for a robust online sales presence.  It costs the same to make a great website whether it sells 100 units or 100,000 units, hence businesses should reasonably expect to make their online retail investment back.  The inability factor can be attributed to the previously prohibitive cost of multi channel retail combined with a lack of wide spread high speed internet access.

Why That’s About to Change

Internet availability is improving at a fast pace, both through physical lines and smart phones making it available to more people than ever.  It’s vital for businesses to have true multi channel retail solutions in place to capitalise on the, at present, underutilised market that’s available.  Thankfully there are cost effective solutions open to today’s businesses.

The Importance of Integrated Retail Systems

It’s vital in order for retailers to remain competitive today that they implement seamlessly integrated retail systems.  If retail businesses adopt disparate systems working in tandem, the results are not conducive to enabling business to maximise profits.  Any competitive business needs retail systems that are as automated as possible while retaining full integration.  There is no advantage in selling five (5) items online,  only to have the physical store report those five (5) items available still in stock.

Shopper Satisfaction at the Point of Sale

It’s a fact: shopper satisfaction has a positive financial impact.  By putting in place processes that improve the customer experience through an integrated retail system, you’ll be creating lifelong loyal customers who will not only return to your business for their shopping needs, but be promoters for it in their everyday life.  Multiple points of sale increase the need for a favourable and consistent customer experience regardless of the sale platform.  The word of a great customer service experience doesn’t stop spreading just because you can’t “see” the customer.

Effective Loyalty Systems

Loyalty systems serve multiple functions both in a  physical retail setting as well as through online retailing.  It’s important to have one unified program that creates an engaging experience for customers, but not at the cost of substantial time and maintenance for business.  Look for integrated retail systems that are easy to use, but still have the robust features that you’re looking for in a loyalty solution.

Multi Channel Retail

The current trend amongst  Australian businesses today who have a web presence is to use their website as a way to promote the range and availability of their products, rather than to use their websites to actually enable a customer to purchase from.  In today’s market there’s zero reason to miss out on a sale that comes directly from a website.  By creating a unified multi channel retail experience, businesses can ensure that they’re maximising their revenue as well as their sale opportunities.

New Innovations in Retail – Shaping the Future

These ideas are just the beginning for Australian multi channel retail.  Going forward, it’s going to be more important than ever to identify retail trends.  Paradoxically that’s going to be even more difficult as multi channel retail is employed, since there will be multiple moving parts to keep track of.  One of the best investments that any retail business can make for its future is an integrated retail system with a robust suite of retail analytics.

Retail Management Systems Boost Efficiency to Increase Revenue

An increase in the efficiency of the various aspects incorporated in retail industry through the use of retail management software boosts the efficiency of retail companies to increase revenues. This is simply because these systems have the capacity to reduce the costs, create extra revenue and to streamline as well as optimizing business processes. These systems also offer lots of solutions from POS to logistics, Loyalty to ecommerce, customer services and much more.

Importance of integrated retail systems

An ‘Integrated’ Retail management software offers a number of benefits to you and your retail business. These benefits include:

  • Mobility in RetailSaving time and money- when you choose to use retail management software to manage your retail stores, manage your warehouses as well as your business sites, you will save both time and money. This is simply because these systems are fast and also reduce costs to be incurred.
  • Reports- the systems are able to reflect your entire business history through the use of reporting and management tools which are very accurate.
  • Auto-update data of in-stock and out-of-stock quantities are adjusted automatically whenever you transfer inventory.
  • Purchasing decisions- Better inventory planning and forecasting methods for optimal inventory replenishment methodologies. You can make your business purchasing decisions across your retail chain including your online sales.
  • Customer experience- you can automatically set up your customers’ accounts online and give them an extra way to shop with you. Loyalty customers can view their accounts online. You can also be in a position to keep in touch with your customers by the use of integrated marketing tools such as emails newsletters and promotional discounts. If customers account history is essential, the use of retail management software can make it possible for them to view their entire history online including their online and non-online purchases.
  • Integrated ERP – Choose a retail software that allows you to integrated with vast range of ERPs available in market for an effective enterprise accounting management. For example, start with an SME ERP like SAP Business One and migrate easily to SAP Retail/ All-in-One/ R3 easily without changing your retail systems.

Shopper engagement at POS

There are a number of options that you can use to enhance shopper engagement at POS when using retail management software. These include:

  • Loyalty- you can deliver genuine rewards to your customers by running a customer loyalty programme. You can further build shopper satisfaction rapidly by focusing on quick access rewards.
  • Appreciation- you can keep track of your shoppers and what they buy and latter show an appreciation through a text, email or even a letter. This will greatly help them appreciate your business.
  • Promoting at touch points- continuous promotions on customer receipts, customers’ accounts and point of purchase customer displays will lead to growth of your business.

Effective loyalty systems

Web Storefront Retail

Applications such as iVend Suite of Retail applications includes an enterprise grade Loyalty System that can enhance your customer engagement and provide greater customer satisfaction. The applications are designed with specifications that allows them to integrate with other applications by use of universal and neutral web services based APIs. This can greatly increase your customer retentions by bringing them again and again.

Multi-channel retailing

You can easily increase your customers’ satisfaction as well as your profitability by use of multi-channel retailing software. This is because you will have increased your customers’ interactions and retailing services and hence enhances your customers’ loyalty as well as the number of times they come shopping at your retail. You can also use this software to link your touch-points with your customers, through buying opportunities like catalogues, ecommerce platform, phones and multi-stores. You can also personalize customer’s contacts thus making each customer feel valued.

Hillzeez integrates Retail environment with iVend Retail

Company: Hillzeez

Country: Australia

Industry: Retail – Sporting Goods

Hillzeez Down South Surf Shops are a multi-store one stop shop for all of your surfing and skating needs. For over 20 years, this Perth based business has been supplying novices and hard core fanatics the latest and greatest equipment from surfboards, wetsuits and bodyboards, to skateboards and all of the associated accessories.

Challenge

  • Comprehensive integration between Retail, Inventory and Accounting functions
  • Enhance inventory management to reduce stock- out and overstock situations
  • Improve customer management and retention

With three stores spread throughout Busselton and Bunbury, Hillzeez had already been through the process of implementing SAP Business One with the Infinity point of sale solution written by Triquestra. The goal of the SAP Business One implementation was to provide visibility of activity across stores on real time basis, allowing for more accurate inventory requirements, and hence lower on-hand balances and associated costs. In the short term, this solution appeared to be working well, however it was not long before inadequacies in the integration between Infinity and SAB Business One began to cause problems. Whilst the business could persist with the current solution, Glenn Callegari, Managing Director says:

“I felt that the integration and support were not established enough to provide this business what it needed. The integration was written and supported by Enprise. The POS software was owned and supported by Triquestra. Essentially I needed 3 parties supporting 3 products on the same page.”

With these inherent integration issues, Hillzeez faced 3 strategic problems in choosing to persist with Infinity as their point of sale solution.

  1. Inability to utilize SAP Business One patches and upgrades
  2. Lack of understanding of each component by each party
  3. Lack of understanding of the retail environment

As a result, Hillzeez was forced to look for alternatives. CitiXsys’ iVend Retail solution became a clear choice.

Solution: iVend Retail

Benefits

  • Seamlessly integrated environment with iVend Retail and SAP Business One.
  • Centralized pricing control across retail stores with flexibility for discounts and promotions
  • Improved customer management with Gift Certificate functionality

As described by Glenn:
“Some Retail software applications offer a lot, but any features they may have aren’t of any use if not supported by a seamless integration. It’s important to understand and remember that integration is bidirectional. To have a true centralized environment, SAP Business One needed to be able to control the Retail features and settings that any Retail solution offered. The Retail solution needed to transact efficiently, accommodate the demands of a modern retail environment, and replicate this data back to SAP Business One, mapping to all tables and fields with ease. Sounds simple enough, but to find this in the market has been a long search. iVend, a product built for SAP B1, seemed a logical choice.”

On selecting the CitiXsys iVend solution, Hillzeez perceived some immediate benefits to their business.

An integrated environment

All features the POS solution offered could be embraced knowing full well it was an ‘add-on’ to the SAP Business One product and thus fully supported by it. These features could be configured, manipulated and controlled by SAPB1.

A seamless solution

iVend offered great visibility real time into store operations, whilst ‘building the financials’ in SAP Business One with accuracy in the way it mapped back to the GL.

Mapping of GL Accounts

The ability to map payment types to correct GL code, for both AR invoices and AR Credit Memos. On implementation of the iVend solution, Glenn describes additional improvements Hillzeez have been able to achieve:

Gift Certificates

The issue of Gift Certificates is simple. Serialized tracking and redemption has improved. The ability to draw down balance works well and allows customer to retain the same voucher until it is fully redeemed. The ability to lookup a voucher balance and voucher use is simple.

Centralized control of pricing at the POS

Update price lists through hierarchies and expansions within SAP Business One, and realize the potential of Promotional Pricing module within iVend, which offers increased centralized control across all stores.

Laybys (Layaways)

Laybys are fully supported and very easily comprehended by staff and customers.

Refunds

Visibility into refunds issued by staff has improved. Invoices can be scanned into the computer improving sales control and easy look up.

General Ledger Mapping

Reliably map to the General Ledger as balances in the GL can easily be supported by POS events. There are no transactions failing or debiting or crediting the wrong account. Each Accounts Receivable invoice posting in SAP Business One is a direct reflection of what happened in iVend, including discounts given, Business Partners, price lists and payment means. The ‘End of Day’ till balancing has become an easier task to complete, with visibility into each transaction that builds the payment type balance being reconciled. Hillzeez gained great implementation success by having the capability to run the iVend solution in parallel with the Infinity solution. This enabled them to be able to completely test the solution and its integration with SAP Business One, long before the product went “live”. Management in each store was able to workshop the solution, and then train the staff members as required on a test database. This provided valuable feedback into the General Ledger mappings. Whilst immediate and positive results from implementing iVend Retail have been significant, the company’s technology investment will continue to provide future benefits. With integration and functionality issues now resolved, they can focus on growing their successful business, helping us all look good whilst we surf and skate.

“I’ve worked with many support partners on many solutions, and without hesitation, I can say CitiXsys has met my expectations in areas where many previous ‘support’ partners haven’t. They take an interest in your business processes and don’t expect you to compromise for the sake of the product. If you are not happy in an area that you feel has not met your expectation, they will act to remedy it at once, taking the approach that if one client wants this today, it will most likely be another client expecting it tomorrow. Remote support is no issue; it is like they are on your doorstep anyhow.”

Glenn Callegari, Managing Director

 

 

EMPR Holdings, Sydney uses Inventory Pro for Inventory efficiencies

Company: EMPR Holdings Pty Ltd

Country: Australia, China and New Zealand

Industry: Wholesale Distribution for Computer Replacement Parts

Located in Sydney, EMPR® is a Global Multinational and a leading distributor of HP, Toshiba and ASUS. They have been supplying genuine parts and accessories to all sectors throughout Australasia including Government, Corporate and home users.

What began as a small company, EMPR® over the years has evolved into a Global Multinational Company in the Asia Pacific region with operations in Australia and New Zealand. China Operations are due to commence in early 2011 together with future expansion plans within the Asia Pacific region.

EMPR® has grown rapidly to become a major computer hardware supplier in the region and are the recipients of many awards for being in the top performing HP Master Parts Reseller for the replacement parts Business within the entire Asia Pacific region.

Challenge

  • Improve order tracking and shipment status across warehouses
  • Seamless and deep integration with SAP® Business One
  • Maintain the niche, be competitive by improved inventory and customer management

The company decided to implement SAP Business One as an ERP solution to manage its critical business functions across sales, distribution and financials – via one flexible responsive system that could integrate and provide real time access to information.

Multiple product lines being catered to from multiple warehouses, made the company look for a warehousing application that was integrated with SAP Business One to provide important functionality required in their distribution ecosystem.

As a full service distributor, they required a cost effective warehousing solution that could process sales transactions, monitor inventory movement, manage order entry and integrate data in real time at their head office.

In addition, they required a solution that could confidently keep track of orders sent to warehouse for fulfillment and shipment, offer easy process to reconcile backorders and could support future growth.

Solution: Inventory Pro with SAP Business One

Benefits

  • 360 degree view of order and stock status across multiple warehouses
  • Improved inventory management with advanced warehousing features like allocations
  • Comprehensive view of the company’s revenue, costs and inventory valuation in real-time

After evaluating various options, EMPR® decided to implement Inventory Pro for SAP Business One from CitiXsys. Both solutions were installed and implemented by Key Business Solutions. Since the rollout of Inventory Pro, the company has realized various business benefits. Access to real time information has enabled better supply chain planning and efficiency.

In addition, stock positions are easy to obtain at any given point of time at any of their warehouses, providing visibility and streamlining distribution operations.

The company is also able to track orders in real time, manage growth and meet customer expectations for higher service levels to support repeat business. Improved forecasting and enhanced visibility across the business has also helped improve business performance providing a scalable platform that supports the company’s plan for rapid expansion.

According to Ben Holmes, IT Director of EMPR Holdings, Inventory Pro has greatly helped them improve their process efficiencies.

“Inventory Pro improved our business processes in terms of our stock accuracies.

IP has enabled us to have a better process in picking, packing and order accountability.

At the end of every day we know the status of every order and we can reconcile our backlogs and account for all the orders where as in the past we may not have been proactive enough in finding the problem orders.”

Ben Holmes,

IT Director, EMPR®Holdings.

 

Reeves Floral selects iVend Retail for better supply chain planning & efficiency

Company: Reeves Floral Products Inc.

Country: United States of America

Industry: Specialty Retail – Floral & Decorative Accessories

Located in Georgia, Reeves Floral Products, Inc. has been servicing the floral and decorative needs of designers, florists, interior decorators, caterers and event planners throughout Southeast America since 1962.

What began as a greenhouse grower and supplier of fresh flowers in a small northern suburb of Atlanta, Georgia, has evolved into one of the largest importers and distributors of cut flowers, floral supplies, artificial flowers and decorative accessories in the United States.

The company has over 100,000 square feet of showroom and warehouse space in its main facility located in Woodstock, Georgia and offers an extensive range of floral products and services that include seedlings, cuttings, wholesale flowers, florist supplies and much more.

In addition, the company also operates out of Gainesville, Georgia where a full array of products and services are also available.

Challenge

  • Flexible, responsive and integrated solution to provide real time access to information
  • Improve inventory management and in-store customer experience
  • Maintain the niche, be competitive by improved retail management

A growing demand for their products and services made the company reevaluate its current point of sale system and also determine it needed a point of sale solution that could integrate with SAP Business One and provide important functionality required in their retail ecosystem.

As a full service florist, they required a cost effective POS software that could process sales transactions, monitor inventory movement, manage order entry and integrate data in real time at their head office in Woodstock.

In addition, they required a solution that could confidently and quickly process transactions and credit card payments, offer easy check outs, was easy to use and could support future growth.

SolutioniVend Retail, iCharge with SAP Business One

Benefits

  • Consolidated retail sales data with improved accuracy and transparency through iVend Retail Management Solution
  • Improved purchasing and forecasting
  • Improved pricing flexibility for discounts and promotions

After evaluating various Retail systems, Reeves Floral decided to implement iVend Retal and Credit Card Add-on, iCharge from CitiXsys and both solutions were installed and integrated with Business One within one month.

Since the rollout of iVend Retail and iCharge, the company has realized various business benefits. Access to real time information has enabled better supply chain planning and efficiency. In addition, sales figures are easy to obtain at any given point of time at either of their locations, providing visibility and streamlining retail operations. The company is also able to track orders in real time, manage growth and meet customer expectations for higher service levels to support repeat business. Improved forecasting and enhanced visibility across the business has also helped improve business performance providing a scalable platform that supports the company’s plan for rapid expansion

“I would like to take a moment to compliment you on the team you have working for you. I have worked on several implementations in the past and have never worked with a group who were as eager and talented as your associates.

Even with the time difference between India and the United States, there never seems to be an issue completing any development that arises.

Thank you again for all your help.”

Chuck Woodring, Warehouse Manager, Reeves Floral Products, Inc.

 

Workwear Industries benefits from iVend Retail & SAP Business One

Company: Workwear Industries

Country: Australia

Industry: Retail – Industrial Strength Workwear Gear

Located in Perth, West Australia, Workwear Industries has been supplying world-class protective wear for various industries ranging from heavy industry, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, to medical research. The range of products includes work garments, protective coveralls, disposable protective gear and other protective gear. Workwear Industries continues its tradition with emphasis on quality and commitment in providing the safest work wear and protective gear to its customers.

Challenge

  • Fully integrated enterprise accounting application with retail operations
  • Improve inventory and customer management
  • Improve employee productivity and overall store performance

With its products sold throughout Australia, it was important for the back-office and point of sale solution chosen by Workwear Industries, to be robust and easy-to-use. The company began to explore the possibility of investing in a solution that could integrate their business processes and information across their enterprise. In addition, they also evaluated the possibility of acquiring a solution that could provide real time (POS) data, visibility and insight into sales numbers and help in accelerating and improving the execution of transactions. Their greatest challenge was to find an affordable, easy-to-use solution that would help them manage their critical business functions across sales, financials, and operations in one single integrated system.

The main benefits that the iVend solution was perceived to provide Workwear Industries during the review process, was its ease of use, its complete integration with SAP Business One, and its ability to scale up and keep pace with growth of the business. The staffs who use the system also commented on iVend’s friendly user interface and how quickly they grew accustomed to it.

Solution: iVend Retail with SAP Business One

Benefits

  • Increased visibility across all sales and purchasing transactions
  • Intuitive solution scalable for future growth
  • Improved customer management & retention through gift cards and layaways
  • Comprehensive view of the company’s revenue, costs and inventory valuation in real-time

Previously using Nexus, Workwear Industries elected to implement SAP Business One and its integrated point of sale solution iVend Retail – which would be used at their retail outlets. The solution was so complete; there was no need to source alternatives. SAP Business One and iVend Retail offered it all. According to Leeann Stewart, General Manager Finance & Administrator at Workwear Industries.

“It was more about efficient processing of orders, keeping pace with business growth for now and for the future.” she said.

“We love the way iVend Retail integrates with SAP Business One, from the way it handles the transactions, ease of access of the transaction information, ease of use through touch screens and extreme ease to learn & train others.

iVend Retail with SAP Business One has greatly improved our information tracking through every part of the software.

It is now very easy to process information and the overall reporting is far more accurate and crisp”

Leeann Stewart,

GM Finance & Administrator Workwear Industries

 

MiniJumbuk replaces Attache with iVend retail + SAP Business One

Company: MiniJumbuk

Country: Australia

Industry: Retail – Home Wares

A proudly 100% owned Australian icon, MiniJumbuk has been manufacturing and selling exceptional quilts, underlays and pillows for over 30 years. Based in Naracoorte, South Australia, MiniJumbuk developed the first woollen blanket in Australia, and today continues the tradition with its emphasis on quality, innovation and craftsmanship, being committed to providing the best possible night’s sleep. MiniJumbuk quilts, underlays and pillows are available from all leading department stores and Manchester specialty shops.

Challenge

  • Improve inventory and customer management
  • Fully integrate enterprise accounting application with retail operations
  • Create gift certificates from retail system
  • Improve employee productivity and overall store performance

With its products sold throughout Australia, Europe and China, it was important for the backoffice and point of sale solution chosen by MiniJumbuk, to be robust and easy-to-use. The company began to explore the possibility of investing in a solution that could integrate their business processes and information across their enterprise. In addition, they also evaluated the possibility of acquiring a solution that could provide real time (POS) data, visibility and insight into sales numbers and help in accelerating and improving the execution of transactions. Their greatest challenge was to find an affordable, easyto-use solution that would help them manage their critical business functions across sales, financials, and operations in one single integrated system.

The main benefits that the iVend solution was perceived to provide MiniJumbuk during the review process, was its ease of use, its complete integration with SAP Business One, and its ability to recall transactions for refunds and reprinting receipts. The staffs who use the system also commented on iVend’s friendly user interface and how quickly they grew accustomed to it.

Solution: iVend Retail with SAP Business One

Benefits

  • Increased visibility across all sales and purchasing transactions
  • Intuitive solution scalable for future growth
  • Improved customer management & retention through gift cards and layaways
  • Comprehensive view of the company’s revenue, costs and inventory valuation in real-time

Previously using Attache, MiniJumbuk elected to implement SAP Business One and its integrated point of sale solution iVend Retail – which would be used at their retail outlets. The solution was so complete; there was no need to source alternatives. SAP Business One and iVend Retail offered it all. According to Angela Hahn, Finance Administrator at MiniJumbuk, iVend Retail was rolled out in exactly four days.

“Due to our location, the CitiXsys team arrived on Saturday night, and on Sunday, they began training some of the staff that were commissioned to handle this transition at MiniJumbuk. The software was loaded on either Sunday or Monday and was tested out that very day. It’s incredible but we actually went live on Tuesday,” she said.

“We needed a better system to support our company, so we went with SAP. Our retail shop also needed an easier, user friendly system which integrated with SAP so we selected iVend Retail. We are now better able to track transactions through the system and can also create gift certificates on the fly.”

Angela Hahn,
Finance Administrator MiniJumbuk


CitiXsys Singapore starts business to grow South East Asian market

Singapore; Aug 16, 2011: CitiXsys is pleased to announce opening its new offices in Singapore to work closely with partners and customers in South East Asia. Lionel Low has joined CitiXsys Singapore as Channel Sales Manager.  Lionel’s joining CitiXsys reinforces our commitment to our customers and partners in the South East Asia, China and Hong Kong market as the company plans to maximize its share as a SAP Solution and Technology Partner in the region.

“With recent customer acquisitions in retail and distribution domain in Vietnam, Singapore and other SEA regional countries, we were encouraged to have a local presence in the region. CitiXsys Singapore will grow to become our hub for regional activities in SEA.” said Kamal Karmakar, CEO, CitiXsys Group.

Lionel brings more than 11 years of experience in sales with various industries and listed corporations. He has practiced Hybrid Sales for direct and indirect SAP solutions. Before CitiXsys he has worked with Electra Singapore, Obtech Asia Pacific, Advent Electric to name a few. He will be reporting to Paula Goncalves, Director of Operations, Asia Pacific region, CitiXsys Australia.

Establishing a regional office managed by Lionel Low further cements our growth strategy in South East Asia.  Its a region that we have identified and included in our expansion plans for 2012 and long wanted to strengthen with a local presence to better support our partners and customers..” said Paula Goncalves.

Click here for official press release.

About CitiXsys:
With over 4000 customers in 15 countries using CitiXsys products and solutions, CitiXsys is one of the largest Software Solution Partner to the SAP Business One globally. CitiXsys is a leading provider of software products in the Retail and Wholesale Distribution Supply Chain domain.

A recipient of the SAP Pinnacle Award, all CitiXsys products are integrated with SAP Business One while its flagship product iVend Retail also has integrations with SAP ERP for large and midsize retailers. CitiXsys has its corporate headquarters in New York and offices in Chicago, Toronto, Panama City, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

For more information about iVend and CitiXsys log on to https://citixsys.com/