All posts in Retail

Microsoft Dynamics GP is also referred as Great Plains Dynamics by GP user community. In Retail business you typically have such challenging requirements to your future Corporate ERP system, as POS (Point of Sale terminals, usually cash register with barcode scanner, coupon printer, credit/debit card, check and cash processors, POS screen for the customer to see the progress of scanning, etc.), merchandise barcode scanners in such automations as Sales Order Fulfillment, Inventory Replenishment, Increase/Decrease adjustments, Cycle Counts (these functions are typically implemented in Warehouse Management System software). Sometimes you also do assembly on order, which might be realized in such simple manufacturing modules as Bill of Materials, or even on the Kits level in Sales Order Processing. Lets review the highlights on how Retail business could be automated in Microsoft Dynamics GP. This publication is intended primarily to IT director, it is not overloaded with programming and technical terminology:

1.Dynamics GP and Retail external products or add-ons. If you like to have only very limited POS functionality and open Great Plains Sales Order Transaction entry to barcode scanning, there are several Dynamics GP Add-ons to consider. One of them is Compass Technologies extension. However, if you plan to do more advanced level of Retailing, such as supporting multiple stores, reorder merchandise, having mobile stores (where you are following seasonal retail trends, and rolling out your Flowers, Landscaping or Farmer Market outlets on the parking lots of the supermarkets), you may consider to implement external Retail application to automate these processes. As Dynamics GP is part of the Microsoft offer, we recommend you to consider Microsoft RMS (Retail Management System) for the upscale POS and Retail solution

2.POS extension versus external RMS. Obviously this is a decision, which should be done internally, as it defines your future direction advantages and disadvantages. If you pick POS extensions for Dynamics GP route, you do not need data synchronization phase, as POS add-on works directly with Great Plains transactions and master records. External POS system gives you the advantage of rich Retail business logic, but there are drawbacks, such as the necessity to synchronize POS transactions with Dynamics GP Sales Order Processing or Receivable Management documents, as well as Retail system originated Purchases and Inventory Adjustments and Transfers with similar transactions in Great Plains

3.Dynamics GP and Barcoding. You may try barcode scanning integration directly in GP windows, but this is not very efficient (especially taking into consideration such powerful barcode scanner options as batch mode documents scanning, and then batch mode upload to your ERP application). Normally we recommend you to purchase either external RMS or POS extension to GP, where barcoding is integrated. And when you need Barcoding on the warehouse floor, we recommend you to consider WMS (Warehouse Management System) add-on for GP, where you have such features as Sales Order Allocation, Inventory Adjustments, Transfers and Physical Counts, Merchandise Restocking

4.POS and Barcoding hardware. When you are in process of the next Corporate ERP system selection for retail business, it is important to review your Barcoding, Cash Registers on the subject of being compatible with the prospective Retail software. Please, note that barcode scanners and printers are progressing. For example in Barcode scanner selection dilemma you have multiple luxury or rather budget oriented options: having graphical user interface, or support only few lines of text in scanning, power of the internal processor, memory size, wireless protocols, etc. Microsoft RMS and Dynamics GP Workstation should be compatible with modern Microsoft Windows computer (where for cash register you probably want to minimize the hardware and software cost and in order to achieve these goals you may prefer to pick something which is rather at the minimums)

5.Sitting in your Headquarters and watching the numbers. Here we are coming to the topic of designing financial reporting, such as Balance Sheet, P&L, Statement of Cash Flow, plus probably consolidated versions of these reports (when you would like to consolidate sales results for several stores or all the stores to compare them to the last month or last year results to give you an idea). Here you have the privilege to capitalize on the power of Microsoft Dynamics GP reporting options. If you implement current version 2010/11.0 you should implement financial reporting in Microsoft Management Reporter. For the customers on the older versions: 10.0, 9.0, 8.0, 7.5, 7.0, 6.0, 5.5, 5.0, 4.0 you have FRx Financial Reporting. Both tools in our opinion are equally powerful

6.Supply Chain Management or going beyond POS and Retail features (talking about Logistics and Distribution). SCM is the term, which is considered to be broader than Warehouse Management System. It may include such features as merchandise consignment, truck delivery route optimization. If you think that such classic concepts as POS/Retail application, Warehouse Management System doesnt do the job in your case, you should consider to discuss your concerns with Dynamics GP Consultant or Partner. Microsoft Dynamics GP is definitely capable to address custom business processes requirements, but there is the cost of doing it either programing in Great Plains Dexterity, or eConnect and even Microsoft Visual Studio SDK for GP

7.Opening your operations for Electronic Commerce. Here you would need to consider such technical features as ecommerce shopping cart (Magento, ASP.Net Storefront or similar) integration with your ERP sales module, in the case of Dynamics GP with Sales Order Processing transaction, likely Invoice or Sales Order with customer deposit (Credit card payment). We recommend Alba Spectrum ecommerce add-on for Dynamics GP

8.Dynamics GP and International business. Multicurrency is supported in all the modules of Great Plains. We recommend you to review Corporate ERP localization concept, where ERP application should be translated to the local language, plus (and in our opinion it is more important) it should comply to local country business legislation. Dynamics GP is localized for most of English speaking countries, and plus for Spanish speaking Latin America (except Brazil, where they speak Brazilian Portuguese). At this time Dynamics GP is not localized for such languages as Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Russian, however translated interfaces are available, please call us for details

9.We are ready to serve you USA and Canada nationwide. Local service is available in Western Michigan (St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Holland, Saugatuck, New Buffalo, South Haven, Grand Haven, Ludington), in Southern California: Los Angeles, Orange County, San Diego, Houston Area of Texas, Chicagoland: Naperville, Chicago downtown and all the nearest suburbs

10.To request further support, please call us 1-866-528-0577, Retail industry is really complex and each customer might have know-how or business secrets to stay competitive. We need to discuss your cards in order to recommend you the best solutions, which is not contingent to our preferences

Money Is No Longer Buying Happiness
Let’s face it. Today, building an effective team of retail employees is more challenging than ever. We all agree that the key to an effective retail operation are high performing and productive employees. Furthermore, in spite of a great location or a superior line of goods or services the behavior of every single team member well have a dramatic affect on the overall success of the operation. Every time the employee steps out onto the sales floor and interacts with a customer a change in brand equity is realized. In other words, the behavior and interaction of your employee with your customer will have an ongoing affect on brand identity and brand equity within the competitive marketplace.

Understandably great customer experiences create gains in brand equity while disappointing performance by your team members will create a deterioration in your brand equity. Exactly what is the secret to ensuring that each and every one-on-one customer experience in your store consistently increases brand equity in the eyes of the community? In other words, what makes a team member consistently delight and dazzle your customers so that long-term customer relationships with ongoing repeat business are realized?

The secret is a team of engaged employees. Why is employee engagement so critical in today’s retail landscape? In earlier times employee expectations were quite simple. Employees were happy to come to work and do as they’re told, collect their paycheck and go home at the end of the day. In contrast todays employee is far more sophisticated, educated and connected than ever before. Not surprisingly, the Internet has been instrumental in increasing knowledge levels and subsequently employee aspirations and expectations in the workplace. Unlike earlier times, countless surveys have demonstrated that compensation itself is not enough to satisfy employees over the long-term. In fact, in a ranking of 10 critical elements in one recent survey compensation for employees was rated 6/10!

Today, a retail employee is not just motivated by compensation. Above everything else there is a need to belong to the organization and have a sense of ownership. Ownership can be realized through employee empowerment. Trusting your employees and empowering them to make decisions close to the customer creates personal long-term relationships between your team members and your clients. Empowering your employees creates a climate of ownership and belonging for your team members and generates a great level of loyalty to the company.

Building a team of engaged employees that generates powerful long-term customer relationships takes a long time to build. However once realized the organization will enjoy greater productivity per individual employee, higher morale, lower internal and external theft rates and most importantly, lower employee turnover.

How does an organization that has traditionally operated through a regimented model began to create a more productive and loyal team of engaged employees?

1] Make sure that all employees are kept informed of new and relevant developments in the company. They should hear them first and they should hear them from their organization directly. There is nothing more demoralizing than hearing about new organizational developments last or hearing them from an outside source that was aware of the development before your team was.

2] Give staff increased responsibility and trust. Expand their decision-making powers even if you impose some limitations. Empower staff to make decisions close to the customer and give them the necessary support and Training to enable them to make good win-win decisions for all stakeholders.

3] Encourage staff to make decisions close to the customer and even when on occasion a bad decision is made, offer supportive training and refrain from chastising or punishing the employee.

4] Ensure that a structured process is in place to recognize exemplary customer service on a regular basis. Recognize and reward engaged employees who go above and beyond the call of duty to create a memorable customer experience. To keep momentum going, this strategy is most effective during weekly meetings where peer recognition is realized and small rewards are given to stellar employees. Rewards do not need to be extravagant. The recognition and appreciation is the key to effective leadership of engaged employees.

5] Create a formal and informal system that enables engaged employees to voice their opinions and help steer the future direction of the organization. Empower them to voice their opinions on a regular basis and contribute their ideas in a positive way that will make the company more effective and more efficient. Successfully implemented ideas also merit some form of recognition and a reward.

Building a team of engaged employees is the key to future survival and prosperity in every retail organization. Although this can be complex and protracted in time, the key to success is a change in leadership style that supports a greater level of empowerment, involvement and ownership of today’s retail employee. Start now and create the culture that generates higher morale, higher productivity and lower turnover. Rise above the competition in small steps today, and soar to being number one tomorrow!

For more information visit www.retailinstitute.ca

retail, employees, morale, productivity, engagement, empowerment,customer service, customer relationships

Retail Management is a dynamic field and offers lucrative opportunities to those who are willing to study for it and learn the ropes. What makes it more exciting is that you dont need to finish a college degree to get started or become a successful retail manager. A short online course which you can take while you are working full-time can pave the way to a new and rewarding career in this industry. Since you will be dealing with different types of people, you must have good communication skills, be able to lead and motivate your staff, patient, keen attention to details, able to multitask, willing to work long hours and a problem solver. Running a retail store is very challenging but if you overcome the pressures, it can be very fulfilling too.

A retail management diploma may be helpful if you want to climb up the corporate ladder. It will also introduce you to the basic and technical concepts of running a business especially how to make your store profitable, hiring personnel and monitoring staff performance. After finishing a course, you can already apply for entry level positions. Some of the positions that you can apply for are store assistant, sales clerk or cashier. This is usually a first step to reaching the top. Observe and learn how the business works. Request to be assigned in different positions and shifts. Opening and closing shifts offer different insights so this will be helpful for you to become a retail manager later on.

While you are gaining experience, dont forget the importance of continued education. Though it is not required to have formal college education, taking up retail management courses even through distance learning is important not only to update your skills and give you competitive edge over other candidates for retail managers but to establish contacts with key people in the industry as well. When you keep yourself updated with business trends and skills, it wouldnt take long to qualify for managerial positions not only in retail but also in merchandising, sales, operations, accounting (if you take up accounting courses) and marketing. Choosing an accredited and recognized retail management institute is crucial in facilitating your shift to this field. Schools with good reputation often assist their graduates in applying for jobs by helping them create a solid resume and providing references. Make sure you take advantage of on-the-job training or internship. If you have friends who own stores or businesses, volunteer to work there even for a few hours a week. This can give you valuable experience and let you develop important skill set that you can use when you are ready to run a business or manage a retail store.