Retail Logic
EPoS supplier
Cybertill has begun
building modules for
car retailers using
its ‘virtual’ service
where stock data is
held on its servers
and accessed by
An EPoS system is essential for any retailer’s broadband
link. For more
card retailer right?
information visit:
www.cybertill.co.uk
Maybe not, says Terry Harvey
Don’t t get caught get caught
in n ththe e ‘epo-p‘epo-phoria’
he benefi ts of EPoS in modern the complete stock-take and the setting to price everything individually is suddenly
T
retailing are obvious and almost of minimum stock levels for each product removed. Percentage price increases are easy
as essential as having a ‘front because, after all, EPoS is the panacea to the to perform across the board at the press of a
door’ in most stores, particularly retailer’s problems. Isn’t it? button and staff become more effi cient at the
with the nationals and multiples. Well, that actually depends on your till which, may just offset the cost of the staff
So why isn’t EPoS as perspective. If the intention is to increase member entering data in the back offi ce.
prevalent in the independent greeting card profi tability by sharpening up the stock
shop? ordering, reducing stock holdings, Would I install EPoS in my shops
‘Cost’ is the fi rst answer. The installation monitoring shrinkage and refi ning the store despite these inherent downsides?
of EPoS into a single shop can cost between by using the ‘best seller’ reports the answer ‘Absolutely’
£8,000 and £10,000, which although not is probably, ‘No’. The reason: I have hope and aspiration.
prohibitive, certainly falls within the realms Assuming the store is already run with a I have hope that our industry will, in time,
of a ‘considered purchase’. With the modicum of skill, it is unlikely the effi ciency catch up with other retail industries and
average turnover of independent card shops savings will even cover the cost of the annual improve access to reliable product data, that
somewhere in the region of £170,000 per year fees associated with EPoS. Add to this the deliveries will arrive with a single barcode on
this fi gure is signifi cant for owners relying on
You soon
labour costs for the new and ongoing task the advice note for instant upload and that
the income. of maintaining the data on the system, which suppliers will conform to standardised bar-
There are also ongoing costs associated
realise how
involves entering every delivery, return and coding and pricing.
with EPoS such as maintenance fees and
appalling our
stock transfer and there will certainly be less I also have a personal aspiration towards a
subscriptions that can easily amount to money in the pot at the end of the year. wider network of stores, which cannot be run
£1500 per annum, which add further to the
industry is
The cost and commitment necessary effi ciently if run blind. EPoS restores sight to
attractiveness of the original £300 stand-alone
at providing
to maintain an accurate stock database stores where I am unable to be present and
till. is actually the deal-breaker and without a allows multiple stores to work as one unit more
When a retailer succumbs to ‘epo-phoria’ barcodes and fanatical effort in this area the benefi ts of EPoS easily.
and pays for an installation they then enter
product data
all but disappear. Unfortunately, a database Moreover, price changes, like those arising
the ‘fortnight of realisation’: The period where is either accurate or inaccurate with no in- from the recent reduction in VAT to 15%, are
the near impossible task of maintaining stock between. Failing to enter deliveries or returns incredibly simple with EPoS and can be done
data becomes apparent and the hours spent will ensure a retailer is back on the shop fl oor en masse as a percentage change leaving you
inputting information is multiplied by hourly with pen and paper preparing their next ‘non- just the task of changing the price boards in
rates to give even more running costs per year; card order’ unable to rely on the data from his the store.
easily into several thousand pounds. all-singing, all-dancing system. Even here though, shops without EPoS can
During this period it dawns on the retailer ‘Non-card order?’ deal with price changes by reducing at the till
how appalling our industry is at providing That’s right, card retailers don’t use EPoS unless you want to tackle the re-pricing of a
barcodes on products and the supporting fi les for ordering cards, they use stock tickets. few thousand lines
to keep an EPoS system up-to-date. Next Easy to overlook, but cards form at least So there you have it: A fairly damning
stop is a quick shopping trip on the interweb 50% of the turnover in a typical card shop indictment on the use of EPoS systems in
to buy a barcode printer and some boxes of and are generally ordered without reference independent greeting card stores.
sticky labels, which hopefully will make the to EPoS because suppliers systems are not EPoS is defi nitely the ‘future’ but whether
products more appealing to the new laser technically capable of accepting data sent it is worth paying to make it the ‘present’ for
scanner on the counter. down a phone line from a retailer’s stock your business right now is still a matter for
None of these things are insurmountable control system. Or in other words, the very debate.
problems though. Epo-phoria will drive the product that is the basis of our business The decision is yours.
retailer forward through the updating of doesn’t require EPoS to maintain it. Terry Harvey is MD of multiple card retailer,
every product in the shop onto the system, On the positive side of EPoS the need M&P Cards based around Portsmouth.
20 Greetings Today
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