Whew! The Holidays Are Over. Here Are a Few Hints to Help You in the New Year
Physical Inventory
Start the New Year by doing a physical count of your inventory in stock. Under the Inventory | Inventory Reports menu, you can select from a variety of reports to print. You can use the Physical Count Report to assist you with the physical count. This report shows all products in your inventory by SKU’s and Description. There’s also a line to enter your actual count. To print the Physical Count Report, click the Physical Count button, then click on Generate Report.
Import Data
You may choose to use a PDT to do your physical inventory. Once you’ve completed your inventory count, you may update your inventory by importing the data into MicroBiz. This feature can be found by going to Tools | MicroTrak | Import Data. In the MicroTrak Import Screen, y ou have the option to “Add to existing on hand quantity” or to “Replace on hand quantity”. For assistance with using your PDT and with importing data, please call MicroBiz Support at the number listed below.
Import New SKU’s
The Import/Export feature can be found under Management | Import/Export Data | Import New SKU’s and update Description and Prices. This feature allows you to import new SKU’s, where as the Import Data from the MicroTrak screen only allows for updating or replacing existing SKU’s.
Cost of Goods
Curious on how much your products are worth? You can print the Products Cost of Goods Report by going to Reports | Cost
of Goods Display. This reports gives you the total number of items in your inventory, the total cost of goods and your total
retail value.
Slow Moving Products
Would you like to know what products in inventory are the least popular? To view a report on these products, go to Reports | Slow Moving Products. You can print a report based the percentage or dollar amount and between date range. You can also searched by Description, Style, Department or Vendor.
Returns
With the holidays just passing, you may notice an increase in returns. To do a return you simply scan the item’s barcode
or load the item to the Work Screen. Next, click on the Return button or type “R” in the SKU box and then press enter. You should get a prompt to return the item to inventory. If the product is still in good condition, select “Yes” to return to inventory. If the product is damaged, you should select “No”. After making your selection, click on the F9-Print/Done button to finalize the return.
Recalc Product Buckets
It’s been a real busy season! So if you notice that the quantity in stock or the product history may be a little off, try recalculating your product bucket by going to Management | Reindex / Clean and Pack, etc. | Recalc Product Buckets. This
feature recalculates the sales information for the products in inventory. The program goes through your database records
for the last 16 months and calculates’ the sales for each product in your inventory. The sales history for a product can be viewed from the Inventory Add/Edit screen by selecting the product, and then clicking on the Hist but ton. MicroBiz recommends you have a proper backup before running the Recalc options. Helpful hint: You should also recalculate the
product bucket after deleting products from your inventory database.
Quote of the Month:
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Winston Churchill
Expedite Your Inventory Process With Our New Hand Held Inventory Scanner Offering
Speed up your inventory process with a handheld inventory scanner or PDT. We now support a new series of hand held wireless inventory scanners – the CipherLab 8200. This mobile computer features low power consumption to sustain long operating hours and a compact and ergonomic design for comfort and mobility. It's feature-packed and comes with wireless connectivity and a big display. It supports several programming languages and can be customized for your operations. Plus, we have documented settings allowing you to quickly configure the CipherLabs 8200 for use with your MicroBiz retail management system.
For more information, please visit our online knowledge base at support.microbiz.com or call our sales department at (702)
749-5353. To purchase a CipherLabs 8200 PDT, please visit our online store at www.microbiz.com
POS Tip of the Month: Always Keep an Off-Site Backup of Your MicroBiz Data. Setup Automatic Backups Today!
It is extremely important to make sure you are backing up your data every day in case of possible data corruption. Every
month we get calls from customers that have experienced hard drive failures, stolen computers or corrupted data bases.
Often these customers find out only after the loss that their back-up procedures had not been sufficient – resulting in
them being forced to restore their system from a months old data base. Do not let this happen to you.
There are a few ways to back-up your data, including one internally through MicroBiz.
Internal Backup:
1. Open up MicroBiz
2. Click on Management - Customize - Global Settings
3. Click on the "File Backups" tab.
At this point you are able to choose which location to backup your files. By default, MicroBiz is set up to backup inside the
"Business" folder itself. You may choose a different location if you wish - remember it. You are also given the option for
automatic backups when you run your closeout reports. This would be a good idea because it will be done automatically
(or remind you) every night when you do your close out.
This backup will create a "Tempbak" folder which contains your previous day's data and a "Zipbak" folder which will zip up all of your data separately for each day every day you back up. It would also be a good idea to keep a backup on a disk or some other storage device in the case of hard drive failure or some other issue where you could not get to the data on your computer. One way to do this would be to locate the "Business" folder on your server, copy it, and paste it to your storage device. If your storage device is a Writable CD, remember to "burn" the data on the CD. It is recommended that you do this at least once a week.
Suspect That You Are Paying Too Much for Payment Processing? Check for Yourself
As noted in last month’s newsletter, for the first time in years, you will be able to use your MicroBiz point of sale software on an integrated basis with payment processors other than X-Charge. The upcoming version of MicroBiz for Windows, version 15.2, will allow you to connect with dozens and dozens of payment processors and banks on an integrated basis, including X-Charge and our new preferred processing partner – World Pay.
To make it easy for you to see if it makes sense to change processors, we have built an easy to use Processing Calculator which takes a few pieces of data on you business and calculates an estimated monthly cost based on these inputs. Just follow these five easy steps:
Step One - Open our Processing Payment calculator at www.microbiz.com/seeyourrates.
Step Two - Use our online Payment Calculator to enter your store’s average transaction size and average monthly credit
card volume.
Step Three - Select your store’s retail vertical using the drop down menu.
Step Four - See whether the Flat Rate or Tiered Merchant Account plan works best for you based on the information
entered for your store.
Step Five - Take the estimated monthly cost from the Pricing Calculator and compare to your last merchant statement to
see how much you can save.
It’s that simple. No need to speak to a processing company salesperson or send in a detailed merchant account statement. We expect version 15.2 to be available for general release in February 2012.
Update on the Next Generation of MicroBiz Point Of Sale – MicroBiz Fused
We plan to release an early commercial version of MicroBiz Fused, the all new cloud-based version of our POS software, in the 2nd Quarter of 2013. The timing is a little later than initially expected – but we have been very busy adding many new features and functions.
MicroBiz Fused will include state-of-the art technology and include the following features:
Mobile Point of Sale – you will be able to operate your POS system on a variety of mobile devices including PCs, smart phones, tablet computers and other mobile devises with a browser and Internet access;
Multi-store operations – you will be able to operate multiple stores (including being able to quickly open and close temporary pop-up stores) on a fully integrated basis;
Full integration with an ecommerce platform – our integration with Magento, the world’s most popular eCommerce platform, will allow you to maintain single product and customer records, and manage inventory and purchasing across both your physical and ecommerce operations;
Remote access - you can access and manage your entire retail management system from anywhere in the world with Internet access and at any time of the day;
Centralized reporting – you can run management reports across multiple stores and even combining your store and online operations;
Instant software updates – you will always have the latest version of MicroBiz Fused without any need to install updates or patches;
Remote secure storage of critical data – all your data will be continually updated and securely stored in an offsite data center;
Modern user interface - this web-based application was built specifically for touch screens (large intuitive buttons, easy to use).
Offline transaction processing - Unlike many other web-based POS solutions, MicroBiz Fused continues to operate in the event that your store’s internet connection goes down.
Preview of MicroBiz Fused Manage Suppliers Screen
Preview of MicroBiz Fused Edit Customer Screen
Please call us if you would like to be placed on the list of early adopters of MicroBiz Fused.
Retail Tip of the Month: 5 Ways to Create the Store Experience Shoppers Want
Despite the growth of e-commerce, shoppers still need and often enjoy the in-store experience. Armed with unprecedented amounts of information and the tools to access data at any moment, shoppers are poised to buy – and they want retailers to be ready for them. Here are five key takeaways that you can use to generate profitable bottom lines.
It's all about price: Competitive pricing and promotions still hold the greatest sway with shoppers. Shoppers' sharp eye on price makes showrooming the number-one risk facing retailers today, and customers demand transparent and consistent pricing and promotions across channels.
Exceptional in-store execution is the cost of entry to shoppers' wallets: To keep shoppers coming back, retailers need to recast stores as places for discovery and interaction with products, where associates can assist in the decision-making process and shoppers enjoy instant gratification.
Ease and efficiency are keys to making shoppers happy during checkout: Store shoppers want to proceed throughcheckout quickly and smoothly. They prefer attentive associates who are focused on the task at hand and do not attempt to gather information or sell additional products.
To differentiate, reach beyond the basics: Specialized store treatment based on loyalty status is the top request of retailers. Shoppers want personalized, attentive in -store experiences, and the more affluent and younger shoppers expect retailers to seamlessly integrate personalization across channels.
Shoppers' expectations vary when it comes to specialty vs. consumable products: Consumers are more inclined to do online and offline research and comparison -shop for specialty products. On the other hand, the greatest influence on purchases of consumables is printed materials, information on product packaging, shelf signs and interactive product displays.
This is only a summary of the posting. To read the full article, please visit our Blog at www.microbiz.com/blog.
Go Green by Receiving Invoices by Email
Want to receive your MicroBiz invoices and newsletters via email. Just send us a quick note to billing@microbiz.com with
the message “Email My Invoices” in the subject line and be sure to include your Store Name in the message body.
Our HP Pricing Beats Big Online Retailers. See for Yourself!
We have partner a program with HP to offer a line of hardware designed specifically to withstand the demands of the retail environment at very competitive prices. HP hardware has a small footprint and a retail-hardened design, and it gives you
the reliability and durability of a branded manufacturer like HP. You will find our prices to be competitive with anyone selling HP retail hardware in stores – as well as online. Not only do you get competitive pricing, but you also will get comfort of knowing that your POS hardware will work with your MicroBiz point of sale software.
How competitive are our prices? See for yourself. In the table above we compared our prices to the prices of online computer retail giant CDW.com (as of 8/1/12).
Item
HP List Price
CDW.com Online Price
MicroBiz Price
HP AP5000 Retail All-in-One
$2,369
$1,705
$1,699
HP RP5800 Retail Computer
1,129
908
899
HP L5006 Touch Monitor
729
607
599
HP Bar Code Scanner
219
199
189
HP Receipt Printer
339
302
289
HP Cash Drawer
139
132
119
Call MicroBiz Sales at (800) 937-2289 for more information or to learn about our full offering including specially priced POS bundles.
Wanted! Early Adopters to Help Test New Versions of MicroBiz
Interested in being one of the first customers to have access to new payment options or our new cloud-based MicroBiz
Fused product? If so, please sign up to be an early adopter to receive early versions of new releases so that we can test the
software in a live environment. Please contact us at suggestions@microbiz.com.
Reminder of Our Online Knowledge Base
The www.microbiz.com website includes an online knowledge base. You can browse the links to review common issues, frequently asked questions and topics by category. You can also use keywords to search the entire knowledge base for a specific issue. To access the online trouble ticket portal, click on the ‘Support’ tab, select ‘MicroBiz for Windows’ and ‘Knowledge Base’.