“It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.”

In today’s world, the traditional store-based retailers (SBRs) need to employ analytics to understand their customers and most importantly themselves.

Analytics for retailers

A few of the capabilities that analytics offers for retailers are:

• Better demand management leading to higher fill rates
• Better ROI by carrying the right assortment and balancing the inventory with demand
• Profit maximization by optimizing pricing and promotion strategies
• Localizing the global retailer’s proposition to realize stores of the community
• Identifying and retaining their best customers, and tweaking their overall proposition accordingly

The competition is no longer the store across the street, but comes in many channels as spectrums, mobile and web, expand. More new products and lines are being introduced month on month. Only analytics can support. As the saying goes god helps them who helps themselves, so help you business with analytics.

Time is ripe for analytics

The opportunity is there for the one who acts and acts fast. A whole pie is waiting for you to dine upon. The retail landscape, ever-expanding and changing, shaped by new-age competition defying traditional retail channels and practices, with growing online shop, has shaken many retailers out of their inertia. Worried over sustaining the competitive advantages to survive, they slowly turn to the alchemy of analytics and information technology.

The time is an excellent example of change with its ever changing and never stopping nature, with time things change for good of course, but for that they would have to move beyond their own traditional mindset. To develop a robust understanding of business along with analytics and fit solutions to challenges rather than the other way round.

Please read the below analysis and always keep in mind the following 4 simple facts:
• Indians on an average spend close to 60% of their expenditure on FOOD.
• Organized Retail has just 1% or even less share of FOOD sales in India.
• Indians spend around 10%-11% only on clothes, beauty products and footwear.
• Almost 80%-90% of sales of Shoppers Stop or Pantaloons or Trent (Westside) are clothes , beauty , accessories and footwear products and less than 10%-15% comes from food sales and that too comes from great brands of food (Nestle-Maggi , Cold Drinks , Biscuits ,Milk products ,etc which are razor thin margin business)or commodities which are again almost zero margin products.

Source: http://amitkumarblog.wordpr ess.com

How to Do Inventory Optimization? Important Steps to Improve it.

Every business carries inventory and is always vigilant to ensure that there is a smooth flow of orders and services in the business.

Before growing market competition and technology involvement, businesses were maintaining their inventories manually. Manually, they had to deal with the problem of collecting large inventory data, had an error in data entry, and did not know when stocks were going to be out-of-stock. This resulted in sales losses for retailers and in-store shoppers were very frustrated.

Keeping all these things in mind, technology has found solutions for businesses and business software has come into existence. This software made it easy to manage the business. In this context, the inventory management system is also an important part about which we will learn in this article.

Features of an inventory management system that help the business grow

Simplified inventory management

The primary objective of adopting the software for inventory management is to simplify the processes involved in managing inventory. This is the main feature that every business looks for in any business software. The inventory software is developed in such a way that it helps the operations and the business owner to keep them in the right place to avoid any situation such as stock expiration and out of stock. It provides a quick view of stock data to update stock status in real-time and helps in final delivery trading. In this way, the inventory management system simplified inventory and is beneficial for growth potential.

Better product visibility

Inventory management systems come with a systematic approach that organizes your stocks with preferences of size, color, type, or expiration date as the business demands. This way, whenever an order arrives or you want to see the availability of your stock, it allows a quick view in just one click. Also, you can get the exact location where the stock is kept. It directly benefits in the quick delivery of goods and provides an easy analysis to repurchase stock items for continuous supply.

Streamlined and efficient operations

The main advantage of having the system for inventory is to streamline the operations and connect them for successful order delivery. Thus, the business software takes care of everything from collecting stock details to its purchase to sales. It also analyzes the customer buying pattern and alerts business owners for work accordingly.

Accurate and insightful accounting

Almost all business software offers the full business solution. With inventory management solutions, they also come with accounting solutions. It helps businesses in managing sales, purchases, staff and also updating tax information after buying or selling products. It also facilitates an efficient billing system to serve the best and quick billing. It includes an advance billing method to avoid any hassle in managing up-to-date inventory.

 Provides real-time access to data

With the inventory solution, you can add a real-time stock view and updating facility. It provides a system, which automatically alerts when an order is placed and updates all information in the inventory associated with it. This includes order items, quantities, expiration, bill details, dates, and more. This way, whenever you get a query or some change request from a customer, you will get all the details in just one click.

Inventory tracking and stock alerts

Inventory management software comes with a tracking feature for every step in the product life cycle. This helps businesses keep track of their inventory and offer a centralized view of the stock. In this way, it becomes easier for the owner to know; How much stock do they have, where is it located, and when do they need to re-fill the stock? It directly or indirectly benefits businesses with sales forecasting, product orders, supply chain management, warehouse management, and customer fulfilment solutions.

Prevent from overstock and out of the stock scenario

Avoiding out-stock or expired product situation is the greatest challenge for any business. It creates a hurdle inconsistent product supply. An inventory management system helps organizations to meet customer demand and avoid the expense of overstock or loss of business with stock-outs. It prevents your business from overstocking/out-of-stock scenarios by facilitating real-time data visibility. It adjusts prices by supply and helps businesses to grow.

 Inventory Trend Analysis and demand forecasting

Another feature that inventory management software must have is trend analysis and demand forecasting. It forecast the demand and keep update the business to meet any sudden future demand. This way, businesses can smartly track the number of units they have sold and estimating the number of units they will sell shortly. Also, it makes businesses able to better strategize their future business expansion/planning and meet the customer and market demands.

Limits human error and staffing costs

An inventory management software solution reduces errors by automating the manual process. It makes business more efficient, more profitable, and better equipped to serve your customers. At the same time, automation limits staffing costs by reducing employee training time and eliminate the traditional way to maintain product details records.

      

Why it is important to optimize the inventory

Till now we had heard about inventory management and we are also working on it. But now it is necessary to know what is inventory optimization and why it has become necessary for a business. Let's understand inventory optimization through this blog.

Inventory optimization is the practice of having the right inventory to facilitate your target service to customers with a minimum amount of capital investment. Changing market trend, digitization, globalization and security threats are the reason businesses needs optimization in their services.            

Today’s everyone is using internet/technology and very soon updated with the trend. Thus, consumers' behaviors and habits are changing more rapidly than any business thinks. Inventory optimization plays an important role. It provides a perfect balance between demand and supply. It maintains inventory level and eliminates out-of-stock situations while improving efficiency and cutting inventory costs.

Steps involved in Inventory optimization that will help you to transform your business

• You can optimize your inventory management and fulfilment processes with the following steps and procedures. It will cost less, have fewer issues, and make the customer happy. So, what you need is to find the software solution that helps you in optimizing your inventory.
• Adopt a technology that provides a solution with real-time analytics and maintains the market trend.
• Let you know your most demanded item to maintain its stocks.
• Update inventory records in real-time, so all the staff members get aware of the inventory information and manage and re-stocked accordingly.
• Split inventory into different categories so that maintenance gets easy and simple.
• Establish a tracking system that enhanced the ability to monitor all aspects of the inventory.
• Facilitate the mobile (B2B/ B2C) applications for the fastest ordering and billing.
• Identify slow-moving and fast-moving items to ensure their continuous supply and alert when they get low in stock.
• Establish re-order management without any hassle.
• Maintain up-to-date stock levels, so inventory can be managed promptly and restocked as necessary.

Final Note

Inventory optimization helps in establishing the balance in consumer demands with the needs of a retailer to minimize inventory levels. Also, it leads to a significant reduction in the cost of acquiring, holding, and shipping stock. Thus, to get a competitive advantage an innovative technological solution is required for inventory.

If you’re required a solution for inventory optimization in India, kindly contact the SWIL team. Also, to get a better understanding please go through our next blog, where we discuss the role of barcode systems for inventory optimization.

STEPS TO GST

STEPS TO GST

1. Load latest version Now Before April 30, 2017
2. Update HSN Code / GST No. in your data, Implement as given in Tax
Updates
3. Load New version in June 2017 for Further updates of GST

TAX UPDATES

How to update Data in RetailGraph Software for preparing about GST

1. Update GST No. in all Customers. To take input credit, GST No. of customer is
compulsory to be available at supplier end.
2. Update GST No. in all Suppliers. To match input credit, Supplier GST No. is
required.
3. Update HSN in product master. For annual turnover upto 5 crore, two digit HSN
(Harmonised System of Nomenclature) code is required for products. For >5
crore turnover, Four digit HSN code is required for products. In India HSN Code
may be upto eight digits.
Most of HSN Code Can be found in following chapter.
3002, 3003, 3004 For Pharmaceutical
3005 For Bandage etc.
9018 For syringes etc.
3306, 3307, 9603, 9616 For Soaps, Hygiene Products, Cosmetics etc.
1905 For Biscuits

Please refer HSN Codes link at the end in this article.
4. Generate invoice format for GST and get it customized as per your requirement.

PAN No. Requirement
1. For cash transactions above Rs. Two Lacs, (Cash sales & cash receipts), an
information report is to be submitted with PAN no. of customer.
2. PAN No. should be updated in customer master and supplier master for all parties.
3. If you do not need PAN No. please mention NA in PAN column.
4. If you want to collect Form 64, please mention Form 64 Due in PAN column.
5. If you receive Form 64, please mention 64(2016-17) in PAN column.
6. If you delay to collect PAN till the transaction amount reaches Rs. Two Lacs,
you are provoking the customer to switch supplier as soon as Rs. Two Lac limit
is reached.
7. Please make sure that PAN is correct. You may verify PAN on net on income-tax
department website and other such sites.

GST Returns (GST Network or GSTN)
Monthly three GST returns are filed through GST Network which can be connected
with your software by paying annual charges.

1. For B2B transactions, (Customers having GST No.), invoice list is to be uploaded
with HSN and sales value, tax value.
2. Purchases are to be populated from GSTN and to be checked against actual
purchases. It is uploaded by your suppliers.
3. If any discrepancy is found in populated purchases from GSTN, it is to be reported
to GSTN.
Challan to be generated by GSTN after providing input credit as per purchases reported
in GSTN.
An annual return is to be filed by the month of December in following year.
Minimum 49 transactions with GSTN are required for each GST registered dealer.
(12 Months * 3 Returns + Challan) and Annual Return.
General Information about GST (GOODS & SERVICE TAX)
Any transaction such as Sale, Transfer, Barter, Exchange, License, Rental, Lease Disposal
made or agreed to be made, and Importation of Service - Whether or not for supply
will be treated as Taxable event will be liable for GST.

TAXES TO BE SUBSUMED IN GST

CENTRAL
1. Central Excise Duty/Central Sales Tax 2. Service tax
3. Special additional Duty on Customs (SAD) 4. Additional Excise Duty
5. Additional Custom Duty known as CVD 6. Cess/Surcharges

STATE
1. VAT/SALES TAX 2. Luxury tax
3. State Cesss & Surcharges 4. Entertainment Tax
5. Taxes on lottery, Betting & gambling 6. Entry tax/Octroi

POINT OF TAXATION/TIME OF SUPPLY OF GOODS
1. The date on which the goods are removed by the supplier or received by the
recipient or made available to the recipient.
2. The date on which supplier issues the Invoice
3. The date on which the payment is received whichever is earlier will be treated as time of supply & liable for tax.

TYPES OF GST
1. CGST : Inter State sale of Goods & Services
2. SGST : Sale within the state
3. IGST : Interstate sales

UTILISATION OF CREDITS

CGST 1. CGST 2. IGST
SGST 1. SGST 2. IGST
ISGT 1. IGST 2. CGST 3. SGST

Input Credit on existing Stock will be available but the details are not super clear.

How to Fill RETURN

GSTR1- outward supplies made by the dealer - 10th of next month
GSTR2 - Inward supplies received by the dealer - 15TH of next month
GSTR3 - Monthly return of taxable liability - 20th of next month
GSTR4 - Quarterly return by compounding dealer - 18th of next month of Quarter
GSTR8 - Annual return - 31st December of next FY
CASH LEDGER CONTINUOUS
TAX LEDGER CONTINIOUS
ITC LEDGER CONTINIUOS

• Will provide you option to upload these returns for UNISOLVE/CROSS.
• Charges may be applicable as GST Service Provider (GSP) will charge.

GSTN NO'S
It will be a 15 digit no containing the following:
1-2 State Code
3-12 PAN NO
13 SAME DEALER DIFFERENT LOCATION
14 FOR FUTURE USE
15 CHECKING CODE

You may get more information using following links :
http://www.gstn.org/index.php
https://www.gst.gov.in/
http://taxguru.in/tag/goods-and-services-tax/?type=articles
http://www.gstindia.com/
http://www.gstindiaonline.com/
http://taxindiaupdates.in/category/goods-and-service-tax/
http://taxguru.in/goods-and-service-tax/gst-enrolment-hsn-codes-exhaustive-list.html

Are you and your Retail Store Independent this Independence day ?

Hello, 

This 15th of August we will be celebrating our 68th Independence day and our freedom from Britishers. But are we really free ? Free from our unguarded thoughts and free our own people who have adopted the British policy of divide and rule, on the basis of cast, creed, social indifference's  well a lot can be discussed and debated over the matter , but today we will be sharing our thoughts on the fact that still many retail stores have not got their freedom and who are responsible for it.

Also we will be sharing how to make your retail store independent.

If we consider retail stores they are a lot dependent on various people and factors in the supply chain, and include:-

• Suppliers & Logistics Management for in time Delivery of goods at best rates
• Inventory Management and Control
• Expiry Management
• LIFO
• In store management of perishable and non perishable goods, based on the properties and attributes of the products
• Handling Sales, promotions, discount and customer engagement
• Keeping track of offers from parent company
• Handling breakages and expired items
• Control over near expiry items
• Handling multiple locations for sales and billing
• Accounting and Closing
• Handling customer advances 
• Billing and cash handing rights
• Handling employee’s salary and commission based on sales made by them and much more.

All these responsibilities are being divided within the store as it is almost impossible for a single person to manage all these activities, and hence the Retail Store Suffers.

As these jobs are routine and monotonous anybody who is handling them in a day to day basis is prone to do errors and thus resulting to loss of resources. Majorly people involved in retail store includes the owner, salesman, vendors (suppliers), accountants and the point of sale operator or the one who bills to the customer and takes the cash.

It is important to have a mechanism in place which can manage all these transactions and helps the owner to further strategies peacefully without worrying for the day to day operations.

ReailGraph is the solution to get your store independent, and work most effectively with centralized control in place. RetailGraph is the best software solution for your retail store, it handles all your worries.

Its key of its features includes:-

Best for Point of Sales (POS) :- It handles entire operation required at point of sales terminal, handling offers, promotions, discounts, fast billing, barcode handling, integration with weighing scale, handling return – replacement etc

Best for Inventory Management: - It manages the inventory so robustly that you can never have a expired product in your shelf and keeps check on order generation, shortage, surplus, SKU definition, multiple stock and sales locations, category wise rate & Margin, and complete stock control

Best for Financial Accounting:- It helps in managing accounting till balance sheet and P&L, Bank reconciliation, manage outstanding, PDC & Dishonoured cheques, Handling Taxes, multi level security and user rights

Best for Branch / C&F / Consignee / Distribution setup: - Complete reporting based on sales rep, area, station, outstanding / collection management, reports on ageing analysis etc.

Best for Retail Chain:- It helps in online and offline billing, centralised control, Financial accounting at HO, User rights report,

Job Works Handling:- It helps in issuing material to vendors, receiving materials from vendors and helping in production planning.

There is a lot more which can be shared about RetailGraph which acts as a point of sale software.

Conclusion:- Select the right Retail store software for your store to get the independence you and your store deserves.

Hope you liked the post, please share your comments.

RetailGraph Team

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)

Do I need a Retail Software Solution?

Hello,

Through today’s blog we will we will be sharing discussing the need of software solution for a retail store, and would like to share the awareness among retailers on a question “Do I need a Retail Software Solution? Which often confuses them to make a decision to get software for their store or not.

Before we jump into the real discussion let us understand the basic need for a software solution that is why we need software?

The answer is Software solutions are required where repeated work, complex calculations, accurate information etc is involved and has to be done most accurately with minimal chances of error and yes at minimum cost involved.

So from the brief explanation above one thing is clear that software are essential for businesses, but why for my business, as I am into retail business, and have been doing this business for ages perfectly without using any software solution.

Let us take a typical example of Grocery store to understand the need for retail software.

A typical grocery store involves following transactions and calculations to be managed:-

• Barcode:- Standard barcodes on company products, and other products which don’t have barcodes but needs to be manage and maintained

• Inventory management: - Most important is to manage the inventory which includes terminologies like current stock, out of stock, in stock, in transit, expiry stock etc.

• Accounts management: - Accounts needs to be managed for sold items (now a day’s sell happens on cash, credit, debit cards) and purchases from various supplier which are distributors to different products.

• Billing:- Very crucial for any business, in grocery retail of a departmental store billing involves, discounts, promotions, loyalty points management, schemes and various other offers shared by the companies.

We believe that the above mentioned points are enough to understand the need for a retail store software. Let us discuss each one in a bit detail and compare both the sides that is with software and without software.

• Barcodes:- If a retail store is not using a software solution then whether it’s a standard product having barcodes imprinted or a local product with no barcode, it’s all the same, and the main challenge is to document things like the entry or Purchase date of the product, Expiry date of the product, Batch no., the product is purchased from which vendor etc, and if the store is using a software solution then all these things will be recorded and will be maintained in the software, with alert mechanism which will be helpful in case of have expired stock in inventory, and the software also helps in generating the barcode for local products which then can be managed and maintained the same way as standard products.

• Inventory management: - Without software solution inventory management in a grocery store is a troublesome task. Managing of expiry, breakage, return, old products manually involve error which will lead to losses. Apart from it a retail store also needs to manage near expiry goods. With software in place, inventory will be managed with accuracy.

• Billing and Accounting: - Managing manually involves challenges like calculation on, various promotional offers, applying schemes, adjusting customer loyalty, offering discounts and managing taxes on different products, and accounting for transaction which involves sale on cash and card and purchases on cheque, DD, and handling a credit cycle. All this will be managed by the software solution; and not only that but also manages the credit days for different vendors, and shows the alert once the days exceed the credit limit.

Conclusion:-

Hope you have got insights of how a software solution manages all the complex tasks and works towards excellence. This is not only quick bust save a lot on time, money and energy. The initial cost for software may seems like a Cost, but this investment has higher long term returns.

Hope you liked the post, please share your comments.


RetailGraph Team

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)
Web : www.retailg.com

Transition to a Web Based Application

Hello,

Today’s story is a success story of RetailGraph which you are familiar of. Hope you remember the story of Mrs. Chopra and Simran, we have shared two stories about how they automated their store operations and have a controlled way of dealing with customers.

Refer the earlier post on http://retailgraph.blogspot.in/2013/06/retailgraph-software-for-apparels.html

As the time flies by Mr. Chopra has grown her business manifolds, with a humble beginning of only 1 small store now she has 8 huge stores across the county, and counting.

With RetailGraph all her operations were taken care of well, but still she is facing a challenge, yes challenge of accessibility of real time information from all the stores, and to able to calculate a consolidated P&L for her business.

With the existing setup software at every store, she still manages to get the store wise data and reports, but she again needs to perform an exercise to get consolidated figures for her business as a whole.

So she decided to discuss it up with the account manager assigned for her account with the challenges. The conversation and the solution were as below:

Mrs. Chopra: - Hello, I am Mrs chopra...

Acc. Mgr: - Hello, madam how are you.

Mrs Chopra: - Yes I am fine.

Acc. Mgr: - Yes please how can I help you.

Mrs. Chopra: - As you are aware I have 14 stores now and I am planning to open a couple of more in another month or so, this means a lot of travelling is involved for me to manage these stores and to open new ones. RetailGraph has helped a lot as far as independent stores are concern, but now i want to have a consolidated option available for me so that i have all the reports and analytics for my business in a real time basis, this was my purpose to call you to understand a solution to this concern of mine.

Acc. Mgr: - Yes please. I have understood your challenges in detail and the need to have a consolidated view of the information in real-time.

Mrs. Chopra: - Yes

Acc. Mgr: - In fact we have 2 solutions for you to choose from which are:-

1. RetailGraph consolidation: - same setup as you have but the Masters will be maintained at a single Location (HO) or the location you spend the maximum time, from there all the prices, categories etc can be pushed to other locations and consolidated reports and analytics can be received.

2. RetailGraph Web Module: - Everything will be on web and the username and password will be shared to the users, this will help you to get into the system any time from any place simply via an internet connection. In this module data will be on server, which you can host locally or can be put on a third party cloud.

And in future we are coming up with our Android module as well, which will have all the information available on you Android Mobile OR Tab.

Mrs. Chopra: - This is quite impressive, I am happy that I am associated with RetailGraph as my Garments Store Software. For now I will select the 2nd option of Web based Software solution, but tell me what about the data base how to maintain and manage it, currently in our existing decentralised working we have data locally maintained and backed up. Please explain how it will be managed if its all web based

Acc Mgr: - Yes sure. In Web based approach, we recommend to host your data with us or with a third party solution provider. This will ensure safety and security of data, many owner have the question in mind that will my data be secured with 3rd party or not, to which our answer is that your data will be most secured with them, as they are professionals and use tier 3 and tier 4 data centres to manage the data with high end encrypted security levels.

And to add on you can also assign area wise and region wise managers with certain rights so that they can view the data from their region only and you being at the top can view each and every detail along with analytics.

Mrs Chopra: - That’s some real insight; I understood, so let us start the transition to the web based module of RetailGraph. Thank You.

Acc. Mgr: - Thanks. Madam, we will initiate the transition process.

Conclusion:- We have solution to all your needs, We grow as you grow, RetailGraph works as standalone application, as online application with Consolidated and a complete online Application for businesses at advance level.


Hope you liked the post, please share your comments.

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)

Why Change is Important for a Software Solution ?

Why Change is Important for a Software Solution ?

The Only thing that is constant is change. Yes change is inevitable. 

In today blog post we will be share why change is important and how we change our software solutions.

We at SWIL make possibly every effort to keep up with the changing times and our experience of 20 years proves this.  

Our software products have catered to the requirements of different stakeholders in the supply chain including Retail Store, Chain of Stores, C&F and Distributors and the Parent or the Manufacturing Company.

In Software industry and especially which caters to the requirements of ever evolving Retail sector, where software is very crucial for business and operation, any change small or big it has to be planned well in advance for adaptation.

Change is always considered good, but unplanned change can do more harm than doing any good. SWIL is always working towards planned change and it is a planned activity which we follow religiously.

How we plan changes in our software solution:

1. With our planned review meeting and discussion with our marketing and customer care teams we get feedback's on new requirement and change request based on their interaction with the client.
2. The Change Requests are then evaluated by the Product Development team and further discussed on the feasibility and whether the features solve the purpose of a single client OR whether is it beneficial for a segment of clients catering to an entire industry. 
3. The Change request is then initiated to Development team and the phase includes
• Development
• Testing and 
• Released on finding it fully functional, released it with the new version of the software which may cover other such features as well OR only this feature if it’s unique to a client.
4. This updated version is then deployed at client end and the customer care team train the client and its operators about the changes in the version and how to use them.

To add on not only did we change our versions and work towards continuous improvement and customer satisfaction, but we also change the platforms, so that the products can work on different platforms giving customers the liberty to work on Windows, Web and Android.

Our Product RetailGraph which is the best software solution for retail stores and chains works on different platforms which include:

1. Desktop - Windows
2. Web
3. Mobile-Android

These applications are unique in their own way and cater to the needs of retailer. Desktops are no more a requirement, rather it has become need of the hour, without which a business suffers, similarly business application on Web and your phone is a requirement now which we have sensed and acted upon it, and going forward this will be a necessity.

Currently we have the same applications being used by different client on Window’s Desktop environment, Web Based Environment with Microsoft Azzure and also on Android.

We believe in continuous improvement, we change continuously. 

WE CHANGE AND EVOLVE WITH TECHNOLOGY AND SUGGEST THE SAME TO OUR CUSTOMERS 

Hope you liked the blog, please share your comments.

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)

The 3 Best Retail Habits

Best retail habits

For over 20 years, we have worked closely with retail and we have identified these three retail habits the most successful retailers adopt to improve accuracy and increase customer satisfaction.

Habit No 1 – Learn more about your customers

In sales it is called KYC (know your customer) it is very important for any business to know there customer and to understand them well. Knowing customer well certainly drives your business and this way you can clearly prioritize and set promotions and schemes for your customers as you are aware of what works and what does customers like to buy – whether it’s online, in store or from a catalogue? 

 It’s said ‘Knowledge is Power’, so ensure you and your staff are always engaged and ready to ask the right questions. You must ensure customer preferences, value and purchase histories are properly maintained and are in your Retail Software and captured for Future reference.

Habit No 2 – Fast and Easy access to Information

Is your face blank when someone asks you about your sales, current inventory, near expire goods, current accounts and financial position. If yes, then you must lookout for a software solution which has all these features to give you the right information every time. Accurate information not only helps you to know your current position but also helps you in drafting strategies for the future.

Information can help you in:

• Identify best suppliers
• Customer preferences
• Peak sales hours
• Best promotional scheme
• Near Expiry items
• Inventory reports
• Current Account Details and profit margins 

Habit No 3 – Create ‘value based’ promotions

It is said that out of sight is out of mind, and thus it is always advisable to be in contact of you customers. You must communicate with your customer. To communicate you must ensure that at the time of billing you have saved the name, no. email id etc accurately. This helps you for all your future communications with the customer: You can also ask for customers Birthday and Anniversary as well, and send greeting on that day.

In software’s the features of send SMS and Email helps you to communicate with your customers for

• New Offers
• Promotion schemes
• Birthday or Anniversary Greetings
• Fresh Arrivals
• Festive Season Sales etc
• Patients can be reminded for their medication for coming months

This way you can be in touch with your customer and they will also have a sense of belongingness towards your store.

Conclusion: Think deeply about your customers and do best you can to make it easier for them decide to buy from you. Speak to RetailGraph team now to show case the Demonstration of the software which can also be integrated with your Online Retail Store.

Hope you liked the Blog. Please share your comments. 

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)
Web : www.retailg.com

Information Technology to be an Integral part of Retail

Information Technology to be an Integral part of Retail 

Hello,

In today's blog post we will briefly share about IT being an integral part of retail.

With the increasing globalization in retail and the increasing entrants in the markets the competition to stay ahead and have sustainable profitability and growth is crucial for retailers. To have the competitive edge the use of Information technology has increased many folds and now it has become a necessity and part of business.

In fact it was not many years ago that IT was considered as a Cost center function in organization and limited budgets were allocated to IT which includes software, hardware, security, network etc.

But in Today’s’ age Information technology with offering catering to different industries including retail has changed the scenario. We all are happily surrounded by IT, right from the time we enter in a store to the time we leave. CCTV, RFID, Barcode, Scanners, POS, etc all have reduced the time consuming tasks and has increased the efficiency.

In addition to it retail software’s control the data in an efficient manner and not only keep track of accounts, Inventory, promotions, expiry, etc.. But provides valuable analytic and reporting, few other things are:

· Companies ability to respond to the evolving markets through enhances flexibility and agility
· Analyzing and enhancing customer data
· Helps in working effectively with One system across all stores with data synchronization
· Provide real time information.
· Saves a lot on Cost
· Transparency and tracking
· Handles Tax and much more

IT in retail or specifically the software for retail, plays many roles like of a supply chain system, Enterprise retail system, store operation systems and manages the entire retail store efficiently.

Web technologies have given a new dimension and revolution in the field of retail stores, it is technology that has given us the liberty and freedom to purchase anything anywhere just on a simple click of mouse or a touch on personal computer and smart phones.

To the likes of big ones like Amazon.com or flipkart.com, retailers can also have their own stores online an d can target their regional area by selling products online.

This is just a start, to provide excellent services and convenience to the end customer, many big giants are thinking of a step ahead for instance Amazon Prime air priding you your ordered item in 30 minutes, still under the R&D phase watch this Video http://www.amazon.com/b?node=8037720011

Yes it is technology of the future, but again its is technology which is touching our life every day and every minute.

With this we would conclude this blog, and I am sure retailers friends will always thrive to have the best of the solutions for their retail stores.

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)

Distribution Management Made Easy

C&F and Distribution Management Made Easy

Hello,

In today’s blog we will be sharing about how Distribution management is a very crucial task for organizations.

Distribution is an integral part of business. FMCG, Consumer Durable companies, Pharmaceutical companies are largely dependent on their Distributors for in time and effective supply of material down the supply chain.

Distributors must have the optimum stock and an accurate understanding to the sales and purchase trends to effectively store the optimum Inventory and reorder accordingly to give the right picture of Sales to the parent company for manufacturing.

The cycle looks very simple but it’s very complex and have enormous effects on business If not handled appropriately.

To start with the Manufacturer has different Distributors across the area (Country, State etc) so that it can send and store its products with them, from whom the smaller stockist or C&Fs may purchase, and from whom further the Retailer (shop owner) buy products and sales to the end customer.

This cycle involves many transactions like sales, purchase, returns, replacements, promotions, discounts, credit, outstanding. Credit, cheques etc.

The concerns starts form the 1st phase its self when the company sells the product to different distributors across the country and tries to maintain the details. It becomes very tedious task when you need to manage details for 10 different vendors it is highly time consuming activity. 

Few of the challenges faced are:

• Communication with all the vendors
• Sharing Central rates for all the vendors centrally,
• Identifying the best distributor among rest
• Monitoring and manage the credit limits and cycle of the Distributors
• Complete Purchase Order management, good Receipts note and supplier ledger management
• Multi location Inventory management
• To have real time update from all the locations to have information on financial accounting, inventory, outstanding, shelf life, expiry, credit note, debit note, breakage, expiry, special bonus, discount etc.
• State wise or country wise tax reports and registers
• State wise or country wise VAT and E-Returns
• Sales return notes
• Distributor wise, age wise, outstanding list and analysis.
• Manage breakage expiry

These are the few of the challenges which needs to be addressed in order to manage the Distributors in an effective manner. The main idea is to have visibility and transparency within the system to know the current state and trends which helps you to plan for the future.

The same is applicable for the Distributors when they further sell the stock to smaller distributors of a local area or directly to a Retailer, and again when a retailer sells the product to the end customers.

The Solution to all these is to have a Distribution Management Software which can help you handle all these concerns in a real-time basis and provides accurate information to plan for the future.

RetailGraph works as complete distribution management software which provides centralized control over the multi location C&F and distribution channel. 

As supply chain management software It helps you to work as

1. Complete online mode: It provides real time reporting, analytics and data to trust for faster decision making based on accurate information. Internet connectivity and Static IP is a must to have at all locations for real time information transfer and 
2. Hybrid Mode (online-offline): It allows you to work offline and data syncs with the Central database at a desired frequency of the day on the availability of Internet. It requires static IP at all locations for information transfer at the desired intervals.

The software helps to maintain exact information on the purchases from the parent company (manufacturer) and the details of sales and supply of the material to the local C&Fs, Stockiest, and retailers etc. It helps you to identify best buyers and suppliers through detailed reports and analysis.

As a warehouse management system you can have more streamlined inventory control, Reorder planning, expiry, returns, replacement, barcoding reporting and also facilitates you to share SMS and emails.

Benefits of the C&F and Distribution management software solution:

• Single point communication to all Distributors across locations
• Instant availability of accurate information helps in faster decisions
• Complete inventory management with visibility on available stocks /expiry /slow moving items
• Overall & Distributor wise business analysis
• With ready to use software & quick implementation ,helps in enrolling new distributors
• Easy to use software with minimal training and low TCO
• Higher Visibility through live updates from each and every stores to HO
• distributor wise / Area Wise / Region wise analysis
• Single entry price updates for PAN India Locations
• Smooth day to day transactions and reporting 
• Area wise tax management
• Export accounting data to Tally
• C&F wise / Area wise / User wise login and access to have security and secrecy of information

Hope you have liked the blog. Please share your comments.

RetailGraph Team



SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)

Check Points For Selecting the Best Software Solution for your business

Choose the Best Retail Store Software

With growing competition it is hard to hold the customer rather then making a new customer. We know and always talk about the 80-20 principle very frequently but only a few follow it.

Its the Pareto's principle or the 80-20 rule, which says for many events, roughly 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes.  OR "80% of your sales come from 20% of your clients"

Yes this is the truth , that why it is wise to focus on those 20% of your clients that contribute to 80% of your revenues. 

In terms of Retail store the targets are the local residents and the increasing number of online buyers mostly from the 2 to 3 km radius who prefer home delivery.

With the increasing number of Retail software's and variety of options to open you own online store, retailers are left with many choices which leaves them confused with what to choose from. Retailer must be cautious before deciding on the same as this will impact their business.

In today's blog post we will be sharing all all should you check before finalizing a retail Store software solution. 

Sales, purchase inventory stocks are very basic and generic features that most software have and boost about what matters is the specific questions which really matters to your businesses. Few of the questions are as below:

• The software is developed on which technology.
• Is it scalable
• Can i upgrade it to Complete Online Solution
• Can i have a Mobile App for it
• How fast is it for billing and reporting
• How many reports are shared
• Can we schedule reports
• Can we share material across branches
• Can we do product conversion
• Can we set user, role rights and what the security
• Can we manage Vendors
• Can we manage payroll
• Can we manage advances given
• Can we manage the Sales man or MR incentive and more
• Can we Run Promotions
• Can we do customer engagement via SMS and Email
• Can we Run Promotions and schemes
• What is the Support On software
• Do you have a support team
• What are the Service level commitments 
• What do you do for improvements in the software
• What is the experience of your company
• Can you share some references
• Who is your biggest customer in terms of revenue
• Do you have different modules or is it a single solution

and more. 

Many of these questions may look repetitive but for sure this will give a sense of responsibility in the mind of software vendor before presenting his solution to you.

No matter in what business you are, make sure you choose you clear your requirement clearly and set the expectation right. Any gap in the Expectation and what is being delivered will lead to dissatisfaction 

Since its inception SWIL and its products were highly appreciated and well accepted in the market, and it has been a long journey of 2 decades for SWIL to provide best in class software solutions to end users and businesses.

RetailGraph as a best software solution for retail stores, chains, distribution, C&F, Wholesales businesses, is comprehensive and works across platforms to provide the most scalable and robust software solution to masses.

Conclusion: All these points will help you to stay ahead in your business and serve your customers in the right manner so that you get the most out of your investment. and with RetailGraph certainly SWIL is Leading Towards Intelligent Solutions...for multiple businesses.

Hope you have liked the blog. Please share your comments.

RetailGraph Team

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)

NEW OUTLOOK FOR THE NEW YEAR

Closing Financial Year as Smooth as Silk

Yes 2013-2014 is over yesterday, and we have just stepped in a new financial year 2014-2015 with hopes, motivation and enthusiasm to do better than the last year, to learn more and yes to earn more.

It is said that "Minds are like parachutes they work best when open"- indeed its wise thought and is applicable to every human being.

One of my friend called me today morning thanking  me and sharing that this financial year closing was as smooth as silk and looking into that yesterday only his father shared a thought while on way home, that they we will open new shops in other regions as well. So Thanks you.

This appreciation is the result of my suggestions shared with my friend and his father a year back.

Today's post is inspired from a real life instance which i experienced last year.My  friend who supports his father in their Garments Store business, which has one of the best collection in the city, and have multiple stores across the city and in other regions.

Before the story, Let us see how can we close the financial year in RetailGraph

NOTE: YOU MUST TAKE BACK UP OF YOUR DATA BEFORE CLOSING AND CHANGING FINANCIAL YEAR.

• Select the "Close Financial Year" tab from OPTIONS menu

OPTIONS-->CLOSE FINANCIAL YEAR

•  As you click on Closes financial year you will be routed to this screen, where in you need to click on select all and change financial year for all users if you have to change the financial year for all users and then click ok. Also you can decide on the series on whether u wish to start from 1 or from any other no.

CLOSING THE FINANCIAL YEAR

• Once the closing is done you can change the financial year to 2014-2015, by selecting the existing year and ticking the change financial year.

CHANGING THE FINANCIAL YEAR

• Once the financial year is changed it will reflect in here as seen below:

CHANGED FINANCIAL YEAR TO 2014-2015

Once again please NOTE: YOU MUST TAKE BACK UP OF YOUR DATA BEFORE CLOSING AND CHANGING FINANCIAL YEAR.

Coming back to our story today, My friend shared that, business is growing for them , but there are many leakages that we are unable to control and also managing operations for all the stores is a problem, as I can't be present at all the stores at a time, and thus we are facing many issues like:

• Error in Reporting because of manual reports and manipulated reports from the operator of software
• It's a tedious and monotonous process to get reports
• Security and business secrecy is at stake
• Many a times reports and information were couriered to us its a lengthy process
• The Data at store and our Head Office never matches and leads to heated arguments and blame game among staff.
• Our Turn Around time to open a new store is very high and involves a lot of unwanted cost.
• We have a poor visibility of business due to monthly reports and that to fabricated which we can't trust.
• Store sales man calculation depends on his relation with the store manager.
• The main thing is accounts handling and closing, on especially on financial year closing we literally need to close our shops of at least one day to focus and close our accounts. This is a real pain

I told him, these issues can be sorted our, why don't you implement a good software for garments , it will help you with all your issues you just talked about.

He told, i know but my father is not willing to change this working style as he don't have trust on software and specially the online concept as he feels it's not safe.

Ok, you must make him understand the benefits and share about how this software will help and that to with security, and we have a meeting planned with his father, in their garments store.

I shared the benefits of the entire system and how it will be helpful to them like:

• Access, Analyze & Reporting across the chain: Detailed reporting and analysis (like Pivot Tables (in excel) and Graphs) helps you to take strategic decisions for your business. Easy access and sharing of data enables excellent control across the chain of stores.

• Low operating cost through best suppliers: Billing using bar-code and Data exchange via electronic medium saves time and manpower. With Reports having consumer preferences, you can plan your purchases and can choose the right supplier from Purchase trend to optimize inventory investments

• Plan Marketing & Promotions Strategies: RetailGraph generates reports on consumer preferences & sales trends, which help you, plan your Marketing Strategy

• Fast, efficient & personalized services to customer:  Fast billing serves customer efficiently. Offer promotions & personalized services to customer after checking customers buying trend. Same resources can manage more customers leading higher sales revenue

• Effective control Over Pilferage: User/Department/Region wise rights to check editing of transactions and random category wise/ shelf wise stock reconciliation allows effective control over pilferage.

• Effective centralized control @ HO: Visibility & Transparency through reports generated @ HO helps in effective control of retail chain / distribution operations.

• Protect your investment with rich support &maintenance offer: RetailGraph is a scalable solution and can change as you grow /change with time. You can continue getting benefited from RetailGraph year on year through our Annual Maintenance Offer.

We also shared him How having an online software helps them to increase profits and expand and most importantly is secured.

Higher Visibility through live updates from each and every stores to HO

• Automated reporting and analytic

• Faster communication, decision making, and execution of plans

• Store wise / Area Wise / Region wise analysis

• Single entry price updates for PAN India Stores

• Smooth day to day transactions and reporting

• Export accounting data to Tally

• Store wise / Area wise / User wise login and access to have security and secrecy of information

• Helped in reducing time to open and make new store operational

He finally agreed and is now getting benefited from the software.

Conclusion: We all must introspect out thoughts  and discuss openly with our family and friends that are you open to new ideas and ask for a real feedback. The crux of the story is the acceptance of new resources which are beneficial for your business.

Hope you linked the blog, please share your comments.

RetailGraph Team

SoftWorld (India) Pvt. Ltd.
21, Sunder Market,
Near SMS Hospital, Jaipur-302004
Ph: +91-141-2577600 (5 Lines) * Fax: 2571882
Cust. Care Center: +91-141-2577603 (2 Lines)