Wireless Technology Finds a Home With Indie Retailers
New wireless technology is helping the small, independent retailer flourish in the apparel industry.
Fujitsu set the pace with its iPad wireless device a couple of years ago, attracting large companies such as Nordstrom. Now, Mountain View, Calif.–based Intuit, known for its QuickBooks and TurboTax software, has debuted its wireless entry, aimed at the one- to 10-unit retailer.
Intuit, which launched its QuickBooks Point-of-Sale software in 2001, has been gradually boosting its product offerings for the retail market. The new wireless scanner is about the size of a television remote control. It can be taken into stock rooms and remote warehouses, where it reads bar codes in batches to save time. When all the counting is finished, it sits on a cradle and uploads the data to a POS software system automatically, in a manner similar to how PDA systems operate. Users can link the data to POS software systems without having to re-key entries. What once took an entire weekend can now be done in hours, said Intuit executives.
Inventory control has always been key to a company’s success. Retailers waste billions annually from poor inventory control. A National Retail Federation study reported that U.S. retailers lose $224 billion annually because of excess inventory and $45 billion from not having inventory in stock. According to an Intuit study, small to mid-size retailers with average sales of $300,000 can increase profitability by almost 10 percent by using a point-of-sale system.
Other features of the system include automatic inventory updates during sales transactions that allow users to get real-time data on sales trends and inventory levels. When items drop below set reorder points, the system posts reminders or automatically generates purchase orders that retailers can e-mail directly to vendors, avoiding overstocks or out-of-stock situations.
“Our customers have been looking for a solution like this for a while,” said Intuit spokesperson Brandon McCormick. “They were taping laptops to carts and all kinds of things during inventory sessions.”
The system, priced at $719.95, has been on the market since May. Feedback so far has been positive, McCormick said.
One early user of the technology, Chris Loftin, owner of Stylz Clothing in Sacramento, said the system has helped him manage sales better. “I’ll know when to reorder more of my most popular items before ever running out of them, so I never lose a sale,” said Loftin, who has more than 7,000 SKUs in the store.
Advancements in POS technology have helped fuel record sales. Last year, retailers spent about $70 million on new systems, the largest amount since the Y2K panic in 2000.
More information can be found at www.quickbookspos.com.
