That means spring forward
change the batteries on the smoke detectors
and
— BACKUP YOUR DATA —
Backing up your data is like flossing your teeth.
You don’t have to floss them all
just the ones you want to keep.
BACKUP YOUR DATA!
March 30, 2016
Leave a Comment » | 
back office software for c-stores, Uncategorized | Tagged: back office for Gas Stations, back office software for Datasym, Back Office Software for Datasym EliXR, back up data, backoffice for passport, backoffice for Samsung, Datasym EliXR, Gilbarco Passport, Insight Retail Software, inventory control Software for Passport, Scan Data Reporting | 
Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
Ever Heard of Advocacy Cards?
February 26, 2016You haven’t, because they don’t yet exist. Read on to find out if the concept is something you should consider for your operation.
By Steve Dwyer, CSP Reporter , Feb. 4, 2016
Advocacy cards. They don’t have quite the same ring as loyalty cards do, but maybe get used to the idea?
While advocacy cards are not a living, breathing thing, advocating for customers is fast becoming the new way retailers should approach customer relationship-building beyond simple loyalty efforts.
While a loyalty card program rewards consumers for quantity of goods and services bought, advocacy cards could go a step further to inform the qualitative aspect of the retailer-customer bond— rewarding shoppers who buy healthy foods, for example, with points, gift cards or other incentives.
Sounds like a daunting task for a retailer, but it’s one that all retail channels should think about.
Retailer advocacy for customers was discussed during the webinar “Top Food Trends for 2016.” Sponsored by The Food Institute and BMO Harris, the session was comoderated by Phil Lempert, known as the “SupermarketGuru,” and The Food Institute CEO Brian Todd.
In addition to citing consumers’ thirst for additional product information along with coming to grips that the “retail world is in flux,” Lempert said advocacy might be the new loyalty. In that spirit, “focus beyond relationships and think beyond loyalty to advocacy,” he said.
Your consumers are already vigilant when it comes to the food selection process—like vetting a political candidate. They abide by concepts of “free from” and “less is more,” the latter meaning products with five or fewer ingredients and no artificial ingredients. Foods labeled with health attributes saw sales increase 13%, said Lempert, citing the National Grocers Association-SupermarketGuru 2015 survey.
The broad picture: A new way of eating will be defined by new proteins, algae, insects, vegetable, yeast, cricket flour and nut powders. Rewarding your customers for participating in the trend could incentivize those higher-margin items, and earn you goodwill and higher sales in the process.
Leave a Comment » | back office software for c-stores, back office software for passport, backoffice software for gas stations, c-store software, Uncategorized | Tagged: Altria PM, Altria's PM USA 2015 Retail Leaders Program, back office for Gas Stations, back Office software for C-Stores, back office software for Datasym, backoffice for passport, backoffice for ruby, Datasym EliXR, DoBetter, gas station software, Gilbarco Passport, InsightRS, inventory control Software for Passport, Reflection POS, RJ Reynolds Scan Data Reporting Program, RSPA | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
Benefits of EDI from InsightRS
January 14, 2016EDI continues to prove its major business value by lowering costs, improving speed, accuracy and business efficiency. The greatest EDI benefits often come at the strategic business level.
According to a recent research study from Forrester, EDI continues to prove its worth as an electronic message data format. This research states that “the annual volume of global EDI transactions exceeds 20 billion per year and is still growing.”1 For buyers that handle numerous transactions, using EDI can result in millions of dollars of annual savings due to early payment discounts. From a financial perspective alone, there are impressive benefits from implementing EDI. Exchanging documents electronically improves transaction speed and visibility while decreasing the amount of money you spend on manual processes. But cost savings is far from the only benefit of using EDI.
But let’s start with cost savings anyway:
- Expenses associated with paper, printing, reproduction, storage, filing, postage and document retrieval are all reduced or eliminated when you switch to EDI transactions, lowering your transaction costs by at least 35%
- A major electronics manufacturer calculates the cost of processing an order manually at $38 compared to just $1.35 for an order processed using EDI
- Errors due to illegible faxes, lost orders or incorrectly taken phone orders are eliminated, saving your staff valuable time from handling data disputes
The major benefits of EDI are often stated as speed and accuracy:
- EDI can speed up your business cycles by 61%. Exchange transactions in minutes instead of the days or weeks of wait time from the postal service
- Improves data quality, delivering at least a 30—40% reduction in transactions with errors—eliminating errors from illegible handwriting, lost faxes/mail and keying and re-keying errors
- Using EDI can reduce the order-to-cash cycle time by more than 20%, improving business partner transactions and relationships
However, the increase in business efficiency is also a major factor:
- Automating paper-based tasks allows your staff to concentrate on higher-value tasks and provides them with the tools to be more productive
- Quick processing of accurate business documents leads to less re-working of orders, fewer stock outs and fewer cancelled orders
- Automating the exchange of data between applications across a supply chain can ensure that business-critical data is sent on time and can be tracked in real time. Sellers benefit from improved cash flow and reduced order-to-cash cycles
- Shortening the order processing and delivery times means that organizations can reduce their inventory levels
In many cases, the greatest EDI benefits come at the strategic business level:
- Enables real-time visibility into transaction status. This in turn enables faster decision-making and improved responsiveness to changing customer and market demands, and allows businesses to adopt a demand-driven business model rather than a supply-driven one
- Shortens the lead times for product enhancements and new product delivery
- Streamlines your ability to enter new territories and markets. EDI provides a common business language that facilitates business partner onboarding anywhere in the world
- Promotes corporate social responsibility and sustainability by replacing paper-based processes with electronic alternatives. This will both save you money and reduce your CO2 emissions
Source credit: http://www.edibasics.com/benefits-of-edi/
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: back office for Gas Stations, back office for Verifone Ruby, back office software for Datasym, backoffice for passport, backoffice for Samsung, Commander, EDI, Electronic Data Interchange, Electronic Invoicing, gas station software, Gilbarco Passport, Insight Retail Software | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
What is Instagram and how can it help my business?
June 18, 2014
Instagram has been around since 2011 and started as a way to quickly snap a photo, use their cool editing filters and put those pics out in the unfiltered world. Instagram allowed its users to post photos without having to send friend requests or worry about much of anything. But then in 2012 Instagram was purchased by Facebook and the bar started to rise. Suddenly there were more cool filters, video capabilities and sharing between Facebook and other Social Media sites became easier and people started to jump on the bandwagon. The users grew from teenage girls and college kids to movie stars, sports teams, TV Shows and businesses. On March 25, 2014 Instagram announced having more than 200 million active monthly users beating out Twitter in terms of number of mobile customers in the US. They also shared the fact that Instagram had already surpassed the ’20 billion photos shared’ mark. Instagram became a household name.
So what is Instagram? Here’s what google says:
- Instagram is an online mobile photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables its users to take pictures and videos, apply digital filters to them, and share them on a variety of social networking services, such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Flickr
With 200 million users out there, how can it help my business? Good question!
- Showcase your business, showcase your merchandise
Facebook has friends, groups and pages. Instagram’s feed is unfiltered and can be seen by anyone. People (or let’s say ‘Shoppers)’ have a plethora of content available from friends and businesses they follow, and chances are – they want to see what you have available for sale! So, keep your smartphone close and snap often! Remember this, snap now, edit later if you need to. You would be amazed at how wonderful a quick photo can look on Instagram! A great way to advertise a new product, a new shelf placement or just something fun. Once you become a pro, you’ll be snapping and posting with no real interruption to your day.
2. Showcase yourself!
Everyday photos are a huge hit on Instagram. Snap a photo of an employee with a new or fun product. Better yet, have your employees post a photo on their Instagram showing the store, various products or a special event. Use the many cool filter effects to turn a quick snap into something that looks professional.
3. Take Instagram behind the scenes
Shoppers get a warm and fuzzy connection when they get a taste of what everyday life is for store owners and store employees. Share a few photos of trade shows, your participation in charity events, trips to market, a video of food parings, etc. Do whatever is relative to your business. Let the customer know who you are [with limits of course].
#4. # Hashtags !
What are they and what is their purpose? I’ll let Wikipedia have the honors:
A hashtag is a word or an unspaced phrase prefixed with the number sign (“#”). It is a form of metadata tag. Words in messages on microblogging and social networking services such as Twitter, Facebook, Google+ or Instagram may be tagged by putting “#” before them,[1] either as they appear in a sentence, (e.g., “New artists announced for #SXSW2014MusicFestival”)[2] or appended to it.
Hashtags make it possible to group such messages, since one can search for the hashtag and get the set of messages that contain it. A hashtag is only connected to a specific medium and can therefore not be linked and connected to pictures or messages from different platforms.
#anyquestions #thatWASlong #annoyed #didNOTreadthat
Create your own hashtags to interact with your customers using your store name, a catch phrase, a charity event or a product name. Make it fun and take advantage of this opportunity to reach new customers while staying connected to your current customers. A great way to promote sales, events, products.
Take advantage of the CAPTION section by directing shoppers to your website or Facebook page where more information can be found. Don’t forget the videos! A quick video from a customer or a video walk around the store or product demonstration videos are all great marketing tools. With one click your photo or video capture can be pushed to your Company Facebook Page. This gives you double coverage for the same effort.
Instagram is a fun and easy way to promote your business! Get started today!
Good luck!
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: back office for Gas Stations, back Office software for C-Stores, back office software for Datasym, Back Office Software for Datasym EliXR, back office software for health food stores, backoffice for passport, Gilbarco Passport, Growing a business, Instagram, inventory control Software for Passport, Marketing for small business, point of sale software, Social Media | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
Do Better with backOffice™ Software from Insight Retail Software
January 28, 2013A new customer to Insight reported that backOffice™ just saved him $280 because as he was adding in a purchase order from Lay’s he realized they were not giving him the items at the agreed upon sale price so he was actually selling the items below his cost.
Want your business to DO BETTER? Visit http://insightrs.com for more information and give us a call at 518.633.4111
Leave a Comment » | back office software for passport, Uncategorized | Tagged: back office for Gas Stations, back office for Verifone Ruby, back Office software for C-Stores, back office software for Passport, backoffice for passport, backoffice for ruby, backoffice software for Passport, c-Store Software, Datasym EliXR, do better, Gilbarco Passport, Insight Retail Software, inventory control Software for Passport, point of sale software | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
Happy New Year!
January 1, 2013
Leave a Comment » | back office software for c-stores | Tagged: back office, back office for Gas Stations, back office for Verifone Ruby, Back Office Software for Datasym EliXR, backoffice for passport, backoffice for ruby, Backoffice for Sam4s, backoffice for Samsung, backoffice software, Gilbarco Passport, Insight Retail Software | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
NEE named Master Distributor for backOffice™ Software in Canada for Esso Sites
July 19, 2012
Leave a Comment » | back office software for c-stores, back office software for passport, backoffice software for gas stations, Uncategorized | Tagged: back office for Canada Passport, back office for Esso stations, Esso, Esso in Canada, Gilbarco, Gilbarco in Canada, Gilbarco Passport, National Energy Company, NEE | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
SAVE THE DATA!
May 21, 2012“Three things are certain: Death, taxes and lost data. Guess which has occurred?” ~ David Dixon
Years ago my Dentist said “You don’t have to floss all of your teeth, just the ones you want to keep.”* Your data files are the same way. Although a full system backup is recommended, backed up DATA files are a must. Insight Retail Software has a diversified group of customers ranging from smaller Mom and Pop Stores to larger chains of stores. The common thread between Big Stores, Little Stores, Liquor Stores, Convenience Stores, Hospital Gift Shops, Retail Stores, Beauty Supply or Flea Markets is valuable computer data.
Doesn’t matter if you are using Gilbarco Passport, VeriFone Ruby or Sapphire, Datasym, Sam4S [for example] backOffice™ Software’s “SCHEDULER” will allow you to automatically save a copy of your very valuable backOffice™ data.
My Monday morning advice is: Floss your teeth and backup your computer!
* “You don’t have to floss all of your teeth,
just the ones you want to keep.”
~ Dr. Edwina Hunter
Leave a Comment » | back office software for c-stores, back office software for passport, backoffice software for gas stations, c-store software, General, Sam 4s, Software Use, Uncategorized | Tagged: back office software for Datasym, Back office Software for Datasym 651, back office software for Gilbarco Passport Point of Sale, backup computer files, crs, Datasym, Datasym 651, Gilbarco Passport, Sam4S, Verifone ruby, Verifone Sapphire | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
So you’ve upgraded from G-Site to Passport – now what to do about Back Office Software?
May 9, 2012
Many C-Stores have already upgraded their G-Site to Passport, have successfully converted their backOffice™ Software from Insight Retail Software to their new Passport POS and are successfully running their business. Other C-Stores have waited to purchase a back office package, looking for the best software at the best price. BackOffice™ Software is the final step to make your G-Site to Passport conversion successful without breaking the bank. If you answer YES to any of these questions, backOffice™ is a perfect fit for your business and your Passport POS.
- Does your C-Store use a Passport POS ?
- Are you interested in a customizable Daily Bookkeeping Report?
- Do you want back office software but think it’s too expensive?
- Are you looking for a back office company that can provide referrals?
- Are you tired of spending money and are ready to make money?
- Would you like Pricebook and Reporting capabilities only?
- Would you like to have a single database but operate multiple stores without having to do Database Synchronization?
- Would you like to own your software instead of renting your software?
- Would you like the option of starting with Pricebook and Reporting Modules but would like to add Inventory Module at a later date?
- Do you want 64 bit software for your 64 bit operating system for better performance?
- Would you like to have great database performance and reliability with the latest Microsoft SQL Server 2012?
- Would you like to have your current pricebook file converted saving weeks of data entry – at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE?
BackOffice™ Software is the final step to complete your G-Site to Passport conversion.
Leave a Comment » | back office software for c-stores, back office software for passport, backoffice software for gas stations, c-store software, Uncategorized | Tagged: back office for Gas Stations, back office for Verifone Ruby, back Office software for C-Stores, back office software for Passport, backoffice for gsite, backoffice for passport, backoffice software, gas station software, Gilbarco Passport, Insight Retail Software, inventory control Software for Passport, point of sale software, qr codes | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
Doubt the Power of Cash? Look What Walmart’s Doing – Order Online but Pay with Cash
April 27, 2012
Walmart has launched a new “Pay with Cash” option for its Walmart.com customers. Online shoppers can now pay for their purchases with cash at any physical Walmart location. At checkout, web shoppers who choose “cash” as the payment option will receive an order number and an email receipt. Customers then have 48 hours to present that order number at the cash register of any physical Walmart store to complete payment, at which point the shipping process is initiated.
Walmart says its decision to offer a new payment option is motivated by FDIC statistics on the underbanked. The FDIC estimates that 25 percent of U.S. consumers have limited banking options, and therefore prefer cash to make purchases. The release also revealed that just 15 percent of Walmart transactions are completed with credit cards.
A full release announcing the new feature is available at Walmart.com.
Leave a Comment » | Uncategorized | Tagged: back office for Gas Stations, back office for Verifone Ruby, back Office software for C-Stores, Back Office Software for Datasym EliXR, backoffice for passport, backoffice for ruby, Backoffice for Sam4s, backoffice software for Passport, Datasym EliXR, Gilbarco Passport, Insight Retail Software, Samsung CRS SAM4S SPS 5X0 SPS 2000 backoffice, Samsung Sam4s | Permalink
Posted by InsightRS
Insight Retail Software Blog 