As the concept of Retailing picks pace in India, the volume of transacted business will also grow. In coming times, Retail stores are bound to revolutionize customer’s buying experience by assuring quality and signalling product availability. However challenges lie in the robust management of such stores which if are to distinguish themselves from the prevalent Kirana Stores and Mom & Pop Stores need to adopt the best Global practices.
The Retail Management Software should be a culmination of Inventory Management and Accounting Software – bundled into one, with provisions to generate signals as desired levels. The software should be built in such a way be used to setup flags at different Inventory levels or Transaction levels which when hit will generate an automated signal informing the operator of the action necessitated.
Retailers often complain of difficulties in managing their vast inventory levels and filing their Tax returns on time due to delay in tabulating, collating and eventually analysing the data manually. The software should act as a panacea for all the troubles faced by retailers. The software must be able to categorise data based on outlet, unit of measures, rack, category, group, manufacturer, tax, item, re-order details, supplier, charges and MRP setting. The entire gamut of Materials Requirement Planning abbreviated as MRP makes Supply Chain Management (SCM) extremely robust. This not only reduces cost of monitoring but also saves time and energy which the retailer could judiciously use in furthering his business.
Apart from the above mentioned benefits of the Retail Management software, the software should also be capable of handling and containing transaction details like store issue, purchase order, GRN, purchase, purchase return, purchase claim, damage item, store return – marking & direct, pending requisition etc. These benefits accrue to the store owner by way of increased profit margins as operating and handling costs are minimised.
The Retail Management Software eliminates the overhead costs of hiring accounts. The cost – benefit analysis is clearly tilted in favour of ‘Benefits’ and any right minded retailer with expanding business should use this software to ensure synergy in his store operations.
Features of a Retail management software:-
Firstly, the software allows multi counter billing thereby reducing the waiting time spent by customer to make bill payment. This enhances the goodwill of the store and customers do value the ease in the shopping experience.
Secondly, the software provides Fast Bill Printing service that reduces the waiting time of customers standing in queue to make payment for the merchandise purchased by them. The large waiting times have often dented the goodwill of the retail stores as reflected in reduced repeat purchases.
Thirdly, the Retail Management software should accept different mode of payment like cash, Credit Card, Debit Card, RuPay Card etc… This ease in mode of payment is valued by customers who prefer to carry plastic money.
Fourthly, the software facilitates Automatic Sales TAX calculation.
Fifthly, the software should automatically update the rates received from the supplier. Whenever you want you can view full history of rate change of any item.
Moreover, the software generates reports regarding Daily Transaction Report showing opening cash balance, cash sales and sales return during the day, other receipts, other payments and closing cash balance. This report will also display all the transactions done during the day in a summarized manner by showing transaction type, number of transactions and number of items in those transactions. You can also select any transaction to view detailed report.
It should also provide you a powerful SMS sending module. You can send individual SMS to your customers, suppliers and to your friends and relatives stored in your personal directory. You can also send bulk SMS to all or selected persons. At any time you can view the history of SMS send to any particular person or to all and can also select the text of previous SMS for resending. You can also store standard SMS text for future reference.
Lastly, Financial Accounting and creation of a Balance Sheet are unique features which should be provided by the software that eases Retail Management and adds synergy to the efficacy of retail operations.
So the question arises from where should you get this software, a culmination of Inventory Management and Accounting Software which will help in robust management of such stores? Do you have any softwares in mind? Please reply.
