Retail nirvana: Point of sale meets the back office
See how point-of-sale and accounting come together with Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and Microsoft Dynamics GP software
Updated: November 9, 2005
No matter how casual your product or business, you can't relax at the end of the day if you don't know how well your products are selling—which items are hot, and which are not. This situation is compounded when you manage multiple stores. Find out how integrated front-store and back-office applications can help change that.
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Case in point: Connected data helps LoveSac
Retailers, especially those with multiple stores, not only need to know which items and stores have met sales goals over the last week or month, and average daily revenue per store—they need to have this information in time to make a difference. To complicate matters, different stores often use different item numbers for the same product, making it tough to get an accurate national sales report without weeks of data crunching. That's exactly the situation that challenged lounge seat maker LoveSac—an innovative, nationwide U.S. retail chain of close to 80 stores that sells comfortable foam-filled "Sacs and Sactionals." (Read the full customer case study.)
After installing Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) for point-of-sale and front-office capabilities, and Microsoft Dynamics GP to manage the back office, the company CEO can now see a daily comprehensive sales report from the entire 67-store chain on his personal digital assistant (PDA). Detailed reporting, achieved through integration of the two software packages and Microsoft Dynamics GP analytics, allows the company to make quick decisions—like transferring items that are not selling well in one region into a region in which they are more popular, reducing inventory and increasing sales at the same time.
Why track data across stores?
If you are a multi-store retailer, it makes good business sense to have a retail management and business management system that work together. This allows you to better track payments, inventory, purchase orders, and sales transactions across your business, while reducing inefficiencies like double data entry into your point-of-sale and general ledger.
Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Microsoft Dynamics GP help retailers achieve those goals. "This makes [the retailer's] life easier," says Jason Hardesty, a regional sales manager for Microsoft Dynamics RMS. "It really reduces the amount of double entry, as the [integration] all happens automatically."
Illustration: With Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Microsoft Dynamics GP, data can flow between applications used at store locations and those used in the back office at headquarters.
Get more information without slowing down employees
Simplicity is another important factor. By allowing employees at headquarters to use the business software that they're already familiar with to access store data, you'll help staff be more productive and more effective in the real-time analysis of store sales and customer buying patterns.
Beyond sales: Track POs, receivables, overages, inventory, and more
While there has been some level of integration between the Microsoft Dynamics RMS and Microsoft Dynamics GP in the past, the most recent integration reflects retailers' requests for detailed data sharing and more flexibility. As well, setting up your integration will no longer require you to have an accountant on hand to make it work, thanks to a smoother user interface and better automation. "It's much easier to set up and allows for a greater degree of flexibility—and complexity as well," says Andy Westby, a support engineer for Microsoft Dynamics RMS.
Here's a quick look at the kind of benefits that you can realize through integrating these two systems:
Purchase order processing This allows you to track the inventory received at individual stores by transferring purchase order receipts—including partial ones—from Microsoft Dynamics RMS to the Microsoft Dynamics GP Purchase Order Processing module. The process is completed in just a few easy steps. From there, you can use Microsoft Dynamics GP Payables Management module to pay the supplier and update the General Ledger with the appropriate accounting transaction.
The previous version of the integration did not allow for transfer of partial purchase orders—which, according to Westby, "was a large challenge for customers." If you're one of many businesses that does not often receive complete shipments from suppliers, you can now immediately import what has been received to your Microsoft Dynamics GP Purchase Order Processing module and proceed with payment—saving you time and hassles of manual workarounds.
Receivables management You can use Microsoft Dynamics GP to see what's going on in each of your stores. Sales data from the Retail Management System—including credit card sales, layaway and back orders—moves through receivables management and finally into general ledger applications. What's the difference between the previous integration and this one? Now you can see detailed transaction data in receivables management; previously you could only see summary data in the General Ledger. Every transaction that you see in the Microsoft Dynamics RMS is now viewable in Microsoft Dynamics GP.
"Ultimately we hope this will give a greater level of insight in Microsoft Dynamics GP of the transactions taking place at each retail location," Westby says. "Now, someone doesn't have to go into [RMS] Headquarters module to look [something] up." As well, the transactional data automatically transfers into the Microsoft Dynamics GP bank reconciliation module, so that your accountants don't have to enter it manually.
General ledger visibility Previously, integration between retail transactions and general ledger information consisted solely of summary sales data. Now you can see payouts, overages and shortages, surcharges, and inventory adjustments. There's just one caveat here, according to Westby. Customers will not be able to see on-hand inventory quantities in Microsoft Dynamics GP, although the inventory value will mirror the value recorded in Retail Management System. Westby says that this higher level of inventory integration is under consideration for a future release.
What to do next
You can begin making use of Microsoft business management software at any phase in your business lifecycle. If you are not certain how to start evaluating your business software requirements, Microsoft and the Microsoft partners can help you establish a reliable roadmap for the business management infrastructure that’s best for you. You will set goals and identify your business requirements. We can help you translate those requirements into practical business technology that can support and enhance the accomplishment of your objectives no matter how far you go. Contact us for more information.
