Microsoft Dynamics Case Studies

Case Study

Growing Yogurt Chain Quintuples Sales Speed, Cuts Payroll, and Keeps More Cash in the Till

Rich Ferraro brought a background in software and information technology (IT) to his first retail effort. When he opened Golden Spoon Frozen Yogurt in Simi Valley, California, he knew technology would increase efficiency, cut costs, and increase his bottom line. As Golden Spoons exceptional tastes and rotating flavors packed stores with more than 1,000 customers a day, Ferraro saw that long lines and bottlenecks at his electronic cash registers (ECRs) annoyed and even scared off some customers. He knew ECRs inadequate security contributed to cash in the tills seldom matching cash sales reports. And managers didnt love spending an hour a day tallying and transposing totals into Golden Spoon forms. But Ferraros concern was more far-reaching. He foresaw that, until he implemented a solid retail IT solution, each new store he opened would bring as many problems as profits.

Case Study

Retailer Builds Competitive Advantage with Integrated Point of Sale and Financial System

Belle Provence has established a thriving business selling gifts and home furnishings, but co-owners Roy and Diane Reinsch were becoming increasingly frustrated with the limitations of their electronic cash register system, which limited employees ability to provide exceptional customer service and hurt the Reinsches ability to make informed purchasing and marketing decisions. Belle Provence installed an integrated retail management solution based on Microsoft DynamicsPoint of Sale 2.0, Microsoft® Office Accounting Professional 2007, and the 2007 Microsoft Office system. Today, sales associates can easily navigate a system that enhances their ability to serve customers, while managers have the real-time information they need to make optimal business decisions in real time, saving the company thousands of dollars per year.

Case Study

Expanding Gift Shop Needs Automation for Fast Sales, Stocktaking, Reports, and Graphs

Planning their fourth location, Diane and Roy Reinsch realized that Belle Provence could no longer rely on vague category totals from the electronic cash register. Without knowing exact sales by item, they bought by intuition more than analysis, and had no way to know which customers preferred which of the stores 5,000 gifts and decorations. Roy thoroughly examined and tested many retail system offerings. He found that a two-register Microsoft® Point of Sale system would deliver the smoothest customer transactions, clearest inventory reports, and fastest purchasing. Today, reports pinpoint exactly which SKUs moved in what quantities. This data enables exact reordering, so purchasing is science, not guesswork. Detailed customer records let Diane greet customers with a question about their last purchase. And she can automate precise mailings to collectors when items of interest arrive.

Case Study

Specialty Gift Store Saves Its States Tax Money by Shortening Tasks and Store Lines

Jasmines is a unique gift store, both for the revenue it forwards to Trinity Services, a nonsectarian, nonprofit organization that serves and supports the developmentally disabled, and for its Day Program where those assisted learn skills and self-esteem. Each dollar to Jasmines bottom line reduces reliance on state programs. But the stores electronic cash register added two hours to closing tasks on busy days. Lines were often slow, purchasing was tedious, and adding new inventory was a chore. Then Merchants Solutions, a Microsoft® Certified Business Solutions Partner, installed Microsoft Point of Sale and a robust Pioneer POS bundle. Now staff costs are down because hours-long chores are done in minutes. Reports make corporates buying choices clearer. And the trusty accounting program is seldom used, thanks to the standard and highly customizable reports in Microsoft Point of Sale.

Case Study

Gift and Furnishings Shop Gets Fast Lines, Tight Reports Yet Keeps Personal Touch

Dragonfly Collections opened its doors in 1999 using a QuickSell 2000 retail system. Sales boomed and space doubled. But older hardware and software sometimes kept valuable customers waiting while staff rebooted the computer. Dragonfly management trusted Merchants Solutions, a Microsoft® Certified Business Solutions Partner, to install Microsoft Point of Sale, other Microsoft productivity tools, and new hardware in the front of the store and in the back office. Lines of customers now move even faster with essentially 100 percent uptime for credit card transactions. Owner Amy Boone sees daily reports detailing brands and designs sold. Customer purchase histories tell her who likes African, South American, or Asian furnishings. She suggests every new retailer should work a management system into their initial budget.

Case Study

Comprehensive Retail System Puts New Spin on Store Records for Classic Vinyl, CD Retailer

One of Seattle, Washingtons foremost retailers of rare, classic, and contemporary niche albums in original, new vinyl, and CD formats, The Landing Music, Ltd. has served walk-in and mail-order customers since 1995. Last years growth was 10 percent, but time spent in the store needled owners Rick and Beth Geist. Our ECR [electronic cash register] was a collectible, says Beth, so it only gave us categories, no specifics. And no retailer can prosper without exact knowledge of what has sold. After months of system previews, Rick found QuickBooks Point of Sale illogical and many others too expensive. The Landing installed Microsoft® Point of Sale in early 2005. Literally every business process moves faster, says Beth. Lines are quicker, we know what to order without paper notes, customer discounts are clear, and were building a database of customers.

Case Study

Microsoft Point of Sale Organizes Histories, Inventory, and Purchases for Fine Gifts Shop

Bella Rose Fine Gifts & Furnishings sells tableware, art, jewelry, accessories, and even baby goods, all very carefully chosen to enrich the clienteles homes and personal images. But after a year in business, the manifold details of following up on special orders and incomplete shipments, as well as the task of managing a constant stream of new suppliers was inundating owner Tracie Rose Hiemstra and her staff. After watching QuickBooks Point of Sale slow down her purchases in a neighboring shop, Hiemstra agreed to install Microsoft® Point of Sale. Today, she and her staff have easy access to complete records, and have thrown out the clipboard and electronic cash register that never managed all the details. This system helps us accommodate every customers shopping preference, leisurely or in and out in two seconds. This is what we always needed, says Hiemstra.

Case Study

Cookie Paraphernalia Store Solves Inventory, Purchasing, and Transaction Problems

Keeping mental inventory of 2,000 small items and their rates of sale in the store and from the Web site was making Caryn Truitt, owner of Cookies, frazzled. Cookies is in Ballard, Washington, but storage is at home, so Truitt updated a large Microsoft® Excel® spreadsheet daily to track what was where. Days became long and errors crept in. Her electronic cash register didnt track items so buying required too much guesswork, especially when a stock-out could alienate Web customers. She acquired Microsoft Dynamics Point of Sale, which includes Microsoft Office Accounting 2007. Her specific system came with an IBM ThinkCentre PC and retail peripherals. It resolved a bakers dozen problems because the software decreases its stock levels with each sale and sends data to the accounting software. Truitt now buys more wisely, knows item levels, and is very glad for new peace of mind.

Case Study

New Toy Store Opens to Eager Crowds, Keeps Staff Lean, and Owner Enjoys Playing Store

Clover, a high-end toy and childrens furnishings store in Seattle, Washington, had a wonderful problem when crowds of parents and grandparents thronged its opening weeks. But even their new electronic cash register (ECR) couldnt keep up with impatient lines. It wouldnt show which products moved fast or slow, and it made any unusual transaction a painful one. The owners earlier experience with other retail software made her leery of computers and delayed the conversion. But today, Microsoft Dynamics Point of Sale and a retail-hardened Casio point-of-sale CPU speed lines through the holiday season, tell the owner which of her buys were wisest, and let staff enter new inventory whenever its convenienteven while chatting with customers. And all with one less employee than the ECR demanded.

Case Study

Railway Company Uses Just One Drive to Access Data and Improves Document Management
Business and Technology Goals Like many large organizations, the Network Division of Austrian Railways had documents that were distributed and stored on several servers. It was using a document management system and e-mail system based on LinkWorks, a framework for developing document-based business processes. But the system was struggling to cope with the volume of data. More than 1,200 people were accessing 1.4 million documents distributed across 28 Oracle databases on 13 UNIX machines. "Because of lack of support for the old system, we were asked to design and implement a completely new document management solution," says Mario Simandl, Account Manager for Austrian Railways at IT company ace Neue Informationstechnologien.