December – Christmas Offerings
News: Festive Bundle Offer – Ending Soon!
Buy All 3 Features Below For Our Merry Good Price of £394 + VAT.
That’s a saving of £496!
This fabulous festive bundle will help you save time and money on the run up to Christmas and get you set for 2017.
Mass Product Changer – For greater profits, use our mass product changer to edit large groups of items at once to save time and improve consistency. Change fields such as brand, supplier and many more. (Usually £230 +VAT)
Mass Price Changer – To make quick & easy price changes use our mass price changer to help ensure your profit reports are accurate. Change trade and retail pricing as well as increasing and decreasing amounts. (Usually £270 +VAT)
Compound Articles – To maximise your revenue you can create product hampers of mixed articles encouraging customers to increase their purchase. Within this your stock is managed automatically. (Usually £390 +VAT)
Or you can buy these features individually – contact us for more details.
Offer ends 5pm Friday 9th December 2016.
Hint: Christmas Checks
Here are some quick things to check on the run up to Christmas:
- Do you have enough receipt rolls, labels and printer ribbons to cover you over the Christmas period? If you need more then stock up from our IR Extras website.
- Are your Christmas opening times up to date on your website, Google My Business and in store? Consider adding a section to your contact us page via the Website Content Editor.
- Is your delivery information up to date on your website? Do you need to include a final order date for delivery by Christmas? You could update your sales messages or perhaps add a banner to your homepage, as well as updating your delivery information page and delivery product page tab via the Website Content Editor.
- Do you want to update your customer display unit to a festive message? Go to the Back Office / Tools / Configure / Configuration / Customer Display Settings. Click on ‘Default Line 1’ or ‘Default Line 2’ and enter the message for the customer display unit. (Maximum character limit is 20 per line including spaces and avoid special characters and symbols). Then click OK and restart Connect to see changes.
Top Tip: Improve Channel Synchronisation
Chris Stares – Technical Customer Support Specialist
“Check the Connect licence that synchronises with your channels (Amazon, eBay, website) is left turned on and connected to the internet as much as possible. This allows the orders to be downloaded and means that your stock levels are kept up to date.”
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October/November – Festive Forethought
Welcome to Helen Vaughan – Managing Director
We warmly welcome Helen Vaughan as Managing Director at Intelligent Retail. Helen has a broad background in retail systems working at executive level in growth companies including Retek (became Oracle) as Director of Business Consulting Services. As VP Operations at Island Pacific Europe she grew this retail systems business over a 10 year period. Island Pacific is another 3Q group company.
Helen has experience working with small independent retailers, as a sales assistant and department manager. Her experience is complimented with her roles as Programme Director for IT and for international operations at Tesco. Helen led the design, build and deployment of the Tesco operating model, a suite of best practice systems and processes for international deployment.
“I am thrilled to join the loyal and dedicated team as well as to get to know our incredible customer base. Retail is such an exciting and innovative place to work in. I am looking forward to building upon an incredibly strong foundation to ensure our customers of today and tomorrow continue to remain competitive in the retail market place in partnership with the Intelligent Retail software and team.”
Helen will lead the new executive team, tasked with delivering ongoing innovation and growth together with the development of operations. We are excited to have Helen on board to help drive the business forward for the rest of 2016, into 2017 and beyond.
Hint: Christmas Discounts, Deals & Promotions
The run up to Christmas sees many discounts, deals and promotions both in store and online. Connect allows you to create discount schemes in advance and then schedule start and end dates. You can set up various types of discount schemes including:
Article Based – applied to a particular article or individual articles within a group (e.g. ‘20% off the blue toy car’ or ‘Buy one get one free on the blue toy car’)
Range Based – applied when a number of articles in a range are purchased such as multi-buy (e.g. ‘Buy any 2 toy cars for £20’ or ‘Buy one get one free on all toy cars’)
Transaction Based – applied to a whole transaction (e.g. ‘10% off your shop with promo code MYMAGICXMAS’ or ‘25% off when you spend over £50’)
You can also advertise your promotion on receipts by adding ‘Receipt Advert Text’ within the discount scheme. An extra way to let your existing customers know about your promotion. Remember you can only have one advert on the receipt at a time.
Other great ways to let people know about your Christmas discounts include updating your website banners, running a newsletter campaign and using social media.
For steps and more information on Discount Schemes please see our helpsheet.
Hint: Offer Gift Vouchers
Giving customers the choice of purchasing a gift voucher helps to ease the difficulty of deciding on a present for a friend or loved one. It also means the opportunity to capture more sales and improve brand awareness.
You can generate a gift voucher from Connect by entering the amount into the till, clicking ‘HOT’, then ‘Voucher’ and then taking payment to complete the transaction. The gift voucher will be printed with a barcode that can be scanned when it is redeemed in store or two codes that can be entered when redeemed on your Intelligent Retail website. For more details on redeeming a gift voucher and VAT see our helpsheet.
You can personalise your gift vouchers by adding your own custom logo – please see our helpsheet for the steps. It is also worth checking that the gift voucher details are up to date including the terms, validity period and whether or not you accept the vouchers on your Intelligent Retail website. These settings can be found in the Back Office / Tools / Configure / Configurations / Receipt Printer Personalisation / Gift Voucher Options.
To make your gift voucher even more appealing present it in a decorative card or box. You could have various packaging options to suit different tastes.
Top Tip: Regular Housekeeping Tasks
Ben Clark – Senior Technical Support Leader
“To keep your Connect licences running smoothly it is important to carry out some regular housekeeping tasks such as Full Optimisations and Health Checks.
Performing a Full Optimisation will help improve speed and is best started outside of trading hours. It is recommended to carry out a Full Optimisation every 1-2 months depending on the size of your database and on one licence at a time, as the till cannot be used while running the optimisation.
It is also useful to run a Health Check on your licences so you can see if any of them have a back log of data and check they are synchronising.”
For steps on how to run a Full Optimisation or Health Check see our Housekeeping Guide.
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Autumn Planning
Autumn brings several occasions and events including ”Back to Uni”, Halloween and Bonfire Night. As well as gearing up for that important time of year – Christmas. Here are some quick tips to help you in your preparations:
– What were the best sellers from the same time last year? The ‘Article Sales Report – 12 Month Purchases over Sales‘ in your Active Stock Tree will show which products were selling well over a specified time period. You can also sort the results by ‘Most Profitable Article‘ and ‘Fastest Moving‘. The report can be generated as a PDF or as a spreadsheet.
– Can I update my Gift Wrap options? Yes, you can access your gift wrap and handwritten message options from the Back Office / Tools / Configure / Preferences tab. Here you will see two folders for ‘Gift Wrap Prices‘ and ‘Handwritten Message Prices‘ with your options inside. Simply click on the options to update the price or click the new button to add additional options.
– Can I add lots of new product lines in one go? The Import Wizard allows you to create a file containing your new product data, pricing, images etc. and import this into Connect in one go. If you would like to know more about the import service please contact the sales team for more information.
Hint: Stocktaking Methods with Connect
Performing regular stocktakes helps to keep stock levels accurate, identify any issues such as damaged goods or missing stock, and gives you more control over your business. There are a number of different ways to perform a stocktake with Connect:
Manual Stocktake – Print off the ‘Form – Article Stocktake’ report which gives you a list of products and the blank fields to enter the quantities. Once recorded the quantities can then be entered into Connect via the Back Office / Active Stock Tree / Stocktake button. See the helpsheet for the steps on the Support Site.
Handheld Stocktaking Device – Once set up with Connect you can perform a stocktake by scanning the articles and entering the quantity directly into the wireless device. This automatically updates the stock in Connect within moments. You can either use the device for rolling stocktakes on smaller sections of the stock or on full inventory stocktake. See the user guide for the device on the Support Site. Handheld Stocktaking Devices can be purchased on our IR Extras website or contact our sales team for more information.
Each stock item can have one stocktake recorded per day. If an incorrect quantity is entered then you can perform a Goods in or Goods out correction for the difference.
It is also good practice to check your allocated stock before performing a stocktake. You can run the ‘Allocated Stock Report’, which shows the transactions that have stock allocated to them, then you can decide if the transaction needs to be completed or voided to clear the allocation.
Buy Handheld Stocktaking Device
News: Cafe Connect – Hot Keys & Hide Icon Text
Cafe Connect is ideal for retailers who have a cafe or small restaurant as part of their business. A programmable menu and table management allow for a fast and efficient service. The visual products and icon groups make it easy for staff to select the right items, while still having the ability to scan products to add them to a transaction.
When using Cafe Connect it’s best to have images added to the icon groups and products as this helps staff to navigate the menu and recognise the items. You also have the option to remove the text overlay and background banner from the icons if you wished to have a cleaner and more visual appearance. To remove the text overlay from your icons in Cafe Connect then please follow the helpsheet on our Support Site.
You can also use Hot Keys in Cafe Connect for variable price items where they are sold by monetary value rather than the stock quantity. For example £1 worth of sauce sachets. To enable Hot Keys in Cafe Connect please follow the helpsheet on our Support Site.
If you would like to know more about Cafe Connect or have this feature enabled on your tills then please contact the sales team for further details.
Top Tip: How to Process Returns
Andy Daley – Technical Support Agent
“To process a return you can scan the barcode on the receipt to bring up the associated transaction. If the receipt is old or the barcode unscannable then you can enter the R number underneath or look up the customers details in ‘CLU’ and view their historical transactions.
If all products on the transaction are being returned then click ‘SUB’ and then ‘Rtn’.
If a single item is being returned then highlight the item line and click ‘Rtn’.
The amount due will be shown as a minus figure and you can then click on the chosen payment method e.g. ‘Cash’ or ‘Card’ and complete the transaction.
If you wished you can offer a voucher (credit note) as an alternative refund method. Simply type the amount and then click ‘HOT’ and ‘Voucher’ to add to the transaction.“
For the step by step guide please see the helpsheet on the Support Site.
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June/July – Ready, Set, Go!
Over the summer and autumn you may be promoting various events such as the upcoming Rio 2016 Olympic & Paralympic Games, or a range of different seasonal themes such as ‘Seaside’ ‘Carnival’ or ‘Back to School’.
Did you know you can use the powerful tagging feature in Connect to gain more insight into various aspects of your business; from product themes across your stock tree to customer demographics?
Tags allow you to apply characteristics to your products, customers or suppliers. You can then use these as search filters to help staff easily locate similar products, to generate more meaningful and specific reports and even for the refine by menu on your IR website to help customers quickly find products. Here are some examples of the kind of tags you could create:
- Product tags: by season, by theme, or by colour.
- Customer tags: by interest, by age or gender.
- Supplier tags: by product types or by speed of delivery.
For more information on tags and how to use them, see our helpsheet on the Support Site.
News: More Flexibility with Mobile Technology
An Interview with Mark Hibbins, Technical Director at Intelligent Retail.
What’s the current hot topic in retail development?
“Mobile technology is one of the main topics being discussed by customers and retailers on the subject of EPoS and multichannel retail.”
What are the benefits of using mobile technology?
“We have seen how some of the major chains have deployed mobile solutions to enhance customer service with impressive incremental revenue results. We know from talking with our customers that mobile devices at point of sales are gaining interest from independents as well. They can offer so much more flexibility than a traditional till and they also provide sales support solutions that are not as feasible with a fixed till that only the shop staff can view.”
What’s next for Intelligent Retail?
“It’s a very exciting time in retail at the moment with mobile technology potentially changing how EPoS is used is store. The ability for a retail solution to work across different types of fixed and mobile devices allows closer interaction with customers. We have been looking at how this can best be leveraged for independents. After listening to valuable feedback from our retailers, we are working on a number of development projects to build a highly flexible mobile retail solution. Watch this space!“
News: Live Chat – Now Available
We are excited to announce the launch of Live Chat on our Intelligent Retail Support Site!
We understand that making a phone call or writing an email isn’t always convenient; so we have added Live Chat as a great alternative way to get in touch. Now when you log into the Support Site you will see a Live Chat box, where our friendly team are available to offer online assistance during helpdesk hours. Give it a go!
Hint: Restricting Till Sessions
Did you know that you can now restrict till sessions, so that you can only start a new session if the previous one has been ended?
After you turn on this feature via your Connect configuration settings you will notice that the ‘Start of Session’ or ‘End of Session’ buttons will be restricted. This makes it clearer to see if you are still in an active till session.
For details on this configuration please see our helpsheet on the Support Site.
If you would like to start using this feature and it isn’t yet visible in your settings, then please contact the helpdesk to book in an upgrade of your Connect licence.
Hint: Mass Price Changer
he Mass Price Changer feature allows you to adjust retail or trade prices on mass. Prices can be changed by value (£), by mark up or by percentage, and applied to selected products, groups and even tag filters.
This saves time by giving you the ability to quickly and easily change prices in one go. For example, if a supplier increased their prices for a product range by 5% then you would be able to update all those products’ trade prices by 5% in a few clicks.
Mass Price Changer can be found in the Active Stock Tree, just look for the red lightning bolt. Please see our helpsheet on the Support Site for more information on using this feature.
If you have a multi-site business and are using split pricing then we have an advanced version of the Mass Price Changer feature available. Feel free to contact our sales team or simply visit our IR Extras website to find out more information and buy online.
Top Tip: Discount Reason Codes
Keith Curtis, Senior Technical Support Agent
“Discount Reason Codes can be set up to allow predefined discounts to be applied at the till for particular scenarios. This helps to ensure the use of correct and authorised discounts such as a damaged goods, student or employee discount, or even local traders discount.
You can create custom Discount Reason Codes from your Back Office settings and set them to be fixed or variable percentage amounts. These reason codes then appear in the discounts section of your till readings.”
See our helpsheet on the Support Site for steps to setting up Discount Reason Codes.
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May – Warming Up For Fathers Day
To maximise sales and make the most out of annual events like Father’s Day (Sunday 19th June) it is beneficial to spend time planning key elements within your retail store and on your IR website.
Receipt Promotional Text: Update the ‘default promotion text’ on your receipts to remind customers about Father’s Day on the run up to 19th June. Remember to just use alphanumeric characters. See more about receipt personalisation on the Support Site.
Impulse Buys: If you have some smaller items that would make great last minute Father’s Day gifts consider having them close to the till as impulse buys.
Offer Gift Vouchers: If people are really stuck for what to buy for Father’s Day then suggest the option of a gift voucher. Remember to add your logo to your gift vouchers too – see our helpsheet on the Support Site.
Website Featured Items: Update your featured items on the homepage of your IR website to highlight Father’s Day related products or gifts – read the helpsheet on the Support Site.
Host an Event: Many Fathers will be looking to spend time with their children over the weekend, so hosting a fun event or activity in store and promoting it via social media and email marketing can drive extra footfall and encourage sales. Not using email marketing yet? Contact us to find out more and get started.
News: 20% Off Training Sessions
Need a refresher? New staff starting? We offer bespoke training sessions to suit your needs whether that is Till or Back Office, Website, Amazon or eBay training.
Our friendly Training Team are here to help with expert knowledge and years’ of experience. We can either visit you at your business for a custom onsite training session or we can offer remote training sessions if you prefer.
Whatever your training needs, we can help you and your staff increase knowledge, improve efficiency and get the best out of your retail channels.
*Special Offer: Get 20% off training sessions booked by 31st May 2016. Offer available for existing customers only.
To have a chat about your training requirements please email ecs@intelligentretail.co.uk or give us a call on 0845 680 0126.
Hint: Use High Quality Imagery For Your Website
High quality imagery used on your eCommerce website will play a key role in attracting visitors to explore further and aiding conversions. Two of the main types of website imagery you would find are product and lifestyle photography.
• Product shots are detailed photographs of the specific product taken from various angles, usually with a clear background. They should display your product looking it’s best, in focus, with good lighting and avoid including any unnecessary packaging or labels. You can also add additional images to show close up views or other visual information a customer may need to make a buying decision.
• Lifestyle photography is where your products are placed in a day-to-day situation, showing how they can be used.This gives a sense of style, shape and scale to the item and shows it’s purpose. They are usually homepage or category page banners and would provoke an emotion to capture attention.This allows customers to make a split second decision on whether to explore further.
There are a few options when choosing a route to add photography.
1. Professional photographer
2. Brand photography
3. Stock photography
1. Hiring the services of a professional photographer will give you the most powerful results and allows you to brief the photographer with your own style, requirements and desired outcomes.
2. Brand photography will give you great looking photography which will have used a considerable budget to create and you can benefit from this. This option might not always be available to you.
3 Stock photography can be a good option for lifestyle imagery in some circumstances. However it could be too generic and may not include your specific products.
News: Free UK Mainland Delivery at IR Extras
Did you know you can shop for Intelligent Retail services and products on the IR Extras website? Find EPoS consumables such as receipt rolls and labels, as well as additional Connect features and EPoS hardware all with free UK mainland delivery!
Simply visit IR Extras and you can log in with your Support Site account.
It has been over 5 years since we’ve had to increase our support fees. Due to an increase in costs we will be increasing the ‘Support per License’ monthly fee by £1 at annual renewal. However, in general the main ‘Support monthly fee’ and the ‘Secure Database Backup / Hosting’ fees will remain as they are.
We are continually working to improve our support as you’ll know from communications via our newsletters.
We have more experienced team on our helpdesk now, to help resolve issues faster. Our first call resolution rate is higher than industry standards. The skills in the team cover Databases, Web systems, Software, Hardware and Infrastructure.
We invested and implemented a brand new CRM system 3 years ago that gives much better visibility for every support call through our 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support teams. We also have a new Jira system that controls much better how developments are logged and tracked.
We have more online resources than ever with a new Support Site web portal. We are shortly introducing live chat, another way for you to contact us if you find it convenient.
If you have any questions about the increase please contact Stacey in account renewals.
News: Should I upgrade to Windows 10?
We recommend that you do not upgrade Till licences to Windows 10 at this time. Whilst Connect works fine with Windows 10, you may find that some of your hardware does not, i.e. Chip and Pin. Therefore, we would recommend that you continue to remain on your current version of Windows until 3rd party hardware vendors have confirmed.
As Connect works with Windows 10 you can upgrade your Back Office licences and further information can be found on Microsoft’s website.
Top Tip: Printing Gift Vouchers
Connar Ledingham, Technical Support Agent
You can update the gift voucher terms, validity period and whether you accept vouchers on your Connect website via the configurations settings in Connect. These settings are found in the Back Office / Tools / Configure / Configuration / Receipt Printer Personalisation / Gift Voucher Options. Once you have made changes, save and then restart Connect.
To print a Gift Voucher:
1. Log into the Till
2. Check you are in ‘Over Counter’ mode
3. Enter the gift voucher amount
4. Click the ‘Hot’ Key button, then ‘Voucher’
5. Then enter the payment amount and method to complete the transaction
6. The voucher will print out with the receipt
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April – Freshen Up This Spring
News: Do You Have Hardware Support?
Need a refresher? New staff starting? We offer bespoke training sessions to suit your needs whether that is Till or Back Office, Website, Amazon or eBay training.
Our friendly Training Team are here to help with expert knowledge and years’ of experience. We can either visit you at your business for a custom onsite training session or we can offer remote training sessions if you prefer.
Whatever your training needs, we can help you and your staff increase knowledge, improve efficiency and get the best out of your retail channels.
*Special Offer: Get 20% off training sessions booked by 31st May 2016. Offer available for existing customers only.
To have a chat about your training requirements please email ecs@intelligentretail.co.uk or give us a call on 0845 680 0126.
News: Apple Pay & Contactless Payments
With the recent launch of the new iPhone SE, there is now a new and affordable model to add to the list of devices that can use Apple Pay, which was launched in the UK last July.
The Apple Pay feature means anyone with the new iPhone SE, iPhone 6 or 6 Plus, or Apple Watch can pay via contactless in over 250,000 locations including large retailers such as Boots, Marks & Spencer, Pret A Manger, and Waitrose. Users just need to update to the latest Apple iOS and add credit or debit cards to their Apple Wallet. The card issuers and acquiring banks are involved in confirming set up has been completed.
The technology used is called NFC (Near Field Communication) which allows a phone to act like a Contactless credit / debit card. Owners of an iPhone simply hold their smartphone close to a contactless reader and pay. A quick and easy way for customers to purchase their goods.
If you would like to offer Apple Pay as a payment method for your customers then the Verifone Ocius VX820 Ped, version 356.08.02 or above supports Apple Pay as long as you have contactless enabled with Verifone.
Hint: Completing PCI Compliance Forms
The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) was established by the major card brands. All businesses that process, store, or transmit payment card data are required to implement the standard to prevent cardholder data theft. PCI compliance is not a single event, but an ongoing process.
Although we are not authorised advisers, we thought it would be helpful to share our latest information sheet designed to help retailers make a decision about the level of compliance needed when completing the self-assessment questionnaires (SAQ).
The information sheet is available on our Support Site.
News: New Direct Debit Scheme
We have launched a new Direct Debit scheme with a new provider.
As you may be aware, Direct Debit is the most cost effective way of making payments.
Direct Debit has many benefits which include:
- Improved Financial Management – a regular payment method which enables you to plan your cash flow accurately: you know when the funds will leave your account.
- Reduced Paperwork – with Direct Debit, there is only one piece of paper to sign and no more cheques to handle or standing orders to organise saving you a considerable amount of valuable time.
- You Remain in Control – you will always be given at least 5 working days advance notice of the amount to be debited through your monthly statement, giving you plenty of time to check payments.
- Peace of Mind – Direct Debit is an efficient and above all secure method of payment.
- The Direct Debit Guarantee – this means that you will receive an immediate refund in the unlikely event of any error.
Please call the Accounts team on 0845 680 0126 Option 3 if you are not already on Direct Debit and would like to change over.
Top Tip: Finding Slow Moving Stock
Francis Gomez, Technical Support Agent
Connect has a number of advanced filters to help sort your stock tree and gain insights into your product data. One handy use is to help you find the slow moving stock so you can review those products.
Read the steps in our helpsheet on the Support Site.
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February & March – Ready for an Early Easter?
This year Easter Sunday is an early one and coincides with the start of British Summer Time; so at least the hour moving forward on 27th March will seem a little sweeter!
On the run up to Easter take a moment to check over your seasonal plans both in store and online. Here are a few things to consider for your preparations:
Check Opening Times – make sure they are up to date both in store and online; so customers know when you are open over the Easter bank holiday weekend.
Update Your Customer Display – wish your customers a “Happy Easter” by updating your customer display via the Connect configuration settings. (Back Office / Tools / Configure / Configuration / Customer Display Settings / Default Text Line 1 & 2)
Set up Seasonal Discount Schemes – perhaps buy 5 Easter eggs for £10 or give a promotional code for 10% off as an Easter treat for your existing customers. To find out more about Discount Schemes, check out the helpsheet available on the new Support Site.
Gift Wrap & Message – offer customers a helping hand with a gift wrap service in store or online. Contact us if you would like to add gift wrap and message to your Intelligent Retail website.
News: Hello New Support Site!
We recently launched our new Intelligent Retail Support Site and many of you have already logged in to check out the improvements including reformatted helpsheets, powerful search functionality, flexible design, status updates and extra resources such as top tips.
We would love to know your thoughts on the new Support Site and welcome your feedback.
If you are yet to login and take a look around because you have forgotten your login details, please feel free to contact us.
New Feature: Connect Loyalty Schemes Voucher Printing Options
The current Loyalty Schemes feature helps retailers to improve customer retention by allowing shoppers to collect points as they spend and when they reach a threshold of points collected they will receive a voucher reward.
There is now a new setting that gives retailers more flexibility with how vouchers are printed. Set Connect to print one single voucher for the total reward amount or break it down into multiples of the lowest denomination.
For example: When a customer collects 100 points they receive a £5 voucher. If a customer makes a large purchase and collects over 200 points, Connect can print 2 x £5 vouchers or 1 x £10 voucher.
For more information on the loyalty schemes and how to set them up, log into the new Support Site to see the helpsheet. This setting is available in the latest version of Connect. Please contact the Helpdesk to book in an upgrade to your licenses if you are not able to see the new setting.
News: Do You Have Hardware Support?
Have you considered what would happen if your receipt printer or till computer had an issue that couldn’t be resolved quickly? As with all hardware, faults can occasionally develop and especially as it ages.
Our hardware comes with the standard manufacturer’s warranty when you purchase it. This means that the equipment is sent back to the manufacturer for repair but this could leave you without essential kit while it is being fixed. If it is out of warranty the repairs or replacements could also be costly.
Having Hardware Support in place means that an engineer will be sent to your site to repair or replace your faulty equipment. This gives you peace of mind that your tills will be back up and running as quickly as possible.
Prices start from as little as £15.00/month*. For full details please contact us on 0845 680 0126 (local call rate).
*Please refer to our terms and conditions as older and/or non-compatible items may not be eligible for cover.
Hint: Monitoring Customer Returns
Sales figures provide valuable data into your top selling products but it is also important to monitor the products that are returned as this helps to gain insight into the overall product performance.
Connect reports can be run with filters to gain insight into specific areas. Such as the “Stock Movement Report” which can be filtered by movement reason (for example you can view all the products that were ‘IN Customer Return‘ within a specific time period). This gives you information about the products that are being returned and allows for further investigation and improvements. For more information on reporting check out the new Support Site for the helpsheet.
Top Tip: Hold Back Stock in Multichannel Centre
Aden Gostling, Technical Support Agent
“Did you know you can hold stock back from the Multi-Channel centre to ensure you keep stock available in store?
Within the Multichannel Centre in Connect, you can specify a value for ‘Holdback’. This field is just next to your stock quantity on the product information. Whatever value you put into that field, Connect will keep that amount of stock held back to ensure you retain stock in store for your walk-in customers.”
For example: an article with a stock quantity of 12 with a hold back value of 4 will mean Connect will push a value of 8 up to your multi-channel stores.
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January 2016 – Wishing you all the Best for 2016
Wishing you an enjoyable and prosperous 2016. At Intelligent Retail we have been working on several exciting projects to improve our services, help with communications and enhance products.We are aiming to launch more of these through 2016 and look forward to introducing them to you in future newsletters!
News: Did you know Intelligent Retail offers Loan Kit?
Are you planning a stock take soon or require some extra equipment on a temporary basis?
We have various items of kit available for loan including hand held stock taking devices, which are great for speeding up the annual stock take process. We also offer various receipt and label printers, as well as barcode scanners, which are useful if you want to check out your options before buying or if you know you are going to be busy and just need extra equipment for the short-term.
These items are loaned for a small fee plus delivery. Please contact our Admin Department if you’d like to know more on 0845 680 0126 + (option 0)
New Features: Till Layout Settings
Connect has configuration settings that allow you to change certain aspects of your till layout and display. You have options to adjust which buttons and panels are shown on the till or even increase the font size. This helps you tailor your till screen to better suit your needs.
For example, in the latest version of Connect you can now have Paypal and Cheque buttons visible if you need to use them both. To enable these buttons to follow these steps:
Go to Back Office
Click on ‘Tools’ and then ‘Configure’
Select the ‘Configuration’ tab
Open the folder for ‘Till Preferences’, then ‘Layout’ and then ‘Buttons’
Click on ‘Show Till Button ‘Cheque’ and set to ‘Y’
Click on ‘Show Till Button ‘Paypal’ and set to ‘Y’
Click ‘OK’
Restart Connect to see the changes
You can now also change the transaction window font size on the till screen to make it easier to read if required. This setting is found in the ‘Layout’ folder as ‘Transaction Window Font Size’ and the default and minimum size is 1.20. Simply increment to the size you require (e.g. 1.30, 1.40, 1.50), save and restart Connect.
If you are interested in using these new configurations please contact the helpdesk on 0845 680 0127 to upgrade your Connect licence to the latest version.
News: Microsoft End Support for Old IE Browsers
Microsoft have announced that they are ending support for older versions of Internet Explorer in January 2016.
From the 12th January only the latest version of Internet Explorer (IE11) will be supported by Microsoft and receive security updates and technical support on certain operating systems – Windows 7, 8.1 and 10.
You can usually find out which version of Internet Explorer you are using by opening the IE browser, clicking on the cog symbol in the top right and then selecting ‘About Internet Explorer’. If you are still using an older version of Internet Explorer then it would be worth looking at upgrading to IE11.
Read more about the end of support here.
Tip: Allocated Stock
David Alden, Technical Support Agent
In Connect there is an ‘Allocated Stock Report’ that allows you to see all the transactions that still have stock allocated to them. You can then use this report to check if the transactions need to be completed or voided to clear the allocation.
You can also see if an individual product has any allocated stock by finding the product in the Active Stock tree, clicking on the wording ‘Stock Quantity’ and then a pop-up window will show the allocated quantity by site. If you double click on the allocated number it will show you the related transaction and date too.
Keep in Touch!
We are here to assist you. Whether you need a helpsheet, an answer to a question about Connect or technical support. Feel free to speak to a member of the team on 0845 680 0127.
Alternatively, you can email helpdesk@intelligentretail.co.uk (with attachments if required) which will automatically log a case on the Customer Portal for our team to get back to you.
Please note that any historical email addresses for customer services are no longer in use, so please save helpdesk@intelligentretail.co.uk in your address book.
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