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How it Could Save (and Earn!) Cash

Eliminates most manual data entry. Think about it: Much of the information you input into your system is created at the top of the supply-chain by the manufacturer. Descriptions, images, suggested pricing, UPC, manufacturer part number - just to name a few. If you buy direct, they even have your cost. A simple sharing standard would open this up to be used by distributors and retailers alike. Why should you enter data again if somebody has already done it for you?

Up-to-date information. Have you ever lost money because a supplier forgot to send you information about a cost increase? Mistakes happen, and some are more expensive than others. Maintaining pricing information in particular can be a tedious and difficult task. In my dream world of simple data sharing, my POS system will automatically get updated costs every night. When I get there in the morning, I will be presented with cost movements so that I can intelligently determine if I need to adjust my selling price. I know, it sounds like Minority Report style retail technology; but, this type of functionality would be commonplace if a standard were in place.

Your systems could talk to each other! Even the smallest operations will have multiple systems nowadays. It's not uncommon for a "mom and pop" to have a POS system, accounting software, and a website. Guess what? They *all* need some of the same data. As a standard gets adopted, software developers could build import / export functionality into everything they do. Wouldn't it be nice if inputting your data once caused it to cascade automatically to all of your systems?

Customers would love it! "What? Most customers couldn't care less about what my data looks like or how it gets there". That is, unless part of the standard enabled you to share live inventory information. Mobile, location-based services are huge right now. A customer could literally take their Christmas shopping list and find every store near them that has what they are looking for. What's more, since it is an open standard, developers could make all sorts of applications to utilize your data.

What it Should Look Like

Public property - no gatekeepers. No private organization should claim ownership of the standard. An organization could be created to administer the standard, but adopters shouldn't even have to be aware of this organization to start implementing it. Think HTML and websites. Did you have to call the W3C to start developing your website? Did you even know that they existed?

Simple. Yep, simple. Now, the term "simple" is relative. But standards like EDI and GS1 are way over the top. They try to provide rules for every possible scenario resulting in thick rulebooks and incomprehensible jargon. Here's an idea: Instead of trying to think of every possible scenario, make the standard flexible. Let participants find creative ways to solve problems and they will. Just look at how far the web has come!

Free. Access to the standard should be free (looking at you, ARTS). Adoption of the standard should not require an admission fee or annual dues. The only cost should be the cost of implementation. Again, like building a website.

Privacy and Access Controls. One difference between web sites and a retail standard is the need for privacy. Some information should not be available for public consumption (i.e. your cost). Participants must be able to determine who has access to what information.

Our goal was to make it so that you can add a Like button to your catalog in less than 5 minutes. If you've got 15 minutes, you can take the time to set up a Facebook application and enable the commenting feature of the Like button - something that we highly recommend.

You can see a sample of the commenting feature here. The 5-minute install version is here.

One last note: In addition to adding a Like button to your product pages, we optimized the experience for your users by adding meta tags with the most relevant product name, image, and description and providing a central place in the Magento admin for managing your buttons.

This 9-page document has been refined over many Magento installations and will save you hours of research and experimentation.

Please contact us if you have any questions or would like a free consultation.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you can always contact us.

We are going to be posting some great Magento tips and tricks over the next week so stay tuned.

What does this mean for you? Here are a few ideas:

Simple File Sharing

When email attachments aren’t good enough, uploading a file to Google Docs is a perfect solution. There is apparently going to be a 250 MB file size limit, which is much higher than most restrictions on email attachments. The service will also allow you to share the files with anybody (Google and non-Google users alike).

Poor Man’s VPN

One reason to have a VPN is to enable remote file access. If you don’t have the resources or expertise to set up and manage a VPN, this service could be a very cost-effective method for accessing important files while away from the office. Am I advocating this as a true alternative to a VPN? Absolutely not,but it does make it easy to access your files from anywhere.

File Sync Between Machines

Almost every professional has more than one computer now. Between office desktops, personal laptops, netbooks for traveling and, soon enough, tablet computers, there is a clear need to be able to easily share documents between machines. Memeo Connect looks like it will be a simple solution for keeping your files synced, no matter which computer you are on.

I would highly recommend it to anybody, whether you are in business or not. It is an extended parable about a “go-getter” that is trying to land the biggest sales deal of his career. He is introduced by a friend to a man who teaches him the 5 Principles of Stratospheric Success.

It’s a quick read, but will leave you thinking for a long time. For me, it easily lands in my top 5 business books of all time (a list that includes Good to Great and Blue Ocean Strategy).

Managing cash flow is one of the greatest challenges of retailing. To compete, retailers need to focus on stocking shelves with the right amount of the right product. Too much product and inventory becomes bloated, tying up much needed cash. Too little product and valuable sales are lost.

Lots of retailers focus on turns, the number of times their inventory is bought and sold. Mathematically, a turn is the average inventory of a product divided sales. For example, if you keep 10 widgets on a shelf at all times and you sell 100 widgets, you have just turned that product 10 times. A product that turns frequently is sometimes referred to as a “fast-moving” product – it leaves the shelf faster than most.

Turns play an important role in product selection and product pricing. A higher markup on a product means you will need fewer turns to break even on your investment. Conversely, a lower markup means more turns are required to break even.

To break even, most locations require a GMROII of between $2.50 and $3.20. This depends on factors like rent, wages, utilities, etc. – expenses that are not typically included in cost of a product when analyzing margins.

I recently decided to spend some time researching the relationship between GMROII and turns for the purpose of optimizing the purchasing of a local retailer. I wanted to answer the question: “Given a certain mark up, how many turns will it take to for a product to reach a target GMROII”?

Surprisingly, it’s fairly simple. Mathematically, the target GMROII divided by the Cost Markup Percentage (Markup / Cost) equals the number of turns required. Consider a widget that you purchase for $1.00 and sell for $1.50. The cost markup percentage is 50% ($.50 / $1.00). With a target GMROII of $2.50, we can determine that the widget needs to turn 5 times to reach that goal.

Why is this even important? Because now you (or your buyers) can determine how many widgets to stock on your shelf to get your desired return on investment, especially if you have some sales history to base your decision on.

For example, assume you are selling a widget with a Cost Markup Percentage of 75% (purchased for $1, sold for $1.75). Based on the GMROII Turns formula, you know that you have to turn 3.33 times to post a $2.50 GMROII. Last year, you sold 20 of these widgets. If you expect demand to stay the same (if only it were that simple), then you know that your average inventory needs to be under 6 (20 units sold divided by 3.33 needed turns) to reach your GMROII goal.

The above example is overly simplified, but the message still holds. The GMROII Turns formula should be applied at an annual level to accommodate for seasonality. If a widget triples in sells during fourth quarter, then you should adjust what you stock to meet that demand.

“…this is an absolute must-have for anyone involved in the finances of a retail store”

See the full review here.