The Roadshow at The Grove

One Step Retail Solutions is presenting The Roadshow at The Grove in Los Angeles, CA. This is a popular event among One Step's customers, and is hitting the road to present the event in key cities. The last event was a Meet & Greet in San Diego and the L.A. Roadshow will be followed with a roadshow in New York.

Speakers from One Step include:
Peter Pishko, VP Operations
Kevin McAdam, VP Sales
Charles Wood, Director of Tech Services

Special Guest Speakers include:
Mike Yanchison, SonicWALL
Rebecca Ramme, UniteU
Michael Dattoma, The Bart Group
Hewlett Packard speaker TBA

It's a day designed to bring together our clients, our staff and invited vendors to network and exchange ideas to motivate and inspire you.

When: June 18th, 9 AM to 5 PM
Location: The Grove, at Third & Fairfax, Los Angeles, CA
(free valet parking)

Limited seating! RSVP to chepner@onestepretail.com or call 818-543-4777 Ext. 4125.

Click here to see full details of event.

Free Retail Tech Check

One Step Retail Solutions wants you to prosper in today’s economy and be a cut above your competition. Discover what you can do about it and how to better manage your retail operations, no matter what the economy is doing. Our Retail Tech Check is a complimentary service provided by our retail consultants who are experienced in retail business and operations.

One Step's retail experts will look over and assess your specific retail business, current business processes and technology, and challenging areas. Our consultants don't stop there however. They inform you how to overcome any weaknesses and enhance your strengths using a technology strategy that can take you beyond the norm you're used to.

Click here to get a free Retail Tech Check

New Retail Whitepaper Released

One Step Retail Solutions recently published a new retail whitepaper, updated from report "The 5 Biggest Challenges Retailers Face Today". The new whitepaper entitled "The 6 Biggest Challenges Retailers Face Today" expands on today's challenges and contains updated and new research in the retail industry.

Download a complimentary copy at:
www.onestepretail.com/retail/6bc-whitepaper.php

New Retail Pro video

Retail Pro, Inc. recently released a new video about how retailers are using Retail Pro point of sale software in their business. Watch this fun 5 minute video and see for yourself how Retail Pro is the POS system of choice for many retailers worldwide.

Retail Webinar-on-Demand

Today's economy is on shaky ground for retailers. One Step Retail Solutions' new Webinar-on-demand informs retailers what they can do to prevail in "How Retailers Can Thrive in Today's Challenging Economy."

Find out how to prosper in today's economy and be a cut above your competition. The economy is cycling down. Learn how this is affecting retail and what you can do about it to help you better manage your retail operations and prosper, no matter what the economy is doing.

This webinar discusses:

• The current outlook for retailers
• Getting through extended slow seasons
• Capitalizing on your strongest assets - your customers
• Maximizing profit margins with your inventory
• The competitive advantage of a POS system
• Investing in the infrastructure of your business.

Watch this webinar!

New Retail Webinar

Upcoming webinar "How Retailers Can Thrive In a Challenging Economy" will focus on principles that will help reshape the way retailers manage their retail operations and prosper, no matter what the economy is doing.

Featured speaker is Kevin McAdam, retail expert from One Step Retail Solutions.

Registration is free, but required.

Register now!

Retail Tips from Rick Segel

If you haven't seen Rick Segel's Retail Tip of the Week bulletins, I think you're missing out on some great stuff. His latest bulletin shows results from a retail survey Rick did and it is very enlightening. Here's a link to the PDF version of it:

http://www.ricksegel.com/newsletter/rtw20080205.pdf

His retail humor in the sidebar completely cracked me up, too. But the meat of the bulletin is his tips to retailers to improve their retail operations. I encourage you to check it out! Oh, check us out while you're at it!

http://www.onestepretail.com

The New, Better Retail Pro Version 9

The newest version of Retail Pro can't be beat. No one else offers what this retail management software provides for small and midsize specialty retailers.

Retail Pro Version 9 offers localization for support, currencies, and languages and is now written in 18 different languages and supports 17 different currencies.

This POS inventory management software handles retailers from a single store to 500 stores. It has been and remains the industry's leading POS software for independent retailers.

Try a LIVE online demo of the newest Retail Pro version and see for yourself.

Sign up for a live demo of Retail Pro V9 now.

Free Retail Webinar

Webinar: How Retailers Can Maximize Profits in the New Year
Date: January 24, 2008
Time: 2:00 PST (1 hr)

Sit in with retail experts and hear about the impact retail technology will have for retailers in 2008. This webinar features retail experts and senior executives from One Step Retail Solutions, discussing the principles that will reshape the way you manage your retail operations.

Speakers:
Scott Kreisberg, CEO
Peter Pishko, VP Operations
Kevin McAdam, VP Sales
Charles Wood, Director of Tech Services

Don't miss this rare opportunity! Register now!

New Retail Whitepaper

One Step Retail Solutions Releases New Whitepaper "Keeping Up with Retail Technology to Increase Profits and Customer Satisfaction."

Retailers face tough challenges to stay competitive and it becomes critical to find new ways to increase the productivity and efficiency of their businesses. Therefore, to succeed in today's complex retail setting, the right blend of ingredients is critical.

In this whitepaper, it identifies how to meet today's retail challenges and achieve increased productivity through retail point of sale solutions.

Download a complimentary copy of this retail whitepaper.

Retailers Adapting New Strategy on Inventory

During the mid-season holidays, retailers are finding that they need to establish new strategies on inventories because their inventory may not support markdowns.

Leaner stockrooms mean less incentive to slash prices to get goods out the door. Expect fewer late-season sales touting 50% or more off original purchase prices. Not that some big sales won't be found.

Of course, the less an item is predicted to grow sales, the more likely retailers will slash prices. Jewelry, which Retail Forward predicts will grow sales just 1% over 2006, qualifies this year. And furniture, expected to see a 1% drop in sales, could be a strong markdown despite not usually being associated with gift-giving. -- from Forbes article, 11/29/07

See full article

For more a free retail consultation, contact One Step Retail Solutions to schedule one today!

Gift Cards Are Good Business for Retailers

According to an online American Pulse survey, many Americans would rather give than receive. And, when it comes to giving, many just want to ensure that they get the right gift and avoid the recipient arriving at the returns window.

Of the 4,069 respondents, 52.1 percent said they would rather receive a gift card or cash than gifts this holiday season. Of those, 29.6 percent preferred a gift card and 22.5 percent wanted cash.

The survey found that 45.4 percent received a gift of clothing that they didn’t like or wear last year, and 46.3 percent hate the hassle of returning gifts. Of the respondents, 22.7 percent would like to exchange gifts for things they would rather have; and 22.5 percent have "re-gifted" gifts received.

Concerning gift cards, 82.4 percent agreed they are a smart gift alternative for people they don't know well. But 10.5 percent admit they had "re-gifted" gift cards received; 13.5 percent have received gift cards that they've never redeemed; and 16.1 percent have received gift cards that they've only partially redeemed.

Read full article.

Visit One Step Retail Solutions about implementing a gift card program in your store.

Dec. Discounts on Retail Pro

Online shopping during Cyber Monday (Monday after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday in retail outlets) surged 26%, indicating that the holiday season is off to a good start. The peak shopping days are expected to continue this season, both for online activity and brick and mortar retailers.

More than 42% of adults will shop online this holiday season, up from the 40% who shopped online last year, according to Consumer Reports. And Internet access at home will spend 11 hours shopping for the holidays. The poll also showed that the number of people planning to shop is up 4% from last year.

While it may be understood that this is a promising holiday season for retailers, if they are not prepared for a heavy shopping period, they could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue. A retailer not having integrated eCommerce with their point of sale software system is going to lose out on the success online retailers are having this season. Also, slow checkout can make customers walk out the door, and a robust point of sale software system, like Retail Pro, is equipped to prevent that from happening.

To assist retailers in getting a comprehensive POS software system One Step Retail Solutions is offering specials throughout December on Retail Pro – starting with a 30% discount on Retail Pro during Week One of December, with an additional 10% with the purchase of POS hardware. It’s the biggest discount of the month, so it’s a perfect time for retailers who need a better POS system to take advantage of One Step’s offer at the beginning of Dec.

Contact a sales representative at One Step today. Call 800-266-1328 or email sales@onestepretail.com.

Read article:
“More than 40% of adults plan to shop online this holiday season”

Online Retailers Plan Deals for Cyber Monday

In the Boston Globe article "Online Retailers Plan Deals for Cyber Monday," it states:

A Shop.org survey issued today said that 72.2
percent of online retailers are planning a special promotion for Cyber Monday -
the Monday that follows Thanksgiving - up from 42.7 percent from two years ago.

This is the biggest shopping day of the year and marks the beginning of the retail holiday season. This 4th quarter shopping can account for 50% to 70% of retailers’ sales and profits for the entire year. Read full article.

According to the National Retail Foundation’s 2007 Holiday Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey, conducted by BIGresearch, U.S. consumers will spend an average of $816.69 on holiday-related shopping and spend an additional $106.67 on special “non-gift” purchases during seasonal promotions and discounts offered by retailers. The total of $923.36 indicates an estimated 3.7 percent increase over 2006, according to the news release.

Another news article "Selling the Retail Season" states,

Gift cards are expected to extend the holiday shopping season into 2008,
according to Niemira. An estimated 30 to 40 percent of those receiving
gift cards are expected to redeem them in the week after Christmas and into
January.

Read full article.

Record sales of gift cards predicted

Press Release excerpts:

New technology for retail management of gift card programs through retail point of sale systems drive growth ahead of holiday season.

According to a National Retail Federation survey, gift cards have become the number one selling item at retail stores. With the adaptation of new technology for online management through POS retail system, rates of acceptance of integrated gift card program has skyrocketed.

The National Retail Federation reported that this year’s holiday gift card sales will reach record-high sales to $35 billion, continuing year over year at over 50% sales growth since gift card programs first rolled out in 2004 and 2005.

Retail chains also have made a big effort to upgrade to more sophisticated software such as Retail Pro at the point of sale to process gift cards. Retail Pro is a highly sophisticated point of sale software that includes the capability to integrate gift card programs.

Video Interview with Scott Kreisberg CEO

Watch our new video "Interview with Scott Kreisberg"

One Step Awarded for Top Sales of Retail Pro

One Step Retail Solutions received the Global Business Partner of the Year Award from Island Pacific at the awards event in San Diego, CA this week. The awards event took place at the Wave House in San Diego and recognized One Step for achieving Top Sales of Retail Pro worldwide.

“It is always important to be recognized for the accomplishments of the group as a whole. Receiving the honors of being the best Retail Pro Service Provider, for the US and World wide, acknowledges all the efforts made by everyone at One Step Retail. It reflects our dedication to our customers and their businesses. It is also nice to have that recognition from the other Retail Pro Dealers, our peers”, says Charles Wood Director of Tech services at One Step Retail Solutions. "

Darren Williams COO of Island Pacific and Ken Sapp VP Sales of Island Pacific presented the two awards to Alicia Kreisberg Chief Operating Officer of One Step Retail Solutions.

New Retail Pro Website

Yesterday One Step Retail Solutions launched its Retail Pro website featuring their premiere retail point of sale software - http://www.retailprosoftware.com/. With the same look and feel as the company's main website, this site primarily focuses on Retail Pro and the Retail Pro Shop Edition - a POS system that includes software, hardware, installation and training all under $5,000.

Visitors of our main site will still find the Retail Pro forum and blog, as well as an upcoming video tour of the product.

You can sign up for a free online LIVE demo of Retail Pro with one of our representatives, or contact a One Step consultant at (866) 266-1328.

Using POS to Improve Customer Satisfaction

In a recent article posted at One Step Retail Solutions, "How POS Adds Up to Improved Customer Satisfaction," it states that a retailer can achieve insight into what they have on hand to target specific buying habits of their customers and drive them back to their store.

A retail business runs on accurate information or it doesn't run well. In its elastic ability to gather and store customer information and selectively retrieve it in hard copy or electronic reports, POS technology can help isolate existing clientele groups based on an almost infinite variety of business-dictated parameters in hundreds of ways. Accurate data based on criteria such as: location, sales history in dollar amounts, items bought, time of year, price range, age, sex, marital status, children, items favored, popular styles, sizes, colors, brands, etc. can help determine trends.

This is a great article, so check it out!

Accept Gift Cards This Holiday

In 2006, gift cards surpassed Apparel as the #1 gift - they were second in 2005. NRF continues to expect 2007 sales to increase 4.8% over 2006.

Achieve more profits by accepting gift cards - now is the time to integrate your credit and gift card processing with Retail Pro. Right now Retail Pro customers get a 30% discount on PC Charge or Shift4 with our preferred processor. Limited offer - expires Oct. 31st.

The success of gift cards is well documented and now you can take gift cards on Retail Pro to increase revenues and eliminate the administrative hassles of paper gift certificates.

For more information, read about Retail Pro Payment Solutions.

To read similar article on gift cards, read Gift Cards Are Changing Retail.