Training – a Time and Money – Saving Investment

Training – a Time and Money-Saving Investment

At CCS, we often get calls from customers who proclaim, “Our system isn’t working right!” When we probe for details, it turns out that a cable was unplugged, an employee failed to log out properly, the default printer wasn’t set for the right printer, something was posted on the wrong date (or for the wrong year), or an incorrect password was being used.

A recent issue involved a person manually imputing data (for days) that could have been accomplished quickly with the push of a button! Imagine the time spent and the money wasted from a situation like this one.

It’s not the system that’s at fault—it’s improper use of the system that’s often causing the problems. Many of these issues could have been prevented if the employees involved had the right training to use the software and hardware correctly. That’s where we come into the picture.

We offer training in our computer-equipped classroom, on-site at your place of business, or remotely. Hands-on instruction is provided by a qualified technician with years of experience. Manuals are supplied for use in the classroom, and for further reference on the job.

Employers may choose a complete system overview, or just specific topics for their employees’ training. Questions brought up during the classes often get answers to problems that others have had, also.

If you’re interested in saving time and money by getting the proper training for your employees (or yourself!), give us a call today at 425-672-4806 or email us. The holiday season is about to begin, so don’t delay!

Marlene

 

NCR Ranked #1 in Global POS Software by RBR in Second Year of Market

NCR Ranked #1 in Global POS Software by RBR in Second Year of Market Report

New RBR “Global POS Software 2017” report identifies NCR as leading point-of-sale software provider in the retail and hospitality industries for the second consecutive year

Duluth, Ga. – October 31,2017NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR), a global leader in omni-channel solutions, remains the leading point-of-sale (POS) software provider for the retail and hospitality industries according to a study published by the strategic research and consulting firm RBR.

RBR’s research “Global POS Software 2017” is an in-depth international study of this dynamic market, analyzing more than 1,400 projects, by more than 60 vendors. The report shows that major retailers and hospitality operators account for 7 million POS installations worldwide, with NCR as the market leader for the 2nd consecutive year.

Additionally, nearly 300,000 new POS installations occurred from June 2016 to June 2017, and NCR led this growth with 14% global share.

“Retail and hospitality businesses are increasingly turning to our Omni Channel Decision Support Solutions and capabilities as NCR delivers proven value to our customers as a critical partner in shaping the customer experience,” said Dirk Izzo, senior vice president and general manager Industry Solution Group, NCR Corporation. “Our point-of-sale software delivers a consistent consumer experience across all touchpoints.”

The NCR software portfolio is leading transformational change across the entire retail and hospitality ecosystem, as these markets will increasingly rely on omni-channel platforms that can capture and provide actionable customer insights. NCR’s cloud-based infrastructure and APIs, combined with NCR point-of-sale software, will enable integration of third party applications and various types of data analysis to drive smarter, faster business decisions. This enables businesses to select and easily integrate different types of technology with their current systems, ultimately helping to save them money, time to market and helping them future-proof their business and transform at their own pace.

About NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a leader in omni-channel solutions, turning everyday interactions with businesses into exceptional experiences. With its software, hardware, and portfolio of services, NCR enables nearly 700 million transactions daily across the financial, retail, hospitality, travel, telecom and technology industries. NCR solutions run the everyday transactions that make your life easier. NCR is headquartered in Duluth, Ga., with about 30,000 employees and does business in 180 countries. NCR is a trademark of NCR Corporation in the United States and other countries. NCR encourages investors to visit its website which is updated regularly with financial and other important information about NCR.

Website: www.ncr.com
Twitter: @NCRCorporation
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ncrcorp
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/ncr-corporation
YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ncrcorporation

6 top reasons for using bLoyal as a Customer Relationship Management tool.

 

6 top reasons for using bLoyal as a Customer Relationship Management tool.

bLoyal adds an extension to what NCR Counterpoint standardly offers for loyalty programs.

1. Offers and Promotions

Loyalty Offers and Promotions

Offers and promotions enhance your loyalty reward programs by offering short-term values that generate immediate sales and complement long-term loyalty member rewards. Offers and promotions work to your advantage in many ways. They provoke interest in new products, give members an opportunity to try something different, provide added value to your customers to help encourage loyalty, and ultimately generate more revenue for your business. bLoyal’s loyalty system gives you endless opportunities for offering sales and promotions to members and member segments.

Offers and Promotions from bLoyal allow you to go beyond the old style punch card by introducing exclusive loyalty program member benefits, scaled to help meet your specific needs and goals.

  • Gift Card Sales Promotions

Gift card marketing and promotions give you multiple opportunities to gain return customers and repeat sales.

As an example: If you offer a $5 gift card with a purchase of $25 or more, there’s an excellent chance that customer will either return to use the gift card or give it to someone else. Either way, statistically, there’s a 68% chance that the returning shopper will spend significantly more than the $5 offered.

Also, since bLoyal gift cards are loyalty enabled, every gift card can become a loyalty card, creating a new opportunity for building customer relationships.

  • Buy One Get One Loyalty Promotions

By one get one (BOGO) loyalty promotions are easy to configure within the bLoyal system, and despite the name, you aren’t limited in what you can offer. Buy-one-get-one promotions can span multiple product categories and use any combination of qualifiers and quantity pairings.

For example,

offer a buy two get one 50% off, promotion, or buy three and get bonus loyalty points.

With bLoyal’s loyalty system, the combinations are limitless and give you opportunities to create unique offers.

  • Coupon Loyalty Offers

Digital and print coupons significantly influence customer loyalty, sales, and word-of-mouth marketing. Customers are much more likely to be loyal to a business that provides coupons and more willing to tell friends about that business, however, the coupons need to be relevant to the consumer. bLoyal combines the power of loyalty member segmentation with targeted coupon creation and distribution, so you can create exclusive coupon loyalty offers for your members and distribute them through bLoyal built-in outbound marketing tools, or post shareable, viral coupons across your social media accounts.

2. Frequent Buyer Programs

  • Frequent Buyer Programs with bLoyal’s Loyalty Software

The following feature would be in addition to or instead of anything that you might currently be doing through NCR Counterpoint.

Building loyalty with frequent buyer programs provides a great way to reward customers for shopping with you often, or for choosing specific products or manufacturers regularly. bLoyal’s loyalty system lets you configure any frequent buyer rewards that you want, in real-time or for any other reason. With flexible points, coupons, and recurring purchase benefits, you can configure custom programs that provide value to your members instantly while encouraging more return visits.

  • Frequent Buyer Loyalty Reward Points

Rewarding your customers doesn’t mean you need to give them discounts every single time they shop. Establishing a point’s reward system provides incentives that add up over time, so your members know that once they reach a certain level of point’s rewards, they can redeem those points for a valuable rewards experience. You can set thresholds to reward customers for a certain number of visits, spending a set amount of money over time or within a limited period, or award bonus points for specific products or categories. The options are truly limitless.

Frequent buyer programs from bLoyal were designed so that you can reward loyal customers for what you want, when you want, how you want.

  • Dollar Amount or Cash Back Loyalty Rewards

Launching frequent buyer programs that are based on dollar amounts are effective at increasing both short and long-term customer spending. For example, you can offer $10 back on purchases of $150 or more, and provide a dollar reward amount on a gift card, or offer a coupon with a time limit. Dollar loyalty programs sometimes offer shipping credits based on spending caps, dollar amount discounts on future purchases, and more.

  • Award Programs with Tiers

Offering tiered loyalty rewards programs gives your members goal-based incentives to shop more often. Tiered programs can be implemented based on the number of visits, point value, or how much a customer spends during a period. Each rewards program

tier offers new benefits and rewards, with incentives to either maintain that loyalty tier, or reach it again after the related rewards have been redeemed.

  • Electronic Punch Card Loyalty

Electronic punch cards are a simple way to award members for frequent visits, purchasing a particular product, or choosing items from a certain manufacturer repeatedly. Digital loyalty punch cards can be configured in multiple ways and activated through many member check-in options from point of sale devices to mobile phones or loyalty gift cards.

  • Segmented Frequent Buyer Programs

One of the most powerful features of bLoyal’s loyalty software is the ability to segment loyalty members based on anything you want and reward customers based on where they are in the buyer’s journey as an individual. This level of targeting is powerful and personal, and with bLoyal you can offer targeted frequent buyer programs to different market segments based on

their interests, demographics, preferred store, or custom channels.

Frequent buyer rewards programs configured through bLoyal’s loyalty software are completely customizable to reach your customers in personal ways to create stronger, longer lasting relationships and boost the lifetime value of your members.

3. Outbound Marketing

Engage program members with the outbound marketing tools that are built right into the bLoyal system. You don’t need a separate, third-party system to send out exclusive offers through email, text, social blasts or remarketing campaigns. Segmented lists and categories keep your member contacts organized, so you can send targeted promotions to users based on their demographics, behaviors, and preferences without the hassle of managing separate mailing databases.

  • Loyalty Marketing with Email

Bulk emailing within bLoyal is simple. You can create newsletters with custom branded templates and send them to member groups or all members. Send event announcements, promotional campaigns, exclusive member content, surveys, and easily track engagements from

and promotions based on real engagement metrics.

  • Text Message Marketing

Schedule promotional announcements, coupons, event invitations, and more to reach your members anywhere through text message marketing. Members can opt-in or out at any time, and you can personalize messages for each user. Text message loyalty marketing is an excellent way to grow your audience, and it’s all possible in the bLoyal system without leaving your loyalty dashboard.

4. Remarketing with bLoyal

Remarketing helps you increase average order value and frequency by targeting loyalty program members based on their purchase history and other trackable loyalty program behaviors. Create remarketing campaigns by downloading segmented customer lists from bLoyal and

adding this data as a ‘custom audience’ on your next campaign.

  • Loyalty Rewards and Outbound Marketing

bLoyal offers a single platform for managing all of your outbound marketing and loyalty program efforts from one location. Engagements are linked to each member’s profile in our 360 CRM, as well as our reporting system, so you can view loyalty program engagement history

and evaluate the effectiveness of your targeting.

5. Segmentation

Marketing and Loyalty Segmentation

Member segmentation is a fundamental part of every loyalty rewards program and outbound marketing campaign. bLoyal’s built-in options give you the power to deliver the right rewards to the right customers at the right time. bLoyal provides static, dynamic , and SKU level dynamic segmentation options to help you make sure your engagements are on target and truly relevant to each of your members.

Members can be added to segmented loyalty lists automatically during sign-up, based on their demographics or where and how they signed-up, as well as being able to opt into segments online. Managers can create segmented loyalty lists manually, or lists can be automatically populated based on user behaviors and more.

Valuing your customer’s time is key to building a successful loyalty program. Marketing segmentation from bLoyal allows you to send the right message to the right customer’s at the right time.

  • Static Segmentation

Static segmentation is simple and intuitive within the bLoyal system. Mailing list managers can create member lists based on any criteria, directly within the system and use bLoyal’s outbound marketing tools to send out targeted sales, promotions, announcements, and more. Once created, managers can make changes to static lists manually. Static lists are useful for running short-term campaigns or sending engagement announcements that only apply to a very particular group of people.

  • Dynamic Segmentation

Dynamic marketing segmentation is an automated grouping of members based on any combination of behaviors and/or demographics.

For example, you can configure bLoyal to add every member of a particular demographic who has shopped at a specific store location to a precisely targeted mailing list. Customer history can be automated based on order history, purchase history, and even purchase of an individual product.

  • SKU Level Dynamic Segmentation

Product or SKU level segmentation is a highly targeted way to reach members based on their past purchases. bLoyal can automatically group customers that buy a particular product or brand into a list that you can use for precision marketing and promotions.

Highly Targeted Loyalty Solutions

With bLoyal’s loyalty and rewards system, customer partitioning is easy. Our solution allows you to create outbound marketing campaigns that will activate and engage your loyalty program members based on products they’re really interested in. You’ll also have access to analytics based on the member segments you provide, so you can quickly report on results and make adjustments as often as you need.

If you’re looking for a powerful loyal marketing solution for your business, call CCS to schedule a demonstration and learn more about bLoyal’s powerful features.

For more information on the above, please contact the CCS Retail Systems, Inc. Sales department (sales) or 1-800-672-4806.

– John

Be Proactive On System Problems

 

Be Proactive On System Problems

Are you experiencing an issue with your software? If so, don’t let it fester and create frustration for you or your team.

CCS Retail Systems is here to help, if you do not report your problems, they cannot get fixed.

I recently was speaking to a customer about a slow system, as we were going over some of the basic troubleshooting questions, the customer brought up another issue and was explaining how they were resolving it over the last few days.

If CCS was informed of the issue sooner, it would have been resolved in a matter of minutes. Now I understand, everyone is busy, sometimes calling right away is impossible or impractical, but reporting an issue in a timely matter will make those impossible times far less likely because the issue will be resolved, which will free your time up for more important matters.

When reporting issues, the more detail you can give, the better. Some of the basic information we can use is

  • Date and time the issue occurred – This information helps with looking at all the information log files keep and help narrow down issue to a few lines instead of hundreds (or thousands)
  • Were there any error or other messages presented to you – Try and get the exact and entire message, using your phones camera or taking a screenshot can be used. This also helps with log files in the same way as the date and time as well as where to look in the software.
  • What Screen were you in – Examples would be Ticket Screen or Purchase Request
  • What user and workstation received the message. – An example would be John was using the backoffice PC
  • Any information that may be helpful – For example there may have been network issue, we had a power outage, Internet was down.
  • Do you notice any pattern – An example would be, every time I click on the “Go” button an error comes up.

So, If you cannot call right away, the best thing to do is to jot down the information so when you can call you are ready for the any questions we may ask.

A good example of the above may look like this.

On 9/18/17 at 3:30PM John was receiving a “Not On File” error on the backoffice workstation every time he clicked on the Save button in the Inventory/Items screen. We were having power issues earlier in the day and the Internet went down twice.

With the above information, CCS has a good starting point at where to look to resolve the issue quickly.

You can call CCS directly at 800.672.4806 or email us.

-Bryan

About Support Requests

About Support Requests

At CCS, we provide support to customers who have a single site with few employees, or multiple sites with many employees. Different issues can occur at any one of these sites, and sometimes at the same time. Keeping track of these issues involves assigning support ticket numbers to avoid duplication of services and duplication of billing.

It helps us to provide better (and faster) service if you supply the following information when you first request support help:

Your name

The name of your company

The specific location where the issue is happening

Your telephone number (office, cell, or any other number where you can be reached if a call back is needed)

A brief description of the problem, such as:

· Labels are not printing right

· Problem with overnight processing

· Credit card settlement problem

· PC fan is making noises

· Error message “not able to access top level directory”

· Drawer won’t open

· Question on reports

These details, when provided at the time of your call, will be placed on a numbered support ticket, and assigned to the available tech who is most suited to resolve the issue in a timely manner. A more detailed explanation of the issue can be given to the tech once you are connected.

Following the above procedure will resolve support issues faster, and will help reduce your stress and your down time.

Have a problem or a question? We can be reached at 425-672-4806, or you can email us.

Marlene

Retail Terms 02

Retail Terms 02

by CCS Retail Webmaster

CCS Retail Systems Crossword Puzzles – Retail Terms 02. If you have disabled web page scripting, please re-enable it and refresh the page. If this web page is saved to your computer, you may need to click the yellow Information Bar at the top of the page to allow the puzzle to load.

Click a word for a clue.

Retail Terms 02 (Beginner)

Retail Terms 02 (Beginners)

by CCS Retail Webmaster

CCS Retail Crossword Puzzle – Retail 02. If you have disabled web page scripting, please re-enable it and refresh the page. If this web page is saved to your computer, you may need to click the yellow Information Bar at the top of the page to allow the puzzle to load.

Click a word for a clue.

Retail Terms 01 (Beginner)

Retail Terms 01 (Beginners Mode)

by CCS Retail Webmaster

CCS Retail Systems Weekly Crossword Puzzle. If you have disabled web page scripting, please re-enable it and refresh the page. If this web page is saved to your computer, you may need to click the yellow Information Bar at the top of the page to allow the puzzle to load.

Click a word for a Clue.

Retail Terms 01

Retail Terms 01

by CCS Retail Webmaster

CCS Retail Systems Weekly Crossword Puzzle. If you have disabled web page scripting, please re-enable it and refresh the page. If this web page is saved to your computer, you may need to click the yellow Information Bar at the top of the page to allow the puzzle to load.

Click a word for a Clue.