CAP Automation ‘ CAP SellWise

Inventory items and customer names
can be selected from lookup lists
that include an on-screen keyboard
for touch screen alpha and wildcard
lookup, and record navigation buttons.
The Operation button takes you to
a screen with buttons for adding
remarks, entering shipping information,
voiding and suspending transactions,
and processing gift certificates
and layaways. The Open Department
button is used to sell items that
are not in the inventory database,
and (optionally) add new inventory
items on the fly. Discounts and
overrides are handled through the
Exceptions sub-screen. Access to
these functions can be controlled
through the program’s security
options. All buttons throughout
the POS program are touch-screen
enabled.

MODULES/SCALABILITY – 5 Stars

The CAP Retail Management suite
consists of a front-office module,
simply called ‘POS,’
and a back-office module called
‘SellWise,’ as well
as several other optional supporting
applications. For fast-moving, over-the-counter
sales without the need for customer
tracking or contact management,
CAP offers a simplified, streamlined
alternative to the SellWise/POS
modules, called Cash ‘n Carry.
Numerous other modules can be added
for printing tags and barcodes (TagWise),
enhanced reporting and Microsoft
Office integration (WinReports),
inter-store communication (CAP HCom),
central control for chain stores
(CAP HQ), integrated accounting
(CAP Accountant), CAP Inventory
Checker, and CAP Catalog Import
and Price Update Filters.

Operating systems supported include
Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0 SP6,
Windows 2000 Professional/Server
and Windows XP Professional. Windows
95, Windows ME and Windows XP Home
are not supported. You’ll
need a PIII/500 processor, 128MB
of RAM and 100MB of free disk space,
although the company recommends
keeping 2GB of free disk space available
at all times. A dedicated server
is not required. CAP’s point-of-sale
products support a wide variety
of hardware peripherals, including
several popular all-in-one point-of-sale
terminals that include the touch
screen, cash drawer, scanner and
receipt printer.

FEATURES/FUNCTIONALITY – 5 Stars
As mentioned above, version 8 introduces
the use of Pervasive SQL version
8.5 as its underlying database,
a popular, stable and easy-to-maintain
choice. Existing data is migrated
automatically from previous versions.
Several new Internet-enabled features
were also added or enhanced. You
can now e-mail invoices, statements,
purchase orders, and letters to
vendors and customers from within
the program. Software updates are
also web-enabled, allowing you to
keep your system current by just
clicking a shortcut item on the
desktop. FTP polling was also added
to allow multiple locations to exchange
information to provide near real-time
data updates among locations.

Other new features include the ability
to change all item prices by a specified
percent or dollar amount by vendor
or department; the ability to create
unlimited departments, sub-departments
and classes for more detailed analysis;
a new frequent buyer rewards feature;
payment link manager; age verification;
new payment types including food
stamps; and instant stock transfers
for multiple stores.

Two related optional modules, CAP
HCom and CAP HQ (headquarters) provide
communication and data exchange
between headquarters and chain store
locations. The HQ module retrieves
complete sales, inventory, employee
hours and stock transfer information
from each remote site. While HQ
maintains inventory at sites and
manages stock transfers, sites can
see quantity on hand at all other
sites as of the last polling. Another
module, Sales Consolidator, consolidates
sales files after polling to permit
consolidated sales reports for all
stores.

INTEGRATION – 4 Stars

CAP provides numerous interface
capabilities to other software products.
With the Accounting Link Manager
(ALM), you can export accounting
data to various popular accounting
packages, including BusinessWorks
and QuickBooks. The program also
provides payment processing interfaces
with Mercury Payments (credit card,
debit card and gift cards), Lynk
(credit card transactions) and PCCharge
(credit card transactions). An interface
with web store provider PDG Shopping
Cart is also available.

TRACKING/REPORTING – 5 Stars
The WinReports module provides a
good number of reports, including
Sales Summary, Transaction Detail,
Cash Drawer, Dollar Leaders, Quantity
Leaders, Department, Items, Vendor,
Hourly Activity, PO History and
Customer. Three graphs are also
provided: Yearly Comparison, Profit
Performance and Clerk Performance.
An Excel link allows for the direct
export of data for additional analysis
or reporting.

RELATIVE VALUE – 4 Stars

CAP provides a wide range of capabilities,
with strong support for touch screen
and other standard point-of-sale
hardware. The modularized approach
lets you purchase only the capabilities
you need, and can be enhanced as
your business grows. The product
is sold through authorized dealers.
The suggested retail price is $1,995
for a single user and $400 for additional
users. This includes the SQL Workgroup
engines for up to five stations.
A demo is available, as well as
quite a few program screenshots,
by visiting the vendor’s web
site.

2004 OVERALL RATING: 4.5 Stars