InfoTouch Corporation ‘ Store Manager

The program supports up to 60 registers
per store using any standard local
area network. The program is supported
on a minimum machine with Windows
98/NT/2000/XP, a 700MHz processor,
128MB of RAM, an 8MB video card
and 100MB of free disk space. The
recommended specification is Windows
2000/2000 Server or XP, 256MB of
RAM, 40GB hard drive, 1.2GHz P4
processor and a 32MB video card.
Two hardware accessories are essential
to take advantage of the program’s
true capabilities: a touch screen
and barcode scanner. With these
tools, a keyboard is never needed
at the point of sale, making it
ideal for high-volume stores such
as liquor or convenience stores.

In order to implement Store Manager
in a multi-store or multi-location
environment, you’ll need Enterprise
Manager, a separate part of the
InfoTouch Retail Suite. Enterprise
Manager provides multi-store functionality
through centralized control of inventory,
customers, employees, replenishment
and reporting. With its SQL Server
database, Enterprise Manager supports
three methods of inter-store communications:
dialup, FTP and LAN.

FEATURES/FUNCTIONALITY – 5 Stars
Store Manager is designed for ‘specialty
retail’ use. The company has
taken the base software package
and customized it for many diverse
retail settings, such as Gift Shop,
Beauty Salon, Liquor Store, Apparel
Store, Cellular Store, Museum, Nursery
and Video Store, among others. This
customization, along with intuitive
operation, provides a minimal learning
curve for new salespeople.

The Register module features a ‘void
free’ system, where any item
that has already been rung up can
be modified or voided, without the
inconvenience of having to go through
a separate cumbersome void process
to remove or modify the item. By
simply locating the item within
the Register Display, you can then
select Void Line, Edit Quantity,
Edit Description or Edit Discount.
Another unique feature is the ability
to have Suspended Sales. This is
useful for instances where the sale
has been partially rung up, but
for some reason cannot be closed
at that time. When you touch Suspend/Recall,
a name or number can be used to
reference the sale. You can then
move on to the next sale. This can
also be used for things such as
quotes, appointments or pick-up
orders.

The ‘back office’ modules
provide many features for managing
customers, inventory and employees.
Store Manager supports up to 10
different prices for each inventory
item (called price levels). Customer
records can be set up for these
price levels for things like frequent
buyer programs, senior citizen discounts
or other customer incentive plans.
The program supports the use of
store ID cards that identify the
customer using a magnetic stripe
reader or barcode scanner.

The Transaction Manager module lets
you maintain gift certificates;
setup ‘reason codes’
for things such as refunds and paid
outs; manage the cash drawers; and
perform daily, weekly, monthly and
yearly closeouts. Nearly 30 reports
are included in this module alone,
ranging from the Electronic Journal
to Department Sales to Gift Certificates.

The Inventory and Purchase Order
modules work hand in hand to provide
inventory purchases, tracking and
price management. This module lets
you receive items into stock and
perform physical inventory. You
can also apply price changes across
a group of items using a formula
or dollar-value adjustment.

The Time Clock module can either
be used directly by selecting Time
Clock from the main module menu
or through the Register module as
the salesperson signs into that
module. Within the Employee module,
shift planning and compensation
features are also available. Store
Manager also offers age verification
and an option to force sales to
be linked to a customer.

As mentioned above, numerous maintenance
releases were issued throughout
the last year. However, the most
recent release (version 9) was a
fairly significant feature release
that included pinpad debit support,
credit card encryption, offline
operations mode, ability to use
credit card numbers on file for
a customer, intelligent cash hot
buttons based on the sale amount,
ability to issue a gift certificate
without ringing up a line item,
UPC inventory lookup, gift receipts,
ability to convert serial rental
items into a sale, new reconcile
drawer/ closeout options, as well
as other enhancements to the inventory,
customer, employees, purchase orders
and reporting modules.

INTEGRATION – 5 Stars

The Touch In Touch Out module provides
an Excel and ASCII import/export
utility, which can provide an interface
to a variety of third-party programs.
Programs are also available to provide
more direct data interfaces for
QuickBooks, Peachtree and ACCPAC
Plus accounting packages.

TRACKING/REPORTING – 5 Stars
Each module offers numerous reports,
each with a good selection of filters
and other options. Reports are simple
and easy to read, utilizing fixed-pitch
fonts for easy use in an inventory
environment. Reports can be previewed,
sent to printer or exported to disk.
Examples of some of the inventory
reports include Item List, Physical,
Master List, Location, Description,
Price Levels, Order Status, Late
Fees and Quantities Sold. Customer
reports include Master List, Statements,
Sales History, Balances, Payments/Adjustments,
and Bad Checks.

RELATIVE VALUE – 5 Stars
InfoTouch sets the pace for any
point-of-sale product, with a range
of features and ease of use that
will be difficult to match. Store
Manager and all of its standard
modules pricing starts at $1,600.

2004 OVERALL RATING: 5 Stars