2018 Review of RetailSTAR Point-of-Sale

From the Sept. 2018 reviews of Point-of-Sale systems.

RetailSTAR is a comprehensive application designed for niche retail businesses with multiple locations. The integrated e-commerce module makes RetailSTAR particularly well-suited to those with a robust online store. For small retail businesses with a single location, RetailSTAR Lite is available, which offers the same features but is designed for a single location. Specialty editions of RetailSTAR are available for apparel, footwear, sporting goods, pharmacy, food and beverage, and a variety of other industrie4s.

RetailSTAR is designed to be installed on a local computer, desktop, or network. The interface has been enhanced in recent years to provide more intuitive navigation, with the point of sale interface offering better customization capability including the option to create custom buttons and color schemes. System users also have the option to customize the interface for their own use if desired, displaying only the features and functionality they typically utilize and/or have access to.

Users can process sales by simply entering or scanning a product code. For customer-specific sales, users can quickly look up customer or product details using a variety of search criteria including name, product number or description. Both products and customers can be added to RetailSTAR on the fly, and users can also set up a series of hot keys on the point of sale interface to expedite the sales process.

RetailSTAR supports multiple tender types, including cash, checks, credit and debit cards, gift and loyalty cards in-house charge cards and foreign currency. Users can set up a variety of custom tender types during the product setup process.

Designed for multiple stores, users can designate a store as the main location, with the other locations classified as remote, making it easy to track and consolidate performance at all locations.

Users can also easily process a variety of transaction types from the point of sale interface, including standard and customer-specific sales transactions, layaways, special orders, product holds, purchasing and receiving, work orders, and payment acceptance on account. Users can process transactions using a variety of devices including standard monitors, touch screen monitors, and both hand and counter scanning devices.

RetailSTAR has built-in CRM capability, making it easy to manage customer data including a complete purchase history with payment preferences indicated. Users can also create custom sales and marketing campaigns utilizing these preferences. Gift card validation is also built-in to the application, with retailers able to easily assign points to an account for future purchases.

An inventory management module is offered in RetailSTAR which performs a variety of inventory functions including complete stock management including the ability to categorize products by department class, vendor, location, season, or other custom option. RetailSTAR also supports multiple pricing levels for each product placed into inventory, with custom pricing available. Users can also easily transfer inventory for multiple locations and offer the ability to transfer inventory between locations when necessary.

RetailSTAR offers excellent reporting options, with a wide variety of pre-defined reports available. For those looking for more custom report options, the Report Generator, included in the application, offers a report wizard and a series of report templates that make is easy to create a report from scratch. Reports available in RetailSTAR include sales/inventory reports such as bestselling products, worst selling products, favorite products, customer buying habits and buying history, and a detailed payment history report. All reports can be viewed on screen, printed, or exported to Microsoft Excel for additional customization options.

Along with CRM and Inventory Management, RetailSTAR also offers an Integrated E-Commerce Solution, Purchasing, & Receiving, Merchandise Planning, Work Orders, a Franchise Consolidator, and a Distribution Warehouse. All features and options are design to integrate with the point of sale application. The product also integrates with all common point of sale hardware peripherals including cash drawers, touch screen monitors, signature capture devices, pin pads, receipt printers, and counter and other bar code scanners.

RetailSTAR offers a variety of help resources through the client portal, including access to announcements, webinars, training sessions, and a variety of training videos. Users can also link directly to the help function from anywhere in the product. Support is available during regular business hours via telephone, email, or chat, with users able to request support through the portal as well. Extended support hours are offered on both Saturday and Sunday as well.

RetailSTAR is best suited for larger retail businesses that have multiple locations and/or an online store. Specialized editions of RetailSTAR are available that are pre-formatted for niche businesses or users can opt for the regular version of the application. Single-location retailers may be interested in RetailSTAR Lite, which offers all the functionality of its more robust counterpart but is designed for a single location. Pricing for RetailSTAR and RetailSTAR Lite are both available on request from CAM Commerce.

2018 Rating – 5 Stars