Here they are in order of importance (in my humble opinion, of course):

1) Point of Sale (POS) and Inventory Control Software

An HRK Retail POS / Retail Management System can be a huge time saver and money maker for you. That’s partly why it’s number one…

In its simplest form, an HRK Retail POS system will track all your sales so you can easily see how your business is doing (at any time). In other words, it replaces your cash register.

It’s difficult to decide where to even start talking about HRK Retail POS software because it can do SO many things for you. I could literally write a book about ALL the reasons why a POS system will help you — so I’ll quickly summarize in 5 key areas. An HRK Retail POS system can:

* Dramatically improve your customer service.

* Simplify and improve inventory management.

* Improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

* Easily show where you’re making and losing money so you can promptly make adjustments and thereby increase profits.

* Save huge amounts of time by automating bookkeeping and countless other retail tasks for you.

2) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software

One of the unwavering keys to building a successful retail business is to build relationships with your customers. Because of that, HRK CRM software is a critical tool for the retail business. And not only will HRK CRM help you improve your customer loyalty it will help you market to potential prospects and generate new business. 

In a nutshell, HRK CRM software allows you to track your customers, identify market segments and then easily communicate with them via email, telephone, direct mail and more.

HRK Retail POS systems actually offer HRK CRM capabilities as an additional module in our software. This allows you to track all this information in one place and reduce time consuming double entry. So it deserves its own category.

3) Bar Code Scanning

Simply put, bar code scanning allows you to check products at the point of sale much faster and more accurately than can be done on the keyboard. Not only will this save you time, but you should also consider the effect of your inventory…

Just think about the consequences of entering the wrong product number and throwing off your inventory. Your inventory is the lifeblood of your business and accuracy is vital. These errors can cause you to lose sales, increase inventory costs, and waste hours of time.

HRK Retail POS Software also integrates the handheld barcode printer and scanner to the point of sale terminal – allowing the cashier to print barcodes or shelf edge labels (for those products that do not have barcodes, such as wood, steel, pipes, etc.), scan and process the sale simultaneously. This can be a huge time saver.

4) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI)

EDI technology allows you to send customer quotations, supplier purchase orders and invoices (created in your HRK Retail POS software) electronically over the internet. Not only does this save a huge amount of time, but it can also reduce errors — so you don’t have to apologize to your customer because you special ordered the wrong item.

Just imagine, using your HRK Retail POS software to automatically generate purchase orders (based on order levels and sales history) and then sending your order to your supplier electronically. You can process your entire order without entering a single product number! How much time would that save you?

5) Retail Accounting Software

More and more retailers are doing their accounting in-house because they can quickly produce up-to-date financial statements and see how their business is doing at almost any time. This has become easier for the small business owner because of a variety of user-friendly accounting applications.

HRK Debtors & Invoicing module can be integrated with your HRK Retail POS software. Its includes your Accounts Receivable (what people owe you), Accounts Payable and your General Ledger.  With our comprehensive system you will save time and avoid any double entries.

7) Graphics Design

Most small retail business owners tend to wear many hats… and taking care of marketing promotions can be one of them. With HRK Retail POS Software, you can save thousands of Rands by setting up your own instore promotions.

Further, with our HRK Social Media Management package, we help you reach a wider audience by advertising on social media platforms. We will post user-generated content, also known as “earned media,” on your company’s social media profiles (ie. Facebook, Instagram).

8) Websites & Shopping Carts

Whether you sell products on your website or not… websites can be powerful tools to promote your retail business. For example, you could link to your website from business cards, newspaper ads, and more. This gives you an opportunity to tell your story, give people an idea of what you sell, and convince them to stop by your store. Since it would be very expensive to tell your entire sales story in a newspaper ad… you can finish the job by sending people to your website and save money.

With HRK Web Development, we design and maintain your website for you.

Then if you’re really serious, you can utilize a website shopping cart so customers can place orders and pay you right from the website.

I suggest that you take a close look at each one of these technologies. Make sure you understand what’s involved and why they are SO important. Then consider utilizing this type of technology in your business (if you haven’t already).