BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
Ascend
The Ascend EPOS and PinnacleApp eCommerce solution are at the centre of Trek Bicycle’s Continuous Improvement Programme, providing dealers with an integrated solution to manage their businesses and provide an effective online presence.
Alongside an intuitive and user friendly Ascend till system is powerful reporting suite Ascend Analytics, providing bicycle industry-specific Key Performance Indicators in a straightforward graphical format, available anywhere you can get a web connection. The result is on-the-go stock control, maximisation of profitability and improved cash flow, alongside a detailed customer database to enable targeted marketing and improve customer loyalty and shopping experience. It’s all designed to free up owners and managers to efficiently manage their businesses and free up time to focus on strategic direction for the future.
For the online portion of the offering, PinnacleApp is a customisable, easy to use, content-managed e-commerce solution. A comprehensive Supplier File Programme includes the majority of the UK supplier base, Ascend says, populating both EPOS and e-commerce product data, freeing up administration time that can be better spent on marketing the business and providing feature rich content for lure in customers.
The experienced UK-based support team cover all aspects of the programme and the wider business processes it supports. Training provided isn’t confined to the technical aspects of the software solution (though that is obviously covered) but also advises on financial analysis and planning all the way through to a holistic marketing strategy to cover an IBD’s eCommerce and Social Media presence as well.
A customer-focused EPOS development team listen to dealer feedback and work to provide features that add value to the business and improve user experience, whilst an on-going web development team ensure shop websites are automatically updated with new features and improvements. Both elements are included as part of a transparent and – Ascend says – extremely competitively priced support package. To find out more go to
www.ascendrms.com and www.pinnacleapp.com, or call 01908 360151.
Bike Shop Manager
BikeShop Manager was created by Doug Stoddart three years ago for his own bike rental shop, using his software development experience to increase the efficiency of his business. Since then Stoddart has launched BikeShop Manager globally. It is hosted on Google’s App Engine infrastructure and handled a whopping 36,000 bike rentals in the summer of 2012 alone.
This year, BikeShop Manager has launched three new features for 2013 to be added to its dedicated, cloud-based system for managing reservations, clients, financial transactions and fleet maintenance. The Online Booking Wizard Module which has been live for over a year now, has been completely re-written to be much more intuitive, fast and customisable by each shop. This now offers a user experience very similar to online car rental. The wizard is easily inserted into existing sites with just a few lines of html, allowing rapid integration and full branding by the host bike shop. Barcode Scanning is a new application written for a small handheld laser scanner which communicates with the BikeShop Manager system over WiFi.
The process of checking-in and checking-out is now quick and error-free, we’re told. As an added bonus, Inventory checks, even in dark storage lockups, now only take minutes. Push Notifications uses cutting edge technology to deliver real-time updates to each terminal about things like bookings made by another user or bookings made on line or changes to existing reservations, to keep everyone up to date with what matters to operate a bike rental shop.
Doug Stoddart can be contacted on contact@bikeshopmanager.com, via www.bikeshopmanager.com or on
+33 686 451 310.
Citrus-Lime
Citrus-Lime specialises in providing independent cyclerRetailers with modern and efficient e-commerce, EPOS and stock-control solutions that give them a competitive advantage and the infrastructure on which to build successful retail businesses.
The provider is currently launching some key new features such as the Customer Rewards Scheme and Citrus-Tab – Citrus-Lime’s Integrated Tablet EPOS Solution for retailers.
Citrus-Lime’s Customer Rewards Scheme enables customers to build up points on their account, online and in-store, when they purchase a product from a retailer. When the customer has built up a certain number of points they are then issued with a gift voucher which can be redeemed online and in-store.
The firm said it sees this as an extremely beneficial feature that will not only help retain customer loyalty, which is obviously a key factor in succeeding in retail and can be used to promote and encourage repeat sales, but it will also get bike shop company colours into the wallets of bike shop customers by using our designed loyalty cards.
Citrus-Tab, the Integrated Tablet EPOS Solution, comes in two different formats; a Microsoft RMS EPOS-based solution and a Citrus-Store-based system, both of these integrated solutions will enable retailers to provide what the company calls the next generation of customer service. The benefits of this system are multifaceted, a more personal approach to customer sales can be taken, orders can be built on the shop floor to help secure sales, new products can be showcased, alternative colour options can be displayed and retailers can increase the percentage of special orders taken in store.
If you are interested in Citrus-Tab, Customer Rewards or any of Citrus-Lime’s EPOS and Ecommerce features, such as the Supplier Integration Module which now partners with Specialized in addition to Giant, Madison, Chicken Cyclekit, Fisher Outdoor Leisure and many more, contact Citrus-Lime on 0845 603 9254.
Cybertill
Today’s cycle EPOS systems need to do more than just manage stock, it needs to be multi-channel, managing loyalty programmes, integrating with ecommerce sites and be accessible from any location, not just in store. Handily, Cybertill does all this and more. Cybertill is web-based, meaning cycle retailers can access it from any location, in the back office, at home, at trade shows, indeed anywhere. One Cybertill cycle customer uses an iPad to manage their shop in London when they are training in Lanzarote, BikeBiz is told.
With the boon in cycling more consumers are buying bikes and accessories online. Cybertill argues that cycle retailers need a system that can manage both their store and ecommerce site as one, otherwise shops are investing twice: once in an EPOS system and then in an ecommerce site. Not only can this be double the cost but also double the time.
Cybertill’s multi-channel system gives cycle retailers a single view of customers, inventory and orders, all in real time. So cycle retailers don’t have to ring fence stock for their store or ecommerce site, it can be sold across all sales channels. And as stock levels are live, accurate and visible customers can place orders with confidence online or in store. What’s more the customer can choose to ‘reserve and collect’ or ‘click and collect’. Cybertill has been road-tested for the cycle industry too, coming with specific modules designed for the cycle industry, such as workshop for servicing bikes and boasting over 140 client locations. More details are available from www.cybertill.co.uk and at enquiries@cybertill.co.uk.
0800 030 4432
EVOPOS
Those paying attention will have seen that Evopos launched a free version of its Dealer Management Software (News – BikeBiz issue 85, February) which has been a “staggering success”, according to the company. Many dealers headed to the website (evopos.com) to download and take advantage of the free version and see the benefits of a dealer management system for themselves.
Evopos is an all-in-one, industry-specific dealer management system, which incorporates all the tools and features a dealer needs to make their business more manageable. This includes a point of sale suite, a contacts database, stock management, workshop organiser, e-marketing tools, CRM, SMS marketing and accounting features.
The free version of Evopos allows you to create professional looking invoices, retain customer and supplier contact details, and view a detailed sales history for your contacts. If dealers require more functionality for their system, such as stock control features or e-marketing tools, they can simply add these on at any time and pay a small monthly fee for each additional module; for example, to add the stock control module, or the workshop organiser, it costs £15 per month, per module.
Evopos MD Denis Bullen said: “We’d like to thank the many cycle dealers who have downloaded our system and are already reaping the benefits from our user friendly EPOS system. Without you, the staggering success of our promotion wouldn’t have been possible.”
“Evopos Free is a breath of fresh air for both new and established companies looking for an edge in a competitive marketplace. Gone are the days of huge investments and lengthy installations; once you register on our portal, you can download our software straightaway, at no cost to you.”
“Our exceptional support team are on hand to assist you with any questions, just log your queries on the portal and wait for a reply. If you begin to purchase more modules, you will get access to our telephone support, which is second to none in its quality of customer service.
“We’re very excited to be giving something back to the industries that have inspired us to create a reliable, efficient and comprehensive dealer management system.”
For more information head to www.evopos.com. If you’re after something more specific or want an online demo of the full system, contact the Evopos sales team on
0845 644 9424.
Seanic
Seanic Retail Software provides an easy-to-use, effective web-based EPOS solution to meet the business needs of bike dealers. The EPOS and stock control system has been developed with the help and input of Seanic’s bike shop customers.
The system includes all the elements specific to the cycle industry, for example, workshop and repairs, suppliers catalogues and customer email and texting. Seanic says there are no hidden costs or separate modules, it is all included in one set price.
The software has live integration with i-bikes, as well as being compatible with other E-commerce platforms.
Recent software updates include a new mobile/ tablet reports application and a mobile/ tablet stock take application.
The company said: “Like so many of our customers we are a small independent company and as such we understand the value of excellent customer service. Our phone lines are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”
seanicretail.co.uk
