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R E T A I L P L U S + ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Retail Sales And Inventory Management System ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ K. EGGER, ADELAIDE P.O. BOX 423, 36 ADELAIDE ST. EAST, TORONTO, CANADA M5C 2J8 (416)862-3430 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ PURPOSE AND FEATURES OF RETAIL PLUS+ Computerized sales and inventory systems were once the exclusive preserve of large retail organizations, but a growing number of smaller operations are now turning to microcomputers to get the same kind of business management functions. The goal of these functions is to control costs while satisfying customer expectations. The way to achieve it is through good inventory control, accurate sales tracking and quick access to detailed information about every item in the store. Retail Plus+ is a tool that serves that goal. It is designed for those who want to reduce their sales-to-inventory ratio and who want timely information about each item they carry. It is also designed for those who spend too much time making up purchase orders, counting stock, tracking sales manually or figuring out what works and what doesn't. It is an organizer, a record-keeper, an analyzer and a time saver. Retail Plus+ has the following features: -> Uses pull-down menus and pop-up windows to maximize ease-of-use. -> Includes a built-in help system. You can press the F1 key at any time. -> Maintains complete sales and inventory data for each item in each store. -> Includes a full-featured Point-Of-Sale system. -> Prints P.O.S. sales slips or complete invoice statements. -> Keeps weekly and monthly sales figures for each product. -> Tracks sales by product and product class. -> Auto generates stock purchase orders. -> Includes on-screen review and editing of purchase orders. -> Offers choice of five methods to calculate purchase order quantities. -> Includes a customer database that builds a mailing list of your customers. -> Creates 8 different sales and inventory reports. -> Sorts output by product name, stock number or product class. -> Prints price tags, bin labels and Code 39 bar code labels in two sizes. -> Creates catalogues with product descriptions, stock numbers, and prices. -> Sends any printer output to your word processor for custom formatting. -> Has on screen viewing of reports (or any file of the type .DOC or .TXT) -> Exports data to a database or spreadsheet program for further analysis. -> Reads sales data from down-loading electronic cash registers. -> Includes a built-in backup and restore feature that makes backups easy. -> Manages any amount of data - limited only by disk space. -> Compares the amount of stock at each location. -> Transfers stock from one location to another. -> Includes an optional password system with three levels of access. -> Displays inventory data by record view or table view. -> Provides full support for color monitors. Registered users will also receive DMAIL 5.1, our professional mailing list manager for customer tracking and preparing promotional mailings. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS -> IBM-PC, PS/2, or compatibles. -> A hard disk drive with at least 1MB of free space. -> 640 KB of memory. -> A printer capable of compressed print (15 cpi), or a wide carriage printer (132 columns). For barcode labels you need an HP Laserjet or work-alike. -> Optional - an electronic cash register that sends data to a PC. This version of Retail Plus+ is set up to work with TEC brand cash registers. If you want to use it with another register system please contact us for more information. If you do not have a cash register that can send data to a PC there are two other methods of entering sales into the system. INSTALLING RETAIL PLUS+ Retail Plus+ is supplied as an archive file called "RETAIL-P.ZIP". It contains all the files you need. Follow these steps to get a functioning system onto your hard drive: 1 - At the "C:>" prompt create a new directory on your hard drive and go to that directory: MD RETAIL <press enter> CD\RETAIL <press enter> 2 - Using an archive un-packing utility such as PKUNZIP, unpack the contents of RETAIL-P.ZIP into the new directory: PKUNZIP [drive:\directory\] RETAIL-P <press enter> 3 - Now check for a file called "CONFIG.SYS" in the root directory of the startup drive. If it is there it should contain the following statements with the minimum values shown: FILES = 20 BUFFERS = 8 You can see the contents of the file just by typing: TYPE CONFIG.SYS <press enter> If these statements are absent you can use any text editor to insert them. If the file does not exist, you can easily create one with the following steps: 1 - Go to the root directory: CD\ <press enter> 2 - Create a file called CONFIG.SYS and put the two lines in it: COPY CON CONFIG.SYS <press enter> FILES = 20 <press enter> BUFFERS = 8 <press enter> 3 - Close the file: <press F6 then press enter> Thats all! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ FILES SUPPLIED WITH RETAIL PLUS+ RETAIL30.EXE - The executable program (version 3.0). RETAIL30.DOC - The main documentation. RETLOC .DBF - Saves store setup information. HELP .DBF - Help system file 1. HELP .DBT - Help system file 2. SL1INV .DBF - Sample data file 1. SL1INV .DBT - Sample data file 2. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ TABLE OF CONTENTS Section 1 - Getting Started Starting Retail Plus+............. 1 Exploring The Menus................ 1 Section 2 - The Inventory Menu Finding An Item................... 2 Printing An Order................. 9 Using The Edit Window............. 2 Updating On-Order Data............ 9 Adding A New Item................. 3 Receiving Stock - Method 1........ 9 Using The Browse Window........... 4 Transfering Stock................ 10 Creating A Purchase Order......... 5 Receiving Stock - Method 2....... 10 Working With An Order............. 6 Adjusting On-Hand Quantities..... 11 Reviewing An Order................ 7 Re-Stocking Customer Returns..... 11 Section 3 - The Sales Menu Entering Sales Manually.......... 12 Printing Price Tags And Labels... 20 Entering Sales Automatically.... 13 Printing A Price List............ 20 Point-Of-Sale Setup.............. 14 Creating A Sales Catalogue....... 20 Using The Point-Of-Sale Function. 17 Doing The Year End............... 21 Marking Items.................... 19 Reviewing Archived Sales Data.... 21 Section 4 - The Reports Menu Printing A Sales Report.......... 22 Printing A Stock Value Report... 23 Printing An Inventory Report..... 22 Printing An Overstock Report..... 23 Printing A Combined Report....... 22 Printing A Low Stock Report...... 24 Printing A Top 20 Report......... 23 Printing A Suppliers List........ 24 Printing A Sales Analysis........ 23 Section 6 - The Access Menu Sorting Inventory Data........... 24 Creating & Changing Locations.... 26 Re-Building Index Files.......... 24 Getting System Status Info....... 27 Exporting Data.................. 25 Using Color Or Monochrome....... 27 Printing To A Text file.......... 26 Creating An Inventory Backup..... 28 Viewing A Text File.............. 26 Restoring From Backup............ 28 Section 6 - The Utility Menu Adding A User Password........... 29 Changing A Password.............. 29 Deleting A Password...............29 Turning Protection On Or Off..... 30 Section 7 - General Program Notes About Stock Codes................ 30 Read This........................ 31 Memory Considerations............ 30 Order Form....................... 32 - Page 1 - SECTION 1 GETTING STARTED STARTING RETAIL PLUS+ To start Retail Plus+ go to the directory where it is found and enter RETAIL30 at the DOS prompt: CD\RETAIL <press enter> RETAIL30 <press enter> Retail Plus+ is initially configured to start without requiring a password. If it does prompt you for a password just type "TEST" and press ENTER. You can remove this password later and set up new ones if you need security. If this password does not give you access then someone has already set up the system for security. When Retail Plus+ is started you will see the main menu. Each of the Main Menu choices has a pull-down menu that provides access to a group of related commands, and the Inventory menu is already pulled down. The system has been pre-loaded with sample data to help you explore it. The sample data simulates a store called Outbound Equipment, which sells products for hiking, camping, mountaineering etc. Sales and inventory records are kept separate by location. Each location is identified by a three character code which is visible at the bottom right of the screen. You can delete the sample location (SL1) when you have set up one or your own. At the bottom of the screen is a descriptive line about the highlighted menu item. This line changes according to which command is highlighted. You can move around the menus using the following keys: -> Press the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to select a command on a pull-down menu. -> Press ENTER to execute the highlighted command. -> Press the RIGHT and LEFT ARROW keys to move from one menu to another. -> Press ESCAPE to clear a pull-down menu, press ENTER to make it appear again. You can also select commands from the menus by pressing the first letter of the command you want. This method executes the command without waiting for you to press ENTER. EXPLORING THE MENUS This manual has a section for each of the six Main Menu choices. It will describe each menu item in turn, going from left to right across the screen. As you explore,you can press F1 at any time for help. This is particularly useful if the program asks for input and you are not sure of what to enter. In most cases you can press ESCAPE to abort a function and return to the menus. - Page 2 - SECTION 2 THE INVENTORY MENU INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 1 -> FIND ITEM Use this command to locate any item in the inventory When you select it, a menu pops up with the following choices: -> Code - Use this to find an item by stock code. If you are not sure of the code you have two options. The first is to press F3, which lets you select the item from an alphabetical list (called a pick list). The second option is to enter only the first few characters of the code. This will display the first record found that starts with those characters. You can then scan up or down the inventory to find the one you want. In order for this to be effective the current sorting order should be by code (see the Sort command under the Utility menu). -> Name - Use this to find an item by product name. If you are not sure of the name you have two options. The first is to press F3, which lets you select the item from a pick list. The second option is to enter only the first few characters of the name. This will display the first record found that starts with those characters. You can then scan up or down the inventory to find the one you want. In order for this to be effective the current sorting order should be by product name (see the Sorting command under the Utility menu). -> First Item or Last Item - Use one of these to go to the first or last item in your inventory. -> Quit - Use this to return to the Main Menu. Pressing ESCAPE will do the same. The Edit Window Once an item has been located it is displayed in the Edit Window. A set of function key options is now shown across the bottom of the screen: -> F1 - Help - use this to get help with what you see on the screen. -> F2 - View - change the display from single record view to a scrolling table view. -> F3 - Find - find another item by name, by code, or by using a pick list. -> F4 - Edit - edit the fields above the TEXT line. Use the ENTER key or the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to move from one field to another. As each field is highlighted you can press F1 (Help) for an explanation of what the field should contain. - Page 3 - -> F5 - Dele - delete an item, or undelete an item that was previously deleted. Deleted items are not removed from the records until the next time the records are indexed. An item should not be deleted when you stop stocking it. If you do, the revenue it generated will not be included in your year-to-date sales reports. Wait until you run a year-end closing to delete discontinued items. -> F6 - Comp - compare the stock levels for this item in all store locations. -> F7 - Mark - mark or unmark the item. You can mark items to identify the ones you want included in label printing, catalogue printing, or in the combined sales and inventory report. -> F8 - Hist - view or edit the sales history of the item. You can display either the weekly or monthly sales figures. -> F9 - Text - enter or edit notes about the product that are useful to you, or a product description for use later with the Catalogue command (see under the Sales menu). This field will store hundreds of lines of text so don't worry about running out of space. Press F1 while you are in the text field for help with the editing keys. If you press ESCAPE while in the text field the following message appears at the top of the screen: "Abort Edit (Y/N)". Press "Y" to abandon the entry or "N" to return to the text field. -> F10 - Exit - Return to the main menu. -> (DOWN ARROW) - skip to the next item. -> (UP ARROW) - skip to the previous item. INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 2 -> NEW ITEM This command brings up the screen where you can enter new items into the inventory file. Type the product information in the appropriate fields above the TEXT line. Use the ENTER key or the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to move from one field to another. As each field is highlighted you can press F1 (Help) for an explanation of what each field should contain. Press F10 when you are finished. You will then see a new set of options at the bottom of the screen. F1-Help F4-Edit F8-Hist F9-Text F10-Exit -> F1 - Help - get help with what you see on the screen. -> F4 - Edit - edit or add to the data you have already entered. - Page 4 - -> F8 - Hist - enter any historical sales figures for this product. Entering a sales history here is optional if you do not need to start using the automatic order generating feature immediately. If you do, you will need to enter sales figures for at least the last 3 weeks. Enter these by opening the WEEKLY sales window and typing the sales figures next to the appropriate week. You do not need any sales history if you are going to use the RE-ORDER POINTS method of creating a purchse order. As you use Retail Plus+ it will keep an on-going weekly and monthly sales history for each item. -> F9 - Text - enter notes about the product that are useful to you, or a product description for use later with the Catalogue command (see under the Sales menu). This field will store hundreds of lines of text so don't worry about running out of space. Press F1 while you are in the text field for help with the editing keys. If you press ESCAPE while in the text field the following message appears at the top of the screen: "Abort Edit (Y/N)". Press "Y" to abandon the entry or "N" to return to the text field. -> F10 - Exit - this pops up a box where you can tell Retail Plus+ to save or discard the new record. In order for a record to be saved it must contain at least an item name and the unit price. You will now be asked if you want to enter a new item, copy the last item or quit. Choose the first option if you want to start with clear fields and the second option if you want to copy the information from your last entry. This is provided as a convenience if the next entry contains much of the same information as the last. INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 3 -> BROWSE The Browse command shows your inventory in table view. You can use this window to scan and edit all the data in your records. -> Use the following keys to move around the screen and scroll the columns: RIGHT ARROW, LEFT ARROW, UP ARROW, DOWN ARROW, CTRL-RIGHT ARROW, CTRL-LEFT ARROW, PAGEUP, PAGEDOWN, CTRL-PAGEUP, CTRL-PAGEDOWN, HOME, END, CTRL-HOME, CTRL-END -> To edit your data, move the highlight to any field and start typing. -> Press ENTER to accept the changes or ESCAPE to restore previous contents. -> If you press DOWN ARROW or UP ARROW instead of ENTER to accept the changes the highlight will automatically move to the next row down or up. -> F1 - Help - use this to get help with what is on the screen. -> F2 - View - to change the display to single record view. -> F4 - Print - to print the information about the current item. -> F5 - Dele - to delete the current item. It will not be removed from the inventory records until the next time the records are indexed. Press F5 again to undelete the item. - Page 5 - -> F6 - Lock - to lock the columns in place when you scroll the screen to the right. Move the cursor to column 2,3, or 4 then Press F6 to freeze the display at the selected column. Press F6 again to unlock the frozen columns. -> F7 - Mark - to mark or unmark the item. Mark items to identify the ones you want included when printing labels, the combined sales and inventory report, or a catalogue. -> F8 - Hist - to view or edit the sales history of the item. -> F9 - Text - to edit the text field. This is used to store either notes about the product that are useful to you or you can enter a catalogue style product description for use later with the Catalogue command (under the Sales menu). Press F1 while you are in the text field for information about the editing keys it uses. -> F10 - Exit - to return to the main menu. INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 4 -> ORDERS This command leads to the purchase order functions. In the first window you can choose to create a new order, work with an existing order or delete old orders to free up disk space. Auto Create A Trial Order Use this command to generate a new order. A window appears where you elect to generate an order for all suppliers or for a selected supplier: -> Press A to order from all suppliers. -> Press S to order from a selected supplier. If you choose "Selected Supplier" you will see a list of suppliers to choose from. -> Press the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to move the highlight to the supplier you want then press ENTER. In the next step choose the method of calculation you want to use for this order: -> 1 Week Of Stock - this orders one week's worth of stock based on a formula that looks at average sales over the past 3 weeks, the amount of stock on hand, and the base stock. -> 2 Weeks Of Stock - the same as above but orders 2 week's worth. - Page 6 - -> Monthly Sales - calculates orders based on sales for the same month last year, the anticipated percent increase in sales over last year, the amount of stock on hand, the base stock, and the amount of stock already on order. It relies on the availability of monthly sales figures for last year. Retail Plus+ automatically saves monthly sales figures for the current year but you will have to enter these for last year if you need to use this method right away. The Monthly Sales formula orders a large amount of stock and should be used for suppliers who only ship to you once a month. -> Just-In-Time - order based on the classic Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) formula. This orders the least amount of stock. To use it you should be familiar with the principles of Just-In-Time inventory management. Use it for suppliers who can ship to you quickly and frequently. -> Re-Order Points - There are two ways to use this. Both look at the RE- ORDER POINT and RE-ORDER QUANTITY fields in your inventory records. 1 - If you have a number greater than zero in the RE-ORDER QTY field: when the ON HAND quantity falls below the RE-ORDER POINT, this orders the RE-ORDER QTY. Use this to order a fixed amount of stock each time. 2 - If you leave the RE-ORDER QTY field at zero: when the ON HAND quantity falls below the RE-ORDER POINT, this orders enough stock to bring it back up to the BASE STOCK quantity. Use this to order a variable amount of stock depending on how much you have on hand and what you need as your base stock. Work With An Existing Order Once you have created a trial order there are a number of options for working with it. To begin, choose the order you want to work with from a pick list. To select an order file from the list use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the one you want then press ENTER. How Order Files Are Named: Order files are named according to the name of the supplier and the date the order was created. The first four characters are the first four letters in the supplier's name. If an order is for all suppliers then the order file name begins with "ALL". The last four characters are the month and day the order was created (MMDD). The file extension (the 3 characters after the period) is the location code of the store for which the order was created. The following are two examples to illustrate this: Example 1 - if the supplier chosen is OUTBOUND DISTRIBUTORS, and if the date is March 28th, and if the location in use is "SL1", then the order file will be called "OUTB0328.SL1". Example 2 - if the supplier chosen is "All Suppliers", and if the date is April 3rd, and if the location in use is "SL2" then the order file will be called "ALL-0403.SL2". - Page 7 - The exception to this is when you use the "Monthly Sales" method of calculating the order. In this case the name of the order file contains the name of the month for which you are ordering. For example, if you are making up your Christmas orders in August (as many retailers must), you can use the "Monthly Sales" option and specify that you are ordering for December. If the supplier is "OUTBOUND DISTRIBUTORS" and the location is "SL1" then the order file will be called "OUTB-DEC.SL1". Once an order file has been chosen you have the following options: review the order, display an order summary, print it, post it, or record it as a shipment. Review The Order Select this to review the order, which is presented in table view. Retail Plus+ supplies you with the information you need to make a judgement about the quantities being ordered and gives you an opportunity to adjust those quantities. You can change only the first two column of numbers, which are the order quantity and the package quantity. If any of the other fields need to be changed it should be done in the inventory file, not in the order file. The columns displayed when reviewing a purchase order are as follows: -> QTY - The number of items or packages being ordered. If the PACK quantity is greater than 1, this column shows the number of PACKAGES, not the number of items. -> PACK - The number of items that the supplier ships in one package. This is the same PACK field as the one in your inventory records. If PACK is greater than 1 the order was rounded off to the nearest full package and the QTY column shows the number of PACKAGES being ordered, not the number of items. -> ITEM - The name of the item. -> SIZE - The size as shown in the inventory records. -> CODE - The stock number. -> ONHAND - The quantity you have in stock. -> LAST - The quantity ordered the last time this item was considered for re-ordering. -> BASE - The quantity shown in the inventory records as base stock (the minimum you want to keep in stock). -> UNITCOST - What you pay the supplier for one of this item. -> ORDERCOST - The result of multiplying QTY times PACK times UNITCOST. More information is available than is initially displayed on the screen. Press the RIGHT ARROW key until the remaining columns come into view. Use CTRL-END and CTRL-HOME to jump between the first column and the last. - Page 8 - When reviewing an order you will see the following options at the bottom of the screen: -> F1 - Help - use this to get information about what is on the screen. -> F6 - Lock - to lock the columns in place when you scroll the screen. Move the cursor to columns 1, 2, 3, or 4 then Press F6. Press F6 again to unlock them. -> F10 - Exit - to return to the previous menu. The items with an order quantity of zero are displayed so that you can add them to the order just by changing the QTY field to any number greater than zero. Similarly, you can remove an item from the order simply by changing the QTY field to zero. Items with an order quantity of zero will be excluded when you print the final order. Display An Order Summary Once you have created and reviewed an order you can see a short summary of how it breaks down by product class in percentage terms. Order Summary For Location SL1 / Order File ALL0403.SL1 Total Order Cost - 11872.00 Class Products Order Cost Percent Of Total --------------------------------------------------------- ACCESSORIES 3 597.00 5.03 ALPINE GEAR 3 940.00 7.92 BACKPACK 5 2968.00 25.00 CLOTHING 6 3167.00 26.68 SLEEPING BAG 3 4200.00 35.38 The columns displayed are as follows: -> Class - Each product class in the order. -> Products - How many different products are being ordered in each class. -> Order Cost - The cost of the order in each product class. -> Percent Of Total - The percentage of the total order cost in each product class (rounded to two decimals). This display allows you to see if the order is reasonably balanced in terms of the amount you spend on each class of product. It should be fairly consistent with your percentage of sales in each class. - Page 9 - Printing The Order There are two options here - you can print a trial order or a final order. A trial order shows the items for which the order quantity is zero plus the percent of the order cost in each product class. This allows you to review a hard copy of an order in progress. Printing a final order excludes the information that a supplier does not need to fill the order. Orders can be printed by product class or by the active sorting order (item name or item code). Update To Records Use this command when you are ready to record an order in your inventory file. Some people call this "posting the order". It updates the "On Order" and "Order Date" fields for each item. If an item is not being re-ordered then the "On Order" field will show zero. The "Order Date" field will still be updated so you can see when the item was last considered for re-ordering. You may be wondering why a final order is not automatically updated to the inventory file when it is printed. Consider this situation: say that you need to prepare December orders in August to make sure you have enough stock for Christmas. You create the order, print it, and send it off to the supplier. The supplier can now make sure he has enough stock in December to fill your Christmas order. If you post this order to your inventory in August, the orders you generate for September, October and November will be too small because the data shows a large amount of stock already on order. Orders created for September to November will be correct only if you to post the December order when December actually arrives. Enter As Shipment When a shipment comes in you can choose the order file which is associated with that shipment and update your inventory data to reflect the new stock. Under the RECEIVED column you will see the number of each item that was ordered. Using the packing slips as your guide, verify the quantities in the RECEIVED column and change them only if the number received is not the same as the number ordered. Note that the number in the first column is the total number of items, not the number of packages. You can change only the numbers in the first column. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys and PAGEUP / PAGEDOWN to scroll the screen. Press F10 to exit. You will be asked if you want to record the shipment to the master inventory. Select YES if you have finished verifying the quantities received, or NO if you want to come back and finish it later. If you select YES you will be see a window containing the options available for recording a shipment. - Page 10 - The options are: -> Print A Record Of This Shipment - press Y if you want a printout of the items you are putting into inventory, otherwise just press ENTER. -> Mark These Items For Label Printing - press Y if you want to mark these items for label printing, otherwise just press ENTER. -> Add Shipping Costs To These Items - press Y if you want to distribute your shipping costs to the inventory for each item, otherwise just press ENTER. -> Total Costs To Add To These Items - you only need to type a number here if you answered Y to the previous option. Usually you would enter the shipping charges that you paid, but you can also enter any other overhead charges you like. The amount you enter is distributed to the total inventory for each item received. This can be seen as a "last in -first out" method of distributing costs and the result is reflected in your records as the ADJUSTED COST. INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 5 -> TRANSFER Use this command if you have more than one store location and wish to transfer some stock from one store to another. It is also useful if you want to set up one location in Retail Plus+ as the warehouse from which all other stores are stocked. When you select this command you will be asked if you want to print an audit trail of your entries. This creates a hard copy on the printer which can be a permanent record of all the stock transfers made. Next, a window appears in which you can identify the item to transfer, the quantity to transfer, the source location and the destination location. Items must be identified by their codes. If you are not sure of the code you can press F3 and choose it from an alphabetical list. When you have supplied the required information press ENTER. Retail Plus+ uses the stock code to look for the item in the destination location. If the item is found, Retail Plus+ checks to see that the name of the item is the same in both locations. If the name is not the same you will be able to tell Retail Plus+ to proceed or abandon the transfer. INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 6 -> SHIPMENT This command gives you an alternate way of entering a shipment into your inventory records. A much faster way of doing this is with the "Enter As Shipment" command under the "Orders" menu, but it needs an order file to associate with each shipment. If you receive stock which was not included in a purchase order or was back-ordered use this command to record it. When you select this you will be asked if you want to print an audit trail of your entries. This creates a hard copy on the printer which can be a permanent record of the stock received. A window appears in which you can enter the code of each item in turn. If you are not sure of the code you can press F3 and choose it from an alphabetical list. - Page 11 - Next you will see a window in which to enter the quantity received. Please note that this should be the total number received, not the number of packages. Also displayed is the wholesale cost of the item and the adjusted cost. These can be updated here if desired. The wholesale cost is the price charged by the supplier and the adjusted cost is the wholesale cost plus any overhead (i.e. shipping) costs you want to add. How the adjusted cost is calculated is up to you. Often a store owner just divides the shipping cost by the total number of items in the shipment and adds the result to the wholesale cost of each item received. Not everyone uses the adjusted cost field - it can be ignored if you wish and it will simply show the same value as the wholesale cost. When you have supplied this information press ENTER to go on to the next item. When you are finished press ESCAPE. INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 7 -> ADJUST Use this when you need a fast way to add or subtract a quantity from the ON HAND figure for any item. Once again you will be asked if you want to print an audit trail of your entries. Select "Yes" to get a hard copy list of the stock adjustments. A window appears where you can enter the code of the item you want to adjust. If you are not sure of the code press F3 to choose it from an alphabetical list. Next you will see a window where you can enter the number to add or subtract from the ON HAND quantity. Type a number and press ENTER to add stock. Type a negative number to subtract stock (i.e. -10). When you have finished press ESCAPE to return to the Main Menu. INVENTORY MENU COMMAND 8 -> RETURNS The Returns command provides a method of re-stocking an item that has been returned by the customer. A window appears where you can enter the code of the item returned. If you are not sure of the code press F3 to choose it from an alphabetical list. Next you will see a window where you can enter the quantity returned. Type the quantity returned and press ENTER or press ESCAPE to go to the Main Menu. In order to maintain accurate sales figures, Retail Plus+ also needs to know the price at which the returned item was sold to the customer. If more than one price for the item is listed in your inventory records you will be prompted to select one. Use the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the price you want then press ENTER. The inventory and sales figures will be adjusted accordingly and you will see a confirmation of the transaction. - Page 12 - SECTION 3 THE SALES MENU There are three different ways to enter sales into this system: 1 - Manually from the keyboard - this would involve taking your cash register tapes to the computer and punching in each sale. Once you have done this a few times it goes quite quickly. 2 - Automatically by reading a data file transferred to the computer from an electronic cash register. 3 - From the Point-Of-Sale function - if you set up your keyboard and screen at the sales counter you can enter sales, print sales slips or statements, and update your data all at the same time. Each of these methods is described on the following pages. SALES MENU COMMAND 1 -> MANUAL This command brings up the window used to enter sales information from the keyboard. You will be asked if you wish to print an audit trail of your entries. Select "Yes" to get hard copy of the sales as they are entered. Before you begin you are asked to supply the date of sales for your entries. -> Press ENTER to accept the date shown (today's date). -> Change it if you want the sales posted under a different date. -> The date format is the international format (YYMMDD). The system will not allow you to enter an invalid date. This date option is intended to allow you to briefly roll back the date so you can enter sales made last week or last month without having them added to this week's sales figures. Note that Retail Plus+ does not store daily sales, only weekly and monthly sales. Therefore you are not required to enter sales figures for every day that your store is open. If you wish, you can enter a week's worth of sales all at once. If you want reasonably accurate sales tracking you should enter sales data at least once a week. The next window prompts you for the code of an item for which you want to enter sales data. If you are not sure of the code press F3 to choose it from an alphabetical list. - Page 13 - The next window displays information about the item and prompts you for the quantity sold. This window also shows the current sticker price and gives you an opportunity to change it. Once you have supplied the data it is recorded and the previous window appears again. It now contains some information about your last entry so you won't loose your place. You are ready to do the next item. Press ESCAPE to return to the Main Menu when you are finished. SALES MENU COMMAND 2 -> AUTO This command allows you to use Retail Plus+ with an electronic cash register It relies on the data files that many registers can transfer to your computer. This version of Retail Plus+ is set up to work with TEC cash registers. They can download sales data to a PC via serial cable or modem, producing a file that begins with the characters "ZRP". If you use a different cash system with this capability please contact us to make arrangements for a version of Retail Plus+ that can read it's data files. To read cash register data files you must first tell Retail Plus+ where to find them. A window appears showing the current directory path. Press ENTER if the data files are in this directory, or type the drive and directory path where they are found. If any valid data files are present in the specified directory you can select one from a pick list on the screen: -> Press the UP/DOWN ARROW keys or PAGEUP/PAGEDOWN to highlight the file you want to read. -> Press ESCAPE to return to the Main Menu. If the cash register file you select has been read before, Retail Plus+ will show the date it was read and provides an opportunity to cancel the process. The printer must be on while reading the cash register file so that Retail Plus+ can print messages about any anomalies encountered in it. This is meant to alert you to any data errors in the file and provide the name and code number of any item that should be checked in the event of such an error. After a data file has been read you will be given an opportunity to print a summary of the sales information it contains. - Page 14 - SALES MENU COMMAND 3 -> P.O.S. This is the point-of-sale function for Retail Plus+. Use it to enter transactions at the sales counter and print invoices or sales slips if desired. The first item that appears is a menu with the following options: -> Point Of Sale - start using the P.O.S. feature. -> Setup P.O.S. - tell Retail Plus+ how you want the point-of-sale function to work. -> Quit - return to the main menu. Before using the P.O.S. function for the first time you should select the Setup P.O.S. option. Setup P.O.S. First a menu appears from which you can choose the printer output you want: -> 80 Column Invoices - select this if you want to print invoices (full sales statements) for your customers. -> 40 Column Sales Slip - select this if you want to print a standard 40 column sales slip. This is usually done in compressed print (15 cpi) so the actual slip is only 3 inches wide. You may wish to consider using a specialized P.O.S. printer designed just for printing sales slips. -> Audit Trail Of Sales - select this if you do not need to print either invoices or sales slips but would like a continuous record of your sales transactions. -> None - select this if you do not want any printer output within the point-of-sale function. Next a screen appears with all the features that you can configure. As you move through this screen you can press F1 at any time for an explanation of what each field is for. In the first section there are fields where you can enter the name and amounts for two types of sales taxes and two types of add-on charges. These will all be added as a percentage on the invoice sub-total, except for Charge 1 which is applied as a flat fee. Use these fields as follows: -> Tax 1 Name - enter the name of a sales tax in your area (if any). -> Tax 1 Percent - enter the percentage amount of Tax 1. -> Tax 2 Name - enter the name of a second sales tax area (if any). -> Tax 2 Percent - enter the percentage amount of Tax 2. - Page 15 - -> Charge 1 Name - enter the name of a flat add-on fee such as handling charges. -> Charge 1 Amount - enter the amount of Charge 1. -> Charge 2 Name - enter the name of a percentage add-on fee such as a service charge or commission. -> Charge 2 Percent - enter the percentage amount of Charge 2. Please note that when an invoice is totaled up the charges are added before the taxes are calculated. It is assumed that any fee you add to a sale will be taxable along with the merchandise. If you have a number of different service fees that you add to customer invoices, set them up as a separate class of inventory item and add them to invoices as needed. Using this method you can set up a service as either taxable or non-taxable. The remaining items on the setup screen are: -> Taxes & Charges Optional ? - press Y if you want to give the person at the sales desk the option to select which taxes or charges to apply to any given sale. Press N if you want the taxes or charges to be automatically applied to every sale. -> Start At Inv # - type the number at which you want Retail Plus+ to start numbering the invoice. These numbers will also appear on sales slips as transaction numbers. -> Invoice Header (Up to 5 lines) - enter anything that you want to appear at the top of your invoices or sales slips. If you do not have pre-printed paper stock then you may use this to print the store name and address. If you are going to print sales slips you may have to limit the length of each line to 38 characters maximum. -> Invoice Footer (1 line) - enter anything you want to appear at the bottom of your invoices or sales slips. If you are going to print sales slips you may have to limit the length of this line to 38 characters maximum. -> Top Margin (0-6) - enter the number of lines you want the printer to skip when printing invoices or sales slips. This allows room for your company logo if you use pre-printed paper stock. -> Center Header ? - press Y if you want the contents of the invoice header (and footer) centered on the invoice or sales slip. Press N if you want them left-justified. -> Invoice Copies (1-9) - enter the number of copies of the invoice that you want printed. Generally it is easier to use duplicating NCR paper in your printer, unless you are using a laser printer. If you print more than 1 copy they will be numbered as they come off the printer. - Page 16 - -> Print Daily Gross On Exit? - Press Y if you want the system to print a breakdown of receipts each time you exit the point-of-sale function. Your receipts will be shown first by total sales plus taxes and charges, and then by method of payment (Cash, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Other Card, Cheque or On Account). -> Eject Page After Printing? - press Y if you want the printer to eject after printing each invoice or sales slip. Press N to suppress the page eject. -> Use Client Database? - Press Y if you want to use the client database in the point-of-sale function. Press N to leave it out. When you have finished with this screen press F10. A NOTE ABOUT THE CLIENT DATABASE: This consists of two files called CLIENT.DBF and CLIENT.DBT. They are compatible with dBASE, FoxBASE, and DMAIL 5.1, the professional mailing list system supplied with Retail Plus+. By using the client database each time you register a sale in the POS screen, the sales information is saved under the client's name. Using this purchase history you can always find out who bought what, when and how many. There are several stan- dard ways to use this information for marketing, and you can probably think of a few of your own. Example 1 - Lets say you are having a special promotion on the latest widgets. You have some flyers printed to get the word out, but now you have to get those flyers into the right hands. Using DMAIL you can easily find everyone who ever bought a widget from you and generate mailing labels for them. Example 2 - Mr. Jones brings back his widget for a warranty repair. He says he lost his sales slip and can't prove that it is still under warranty. Using DMAIL you can look up his name and find out the exact date he bought the item. When entering a client into the database you will see an optional field called UDF (User Defined Field). This is a place where you can put any kind of information you like about the client such as account number or credit status. This information will then be displayed on the POS screen each time they buy something. The UDF field can also be used to classify your customers into categories such as business, institutional, government, private or whatever applies to your business. If you have a sporting goods store you could enter the customers best sport. You can now tailor your promotional mailings to the customer type by using DMAIL to pull out the appropriate names and addresses. If you want to make your mailings a little more personal, DMAIL will create merge files for your word processor that you can use in generating form letters. The client database does have a limitation - it can only hold about 400 sales per client. Retail Plus+ will warn you when you are getting close to the limit for any given client. At that time you should use DMAIL to clear out some of the old data from their record. If you do not do this, Retail Plus+ will clear the client's purchase history when the limit is reach and will start over with a clean slate. - Page 17 - POINT OF SALE The P.O.S. function consists of a single central screen on with which all sales transactions can be conducted. Before the screen appears you will be shown the system date. Press ENTER to accept the date shown, or change it if it is not correct. The date format is (YYMMDD). If you have elected to use the client database the top of the P.O.S. screen will include a section for client information. If you are not using the client database this section will be omitted. The POS screen is controled using both letter commands and function keys. The letter commands are: -> A - Press the A to enter an account number for this sale. Use this to hold the account number of a customer who has an account with you, or to record the credit card number if the sale is being charged. -> R - Press R to see your receipts so far today. -> S - Press S to enter a name in the "Sold By" field on the screen. This name will remain in effect until it it changed and will appear on all invoices and sales slips. If your sales staff is earning commissions this offers a method of tracking each person's sales. -> T - Press T to display a window where you can select the taxes and charges to apply to your sales. The options shown are those that you entered in the POS Setup screen. These choices will remain in effect for each sale until they are changed again. This allows you to control which taxes and charges are applied to any given sale. If you need help using this window press F1 while it is on the screen. -> UP / DOWN ARROW - Use this to select the Method Of Payment (MOP) for the current sale. The choices are : Cash, Visa, Mastercard, Amex, Discover, Charge Card, Cheque, and On Account. The function keys at the bottom of the POS screen are: -> F1 - Help - view the Help windows for this screen. -> F2 - Client - Enter a client's name or look up an existing client name. When you select this the menu line at the bottom of the screen changes to the following: F1-Help F3-Find Client F10-Exit -> Type the name and address information into the appropriate fields. -> Press the ENTER or the UP / DOWN ARROW keys to move from one field to another. - Page 18 - -> Press F1 for information about what should go into any highlighted field. -> Press F3 to look up the address of an existing client (if any have been entered). An alphabetical list appears (called a pick list) from which you can select the client. Move up and down the list with the UP / DOWN ARROW keys, PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN, or by pressing the first letter of the last name twice. When the name you want is highlighted then press ENTER and the address information will appear on the POS screen. -> Press F10 when you have finished entering the client information. -> F4 - Add - Add an item to this sale. A window appears where you can enter the stock code of the item. If you do not know the stock code you can press F3 to select the item from an alphabetical pick list. Move up and down the list with the UP / DOWN ARROW keys, PAGEUP and PAGEDOWN, or by pressing the first letter of the item name twice. When the item you want is highlighted then press ENTER and the information will appear on the POS screen. A window now appears listing the stock code, item name, quantity on hand, and the current retail price. Type the quantity sold at this point. If you are going to discount the item or otherwise charge a different price from the one shown, press the UP ARROW key to move the cursor to the Retail Price field then type the price you want to charge. The retail price is the one shown under Unit Price in your inventory records. It will not be changed if you discount it here. To change the current retail price you will need to exit the POS screen, find the item record and change the Unit Price field. Repeat this step for each item the customer is buying. As you proceed, an itemized list appears on the screen. Note that there may be a "T" following the price for some items and not for others. It indicates that an item has been set up in inventory as taxable. The data in the sample location would apply in an area where there is a sales tax but food items are tax exempt. -> F5 - Dele - delete an item from the sale. A cursor appears on the screen which you can move with the UP / DOWN ARROW keys. Just point to the item you want to delete and press F4. Press F10 when you have finished deleting. -> F6 - NSI - Use this to add a Non-Stock Item to the sale. It is included so that you can add items to the sale that are not in the inventory records. A window appears where you can enter a stock code (this is optional), an item name, the quantity sold, and the price. If you need help using this window press F1 while it is on the screen. Items that are added to the sale as Non-Stock Items will appear on the invoice (or sales slip) but will not be added to the inventory records. To add an item use the New Item option under the Inventory menu. - Page 19 - -> F7 - Total - Use this to total up the current sale. A window appears with the subtotal and totals. If it is a cash sale you can enter the cash amount tendered by the customer. The change owed will be calculated and displayed. If you wish to cancel out of this and return to the previous screen just press ESCAPE. If you press any other key Retail Plus+ will print the sale. If the customer changes his or her mind you can still add or delete items and total the sale again. Nothing is recorded in the inventory database until you press F9 to save it (see below). -> F9 - Save - Use this to tell the system that the sale is complete. The sale is now posted to the sales and inventory database and the POS screen is cleared for the next sale. If the client database is active the sale is recorded in the client's purchase history as well. -> ESC - Cancel - Press ESCAPE to cancel a sale in progress. -> F10 - Exit - use this to exit from the Point-Of-Sale function. The "T" that appears after the price on invoices and sales slips indicates that the item is taxable. Both taxable and non-taxable items can be included in any sale. The tax is charged according to whether the item is shown as taxable in the inventory records. Note that the user can over-ride that setting at the time of the sale if taxes and charges are set up as optional in the POS Setup screen. SALES MENU COMMAND 4 -> SET MARKS Use the Marks command to set the Mark field for all items in your inventory to Y or N. (Yes or No) This is provided as a convenience so that you do not have to go through your records and reset all the Marks manually. When To Use Marks: You can include some or all of the items in your inventory when printing labels, the Combined report, or a catalogue. If the Mark for an item is set to Y the item is included in the print job. If the Mark is set to N it is excluded. The following is an example of how you would use the Mark field in combination with the Marks command: Lets say you want to enter 10 new items in your inventory and print labels for them. Simply set the Mark field to Y when you enter each new item and then use the Label command to print the labels. You now have 10 items in the data file that have the Mark set to Y. Rather than finding each item to change the Mark field back to N , you can use the Marks command to change them all at once. - Page 20 - SALES MENU COMMAND 5 -> LABELS Use this command to print price tags and labels. Price tags show the item name, code number and price. Bin labels show the product name, size, code, price, class and supplier. If printed on a Laserjet bin labels also show the base stock, re-order point, and re-order quantity. Barcode labels (which can also serve as price tags) show a Code 39 bar code, the item name, size, and the price. Bar codes can only be printed on an HP Laserjet or work-alike printer. Labels are printed in the current sorting order (see the Sort command under the Utility Menu). When you begin, you will see a reminder that labels will be printed for Marked items only. You will have an option to print labels for each item received in the last shipment or to select the number of copies of each label (max. 999). If you are using a dot matrix printer you can print test labels to adjust the position of the label stock in the printer. If you are using a Laserjet you can chose manual or auto sheet feeding. The label sizes used for dot matrix printers are as follows: For price tags: 2-1/2 by 15/16 (three-up). For bin labels: 4 by 1-7/16 (one-up). These are standard sizes available from any office supplies store. The label sizes used for Laserjet printers are: For price tags: Avery Label # 5267 (AL-90M in Canada). These are 1/2 by 1-3/4 (four-up, 80 per page). For bin labels: Avery Label # 5163 (AL-130 in Canada). These are 4 inches by 2 inches (two-up, 10 per page). For small barcode labels: Avery Label # 5160 (AL-100 in Canada). These are 2-5/8 by 1 (three-up, 30 per page). For large barcode labels: Avery Label # 5162 (AL-125 in Canada). These are 4 by 1-1/3 (two-up, 14 per page). All of these labels may be available from other manufacturers as well. Make sure you are using labels specifically made for laser printers. SALES MENU COMMAND 6 -> FAST LIST This command will print a basic price list of your product line for fast reference. The information included is the stock code, product name, size (if applicable), the number on hand, and the retail price. It will also show which items, if any, are taxable. Keep it by your cash register for fast price and stock lookups. The list will be printed in the current sorting order (see the Sort command under the Utility menu). SALES MENU COMMAND 7 -> CATALOGUE Use this command to print a catalogue of your product line. When you begin, you will see a reminder that only marked items will be included. Be sure you have marked only the items for which you want catalogue output. You can send catalogue output directly to the printer or to a text file for custom formatting with your favorite word processor. To send printer output to a text file see the Text File command under the Utilities menu. Very sophisticated catalogues can be prepared by loading this output into a desktop publishing system where professional looking layouts can be added. Catalogue items will be printed in the current sorting order unless you specify that they should be listed by product class, in which case the product class will be the primary sort key and the current sorting order (by name or by code) will be the secondary sort key. - Page 21 - SALES MENU COMMAND 8 -> YEAR END This command runs the fiscal year-end closing routine. It saves data to an archive file and gives you the opportunity to print a cumulative sales report for the year. The inventory file is then set up for the new fiscal year. In order to create sales projections, you are given an opportunity to supply an anticipated percentage increase in sales in each product class for the new year. This is presented in tabular form and you need only type the percentage increase in the appropriate field. These percentages are used to calculate your sales projections for the next year. When you have finished filling out this table press ESCAPE to continue. Sales data archived by this process can be displayed with the Review command (see below). SALES MENU COMMAND 9 -> REVIEW When the Year-End command is used, a dBASE III compatible data file is created that archives sales data for the year being closed. The file is named according to the the store location and the year (i.e. SL1-1990.DBF). Use the REVIEW command to look at the contents of any archive. The first thing you will see is a pick list of available archive files. Use the UP/DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the archive you want then press ENTER. The information will be displayed in tabular form. -> F1 - Help - to get information about how to use this screen. -> F4 - Print - send the highlighted record to the printer. -> F6 - Lock - lock the scrolling display at column 1,2,3 or 4. The display will freeze at the column where the cursor is located. Press F6 again to unlock. -> F10 - Exit - return to the Main Menu. - Page 22 - SECTION 4 THE REPORTS MENU The reports menu contains the options you have for printing routine reports. These are described below in order of appearance. Most of these are wide reports and you will be will be asked to switch your printer to compressed mode. You can ignore this if you have a wide carriage printer. THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 1 -> SALES This report prints the following information for each item in the inventory: product class, product name, size (if applicable), code, quantity in stock, quantity sold (year-to-date), gross, percent of total sales, and a monthly breakdown for the current year compared to the same month last year. The report is sorted by product class plus your choice of item name or code (use the Sort command under the Utility menu). At the end of each product class you will see a summary of how many items are in that class, how much they grossed and what percentage of total sales they represent. REPORTS MENU COMMAND 2 -> INVENTORY This report prints the following for each item in the inventory: item code, name, size, class, base stock, quantity on order, and quantity on hand. At the end of each line a space is provided where you can write in the physical count. This allows you to take inventory simply by printing this report and filling in the blanks. Before printing you will be asked if you want the report to contain the inventory for the current location only or for all locations. If you select All Locations you will then be asked if you want the figures combined for each product or show the quantity in each location. You will then be asked if you want the output sorted by product class. If you answer "Yes" you will get a summary of the cost of all items in the class, the retail value of the items in the class, and the percentage of the inventory cost they represent. If you answer "No" the inventory will be printed in the current sorting order with no product class summary. REPORTS MENU COMMAND 3 -> COMBINED This is a combined sales and inventory report. You can print this one to include all items or selected items only. If you want to print it for all items use the Marks command under the Sales menu to mark all items for inclusion in the report. If you only want to report on certain items you can select these by setting their Mark fields to Y (for Yes) before running the report. This report contains the following information: code, product name, size, cost, price, base stock, quantity on hand, quantity on order, quantity sold this year, gross, and percent of total sales. - Page 23 - THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 4 -> TOP 20% It is sometimes said in the retail business that 20% of your stock produces 80% of your cash flow. This is usually an over simplification but this report shows you which products are your top performers. There options available are: -> To print the report for all sales this year or for a given month only. -> To list the items by gross sales or by volume. REPORTS MENU COMMAND 5 -> ANALYSIS This report provides the information needed to analyze sales performance with respect to inventory cost. For each item it shows the year-to-date gross sales, margin, average percent margin (as a fraction of cost), unit sales, value of the on-hand inventory (at cost), stock turnover rate, the percent of total sales produced by each item, and the percent of the total inventory cost invested in each item. You are given a choice of listing the items by gross sales or by product class. If you choose to list by product class the report will also show the percent of total sales produced by each class of product and the percent of total inventory cost invested in that class. This is a wide report so you will be asked to switch your printer to compressed mode. Ignore this if you have a wide carriage printer. REPORTS MENU COMMAND 6 -> VALUE This is a straightforward listing of the cost and retail value of your inventory. It is included mostly for the benefit of the auditors. You are given a choice of listing the items by product class. If you choose to list by product class the report will show subtotals for each class and the percent of total inventory cost invested in that class. This is a wide report so you will be asked to switch your printer to compressed mode. Ignore this if you have a wide carriage printer. REPORTS MENU COMMAND 6 -> OVERSTOCK Run this report to find out which items may be over stocked. The listing is grouped by product class and includes the total cost of the overstocked items. This is a wide report so you will be asked to switch your printer to compressed mode. Ignore this if you have a wide carriage printer. - Page 24 - THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 7 -> LOW STOCK Run this report to find out which items are low in stock. The listing is sorted by the current sorting order. This is a wide report so you will be asked to switch your printer to compressed mode. Ignore this if you have a wide carriage printer. THE REPORTS MENU COMMAND 8 -> SUPPLIERS If you need a list of who supplies you with which products, this report will produce it. You will be asked if you want the list sorted by supplier name or by item name. SECTION 5 THE UTILITY MENU UTILITY MENU COMMAND 1 -> SORT Use this to tell Retail Plus+ the order in which you want your inventory displayed or printed. A window comes up which gives you a choice of three sorting options: -> Product Name - Products appear alphabetically by name. -> Alpha Code - Products appear by alpha-numeric stock codes. Choose this if you use stock codes that contain any characters that are not numbers. -> Numeric Code - Products appear by numeric stock codes. Choose this if you use stock codes that always contain numbers only. UTILITY MENU COMMAND 2 -> INDEXES Use this to re-build a damaged index file. Retail Plus+ creates a number of index files for each inventory file. They allow you to select the current sorting order and to find records quickly. In any database system it can happen that index files become damaged because they are constantly being read and modified. This is not common but if it does happen the damaged file must be re-built. The symptom of a damaged index file is that you cannot find an item you know is in the database. If this happens select the Indexes command and the problem will clear up. - Page 25 - UTILITY MENU COMMAND 3 -> EXPORT Use this to create data files to export your sales information to a spreadsheet or a database management system. In many cases the export function is not needed since many spreadsheets and database systems can directly read dBASE files, which is the format used by Retail Plus+. You will be asked to supply the name for the new data file. The default name is INVENTRY.DTA. You can accept this by pressing ENTER or you can change it by typing a new name. Please note that only the filename can be changed. The file type (.DTA) is automatically supplied. You will then be asked if you wish to export weekly or monthly sales figures. Select one of these then press ENTER. Next you can tell Retail Plus+ whether you want the field names on the first line of the export file. Select "Yes" if you are going to export to a spreadsheet that needs to contain the correct column headings. If you answer "No" you will be given a choice of two data formats. The first is, once again, a standard comma-delimited data file. The second is called System Data Format (SDF) which uses fixed-length fields instead of delimiters. Check the manual for the program into which you want to import the data to see which formats it can handle. If you choose to export monthly sales data, the export file has the following structure: FIELD NAME TYPE WIDTH DECIMAL 1 ITEM C 30 0 2 CODE C 10 0 3 SIZE C 6 0 4 SOLD N 7 0 5 GROSS N 9 2 6 - 17 Jan92 - Dec92 N 6 0 (monthly sales this year) 18 - 29 Jan91 - Dec91 N 6 0 (monthly sales last year) If you choose to export weekly sales data, the export file has the following structure: FIELD NAME TYPE WIDTH DECIMAL 1 ITEM C 30 0 2 CODE C 10 0 3 SIZE C 6 0 4 SOLD N 7 0 5 GROSS N 9 2 6 - 58 WK1 - WK53 N 6 0 (weekly sales current year) - Page 26 - UTILITY MENU COMMAND 4 -> TEXT FILE Use this to re-direct all the printer output to a disk file. You will be asked to supply the name of the file. The default is REPORTS.TXT. You can accept this by pressing ENTER or you can change it by typing a new name. Please note that only the filename can be changed. The file type (.TXT) is automatically supplied. As long as output is being re-directed, the name of the text file appears in the bottom right corner of the screen. All printer output will be sent to this file until you select the Printer command (which does not appear on the Utility menu unless you are currently re-directing output to a text file). It is possible to keep writing to this file until it becomes quite large, so watch your disk space. This command allows you to send the reports to your favorite word processor instead of the printer. It also allows you to use Retail Plus+ without a printer attached. UTILITY MENU COMMAND 5 -> VIEW FILE Use this command to look at the contents of a text file in the Retail Plus+ directory of your hard drive. You can use it to read the output that results from using the Text File command (above) to re-direct printer output. Only files that have an extension of .TXT or .DOC can be read. The following keys can be used while looking at a file: -> ARROWS - Use the arrow keys to scroll up, down right or left. -> PAGEUP / PAGEDOWN - Use these to skip up and down the file. -> HOME / END - Use these to go to the top or bottom of the file. -> ESCAPE - use this to exit the file. On exit from the viewing screen you will have an opportunity to print the file. UTILITY MENU COMMAND 6 -> LOCATION This command allows you to select the store location you want to work with, create a new location, or delete an existing location. A menu appears with the following options: -> Change Location - This displays the store locations that have been set up in Retail Plus+. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the one you want then press the ENTER key. You will then be prompted to choose the manner in which you want the inventory sorted. - Page 27 - -> New Location - Use this to create a new store location. First you will be asked to assign a three-character code to represent the new location. If there is one or more locations already set up you will see a list of location codes that have been used. You will then be asked if you want to copy the product line from an existing location (if there is one). Answer "Yes" if the new location is going to carry substantially the same products as an existing one. A window appears from which you can select the location whose product line you want to copy. When you are done the new location will be the active location and you can access it's records immediately. The information copied includes product name, code, class, size, unit cost, unit price, the text field and the sales projections. If there are minor differences in the product line carried in the new location you can use the Browse window or the Find command to make the necessary changes. -> Delete Location - Use this command to remove a location from Retail Plus+. When you select this you will be asked to confirm your choice. If the location you deleted is the active location (the one shown in bottom right corner of the screen) you will be asked to change to another location first. If you delete all the locations set up in Retail Plus+ the New Location command automatically comes to the screen and you will be asked to set up a new one immediately. This reflects the fact that Retail Plus+ requires inventory files to work with at all times. The system will not run if there is no active location available. UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 6 -> GET INFO Use this when you need some information about the state of Retail Plus+ and the state of your computer. The information shown includes: the name of the active store location, the number of items in the inventory, the number of items marked, the current sorting order, the last time the inventory file was updated, the amount of free memory available to Retail Plus+, the amount of disk space available, whether or not the printer is connected and on line, and the version number of your Retail Plus+. UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 7 -> COLOR Use this command to change between color and monochrome display. - Page 28 - UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 8 -> BACKUP This allows you to make backup copies of your inventory files to floppy diskettes. First you will be asked to select the location for which you want to do a backup. This is followed by a window that asks you to select the floppy drive you want to copy to (A: or B: only). The diskette you put into the drive will be assessed for available space. If there is not enough space you will be shown a list of the files on that diskette and given a opportunity to delete some. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to scroll the list. Highlight a file you want to delete and press ENTER. You will also see a display of the space needed and the space available as you delete files. The backup will proceed to the next step as soon as there is enough space on the diskette. If you do not want to delete any files just press ESCAPE to terminate the backup. The easiest way to manage your backups is to create a separate diskette to hold a backup for each location. Label each diskette with the location code and reserve it for that backup only. Some people like to keep several backups and rotate them thus allowing them to roll back the inventory data to a previous date if necessary. Please do not neglect the backup command. Use it frequently and you will never have cause for regret when your hard drive breaks down. If you have an employee who runs Retail Plus+ for you, or have a situation where more than one person modifies your inventory data, be sure that backups are part of the daily office routine for a designated person. UTILITIES MENU COMMAND 9 -> RESTORE One hopes disaster will never strike and inventory files are never lost. If it does happen, and you have been making backups, then this command easily restores the lost files. Place the diskette with the appropriate inventory files in a floppy drive. The first window that appears asks you to identify the drive where the files can be found. The second window asks you to type the three letter location code associated with the files. The Backup and Restore commands have other uses: 1 - If you keep a set of rotating backups, say one for each of the last three sessions with Retail Plus+, then you will always be able to roll back the inventory data to a previous session. This ability comes in handy if you or one of your employees does something that is hard to undo, like recording a large shipment twice or deleting 20 items then realizing they were the wrong twenty. Everyone who works with computers (bar none) has moments like that and an easy way out saves much heartache. 2 - You can use the Restore command to move the inventory data from your office computer to your home computer and back again. Simply use the Backup command to copy the inventory files on the office computer to a diskette, then use the Restore command to copy them onto your home computer. When you are done working at home, reverse the process to get the updated files back onto the office computer. - Page 29 - SECTION 6 THE ACCESS MENU Use of password protection in Retail Plus+ is optional. It is turned on and off using the Protect/Unprotect commands under the Access menu. The password system provides three levels of access that give varying levels of protection against data deletion and modification. If you do not use the password system any user can access and modify your inventory data. ACCESS MENU COMMAND 1 -> ADD USER Use this command to add another user to the password system. A window appears where you can enter the following: -> User Name - type the first name only then press ENTER. User names should be unique. Avoid using two identical names for different users or two different passwords for one user. -> Access Level - type the access level you want to give this user then press ENTER. Level 1 grants looking privileges only. Use this for someone who is training in your store and who wants to see what the computer system is all about. They are able to practice using the POS function but are not able to save any sales data. Level 2 grants data entry and editing privileges. Use this for someone who needs to enter and update your data but who may not delete anything. Level 3 grants all privileges. This level is required to delete records and to disable the password requirement. It is also required to assign access privileges to other users. -> Password - type the users password then press ENTER. Passwords should be at least three characters long. All users may change their own password at any time. Press ESCAPE at any time to return to the Main Menu. ACCESS MENU COMMAND 2 -> DELETE USER Use this command to remove a user's name and password from the system. A window appears listing the current users. Use the UP and DOWN ARROW keys to highlight the user name you want removed then press ENTER. Press ESCAPE to exit without any changes. This command is available only to users with an access level of three. ACCESS MENU COMMAND 3 -> CHANGE Any user may change his or her password at any time. The users are prompted for their old password then the new one. Passwords should be at least three characters long. The most secure passwords are a mixture of numbers and letters. - Page 30 - ACCESS MENU COMMAND 4 -> PROTECT / UNPROTECT If the password requirement is turned off this menu item will display as "Protect" and any user can to turn the password requirement on again. This is because all users are assigned an access level of three when no passwords are being used. If the passwords are in use this menu item will display as "Unprotect" and users must have an access level of three to turn it off again. SECTION 7 GENERAL PROGRAM NOTES A NOTE ABOUT USING STOCK CODES: When choosing a stock code numbering system you should consider the following: -> If you want to use alphanumeric codes (letters and numbers) you may use any combination of keyboard characters you wish. Examples such as "A100-123" are valid. When this coding system is used and you sort your data by ALPHA CODE it will appear according to it's alphabetic order. This means that "A99" will come AFTER "A100" for the same reason that ABC comes after AABC. This is due to the fact that, in an alphabetic sort, the number of characters is not as significant as their ordinal value from left to right, while in a numeric sort the number of characters is more significant than their ordinal value. -> If you want to use numeric sorting you should not put any characters in the code except for the numbers 0 to 9. otherwise they may not sort properly. If there are characters other than numbers in your stock codes and you select "Numeric Code" from the Sort menu, Retail Plus+ will still attempt to do a numeric sort. If it encounters a character in a stock code that is not a number it will ignore that character and everything that follows it. The result is that the item will be left in the physical order of the inventory (i.e. in the order that it was entered). SYSTEM MEMORY CONSIDERATIONS Retail Plus+ is a large application. The executable program (RETAIL30.EXE) occupies over 500 KB of disk space. Since it is created with the Clipper 5 compiler it takes advantage of Clipper's code paging features so it occupies much less space when it is loaded into memory (316 KB). To allow sufficient working space in memory, your computer should have at least 450 KB of free memory before you start the program. If you are running memory-resident programs along with Retail Plus+ they should not require more than 100 KB. Where there is a need to load multiple memory-resident programs, try using the DOS 5 "load high" feature to move DOS into high memory. OUR MISSION IS TO DO IT YOUR WAY Retail Plus+ was designed by store owners, not by computer programmers. Your comments and suggestions will guide the future development of the software and we welcome feedback about what you would like to see in it. If you have a need that is very specific to your business we can and will customize the software for you. Please contact Mr. K. Egger at (416)-862-3430 or (416)861-1575. - Page 31 - READ THIS: Retail Plus+ can be a valuable tool in helping you manage your business. It does not supply you with sound business practices and does not substitute for your own mastery of what goes on in the store. Test it mercilessly to satisfy yourself that it is the right tool. If you have any doubts please set it aside and try something else. We will make every effort to help you use Retail Plus+ successfully and will promptly correct any deficiencies that may come to light. This copy of Retail Plus+ is distributed as shareware so you can try it before you buy it. Once you decide that you want to use it please send in your order form. You will receive the latest version, unlimited phone support, a typeset manual and DMAIL, our professional mailing list manager to use with your client database. This is the Software Licence that will apply to all registered copies of Retail Plus+: 1. Mr. K. Egger (the "Licensor") grants a non-exclusive Licence to the registered user (the "Licencee") to use Retail Plus+, (the "Software") which comprises computer programs, supporting documentation, and any copies thereof. The Licencee acknowledges that the Licensor is the sole owner of the Software and that neither title to nor ownership of the Software is transferred to the Licencee. 2. The Licencee agrees that the Software and all copies will be used only to manage retail outlets directly or indirectly held by the Licencee. The Licencee shall not permit the Software or any part to be disclosed in any form to any third party and shall not permit unauthorized copying and distribution. 3. This Licence may not be assigned to a third party. 4. The Licensor's sole warranty to the Licencee is that the Licensor has the right to grant a Licence of the Software in the manner set out in this agreement. The Licensor gives the Licencee no other warranties, express or implied, including any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. In no event arising from the performance or non-performance of the Software shall the Licensor be obligated or liable to the Licencee in any manner for consequential, special or incidental damages, including, but not limited to, loss of profits or suits by third parties. Furthermore, in no event shall the Licensor be liable to the Licencee for amounts in excess of the amounts paid by the Licencee to the Licensor. 5. The Licencee further acknowledges that the Software is not an instructional tool which enables the user to carry out all the steps needed to conduct a profitable retail trade. The Licencee acknowledges that the Software is merely a system which facilitates the storage and retrieval of information. 6. The Licensor may terminate this Licence if the Licencee fails to comply with these Licence terms. 7. Any Licence Of Software is subject to the terms of this Software Licence Agreement and those terms supersede any other agreement between the Licensors and the Licencee. - Page 32 - RETAIL PLUS+ SOFTWARE ORDER FORM ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- K. EGGER, ADELAIDE P.O. BOX 423, 36 ADELAIDE ST. EAST, TORONTO CANADA M5C 2J8 (416)862-3430 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- When you order Retail Plus+ you will receive a new version of the software (without the reminder notices), unlimited telephone support, and a typeset manual. You will also receive DMAIL, our professional mailing list manager. The basic registration fee entitles you to use Retail Plus+ for two store locations. Each additional location requires another registration fee. Sold To:_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________ PHONE __________________________ QTY ITEM PRICE TOTAL ___ Retail Plus+ basic registration (first two locations) and DMAIL professional mailing list manager. 125.00 _______ ___ Retail Plus+ registration(s) for additional location(s) 125.00 _______ ___ Retail Plus+ bound manual with screen graphics. (Order this only if you need to see more elaborate documentation before making a descision to buy.) 10.00 _______ Check One: [ ] Shipping & handling - First Class Mail 7.00 _______ [ ] Shipping & handling - Federal Express 36.00 _______ TOTAL (Cheque or money order) -------> _______ Check One: [ ] 5.25 inch diskettes [ ] 3.5 inch diskettes IF YOU ARE USING A DOWNLOADING CASH REGISTER Retail Plus+ is set up to work with TEC cash registers. If you would like to use it with another electronic cash system please send us the name and model of the system and an example of the data file it sends to your computer. We will contact you once we have reviewed this material.