BNG Technologies

Retailers in the liquor industry choose CounterPoint for specific features, including the ability to maintain several business locations with Multi-Site, even if they are using different operating systems at the satellite stores. In addition, retailers like CounterPoint for its Hot/Cold Analysis report, which breaks down sales and beginning and ending inventory for the month by category/subcategory.

Another big selling point is CounterPoint’s alternate units of measure in inventory, which allow retailers to purchase items in one selling unit and sell them in another. For example, a retailer can buy beer by the case, but sell it in EACHs, 6PAKs, 12PAKs, etc. Alternate units allows them to track these products separately although they were received as one item.

Complementing that feature, CounterPoint allows retailers to attach a unique barcode to an individual selling unit. Once the selling units are created, the individual package barcode can be assigned to the appropriate unit, thereby eliminating pricing errors at the point of sale. Similarly, multiple barcodes allows retailers to enter the store’s barcode and the vendor’s barcode, which is especially helpful since many products have different UPC codes based on season and packaging.

Other features that particularly attracted liquor retailers include:
• Ability to handle a high volume of traffic
• Ability to sell by price level (for wholesale and retail customers)
• Accounting interface
• Barcode scanning
• Bottle deposit
• Customer loyalty program
• Daily exception reports
• Data Interchange
• Ease of use
• Group pricing codes
• Label printing
• Multi-Site
• Offline Ticket Entry
• Point of Sale
• Quick receiving
• Quick ticket and data entry
• Reorder reports
• Six-week sales analysis
• Vendor item reports

How CounterPoint Makes Businesses More Profitable

Many of CounterPoint’s features can be used to increase profitability. Liquor store retailers make good use of CounterPoint’s reporting features, including the Purchasing Advice report, which they run prior to the salesmen coming in for orders so they can keep their shelves stocked at all times. In addition, they run the Inventory Status report and the Stock Status report on a regular basis to help them maintain their proper inventory levels. Purchasing Adviceand Inventory Analysis reports by vendor also ensure that the retailer, not the vendor, controls what is ordered.

SQL Connection Option cuts down the amount of time spent gathering information, which used to take hours to do manually. SQL can also generate rental agreement forms that will print the information (customer name and the items with a category of deposit) off a particular invoice number.

In the liquor store industry, customer type drives price and tax status automatically. CounterPoint allows retailers to set contract prices so, for example, a wholesale customer can get a special price and no tax without the retail customer behind him in line even knowing. Also, contract pricing allows retailers to make deals with caterers. To differentiate more between customers, CounterPoint allows the retailer to print a wholesale customer’s receipt on 8½X11” paper and a retail customer’s on 3” roll paper.

Other features used to increase profitability are:
• Ability to print a price list by customer as reorder guide
• Barcode scanning
• Customer loyalty program
• Daily exception reports
• Group pricing
• Management history reports that give one an analysis on hot/cold items
• Offline Ticket Entry
• Sale prices and price codes

How CounterPoint is Suited for this Industry

CounterPoint looks and acts like it was designed for liquor stores, mainly for its ability to sustain alternate units of measure, which allow retailers to buy an item from a vendor in one quantity and sell the item in other quantities. This is crucial in liquor or smoke shops where they buy in bulk and sell in EACHs, 6PAKs, and CASEs.

Kits are especially useful to liquor store retailers, who want to link bottle deposits to items that require deposits. Retailers also like to have a customer on file so when he calls to place an order, the clerk can pull him up and know that he will get contract pricing on his items.
Also critical to this industry is being able to set up a second register so it enters orders rather than tickets. The retailer enters the order and prints it on the modified form, delivers the order, releases the order, adds any returns from the customer, and completes the invoice. Customizable forms are another feature for this vertical.

Other features that are particularly suited for the liquor industry include:
• Ability to receive without a purchase order
• Ability to ring up (and receive items) by item number and UPC code
• Ability to track sales by customer type (e.g., retail, wholesale)
• Audit control to deter employee theft
• Barcode scanning
• Customer loyalty program
• Credit card processing
• Fast ticket entry
• Group pricing
• Multiple barcodes
• Offline Ticket Entry
• Pay-outs for lottery gives audit level security
• Purchasing Advice report
• Sales history to track gross margins
• Quick receiving
• QuickRun

Read More     |     Schedule Demo