Electronic evolution: the computer/POS systems control state agencies use in their operations continue to evolve.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Whether it's the ability of an iPhone to identify a song on the radio (allow the phone, equipped with the right application, to "listen" to the song for five seconds and it will display the name of the song and the artist) or the ability of Google to solve math problems (just type the math problem into the search engine), the technology all around us continues to evolve, sometimes in dizzying ways.

The same is true for business computer systems. "Enterprise IT--it's a process, not an event" is the slogan David Willis, information technology (IT) director of Utah's Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (DABC) has at the bottom of his emails.

"We continuously add new functionality to [our] applications to meet the changing needs of the marketplace and our customers," said Willis. "We keep a weather eye on developments in inventory and POS solutions to ensure that the capabilities of our existing solutions keep pace with market trends."

The DABC uses Escalate Retail for its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. This manages the department's warehouse and its inventory. And it uses a point-of-sale system from SAP in its 41 state stores.

While the main reason for a retail system remains the same as it always was--to track sales and inventory, computer technologies, such as touch screens and handheld devices, continue to develop even as their prices drop. And companies that develop software systems continue to refine their capabilities. This is how it should be, said Willis. The core functions of, say, a point-of-sale system "aren't rocket science anymore," he explained. They should be, and are, evolving.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Some retail systems designed specifically for the sale of liquor and wines, for example, can now handle even more specialized tasks, such as processing the orders for wine-of-the-month clubs or handling the administrative tasks behind renting wine-storage lockers to customers.

Choosing a New System

The Department of Liquor Control (DLC) in Montgomery County, MD is in the process of choosing a new POS system for its 25 stores. The company that produced its current one went out of business and the system, which is more than a decade old, has become difficult to maintain.

The differences between its old system and the newest crop of POS systems on the market "are like night and day," said Gus Montes de Oca, chief of the division of operations for the DLC. "A lot of them use touch screens. They are so much faster, they have a lot more reporting capabilities and inventory capabilities. There's just more logic to everything. Some of them can almost just give you a suggested order [for a store.]"

Any operation that runs retail stores, including some of the control states, is, in a way, being "forced to take a fresh look at their infrastructure" because of the need to become PCI compliant, said Utah's Willis.

PCI is short for the Payment Card Industry security standards. It is a set of technical and operational requirements developed by the credit card companies, designed to ensure that the credit card information retailers store, process and transmit is kept secure. For the most part, coming into compliance with PCI involves upgrading a retail operation's communication networks, rather than the POS system it uses, but agencies are taking a hard look at all aspects of their stores' transaction process.

One tantalizing possibility is to use a system where the processing and storage of the credit card data is handled by a third party. "Software as a service," or SaaS, systems first became available about five years ago. Rather than selling a client software that then runs on hardware in the client's stores and offices, the SaaS company hosts the software on its own servers and the retail operations access that software, via the internet. They send their transaction data to the system, at the company, where it is processed and stored. "Obviously, they have their POS terminal on their premises and that can run stand-alone if it needs to, but usually they are connected to us," explained Chris Martin, CEO of CORESense, a SaaS company (see buyer's guide).

One wine retailer using the CORESense system declared that he doesn't worry about the security of his data. "If anything, it's more secure with them, on their servers, than it would be on any server I could have in the store," he said.

Another benefit of a SaaS system is less maintenance duties on the client's part. "CORESense always backs all our data up. I'm never going to lose data and I never have to back it up--ever. I don't have to do any of that. At the end of the day, I just turn off the computers and go home," said that retailer.

And because the CORESense system is being used by many other retail operations, of all types ranging in size from $1 million in annual sales to $100 million, each client gets to benefit from any of the improvements made to the system for other clients. "Every month, we introduce new features," said Martin.

A related development is to make a retail system "browser-based." But rather than being accessed via the worldwide web from the computer company's servers, operations can use this system on an intranet, a sort of private internet. One computer, at headquarters, for instance, acts as the server and contains the software. All the other devices--other computers, handhelds, POS terminals--tap into the software using a browser. "It opens up a lot of flexibility. You're able to present the data many different ways on different devices," said Charles Hayes, president of Cetech, a company that offers a retail computer system specifically designed for beverage operations in New York State. Like a SaaS system, the advantage to a browser-based system using an intranet is less maintenance. All a device needs to be on the system is a browser. There's not so much to set up on each device," said Hayes.

Improving a System

When possible, control state agencies prefer to improve the systems they have rather than replace them with something entirely new. "Replacing a system? That's the stuff of which nightmares are made," said Utah's Willis. Any customized programming the control state agency did with the old system would have to be done again for the new. The Utah DABC, for example, has developed roughly 130 different custom programs or reports for its warehouse management and POS systems. "The development staff understands the table structure and can write code for the existing system. They would have to learn how to do that again with the new system, plus, of course, there would be a learning curve for the users of the new system," said Willis.

But sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. "Part of our process, once we received proposals, was to choose the top three or four, give them all the same information about our operation and ask them to give us a presentation about exactly how they would handle that," said Montgomery County's Montes de Oca. "Otherwise, all of a sudden, six months later, you're implementing a new system and find it can't do what you need it to do."

One top concern for control state agencies is that any system they adopt for their stores has to be able to communicate easily with their other systems, such as their warehouse management system (WMS). At the same time that the Montgomery County DLC is looking for a new POS system for its stores, it is also working with Oracle on a system for its warehouse. Montes de Oca says the new POS system might be in place as early as the end of this year, while the WMS probably won't be in place till 2012. "Right now, a lot of what we do isn't as automated as we'd like," said Montes de Oca, "but we know that these two systems are going to have to interface with one another and pass information back and forth."

Customer Interface

Interfacing directly with customers is becoming increasingly important as well. John Saccomanno, industry marketing director for NCR (see buyer's guide), points out that today's customer is more time-starved than ever but still wants great customer service, including access to product information. One possible solution: customer kiosks.

BevMo!, the 99-store beverage-alcohol chain based in Walnut Creek, CA, is testing the use of customer kiosks, equipped with Wine Market Assistant software (see buyers' guide), in one of its stores. "Everybody loves the concept and we're seeing pretty significant numbers when it comes to customers using it," said Mark Ryan, BevMo's director of marketing.

Any fears that customers wouldn't know how to use the kiosks at the BevMo store were almost instantly dispelled. "Within five minutes, a customer came by with a bottle and scanned it," said Ryan. "I asked him how he knew it could do that. He said he's seen similar things in enough stores, like Target, and he just figured it would."

Ryan found that BevMo employees are also using the kiosks. "Sometimes a customer will ask a question where something is located or if we carry something--and the employee will practically take them by the hand and bring them over to the kiosk," he said.

With a kiosk taking care of some of the simpler customer questions, NCR's Saccomanno points out, a retail operation can redeploy its employees more effectively.

Even as technology advances, the goal remains the same: to run a successful operation. It's just that, now, technology can do more than ever.

2009 POS AND COMPUTER SYSTEMS BUYERS' GUIDE

AccuPOS

AccuPOS provides point-of-sale (POS), inventory-management and time-clock software for the retail and hospitality industries. The AccuPOS family of products is designed to be faster and easier than a cash register and to streamline the sales process. AccuPOS products, based on open standards, expand the capabilities of an existing accounting program and allow users to grow and change, without being locked into proprietary vendor products. AccuPOS products are integrated with the most widely used accounting packages, including QuickBooks, Peachtree Simply Accounting Line 50, and MAS 90/200. Founded in 1997, AccuPOS is headquartered in Los Angeles with regional offices throughout the U.S. as well as in Europe. For more information, visit www.accupos.com

ATLANTIC SYSTEMS, INC. (ASI)

Atlantic Systems, Inc. has offered POS computer systems for beverage alcohol retailers since 1980. The company provides complete systems including hardware, software, installation, training and long-term support. Spirits 2000 is a Windows-based software package that provides inventory and financial control for one store or a multi-store chain. High-speed integrated credit/debit card processing is done via the Internet. The system can identify a customer at the register using a bar-coded card or by entering the customer's name or account number. Its Frequent Shopper Program can collect information on customer purchases and provide the retailer assistance in rewarding the best customers with incentives. Automated age verification and storage of results is available in most states. Targeted marketing can be done automatically by selectively filtering customer sales history and then contacting them via a mass email. Gift card processing can be done through the retailer's credit card processor or internally in the system, which eliminates processing fees. A web interface is available for e-commerce along with an interface to an information kiosk for use by customers. Prices for the Spirits 2000 system start at about $10,000. For more information, call 732-280-6616, extension 127 or visit www.asi-nj.com.

BIG COMMERCE

Big Commerce, launched in 2003 by Interspire, a company that develops content-management, shopping-cart, knowledge-management and email-marketing software, is meant to allow even the smallest retailer to launch a retailing website. The company claims that a retailer can have an online store up and running in five minutes. The price per month for Big Commerce is based on sales volume and the amount of storage space and bandwidth used. Its monthly fees range from free for the smallest operations to $149.95 per month which allows a retailer to use 15 gigabytes of bandwidth and 1 gigabyte of storage. Interspire also offers Big Response, a hosted email-marketing program. For more information on Big Commerce, visit bigcommerce.com or call 888699-8911. For information on Big Response, visit bigresponse.com or call 888-699-8910.

CAP SOFTWARE

CAP Software's store-management system, SellWise, is currently being used by more than 100 wine and spirit retailers. The system provides POS, free integrated credit-card processing, inventory control, customer tracking, order/receive, tag and barcode printing and back office reporting. Newer features include optional video monitoring, for security purposes, touchscreen support, hot keys and customized reports. Prices for the software start at $995. For a demo, visit the company's website, www.capretail.com, or call 800-826-5009.

CETECH

Spirits by Cetech was designed specifically for New York State wine and liquor retailers. It was first installed in a Buffalo, NY store in 1987. The latest release, Spirits 4.5, includes paperless options where reports can be created electronically and stored as PDF files. Cetech also offers browser-based application development for the intranet as well as the internet. For more information call 716-884-8780 or visit cetech.com.

CHOICEMASTER, LLC 

ChoiceMaster can simplify staff training, build good will with customers and increase sales. With ChoiceMaster running on a touchscreen kiosk in the store, customers can find food pairings, recipes, party planning advice and more. ChoiceMaster can be linked to many POS systems, allowing price and inventory information to be updated automatically, and can be used in multi-store operations. For more information, visit www.ChoiceMaster.com, call 410-745-8137 or email [e-mail].

CORESense

CORESense, founded in 2000, offers a wine and spirits retailing version of its software-as-a-service (SaaS) or web-based product. Its system best fits retailers with at least $1 million in annual sales. The CORESense retail management system is meant to support all aspects of the retailer's business, both its brick & mortar stores and its e-commerce business. It can also handle a business's back office, merchandising and customer-management needs. For more information, visit www.CORESense.com or call 866-229-2804.

DALCOM CONSULTING

This technology-integration company specializes in providing turnkey systems, including installation and ongoing service, for mid-sized to large organizations in the retail industry with a focus on control state ABC Boards.

Dalcom can provide point-of-sale (POS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions, using products from IBM, NCR, HP, Microsoft and SAP. For more information, call 336-851-1802 or visit www.dalcom.com.

ESCALATE RETAIL

More than 500 retailers run their businesses on Escalate software, including 11 of the largest 100 retailers worldwide. For more information, visit www.Escalate.com.

INFOTOUCH

This company offers two retail POS software packages: Store Keeper POS, meant to be an affordable system for single-store retailers, and Store Manager ES, for chain-store customers and retailers whose operations have custom requirements. Both systems use touch-screens, are easy to use, and are certified PCI-compliant by Visa. Both systems support age verification and multiple units of measure (buy beer by the case; sell cases, 6 packs, and singles with a single item). Call 800-678-8682 or visit www.infotouch.com.

INNOVATIVE COMPUTER SOLUTIONS (ICS)

ICS, an HP Business Partner, has provided solutions specifically for beverage alcohol retailers for over 25 years and has systems installed throughout the U.S. and the Carribean. The company's VISION system, a scalable application for stores ranging from a single register to multiple locations, can run on Windows XP and 7, LINUX and MAC/OS. The POS module within VISION is designed to provide full register capability, including price look-ups, discounts, customer-special pricing, periodic sales and frequent-buyer or award points tracking. The Vision POS can be operated on a standard PC or a touch-screen system. A combination PDF/UPC scanner can identify under-age purchasers and add customers to a store's mailing/emailing list. The back-office module provides inventory control, extensive reporting, sales analysis, purchase history, FIFO inventory level tracking, and physical inventory. Cashier accountability features allow a retailer to track all transactions down to the keystroke, both on the POS and in the back. VISION is turnkey and includes hardware, installation and training at the store location. Complete systems start at under $6,000, including hardware which can also be purchased separately. Call 732-223-0909 or visit www.winepos.com.

INTELLISCANNER CORPORATION 

IntelliScanner offers the Wine Collector 300, a tiny, wireless barcode scanner that automatically organizes wine collections. Wine lovers can scan the barcodes of bottles of wine they are interested in, at a tasting, in a restaurant, at a friend's house, or in a store. When they get home, they download the information onto their PC or Mac by simply plugging in the scanner to download, just like a digital camera, and the included wine management software will automatically provide and record the wine's information, such as name, winery, varietal, country and region, by accessing IntelliScanner's database via the internet. Wine Collector 300 starts at $199. For more information, visit www.intelliscanner.com or call 800-550-5470.

MERCHANT SOFTWARE CORP.

This company has specialized in point of sale software for liquor and beverage retailers for the past 14 years. Its LiquorPOS software is used in over 3,000 locations. The system comes preloaded with a database of 12,000 beer, wine, liquor and tobacco products to speed up a store's installation. Its beverage retail specific abilities include driver's license scanning for age-verification, inventory tracking of multi-pack products (such as beer sold by the case, bottle or six-pack) and the ability to handle keg and bottle deposits. The company also offers Go!POS, a wireless inventory scanner, for use with the system. For more information, call 1-800-565-6675 or visit www.merchantsoft.com.

MICROSOFT DYNAMICS 

Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 is a flexible, scalable store-management solution for midmarket companies and specialty retailers. The system features a customizable role-based user interface, meaning that the interface a certain type of employee or even an individual sees on the system can be customized. Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 integrates with other enterprise resource planning (ERP) or financial management software, as well as with familiar Microsoft technologies, such as Microsoft SQL Server, the Windows operating system and Microsoft Office. New features include smart search, security-enhanced payment processing, a software development kit, real-time inventory management and flexible reporting tools. Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 pricing starts at $1,390. For more information, call 888-477-7989 or visit www.microsoft.com/dynamics/pos.

NCR Corporation 

NCR Corporation is a global technology company whose assisted- and self-service solutions and comprehensive support services address the needs of retail, financial, travel, healthcare, hospitality, entertainment, gaming and public sector organizations in more than 100 countries. For more information, call 866-431-7879, e-mail [e-mail] or visit www.ncr.com.

ORACLE

Oracle is one of the world's largest business software companies. For more information, visit www.oracle.com.

PROPHETLINE

Prophetline is a POS and retail management system for small- to mid-sized specialty retailers, including beverage retailers. Its systems include IP credit card processing, integrated web shopping and fully integrated accounting. It can handle operations ranging from one store to multiple sites with centralized purchasing, Prophetline is a four-time winner of the Microsoft Retail Application Developer of the Year Award. Call 800-875-6592 or visit www.prophetline.com.

RADIANT SYSTEMS

A leader in retail technology, Radiant Systems offers a fully integrated, end-to-end solution including its retail POS system, CounterPoint. Other components include integrated ecommerce, built-in gift cards, customer loyalty programs and payment solutions. Radiant Systems hardware, specifically designed for retailers, is available. For more information, visit www.counterpointpos.com or call 800-852-5852.

RETAIL ANYWHERE

Retail Anywhere is a developer of complete POS and retail management solutions for wine and liquor store retailers, for both single store and chain operations. The company has more than 25 years of experience. Call 1-800-2572734 or visit www.retailanywhere.com for further information.

RETAIL PRO

This company offers POS, store operations, merchandising, planning, and business intelligence applications for specialty retailers. For more information, visit www.retailpro.com.

RITE (Retail Information Technology Enterprises)

This company is an award-winning provider of Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and has tailored it to specifically meet the needs of beer/liquor/wine retailers, with clients in over 30 states. RITE has customized RMS to add functionality that addresses the special problems liquor retailers face on a regular basis, including the ability to integrate with their suppliers (invoicing and pricing), integrated age verification via drivers licenses, profit-margin monitoring, and web site integration. For information, visit http://www.rite.us or call toll-free 1-888-267-RITE.

SAGE SOFTWARE

Sage Software specializes in business-management software and services for small- and mid-sized businesses. Its latest release, Peachtree by Sage 2010, for small businesses, has new features including a customer management center, one-click transaction history information and business analytics capabilities, powered by iLumen. For more information, call 800-228-0068 or visit www.sagesoftware.com.

SAP

SAP is one of the world's leading providers of business software, offering applications and services to companies of all sizes across more than 26 industries. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

SHOP TO COOK

This company provides interactive merchandising solutions for grocery and supermarkets. Its latest solutions feature 37-inch LCD high-definition screens, blending the advantages of digital signage with interactive kiosks. Depending on the software package chosen, the interactive devices provide wine-tasting notes, artisan-cheese information, meal-planning help, including recipes and shopping lists that can be printed, wine-pairing suggestions, and an item locator, which pinpoints where a desired product is in the store, plus an optional integrated price checker. An interactive weekly circular rounds out the merchandising suite, allowing shoppers to view more detailed product information, promotions, tasting notes, or pairing associated with any weekly featured item. The interactive displays provide the retailer with reports about the items customers have been searching for and the features they have been using. Solutions are also available for the web, providing retailers with consistent. Subscription fees begin at $50 per month. For more information, call 716-362-3168 or visit www.shoptocook.com.

SOFTECHNICS

SofTechnics provides mobile price and inventory management solutions for the retail sector. The 20-year-old company offers grocery and general merchandising solutions and has provided software solutions to some of the largest state and provincial government operated liquor agencies in the U.S. and Canada. SofTechnics, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Mettler Toledo Corporation with North American headquarters in Columbus, OH, and regional offices across the United States. For more information, call 330-665-1698 or visit softechnics.com.

WASP BARCODE TECHNOLOGIES

Wasp Barcode Technologies provides data-capture and tracking solutions designed for small businesses. Products include QuickStore Point-of-Sale, inventory software, asset software, barcode scanners, barcode printers and barcode software. Wasp solutions give small business owners the tools to operate more efficiently and profitably. Learn more at www.waspbarcode.com or call 866-547-WASP (9277).

WINEMINER LLC

WineMiner LLC, an NCR, IBM and Mcosm Partner, offers specialized Enterprise Class customer kiosks, called Wine Market Assistant, in partnership with Ready Touch, an NCR Business Partner. The in-store kiosk allows customers to search for a wine, spirit, or beer in various ways, from a simple "red wine under $10" to more complex information searches for wine collectors. It also offers food pairings, information on over 400 cheeses and thousands of recipes. In addition, Wine Market Assistant offers the retailer options to integrate into their POS for nightly updates to pricing and products, loyalty program, in-store promotions and the store map. WineMiner's content includes independent wine reviews as well as winemaker notes. WineMiner plans to allow retailers to maintain their own social networking sub-site on WinesandRecipes.com which would enable the store's customers to form an interactive online community and provide the retailer with a targeted advertising tool. Lease prices for a kiosk start at $10 per day. For more information, call 888-450-4529 or email [e-mail].