News

Retail Pro upgrades software to help retailers 'improve customer retention'

April 19, 2012

Retail Pro has released 9.2 Revision 5 with new functionality in the area of Customer Loyalty and UPC Reuse, as well as some reworking and enhancement of some existing functionality in serial numbers.

"As the old business adage goes, it's a much easier task to keep existing customers satisfied than it is to win over new ones, and this is especially true in the retail sector. Improving customer retention and loyalty is absolutely pivotal to buoying the bottom line of most merchants, and this latest release helps merchants do just that," Bill Colley, SVP of development and client services at Retail Pro International, said in a company press release.

Retail Pro 9's customer loyalty module enables users to set up loyalty programs and reward their best customers with incentives that marry to the way they do business, whether through fixed discounts and point-based programs or promotional programs that reward loyal customers with goods. Loyalty is redeemed by leveraging the Retail Pro Central Server technology, which processes transactions and keeps the database updated in real time.

Another key area of focus is that of serial number tracking. The software includes several improvements to the way it manages serial number use and how those serial numbers are handled and tracked at the point of sale and across locations.

Changes include:

• Serial numbers being tracked and controlled at the store level as opposed to the company level
• Enhanced tracking and display of serial number statuses within frontline areas of the system
• Direct links for viewing the serial number's document history
• The ability to filter lists of serial numbers by store, company and single serial numbers

The area of UPC management has been improved to now allow the reuse of existing UPCs within the Retail Pro Inventory. Retailers and manufacturers purchase UPCs in blocks, which are then assigned as needed to inventory items. After stock associated with these UPCs has been depleted, the UPCs can be reused and applied to new inventory descriptions and items.

Read more about loyalty programs.