This module, as its name implies, has been written with the needs of charity retailers in mind in particular, the requirement to integrate with Gift Aid, a scheme that can boost the actual amount given by donors by 25 percent.
Gift Aid enables charities to claim back the tax, from HMRC, that will have been paid by donors, on the amount given (they must be standard rate taxpayers).

However, this becomes a bit more complicated when it comes to charity shops, where most donations are in the form of goods such as: clothing, books, toys, etc., and whose values can only be realised when they’re sold. The new system records and keeps track of donated goods, where the donor has signed up for Gift Aid in effect, selling goods on their behalf. The money generated is then treated like any other cash donation, allowing the charity to claim an extra 25 percent from the tax man—result!

They installed WinRetail, our innovative Retail Management System, during February, replacing a bespoke system that had served them well for many years.

Aylett Nurseries pioneered the use of EPOS and barcode scanning in garden centres, having installed their first system in early 1987. So it is praise indeed that a company with such long experience in the use of retail technology should choose our software.

Although their outgoing bespoke system lacked much of the sophistication found in WinRetail, it did include some features that users particularly liked and didn’t want to lose so we agreed to add these to the package as part of our customisation service.

We added a stock enquiry program that conformed to the layout of their old system, showing just the information that Aylett staff needed and were familiar with. In addition, we developed a Customer Stock Returns routine that allows customers to return goods to a ‘ Customer Services’ point rather than to a till. The customer is issued with a ‘returns docket’ that can be used to obtain a refund from a till or used as full/part payment for subsequent purchases. This approach saves till operators having to make decisions regarding returns, this being handled by experienced specialist staff.

We recently added an Events Booking module, which our customer, Garden & Leisure, used at their Cadbury and Huntingdon garden centres over the Christmas period. This module, as its name implies, handles the booking of any kind of event where tickets need to be issued.
In the case of Garden & Leisure, they set up and ran two ’real’ ice skating rinks at the branches, which proved to be a huge success. They attracted hundreds of visitors to their centres, many of whom stayed to shop and use the cafe.
The Event Booking module enables tickets to be purchased at a PoS terminal or booked on-line using a link to the E-Availability on-line booking system. Tickets can be for a specific date and time slot (as was the case for the ice rink), or can be non specific, depending on the type of event.
Of course, the booking module isn’t just for ice skating, it can be used to for a whole range of events such as: talks & lectures, Santas grotto, Easter egg hunt, special promotional evenings, wine tastings, book readings, summer fun days, etc. Anywhere where attendance has to be limited and it is necessary to book in advance it’s an excellent way of gaining revenue and increasing footfall.benefits of keeping your customers loyal.

Foot-fall counters found in so many shops can give a rough idea of the number of shoppers through the doors … and that’s about all.
However, by using Mobotix’s revolutionary hemispheric camera and their new MxAnalytics software, it is possible to track the movement of people to collect behavioural data.
MxAnalytics enables counting lines to be defined and directs each camera to record how often each counting line is crossed within a specified period, thereby providing a very accurate measure of movement in, out and around a store. Furthermore, the system creates ‘heat maps’, which highlight the most frequented areas of the store using a range of dark and light colours to represent shopper density, rather like the rainfall maps used by weather forecasters.
This valuable information can be used for process optimisation or for marketing purposes. So, for example, you can determine:
How many people go in and out of which entrance during the day
The shelves/areas in the shop that attract the most/least shoppers
Areas within the store where there are bottlenecks.

This is broadly the same, but using a mobile device, such as an Smartphone, I-Pad, tablet, etc.
Because these devices have relatively small screens, your web site has to be designed to be ‘responsive’ to take into account the size and orientation of the screen being viewed. A shrunken e-commerce site just isn’t good enough.
I’m pleased to tell you that WinRetail (innovative as ever) now has a fully integrated m-commerce module, which will enable your business to keep up with latest acronyms.

A basic loyalty scheme is one that simply allows customers to accrue ’loyalty’ points, based on spend these points are subsequently ‘redeemed’, giving the customer, in effect, a retrospective discount.
However, a recent survey conducted by Ipsos MORI indicated that customers are now looking for something a bit more sophisticated, rather than the ’points mean prizes’ approach. The poll discovered that a significant proportion of customers agree with the statement: “I prefer to receive my offers and rewards whilst I’m shopping, rather than later”.

WinRetail - our innovative Retail Management System-has a Loyalty and Special Customer module that can do just that. It can handle hundreds of schemes, enabling ‘loyal’ customers to receive benefits, appropriate to them, at the time of purchase rather than later. For example, a garden centre might give members of the local horticultural society 20 percent off plants and shrubs and 15 percent off garden tools. This module also handles quantity/price break discounts, giving selected customers the benefit of a tiered pricing structure, based on product type and quantities purchased .
Of course, it is also important to analyse how well the various loyalty schemes are performing, so we have a comprehensive enquiry/reporting program that will allow you to fully analyse the data gathered . You can see who bought what, when and for how much giving you the ability to judge the costs and benefits of keeping your customers loyal