Daily business monitoring
Preston Bullock believes that Performance Manager is one of those essential tools that retailers should reach for everyday to monitor every aspect of their business. With access to thousands of data fields that represent the heartbeat of the business, it's easier to make decisions. “We consult Performance Manager every day to view sales transactions by credit card, check, or cash in order to get a pulse on cash flow,” said Bullock. “We also look at the Top 100 report to see what is selling, what item is number one, and what items are in the top 10 or top 100. This real-time information really helps us stay on top of our business.”
Keeping the best sellers in stock
Using the built-in dashboard views and customized templates, Performance Manager helps Jay's review the data they need to make time-sensitive decisions such as finalizing purchase orders. “Performance Manager reports inform us of what needs to be reordered, like Ace advertised items that are selling quickly,” said Bullock. “We can increase sales because with timely reorders, we're always in stock on the products that our customers want. My dad, Jay, does the ordering and customarily places our orders in advance of the buying shows. Now, with Performance Manager, he reviews the Top 100 selling items and adjusts the orders by stocking up on top sellers, which keeps us from running out of stock. That's paid off tremendously so, without fail, every time he leaves on a buying trip, he reviews this critical information in Performance Manager.”
Reducing statement processing costs
The Epicor iNet e-Statements and e-Invoices module gives Jay's Hardware the ability to send statements and invoices to customers via e-mail-immediately saving time and costs on manual mailings. “After each sale, the Epicor system will e-mail a copy of the invoice to our customers and, at month end, statements are automatically e-mailed to the customers. This gives our customers instant access to their invoices and statements, which reduces calls to our office staff. The iNet e-Statements and e-Invoices application helps us provide our customers with a superior level of service,” said Bullock.
Running the store from anywhere
When Preston Bullock first saw a demonstration of Mobile Manager, he was hooked on the endless possibilities of store data on his smartphone. “We use Mobile Manager when we're away from the store and when we're in the store-we use it all the time,” said Bullock. “Throughout the day, I execute register overrides from wherever I am, eliminating the need to keep customers waiting. We scan competitors' prices and cross check them with our own prices in order to remain competitive.”
Jay's Hardware management also uses Mobile Manager to regularly stay on top of business by looking up top sellers, reviewing orders and stock levels, or monitoring daily sales in order to spot areas for improvement. “Mobile Manager gives us the ability to run the business even when we can't be in the store,” said Bullock. “Jay's success comes from our customer care and our willingness to look at data and make changes to the way we do things. We're always looking to improve, and with our Epicor Eagle N Series system, we can.”