Independent and small retail stores go through periods when daily sales receipts are down. To increase sales, attract new customers, and retain current customers, many retail stores implement various sales promotion techniques. While most business owners would love to sell products at full price all of the time, sales promotions have proven effective at increasing the overall bottom line in many retail stores. Understanding how to effectively run and track your sales promotion campaigns are essential to increasing the profits in your store.

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Just like big box stores, Amazon has been taking business away from local independent retailers for years. This holiday season, they’ve become particularly brazen with one particular promotion. By now you’ve probably heard about Amazon’s new app that pays your customer $5 to scan a barcode in your store, then walk out empty handed and buy the product through Amazon instead.

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Every company has employees, and those employees tend to like to get paid. Unless the proprietor happens to be an accountant, this can be a source of great frustration. There are payroll taxes to be calculated and paid, while vacation time and other deductions also have to be factored in. For the average entrepreneur, this can be a time consuming task rife with opportunities to make an error, should they attempt this on their own. Fortunately, there is a very affordable, easy to use way to make running payroll a breeze – online payroll services.

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We recently released some new stuff, and I wanted to give you a quick run through of the biggest changes: the Tender Sale window. Based on feedback from our many touchscreen users, we went ahead and added a button to enter exact change for a specific payment type. Previously this could only be done using the “+” key, but that didn’t help if you were relying on a touchscreen. Now, just press the “Exact” button next the the proper tender type to enter the full amount there.

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As the owner of a retail store, it is in your best interests to keep your employees as happy as possible. Disgruntled or otherwise unhappy employees are more likely to seek greener pastures. Hiring new people and training them is time-consuming; it also costs your store money. How can you motivate your employees and keep them happy so that they don’t jump ship? As it turns out, a great way to do that is by being as flexible as possible. That doesn’t mean that you should not have any rules or procedures in place. It means that you should always remember that your employees have lives outside of their jobs. By keeping schedules as flexible as possible, you’ll have an easier time keeping everyone happy.

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Nothing can slow down the progress of a retail store like lackluster personnel. Even if your business offers unique products at highly competitive prices, your fortunes can suffer if your employees aren’t up to par. Happy employees are good employees, so it pays to treat yours well. A recent survey by 24 Sevens and the American Apparel and Footwear Association or AAFA includes some alarming statistics for people who own retail stores. Most notably, 68 percent of retailer employees admit that they are considerable career changes within the next year; an incredible 50 percent of them are already actively looking. When employees seek greener pastures, stores like yours can suffer. Learn more below.

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No one is under any obligation to spend time or money in your store. As a result, it is critical to create an inviting and pleasant atmosphere that will keep people coming back for more. If your store is too bland, too boring or simply unpleasant, people are going to go elsewhere to buy what they need. By putting a little extra time and effort into the atmosphere of your store, you can create a space that people actually like. As an added bonus, it will make employees happier and more enthusiastic about working there. A handful of helpful tips about creating a great atmosphere in your store are presented below.

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We launched the latest release of Cashier Live this morning, and I wanted to give you a quick run through of some of the new features that are available. Support for End-to-End Encryption, Magtek iPad Pin Pad Devices First, we just wrapped up testing and now support Magtek iPad devices. The Magtek iPad comes in two flavors, one has a combined credit card swipe and pin-pad while the other has the swipe and pin pad but includes a built in signature capture device. The most important thing about this device is the support of what’s called “End-to-end Encryption”. When the card is swiped by the customer, the card information is immediately encrypted by the device before it ever reaches your point-of-sale computer. It is then transferred securely via SSL from Cashier Live to your credit card processor, where the transaction is then processed.

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As a retailer, it’s smart to stay on top of emerging trends and fads. No matter what industry you are in, new products and services are surely being developed all the time. Closing yourself off to those developments and digging in your heels will have a very negative impact on the overall success of your retail venture. Change is the only constant, and you need to acknowledge that by taking the effort to learn something new whenever you can. This won’t just allow you to grow and expand your business; it will also show your customers that you are truly committed to providing them with the very best. There are several ways to seek out the latest trends, and a few of the best techniques are highlighted below.

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In order to keep your store plugging along, you need to create and follow set guidelines and policies. Without doing so, you and your staff will just be left spinning your tires. Sticking to a policy might not be too difficult, but creating one that works certainly can be. A great way to come up with a top-quality policy is by emulating the policies of successful retail stores. If there’s one store that generally thrills customers to no end, it’s the Apple Store. With more than 300 stores worldwide, Apple has carved out an impressive niche for itself in terms of customer service. By implementing a few of the store’s best techniques, you should be able to create a workable and successful policy.

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