Posted by Jeff Schacher on Fri, Nov 27, 2009 @ 06:07 AM
We're excited to announce the availability of our POS Mapping feature. In a nutshell, it allows an enterprise client to mix and match multiple POS systems and/or multiple POS configurations.
The common practice in the past for multi-unit reporting systems has been to look at the name of the menu item and just aggregate the sales data based on the name. Unfortunately, this assumes that all of the systems use the same name for an item. If the names don't match, the company would need to update all the POS systems so that the items names are all in sync. The more locations, the bigger the problem.
Our solution is to actually match up menu items based on their underlying IDs. So we'll try to match up on the exact names first, then the names that are similar, then anything left over you can match up.
So basically, our clients can now get exact above-store product mix data from as many different POS systems and configurations as they have, and they have full control of all the item reporting across their enterprise from our system.
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Posted by Jeff Schacher on Tue, Nov 24, 2009 @ 10:40 AM
WhenToManage just got sexier! We've just added the ability to create charts and graphs for your enterprise or store dashboard.
Charts give you a way to quickly follow trends and goals.
Visually track your sales, marketing campaign results, cost of goods sold, overtime, and anything else you can imagine.
Charts can be expanded to full screen and printed.
Select from pie charts, bar & stacked bar graphs, line charts, columns & stacked columns, and area graphs.
(Maybe we'll have to sponsor a WhenToManage dashboard beauty contest)
Posted by Jeff Schacher on Mon, Oct 13, 2008 @ 10:33 AM
I'll be honest, this one was tough. Inventory and recipes can be tricky by default, but we decided to really challenge ourselves.
We set out to solve two problems:
Problem #1 - You are an operator and you decide to change a few recipes. In many inventory systems, you would need to create a new menu item in your POS and "retire" the old one. To solve this dilemma, we created "recipe versions". With "recipe versions", you just enter the date when you want the new recipe to start and we handle the reporting behind the scenes to use the right recipe for the right dates.
Problem #2 - You are a multi-unit operator and you have a menu item or two that has slightly different recipes depending on the location or region. To solve this dilemma, we create "recipe variations". With "recipe variations", you can add additional recipes for an item and assign which recipes belong to which stores. This way there are no POS hacks needed and you can see an accurate above-store product mix with theoretical usage and costs.
To complete the solution, we allow you create versions on variations and you can create as many as you want. Do you have daily specials that change frequently and are different in every store? You can have "Fish Special" in the POS, and have a variation for each store and a new recipe version every day.
We're excited about this and we know our customers are. The bottom line is "no more POS hacks for recipe changes", you can manage your recipes in your inventory system, what a great idea.