What’s the cost of a Queue?

rmsnewseditor Aures EPoS Systems, epos system, mobile epos, OpSuite , , , , ,

Always a tricky balance for retailers – not enough staff and there’s a queue, too many and you are wasting money. In this article we look at the causes of a queue and some of the things that you can do to reduce or even eliminate queues.

What is the cost of a queue?

Whilst there are a few hot tech and training shoe releases that absolutely love a queue and the social buzz that they create, the reality is that most retailers lose 10% of footfall due to queues and waiting times in store. In fact 26% of customers who walk out of a store will discontinue their purchase journey completely.

A queue is a sign that the operation is not working properly and is something to be avoided. A few years ago, customers were more accepting of a queue, but nowadays customers can vote with their mouse and simply head online.

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Bricks and Clicks

rmsnewseditor epos system, OpSuite, Retail EPoS, Trends , , , , , ,

It has undoubtedly been a tough few years for the high street with many shops closing and the loss of many big-name brands. However, it is possible to breathe life into bricks and mortar retail stores with e-commerce.

Bricks and Clicks

The internet is often blamed for the demise of the high street, as more and more shoppers order goods from the comfort of their homes and spend less time in bricks and mortar stores. However, this simple argument demonstrates a lack of understanding of how digital works in the retail environment.

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The future is bright for Omni-channel retailers

rmsnewseditor Cloud Based EPoS, epos system, OpSuite, Retail EPoS , , , , , ,

As we begin a new decade, retailers simply cannot afford to stand still – to survive they must deliver the experience that customers demand if they are going to have a successful future.

It goes without saying that 2019 was not a good year for all high street retailers. While challenging retail conditions and high business rates have played their part, there is no denying that shopping habits have changed and many retailers have simply not kept up.

One of the biggest areas of change for retail has been the usage of bricks and mortar stores. In the past, most retail stores measured success through sales made from in-person transactions. As a result, price became the key driver for retailers to attract customers and this has led to a growth in big sale events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday. However, while these events may have delivered some short-term gains, for many it also signalled the start of the race to the bottom. With some retailers focusing on offering products as cheaply as possible, the long-term health of many businesses was severely jeopardised. Research has also shown that sale events have even been seen to devalue products and brands in the minds of consumers, the knock-on effect of this is that consumers become less likely to shop during non-discounted periods.

To break this cycle, retailers need to look at how they can improve the customer experience. Indeed, research clearly shows that if retailers are to survive over the next 10 years then they will need to focus on customer experience. With customers shifting their shopping habits and buying more and more products online, retailers need to ensure their customer experience matches these habits.

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Wake up to the threat of cybercrime

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Wake up to the threat of cybercrime. RMS highlights the threats to SME

Small businesses are subject to 10,000 cyber-attacks a day. A cyber-attack can be defined as a criminal activity where a computer system, network or application is attacked or hacked, with the aim of stealing, destroying or holding data to ransom.

Cybercrime is costing small businesses billions of pounds per year according to latest Federation of Small Businesses research. More than a million firms fell victim to phishing, malware and payment scams and small businesses are collectively subject to almost 10,000 cyber-attacks a day.

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Retailers Calendar of Events 2020

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As every retailer knows only too well, you are constantly planning ahead for the next season, occasion or event. Consumers just expect to walk into your store or visit your website and as if by magic you are ready for Christmas, Mother’s Day, Halloween and everything else in between!

Of course, there is a lot of meticulous planning, buying and organisation which goes into making sure that your store is ready to make the most of the considerable seasonal opportunity that awaits. And it goes without saying that are the ‘big holidays’ that we all know but there are also plenty of other events which are great for business, from the Olympics to Wimbledon and Burns Night to back to school.


As we start a New Year, we thought it would be a great idea to provide you with a Retailers Calendar of Events for 2020. Not all of these events will be of interest to you or your customers but hopefully this will be helpful in planning ahead, it might even whet the appetite for introducing some new seasonal promotions! And don’t forget to plan for your own ‘local’ events and celebrations too.

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2020 Vision

rmsnewseditor retail, Retail EPoS, Trends ,

Despite the alarming headlines on the demise of the British high street, online sales still only account for 17% of total retail sales in the UK, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Retail does remain the single largest private sector employer in the UK, with one in 10 people working in retail and annual sales totalling a staggering £358 billion.

But between the uncertainty brought about by Brexit not to mention declining footfall and sales, many are wondering how the retail industry will perform in the coming year.

We don’t have a crystal ball that can tell us exactly what the future holds for retailers, but here are some retail trends which independent stores should prepare for in 2020.

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Stay ahead of the competition

rmsnewseditor epos system, Retail EPoS

In this article we look at why you should never underestimate your competition and the importance of investing in your EPoS hardware and equipment.

As a retailer, you know the importance of having a unique selling point to encourage customers to choose to spend with you as opposed to the competition and that to be successful you have to try to stay at least one step ahead of the competition. Even if you feel that your business offering is unique, you must not assume that you have no competition as it doesn’t always come from direct or obvious competitors. Therefore, it is vital that the experience you create for the customer is consistently good by ensuring seamless transactions and service so that customers choose you over your competition.

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