Agilysys Receives Prestigious Stadium Business Award

June 19, 2013

ALPHARETTA, GA — 6 June 2013 — Agilysys, Inc. (Nasdaq: AGYS), a leading provider of innovative information technology and hospitality software solutions, tonight announce that the company received the ‘Industry Supplier’ category of the TheStadiumBusiness Awards competition. The prestigious award recognises consistent service and industry support provided by a product or service supplier. Award winners were announced tonight at TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2013 in Manchester, UK.

Agilysys submitted documentation outlining the successful implementation of the company’s technology at Chester Racecourse, one of the UK’s most popular venues. Although the racecourse was successful, its growth and profitability were being hampered by labour-intensive manual processes that were slow and sometimes inaccurate. The venue turned to Agilysys for assistance and implemented a comprehensive solution suite, including systems for point-of-sale, inventory and procurement, cash management and business intelligence. The technology has streamlined operations across the business — reducing costs, increasing efficiency, boosting sales and enhancing customer service.

Chester Racecourse now runs Agilysys InfoGenesis™ POS software on 120 terminals throughout the venue. The solution manages back-office and front-of-house sales operations, including private and hospitality boxes and chalets, seven corporate facilities, four bars, two gastropubs, numerous food concessions and the acclaimed 1539 Restaurant. InfoGenesis POS is award-winning point-of-sale software that combines powerful reporting and configuration capabilities in the back office with an easy-to-use touchscreen terminal application. Designed specifically for hospitality environments, the solution features real-time reporting capabilities, packages and prix fixe menus, multi-language capability and advanced sorting, filtering and grouping options.

In addition, Chester Racecourse uses the Agilysys Eatec® inventory and procurement solution to control stock, structure pricing levels and negotiate more favorable supplier contracts. The Eatec solution is a Microsoft® Windows®-based full-featured inventory, procurement and production system designed specifically for the hospitality and foodservice industries. Along with its core purchasing, inventory, recipe, forecasting, production and sales analysis functions, the software also offers modules for catering, cycle planning, retail management and nutrition. The modular structure allows customers to construct the exact set of features they need — whether it is an enterprise-wide solution for multiple sites or a single-site system for multiple functions.

Chester Racecourse also deployed Cash Manager, an automated system for tracking revenue throughout the life cycle of an event. Cash Manager, developed by Agilysys in partnership with Triple Jump Technologies, links with stock, retail and resource management systems to provide a single tool for revenue assurance and monitoring. The solution enables Chester Racecourse to monitor its risk, understand its true cash position and improve race day cash reconciliation.

Finally, Chester Racecourse implemented Agile BI from C24, Ltd., an innovative business intelligence solution that searches applications across the enterprise and gathers data from disparate sources — including databases, email accounts, file directories, intranets and websites — and provides a single point for reporting and analysis. Agile BI seamlessly integrates with Agilysys InfoGenesis POS to enable Chester Racecourse to uncover and exploit data in order to make more informed and intelligent business decisions.

“We are delighted that our submission outlining the Chester Racecourse implementation has resulted in our being named top industry supplier in TheStadiumBusiness Awards competition,” said Adrian Burns, general manager and vice president of Agilysys Europe. “Our commitment to the stadium, arena and sports venue sector of the hospitality market is stronger than ever, and it is truly an honour to be recognised by our peers in this industry.”

The winners of TheStadiumBusiness Awards were announced during TheStadiumBusiness Summit 2013, which was held at The Point at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester on 6 June.

About Agilysys
Agilysys is a leading developer and marketer of proprietary enterprise software, services and solutions to the hospitality and retail industries. The company specialises in market-leading point-of-sale, property management, inventory & procurement and mobile & wireless solutions that are designed to streamline operations, improve efficiency and enhance the guest experience. Agilysys serves casinos, resorts, hotels, foodservice venues, stadiums, cruise lines, grocery stores, convenience stores, general & specialty retail businesses and partners. Agilysys operates extensively throughout North America, Europe and Asia, with corporate services located in Alpharetta, GA, EMEA headquarters in Cheshire, UK and APAC offices in Singapore and Hong Kong. For more information, visit www.agilysyseurope.com. – See more at: http://www.agilysyseurope.com/stadiumbizawardsagilysyswins#sthash.dEhltHdi.dpuf

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Groupon targets restaurants with Breadcrumb iPad payment system

October 10, 2012

Groupon is pushing harder into payments and accelerating its pursuit of Square with therelease of a new iPad point of sale system designed for restaurants, bars and cafes. Groupon is introducing Breadcrumb, an iPad payment service that builds off of Groupon’s acquisition of startup Breadcrumb in May.

The service — which encompasses an iPad, iPad stand, a mobile app, cash drawer, credit card swipe, printer, router and wireless access –  will work with Groupon’s recently introduced Payments system. It will give restaurants and hospitality customers a way to update their point of sale systems and will allows employees to take orders, search for and manage menu items, process payments, split checks and view real-time sales data.

Pricing starts at $99 a month for a one-iPad system and goes up to $399 for up to 10 iPads. The plans do not include price of hardware. Groupon will install the system for free and will offer 24/7 customer support. Groupon will charge 1.8 percent + $0.15 flat for every swiped Visa, Mastercard and Discover transaction, the same as Groupon Payments, which also charges 3 percent and $0.15 for American Express transactions.

Please visit 
http://gigaom.com/2012/10/10/groupon-targets-restaurants-with-breadcrumb-ipad-payment-system/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+OmMalik+%28GigaOM%3A+Tech%29

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What’s Everyone Looking At? Varonis® DatAdvantage® Tells You

April 18, 2012

On your network what is everyone looking at, do they have permissions they shouldn’t and where is all your credit card data stored and who can see it? These questions and many more can be answered by C24.

For more information please contact us at http://www.c24.co.uk

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Square Competitor? Cashier Live Launches POS App For iPhone

March 15, 2012

Cashier Live, a Chicago-based, bootstrapped startup providing Point of Sale (POS) systems to retailers, has just launched a new iPhone app that moves a bit into Square’s territory – at least that’s the company’s claim. Simply called Cashier, the app is a complete POS system on the iPhone, and aims to compete with Square’s own Register app for iPad.

However, unlike Square, which has a broader focus on small and medium-sized businesses and even individual merchants who could never before afford to take credit cards, Cashier Live is 100% focused on retailers, specifically small and medium-sized retailers and franchises.

The company already has over 15,400 stores using its other product, an inventory management app called Retail Inventory, Cashier Live founder Tom Greenhaw tells us, so they’re expecting “solid traction” with the new Cashier app, too. The startup also has 6,630 businesses using its online cash register, Cashier Live, which the new iPhone aims to either supplement or replace. Today, all of those business customers will receive an email alerting them to the new iPhone app’s existence, he says

The entire post can be found at
http://techcrunch.com/2012/03/14/square-competitor-cashier-live-launches-pos-app-for-iphone/

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Creating a magical in-store experience that is different from your online store

January 24, 2012

In early December, Amazon announced a new promotion where it would incentivize consumers to competitively price-check in retailers’ stores by providing up to $15 in Amazon.com credit. Retailers were floored, leading to many organizations speaking out against the online retailer and providing resources for retailers to boycott Amazon and its app.

The fact of the matter is many retailers simply cannot compete against the low-prices and broad inventory of online retailers. To be successful, independent retail business owners must differentiate their offering beyond price and convenience. Instead, they must focus on offering a remarkable in-store experience, provide the inventory that really matters at appropriate price points, and arm the store with sales associates that are likable and can offer expert advice to inquiring customers.

To executive on recreating a magical in-store experience that is differentiated from online retailer, retailers must focus on three main strategies.

1. Offer more than products. Retailers have to move beyond the belief that a store just needs to stock the shelves low-priced products. Instead, the store should be a place where customers come to experience the products (and brand), interact with the items and others, learn how to better use the products, and be able to inquire about the products.

2. Rethink the store inventory. It is no longer necessary to pack as much inventory as possible within the store. Customers that want a large selection at the lowest price will turn to online retailer. Instead, retailers should focus on carrying only the right mix of products at various price points. Additionally, the appropriate use of signage and a clear store layout can help customers quickly come in and out of the store to find the products they need fast.

3. Hire likable experts. This one is one of the most difficult, because it’s maybe the most intangible. Instead of training a staff of commissions-focused sales associates, retailers should replace and encourage their staff to be likable product consultants and brand ambassadors. These associates should be more focused on problem-solving than making a sale.

There are a number of point-of-sale software features that can assist retailers hoping to differentiate their stores. Here are a few features to be on the lookout for when evaluating new systems:

As with all technology, retailers must be dedicated to ensuring that their store experience is remarkable. They must offer an environment where customers will be excited to enter for the first time, as well as return.

Michael Koploy is an ERP Analyst for Software Advice (retail website here). He reports on news and trends in point of sale and supply chain management software. He can be reached directly at michael@softwareadvice.com.

C24 would like to thank Michael for this blog.

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Point of Sale Poised to Move from Checkout to Smartphone

September 28, 2011

As more consumers begin to adopt smartphones, a shift in retail point of sale (POS) hardware is approaching. Self-checkout – the proposed “checkout of the future” back at the turn of the 21-century – has fallen by the wayside and lost a bit of its popularity. Instead, smartphones may replace self-checkout with the promise to provide both consumers and retailers an improved retail experience.

Smartphones can help become the new platform for POS software because the retail checkout model is outdated. Because of the Internet and e-commerce shopping experiences, consumers now expect to be able to shop in the store like they do online – that means access to product reviews and comparisons, user accounts, and a simple, seamless checkout experience when the consumer chooses the rate at which he browses and completes their purchases.

Smartphones can potentially help usher in the new stage of physical retail. There are two general models that smartphones can act as a replacement for traditional point of sale hardware systems:

(1) The NFC Model. This model involves radio frequency identification (RFID) chips in both smartphones and stores. With RFID technology, cell phones can communicate via near field communication (NFC) and create new and innovative ways for customers and the retail store to interact in additional ways than with the traditional checkout, such as instant reward programs and loyalty coupons. In an NFC Model, retailers would replace all barcodes with NFC tags, and retailers could provide the application free for customers to download. Two main factors holding back this model are high RFID chip costs and the lack of smartphones that are NFC-capable. Popular applications of this model could be high-end grocery stores, to start.

(2) The Apple Retail Model. Unlike the NFC Model, this is ready to be implemented by most retailers today. Retailers could provide employees with smartphone devices with POS software already installed. These employees would act as both floor representatives and checkout operators, requiring additional training for most traditional retail employees. RFID tags could be implemented into products packaging to monitor product movement throughout the store. This model would work best in retail environments that have a low number of sales but are high volume – much like Apple Retail stores.

It will be interesting to see if J.C. Penney – with Apple Retail’s Ron Johnson set to take over – leads the way in retail innovation this next decade. Will they do it via smartphones? Hard to say, but it wouldn’t be surprising in the least.

Michael Koploy is an ERP Analyst at Software Advice, a reviewer of POS software. For more on this topic, check out the original article: Smartphones: The Next Retail Checkout Terminals.

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NFC wave and pay cards are coming

March 23, 2011

Contactless payment via cell phone 8)

Image by kalleboo via Flickr

As mentioned a number of times on this blog, NFC payment systems are going to become increasingly visible in everyday life. This  is being confirmed by moves being made by a number of companies around the world.

Verifone

Verifone one of the biggest players in handheld credit card units has just set out exactly how and why it’s making this move. There will be a number of competiting NFC protocols and Verifone intend to make their handsets compatiable with a broad range of them; at least until the market settles on a standard. By working hard on the design, Verifone’s reduced the cost of including NFC processing equipment in its point of sale terminals to just $30 to $35, from an initial cost of around $100.

Apple

The on-again, off-again Apple NFC rumor, centering on the upcoming iPhone 5, has resurfaced again. Is Apple unofficially “leaking” information to keep the rumor alive and drum-up market intrigue in the weeks before the device is unveiled? That’s speculation, but it’s not beyond the plausible considering how often this rumor has returned. This time it’s data from inside Apple’s Chinese supply chain that again suggests the new (metal chassis) iPhone 5 will include an NFC processing chip and associated flat spiral antenna to take part in smart payments systems as well as clever password-free Mac logins.

Apple’s such a big player in the smartphone industry globally that if it does include NFC in the new iPhone it could provide a massive jolt to kick-start the tech around the world.

An example of other companies getting involved are Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone and Barclays. 

This space is really going to be significant and the market has not yet settled on who is going to be the significant players.

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