PXtech attends the Charity Retail Association 2014 Conference

This week we are attending the Charity Retail Association Awards at Keele University. As well as having the opportunity to meet and talk to a large number of the key people driving the 3rd sector’s retail development, we have been nominated by Oxfam for the Most Supportive Supplier Award at the prestigious Charity Retail Awards to be held on Monday night.

To be put forward by Oxfam for this award is a major honour and reflects the growing relationship between the organisations. As Evelyn Dukes, Oxfam’s Shops Technology Programme Manager, put it “"What sold us on PXtech was the people - not only do they take time to understand our needs but they do what they say they’re going to do, which give us confidence. They give us really good advice, a great service and the staff are extremely friendly and flexible.”

We are looking forward to a great couple of days at Keele where we will also be making some major announcements about our growing presence and activity in this important market. Watch this space …

 

PXtech’s MD discusses export growth, future opportunities and government support.

In the latest edition of the Derby Telegraph Business Weekly PXtech's Managing Director Richard Dorf discusses export growth, future opportunities and government support.

An excerpt from the article is shown below.

"...Shipping is less of a problem for Pride Park firm PXtech, a specialist in software technology which can be moved around the world quickly and easily. The company is the holder of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade and has won a Derbyshire Business Award for its achievements in overseas trade.

Its biggest client is US sandwich giant Subway, a big user of PXtech software, but the company's message is spreading around the world. Managing director Richard Dorf said: “Last year was a record year for us and there are markets for our software in the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada and throughout Europe.

“It helps to speak English when establishing a network of resellers but you also need to understand different cultures and the way that people work.

“The great thing about software is that it costs nothing to ship around the world. The biggest challenge for us is the rise of sterling against the dollar which strips the margins out of our business and undermines exports.

“Our customers want to deal in their local currency so anything the Government can do to prevent the pound getting too strong would be positive for us.”

Exports count for more than 50% of revenues for PXtech, whose turnover now stands at £3 million..."

Please click here for the full article.

Thoughts for the Coming Year

PXtech MD, Richard Dorf provides his economic predictions for the sector in the Derby Telegraph and Retail Systems

“Technology and technology enabled manufacturing are set to be the stars in 2014, with high-tech leading the export activity, according to Richard Dorf, managing director of retail software firm PXtech.

Mr Dorf said: “In the wider economy, it’s fair to say that things are getting better but the UK economy is still only edging up to previous levels. “Consumers are smarter and more demanding than they used to be, so retail is going to remain tough with online and out-of-town leading the way. Competition will continue to be key, so value and cost control will remain high on the agenda for retail businesses.  “Businesses that are dependent on the public sector are still going to find things hard in 2014 as cuts will continue.  “The exception to this will be those who happen to be aligned with the few well funded areas. “2014 will be a year of steady recovery – there will of course be mixed fortunes, but the overall improving economic confidence can only help.”

Click here to see the full article.

“... Another key area is creating effective and timely management information for small and medium sized enterprises.  Too often operators are running blind and missing out on major opportunities to drive increased profitability.  Labour costs and fraud are two areas where smart but uncomplicated solutions are now available to help make a difference.”

Click here to see the full article.

Is your cloud data delivery guaranteed? It should be!

With over 30,000 locations worldwide relying on our business intelligence solutions, PXtech is at the forefront of retail data analysis. But how do we make sure that the data you see is timely, accurate, and most of all, complete?

POS data is the foundation upon which business intelligence is built. Imagine a solution that missed even 1% of your sales data – it would be worse than useless. We need a dependable source of data to provide the tools that you rely on, and we've had to overcome many challenges to get it!

PXtech’s solution is nearly unique in the market, in that we’re not tied to a single POS provider – you can use our system with many types of POS system. This is great for customers because they don’t have to choose their POS solution based on the reporting they want – PXtech allows you to choose from different POS types and still use our world-class reporting package.

Historically, we have supported Windows-based tills, but recently the launch of the PXSmartHub has enabled us to move into the world of ROM-based tills. Each platform has come with its own unique challenges which must be overcome to produce a reliable source of data.

The heart of PXtech’s data solution is our agent software. This clever little application gathers data from the ePOS software and transmits it to our cloud servers for display on your screen. It was originally developed for Windows-based tills – it gets installed as a service which runs in the background, meaning there doesn’t have to be any clunky manual process to send the data. Fetching the data from the POS can be difficult – different ePOS systems use a myriad of different storage methods, and we have had to deal with obscure database formats, XML, and good old plain text in order to get the data that we need. Our development team is well-versed in working with different systems, and ensuring that we are extracting the correct information while not affecting the day-to-day operation of the till is paramount.

Once the agent has the data, we need to ensure that it gets to us so that you can see it. Our cloud servers are much more reliable than the average back office PC, but we need a dependable delivery service to ensure that the data you’re seeing is complete. All data is transmitted using industry-standard SSL encryption, so you can be sure that your sales data is safe in transit. We use a guaranteed-once delivery procedure to ensure that data is not lost or duplicated, and we’ve built a full message queue into the agents. This means that even where stores may have an unreliable internet connection, the agent will keep trying and ensure the messages make their way back once it’s back online. We even have it working over 3G!

This solution worked very well for Windows-based POS systems, but users of ROM-based systems were left out in the dark – until we developed the PXSmartHub. Because we can’t install our agent software on a ROM-based till, the PXSmartHub acts as an “agent in a box” – it’s a small unit which connects to the network in a store and gathers data from the tills. It works in the same way as our existing agents – taking live data from the tills and queuing it for transport to the cloud. However, to ensure that no data is lost due to network issues, it also performs an overnight reconciliation on the till, making doubly sure that no messages were lost during the day.

More and more multi-site operators are realising that a centralised business intelligence solution is an essential tool, is your business keeping pace?

Phil Evans, product manager, PXtech

Aiding businesses by focussing on their needs

As PXtech welcomes global charity Oxfam into its portfolio, account manager Richard Harvey explains why understanding the individual needs of a business is crucial to forging a successful partnership.

“We’re always looking at ways of improving our offering and expanding into new sectors. We know that PXtech’s solutions can greatly benefit businesses but we also appreciate that understanding how a business operates and tailoring our solutions to suit the unique needs of an organisation is key to establishing a mutually beneficial relationship.

“Our new partnership with Oxfam is a good example of how we operate. The charity needed a new EPoS system that optimised sales potential while enhancing the user experience to ensure that shop employees were guaranteed the best usability. Having previously supported the charity’s existing estate of cash registers, PXtech already had a sensitive understanding of the organisation’s needs and was trusted to provide a tailored solution. Alongside ICRTouch, we delivered a new system that incorporated enhanced features, such as colours and button sizes, and integrated seamlessly with the existing system. Given the confidence to operate these new systems with ease, volunteers were free to focus on driving sales – and Oxfam is already reaping the benefits.

“It’s about working as an extension of a business rather than just supplying a service, understanding the intricacies of the organisation, developing a trusted relationship and, ultimately, working together to deliver positive results”.

For more information on PXtech’s new Oxfam partnership, see below.

TECHNOLOGY ROLL OUT AIDS OXFAM UK RETAIL OPERATION

Oxfam’s retail operation is set to benefit from the latest in business intelligence solutions following the announcement of the roll out of a substantial technology contract to support the organisation’s full portfolio of UK shops.

The significant new deal sees leading business intelligence solutions developer and IT support provider PXtech teaming up with one of the UK’s primary EPoS software providers, ICRTouch, to deliver industry-leading hardware and enterprise software solutions across Oxfam’s estate of 690 shops.

The partnership will provide Oxfam with an enhanced EPoS solution to optimise cost efficiency and maximise sales potential throughout its shop network, with a potential uplift in income as a result of the technology’s roll out.

The new system will integrate with Oxfam’s corporate warehousing and business intelligence solution and will be tailored to suit the charity’s specific needs.  These include supporting Oxfam’s policy of inclusivity by providing a range of specialised facilities to guarantee the best retail experience for all shop staff. The look and feel of the new EPoS system will focus strongly on enhancing the ‘volunteer experience’, incorporating key elements for the visually impaired, such as colours, font size and button size.

In addition to managing the installation of Oxfam’s new hardware system, PXtech will use key components of the ICRTouchWeb software suite to control and manage the information between Oxfam’s corporate solutions and in-store EPoS systems. A raft of PXtech specialist field engineers will manage the roll out with the company also providing ongoing solutions support, including a help desk and dedicated onsite service offering.

The deal follows the success of an established working relationship between Oxfam and PXtech, when PXtech was taken on to support the charity’s existing estate of cash registers.

Andrew Horton, Oxfam’s trading director, said: “The implementation of this system marks an exciting new chapter for Oxfam shops, providing our staff and volunteers with the tools and support they need to drive sales. We’re focussed on reducing costs and increasing charitable contributions by improving our operations across our trading division, and we can clearly see the value this solution will bring to the business.

“Our shops are run by a dedicated volunteer base and this new suite of tailored software solutions will empower each of them to maximise their individual shop’s income. The user flexibility afforded by the new system’s specialised features is especially important in ensuring that our values of inclusivity are upheld at every stage of the business.”

Richard Dorf, Managing Director at PXtech, said: “We are pleased to be building on the highly successful working relationship that we enjoy with Oxfam and this latest partnership marks an important stage for the business as we expand our support of retail clients.

“We put an enormous amount of development time into our retail IT solutions, tailoring them to ensure they offer optimum value to our customers and we are eager to bring this expertise to Oxfam.  We anticipate that through the implementation of this tailored hard and software, Oxfam will benefit from an uplift in income, and look forward to helping the organisation maximise its retail operation potential.”  

ICRTouch CEO Colin Ringer said: “We have enjoyed a successful relationship with PXtech over many years and this exciting new deal enables us to deliver our cutting edge solutions and make a difference in Oxfam shops across the country. We’re dedicated to offering our customers the very best in tailored solutions and services, and this new collaboration underpins that commitment.”   

PXtech will commence the pilot in October 2013 with the full roll out starting in January 2014 and completion scheduled for March 2016. 

Caught on camera

It’s important to understand the risks that any business faces when it comes to day to day fraudulent activities. With a tightening economic landscape, any minor incident can have a knock on effect later down the line. Keeping up to speed with the latest advancements in business intelligence solutions is crucial in helping business owners tackle fraud and protect their margins.

CCTV is rapidly becoming one of the hottest topics in our sector with more and more businesses recognising the essential role it plays. Not only does CCTV act as a business’ eyes and ears, but it also monitors activity, operates as a deterrent and performs a crucial security function during the everyday running of a business.

CCTV can also monitor staff performance, register the quality of customer service and link to POS data, all invaluable tools for operating effectively within a fast-paced, increasingly competitive industry. The latest innovations have the additional advantage of real-time web-based reporting linked to CCTV footage, allowing instant access to footage of suspicious transactions.

You can read more about how PXtech is helping to protect businesses with Richard Dorf’s latest article for FRY magazine, where he offers his thoughts on fraud prevention within the fast-food sector and explains how CCTV-linked technology is tackling the problem.

A sunny outlook for PXtech

Summer has finally arrived and business is positively blooming at PXtech as our customers grow from strength to strength using our solutions.

Firstly, we’re delighted to announce that North American brand Pita Pit is opening its first French store, in Nantes, with our PXtech solution for EPoS, CCTV and, of course, PXportal. Launching at the end of July, Pita Pit has ambitious plans to spread across the country and will be supported in their growth by PXtech’s French partner, Subito.

Obviously, c'est une très excellente nouvelle for both PXtech and Pita Pit and we look forward to fully supporting them in their expansion into Europe.

Along with this, our relationship with POS solutions provider Uniwell is proving to be an excellent partnership. With the global release of a specialised version of PXportal, UniPortal, we’ve seen new markets open up across the world including, countries further afield, such as Australia, Pakistan and Canada. 

Further building on the fantastic exposure we gained from winning the Queens Awards, we hope these two new ventures will help to seal 2013 as a brilliant year for PXtech.