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A non-profit thrift store with multiple nationwide locations needed an inventory management solution that could streamline their processes of retail stock receiving, stock rotation, and price tag printing from their point-of-sale (POS) system.
The thrift store received regular merchandise shipments from large retailers, but often a percentage of the merchandise would arrive partially damaged from shipping. Accordingly, the store's receiving process included an inspection of each item to see if it was damaged or sellable. If an item was sellable, employees would manually collect UPC codes, and then enter codes into their POS system and print price tags to place on each item. Some products already had existing pricing information in the POS system, while others did not have any pricing information available. If merchandise did not sell after a predetermined time period, the employees would remove the old products from the store shelves, write down the products' UPC codes to decrement the inventory records (at a later time), and repackage the items on pallets.
In order to maximize efficiency and increase employee productivity, the thrift store chain needed a scaleable, enterprise-level solution that could maintain a constantly rotating inventory of products, including correct pricing information for their POS system. |
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- Real-time database connectivity from a mobile device
- Print labels directly from a mobile device to Wireless, Bluetooth or direct-connected printers
- WiFi communication
- WiFi and GPRS connectivity
- Supports nearly every Windows CE 3, CE .NET 4.2, Windows Mobile Classic, Standard and Professional handheld device
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The thrift store's problem was solved with a solution powered by IDEAM mobile enterprise application development tools. IDEAM application development tools allow you to create mobile applications that print labels directly to WiFi, Bluetooth or direct-connected printers, and can connect to centralized systems and databases using WiFi connectivity.
Now with an IDEAM inventory management solution in place, when new merchandise is received, employees scan the UPC barcode on each sellable product. When an item is scanned, the application uses WiFi communication to query the store's centralized, WAN-accessible UPC code database, updating the inventory count for that product at that store location, along with the date the product entered inventory. The application also retrieves the price information from the database, calculates and applies a discount to the standard price, and prints a price tag label to a Bluetooth-connected portable printer. Employees then place the label on the product and it is ready to be stocked on the shelves.
Reports are automatically generated by the inventory database to give employees at each store location a list of products that need to be rotated out of stock if they have not sold after 30 days. Employees collect the product off the store shelves and change the application to the decrement mode. Employees scan the UPC code on products leaving inventory and the application decrements the quantity in the inventory database. Employees then place each item on a pallet for removal. After this process is complete, a report is generated from the inventory database to provide the finance manager with a list of products that were rotated out of inventory for accounting purposes.
The thrift store chain has experienced significant productivity increases due to the time savings the modernized inventory receiving solution provides - receiving is now 400% faster. Inventory figures are also more accurate now that handwritten notes and manual data entry are removed from the processes. The solution powered by IDEAM provides connectivity to centralized systems and information at each location, and adding new locations is a snap thanks to the robust and scaleable architecture of IDEAM Server.
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