We have solutions to the challenges every retailer faces when implementing software.

Costs

• We designed our system to make use of the Firebird relational database. Firebird is  an Open Source product, which has many benefits. The major benefit to you, is that you can use it free of charge. It does not matter how many users you put onto the system, the database stays free.
• Another major advantage of  Firebird is that it virtually maintains itself. That means that you don't have to have special degree in database management to make sure that your system keeps running. And you don't have to hire someone to look after your database for you, saving you the additional expense of a database administrator.
• Firebird scales well with your business needs. It will run comfortably on one of your existing computers. In fact many of our customers have only one computer in the branch, and there is no need for a dedicated server. This saves you tremendous upfront costs.
• As your business grows, Firebird will scale with it. It can be run on dedicated servers. However, that does not mean that you now have to buy new versions of Windows, just to run your database on a dedicated server. Firebird will also run on the Open Source Linux operating system. That means that you can hook up as many workstations as you like to the Linux server, and you never have to buy additional licenses! In fact you can even download the original copy of Linux for free!
• Firebird gives you complete peace-of-mind as far as data integrity goes. It's robust engine ensures that your data is always safe and accessible, saving you the cost and time of constantly maintaining your system.

Business processes

• ICON Retail Management is really easy to use. It's interface is intuitive, so that your staff will be productive very quickly.
• Because we have installed the software into so many businesses, it has been adapted to support just about any type of business that you might have. This means that it will almost certainly fit your business right out of the box, requiring no additional charge to change it. And you don't have to waste time and money on changing your business to work with the software.
• We have optimized the interface of the software to be both intuitive and quick to use. The point-of-sale module can be operated completely without the use of a mouse. This makes it lightning fast to operate, and you can get more customers through the check-out per hour, increasing your profits.
• Our point-of-sale software can also run in "server-Independent" mode. This means that even if your network fails, you can still process sales. This translates into no lost revenues, even if your infrastructure lets you down.

Systems

• Our software has been through countless audits. This means that the whole systems balances back to itself, and you can have complete confidence that the numbers that you get out are 100% accurate. No more wasting time to find out what's really going on in your business.
• Month-ends are a breeze. It literally only takes a few minutes to get it all done, and then you are ready to trade again, maximizing profits.
• With over 150 reports at your fingertips, you are always on top of all your figures. You always have an accurate stock position at hand, so you know what to re-order, optimizing cash flow.
• Multi-branch retailers need not worry about the complexities of managing inventory across the enterprise. We have a communications sytem that is as flexible as you business is unique. Using internet technologies, you can have updates as often as you like. And sales information from your branches come to head office at the click of a button. This makes it easy to manage suppliers from a central place, giving you more purchasing leverage. It also caters for decentralised debtors and gift voucher control, ensuring your customers always return.
• If that's not enough, we offer Retail Analyza. This service allows you to look at your sales figures across all your branches at any time. Because it runs on the internet, you can have your finger on the pulse of your business, even if you're on holiday!
• Retail Analyza will also consolidate your sales information into regional and national figures. It even gives you the ability to slice and dice the information any way you want to, giving you more insight to make the right decisions to optimize your profits.
• With complete intergration into ACCPAC Simply Accounting you don't have any head-aches to get your accounting software to balance to our software. Saving you time and allowing you to focus on the important things like growing revenue.

Have a look at our feature matrix to see which one of our products are best suited to your business, or contact us for more information.