Stock control and the ability to analyse sales patterns are crucial in today’s competitive retail environment, and a reliable EPoS system plays an important role in achieving this.

Finding the right technology to help you maintain control over all aspects of your business can often present a challenge, not least to smaller retail businesses such as In-House. Established in 1994, In-House offers a wide variety of products including greetings cards, gifts, stationery and housewares, and employs 15 staff across its three stores in Formby, Ormskirk and Heswall. Running the business on basic manual tills (with no additional features to assist with management reporting or stock control) was proving to be a barrier to the company’s progress. “Our whole stock replenishment system relied on manually-completed stock spreadsheets,” explained Andrew Oakes, Director. “However, this left room for frequent errors, which affected our whole operation.”

In-House recognised the need to invest in an EPoS system which could link all three of its sites and provide a consolidated view of stock. “We needed an EPoS system to speed up our operation and provide us with more reliable and timely control of inventory figures,” said Andrew. His priority was to improve communication between the stores and warehouse in order to monitor stock more efficiently, maximise sales, and ultimately deliver an enhanced service to customers.

In-House chose an end-to-end solution from Bolton-based Nisyst. Comprised of Nisyst’s advanced NPoS software and the latest integrated Epson touchscreen terminal – the IR-700 – it provides In-House with a function-rich solution. Of particular interest to In-House was NPoS’ ability to show sales, profit and stock information at the touch of a button, and its ability to adapt to match the company’s specific needs.

For example, to solve the issue of stock availability, Nisyst set up minimum and maximum stock levels with reorder prompts, so that NPoS raises suggested purchase orders when stock runs low. In-House is delighted with the improved back-office efficiency, which has been key in improving all areas of the business. “It gives us access to reliable, real-time sales information, which is something we’d never had before,” said Andrew.

The Epson IR-700 touchscreen tills have also been a great success with the In-House team. “The IR-700 is fast, easy-to-use and stylish, and gives a high-tech and efficient impression to our customers. Plus, the fact that it has just one mains power plug means there’s a lot less clutter around the point of sale. This makes a huge difference to store ambience,” said Andrew.

“We’ve been very satisfied with the whole solution,” concluded Andrew. In fact, In-House plans to develop a transactional website, which will be supported by NPoS’s mail-order function. With direct links between the stores, warehouse and online operation, the e-commerce module will show live updates of sales, stock and pricing, and will provide automatic picking lists as goods are ordered online.

more about IR-700

more about choosing an EPoS system