Specialty retail
POS systems for specialty retail
Deep catalogs, sizes and colors, customer accounts, special orders and merchandise that arrives without a usable barcode. BizTracker specifies, sets up and supports specialty retail systems on Infinity.
Remote setup and training nationwide. Onsite service across Tampa Bay.
What should a specialty retailer look for in a POS system?
Specialty retail needs a POS that holds a deep catalog, remembers customers and their history, handles special orders without dropping them out of inventory, and labels merchandise that arrives without a usable barcode. BizTracker configures Infinity for that, converts the existing catalog and trains the staff on it.
The distinguishing pressure is catalog depth rather than transaction volume. A specialty shop can carry thousands of slow lines where each one still has to be findable at the counter.
- Sizes and colors in Apparel ModeIn Infinity Apparel Mode, color and size variants of a style are managed as individual records.
- Customer history at the counterRepeat and account customers are the business.
- Special orders tracked as inventoryAn order that leaves the system is an order somebody forgets.
- Labels for unlabeled merchandiseAn item that cannot be scanned is a manual lookup every time it sells.
- Findability on a long tailStaff have to locate a slow line while somebody waits.
If the catalog is small and the traffic is high, a convenience-style configuration fits better. Which customer-account features a store uses depends on configuration, so that is confirmed rather than assumed.
What specialty retailers bring us
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Variants are entered as separate products
Inventory splinters and reporting stops meaning anything.
Variants configured as options on one product.
Inventory management -
Special orders live on paper
Customers chase orders nobody can find.
Special orders tracked in the system rather than beside it.
Customer accounts -
Repeat customers are not recognized
History, balances and preferences are lost at the counter.
Customer accounts with history available at the register.
Customer accounts -
Slow lines tie up cash invisibly
Deep catalogs hide the stock that has not moved in a year.
Movement reporting that surfaces dead lines.
Reporting -
Merchandise arrives without a usable barcode
Staff key descriptions by hand, and the same item ends up in the file several ways.
Barcode labels printed from the item file, so every item on the floor scans the same way.
Label printing
Infinity POS
What a specialty configuration includes
Deep catalog and variants
Inventory managementOptions on one product rather than many near-duplicates.
Customer accounts
Customer accountsHistory, balances and special orders at the counter.
Movement reporting
ReportingFinding the lines that have stopped selling.
Purchase orders
Purchase ordersReordering a long tail without guesswork.
The counter
The specialty store counter
A specialty counter does more lookup and labeling than a grocery lane, and the customer is often asking questions while they pay, so the devices follow that.
A checkout station for a service counter
Hardware for InfinityA register, a scanner, a receipt printer and a cash drawer, placed for a counter where lookups, special orders and payment all happen in one conversation.
Product and price labels
Label printersA label printer for barcode labels on merchandise that arrives without one, and for price changes across a deep catalog.
Counting a deep catalog
Portable data collectorsA portable data collector, so a department can be counted on the floor during trading instead of after closing.
Payments at the counter
Merchant processingCard processing for an Infinity system runs through one of two paths, Bold or Hybrid, chosen from a current statement and how the counter takes payment.
Before you buy
What to make a specialty retail POS demonstrate
Ask to see the awkward cases: a style in several sizes and colors, a special order, a product with no barcode. Those decide whether a system suits a specialty store.
Sizes and colors as one product
Inventory managementA style entered once with its variants, sold in two sizes, and reported as one product rather than a list of near-duplicates.
A special order from request to pickup
Customer accountsA request recorded against the customer with what was promised, ordered from the supplier and received without dropping out of inventory.
An item with no usable barcode
Label printingA barcode label printed from the item file, so the item scans at the counter instead of being searched for by description.
A repeat customer at the register
Customer accountsThe customer found at the counter with their history and account balance, while they are still standing there.
The lines that have stopped selling
ReportingMovement reporting that surfaces slow and dead lines in a deep catalog, before the cash tied up in them is a year old.
Going live
What getting a specialty store live involves
In specialty retail the catalog is the project. It has to come across structured, not just copied, or the new system inherits every duplicate the old one had.
Catalog conversion
Data conversionProducts, variants, suppliers, costs and customer records reviewed from the current system’s export, then mapped, cleaned or rebuilt before go-live.
Barcodes and labels on the floor
Barcode scanning and labelsLabel templates set up so merchandise without a usable barcode can be labeled from the item file before the store trades on the new system.
Counter devices and payments
Start with a statement reviewBold or Hybrid processing and the counter hardware set up and tested together, including any existing equipment worth keeping.
Training on lookups and special orders
Installation and trainingStaff trained on finding variants, taking special orders and using customer accounts before go-live, remotely anywhere or onsite across Tampa Bay.
Specialty retail POS questions
Can it handle products with sizes and colors?
Yes, in Apparel Mode. In Infinity Apparel Mode, color and size variants of a style are managed as individual records, and the apparel page covers what that setup involves.
Does it track special orders?
Yes, in the system rather than on paper beside it, which is the difference between an order somebody chases and an order somebody forgets.
Can it convert my existing catalog?
Usually. Data conversion depends on what the current system can export, so we look at the actual export before promising a scope.
What about merchandise that arrives without a barcode?
It gets a barcode label printed from the item file, so it scans at the counter like everything else instead of being looked up by description.
Can the counter see a customer’s history?
Yes, where sales are rung against the customer record: history and account balance are available at the register. Which account features a store uses depends on its configuration, so we confirm that with you.
Is this the same platform as the grocery system?
Yes. Infinity is configured differently per industry, which means the training and support are the same wherever the store goes next.
See whether Infinity fits your store
Tell us what the store carries, and ask to see a style and its options, a special order and an item without a barcode handled at the counter.