TRG International Blog

In today’s retail market, businesses are required to keep up with technology more than ever. There are stores that continue to use an old fashioned pen and paper to do business, but this seemingly simple method creates more work than necessary. Hand calculations and paper receipts do more harm than good in today’s modern market. Point of sale (POS) software is modern technology for the contemporary retailer which can do much more than a pen and paper. It is a common misconception that updating to new technology is a hassle and not worth the costs, but upgrading to new POS software is a great business move. It allows a retailer to do more than anyone could have imagined thirty years ago.

David Mackley looks at why the largest retailers use technology and whether the same benefits can be realised by independent retailers.

Major Retailers have used technology for years to deliver business improvements

When hurricane Ivan was heading towards the Florida coastline, Wal-Mart knew there would be a rise in demand for Kellogg® strawberry Pop-Tarts®. Drivers delivered Pop-Tarts to stores in the area in time to accommodate the rise in demand.

Most of the world’s 500 largest firms have extensive international operations; indeed, these firms average 35% of their sales in other countries. Finance officers and senior executives involved in strategic management usually assume that such firms are operating globally.

Newsflash: In many organizations, variance reviews become a meaningless drill and here's why. Firstly, variances are explained by inherent uncertainty in the marketplace. Secondly, the level of detail may be inconsistent between finance and line managers. Thirdly, it’s a bunch of disconnected numbers.

Executive Summary

A chart of accounts (COA), representing a unique set of codes to record all an entity’s transactions consistently, is a well-recognised, fundamental accounting need. Whether it concerns a complex organisation with numerous divisions, or an individual applying basic cash accounting, it is essential to be able to collate financial information that is relevant, both for internal management and external parties.

Citrix says it's driven down costs to the point that next year it will be cheaper to deploy virtual desktops than traditional desktops. Helping to drive down costs is a new system-on-a-chip the company has designed called HDX and that it says will be produced by Texas Instruments and put into commercial devices by NComputing as well as other partners to be named.

Infor, a leading provider of business application software serving more than 70,000 customers, today announced that Hitachi Automotive Systems Americas, Inc., a top automotive systems manufacturer, has expanded its relationship with Infor by implementing Infor10 Corporate Performance Management (PM10) to consolidate budget processes and facilitate more efficient and detailed financial reporting. Hitachi Automotive employees now have access to comprehensive data from each of Hitachi's five locations operating Infor CPM, enabling both faster financial approvals and simplified data retrieval. Additionally, the scalability and multi-currency functionality of Infor CPM will play a key role in Hitachi's global growth initiatives, including plans for a new facility outside the United States.