42 PCA The Magazine | WINTER 2020 PREMIUMCIGARS.ORG That’s a lot of information to digest without aid of software designed for the task. Most readers of this page will not need to consider all of the matters listed above. But most do need to consider quite a few of them, and keep control of them. Whether your business is large or small, cash flow is key. Craig Cass, owner of three Tinderbox stores in Charlotte, North Carolina, and one inMyrtle Beach, South Carolina, says, “Many people focus on net income when evaluating their businesses. However, the most important driver is cash flow. Poor cash flow strangles an inventory- centric business. The most important thing my team and I do daily, weekly and monthly is manage our inventory levels to generate the maximum cash flow. Doing more volume with less inventory will spit out cash. Identifying slowmovers and flushing those slow SKUs through your retail business is critical. Equally critical is identifying the high-volume items to manage inventory so out-of-stocks are minimized.” Computers Are Labor-Savers Silverman relates a couple of commonly encountered inventory-control scenarios: “Say we sell 6 boxes a week of ABC Robusto Natural 25-count. We currently have 3 boxes on hand and 10 boxes on order. On average, we stock up to 5 weeks’ worth of inventory for a premium cigar. Our calculation would be 6 boxes per week times 5 weeks to stock to equals 30 boxes required. So, 30 boxes required minus the 3 boxes on hand and the 10 boxes on order equals 17 more boxes needed to cover 5 weeks’ sales. “Or,” Silverman continues, “say there is an offer for an additional 10 percent off. We may want to stock up to a higher level, say 8 weeks’ inventory. Our calculation would be 6 boxes per week times 8 weeks equals 48 boxes required. So, 48 boxes required minus 3 boxes on hand and the 10 boxes on order equals a recommended order of 35 boxes to cover 8 weeks’ sales.” These are easy examples to follow, and you may be thinking you don’t need any machine to aid those decisions. But if you’ve got a store full of such calculations to keep Premium Tobacco Processing ( PCA member ) nuvocompany.com
[email protected] Contact for pricing Premium Tobacco Processing (PTP) is powered by Nuvo Merchant Services. PTP provides special low processing rates for PCA members. The processor fees offered are guaranteed to be locked in as long as you use PTP as your provider, which means you will never receive processor rate increases. PTP does A SELECT ION OF POS PROVIDERS The capabilities and costs of POS systems vary widely, so learn all you can before committing. If you’re looking for a new system, the best way to find the right one for your store is to ask your fellow tobacconists what they use. Each store’s needs are different, but the list below should help you start the process. not require long-term contacts. All agreements are made on a month-to-month basis. Catapult ecrs.com Windows-based. Contact for pricing Supports automatic age verification at POS, extensive reporting capabilities, inventory management, automatic buy- downs and customer membership management. Complex and feature-rich. (Complexity implies power, but also a learning curve). “I have used Catapult for over 10 years. I like the way it tracks my inventory, and it’s easy for getting financial reports.” — Lisa Grossenbacher, manager, Smoker’s Paradise in Uhrichsville, Ohio FasTraxPOS fastraxpos.com Windows-based $3,000 one time per machine, then $150/month. Cloud hosting, 24/7 live support. Supports barcodes, customer account profiles, loyalty programs, multiple retail locations, automated management of returns, commissions, discounts, gift cards. “FasTrax works pretty great for us. The POS system is easy to learn, but the back end is a little more difficult.” — Will Porter, purchasing manager, Indian River Tobacco Traders in Newaygo, Michigan Lightspeed lightspeedhq.com Windows, Mac, iPad or Linux. One-time purchase price of $509 for Basic, $638 for Standard, and $1,009 for Premium; then select from five subscription packages ranging in price from $69 to $229/month 24/7 support. Cloud hosting lets you “access your point of sale from any device, anywhere.” Supports customer track of, all of them in constant flux, it can be a big load off your mind to have a computer always tracking the math for you. Cass adds that, for most tobacco shops, the large majority of products are consumed, which he calls “a gift.” As he puts it, “Hard goods like humidors, accessories and giftware have a much slower turn. Typically one to two turns per year is all you can hope for with those, whereas, with the cigar segment, inventory-focused operators can turn their products four to five times per year based on how tightly their controls I N V E N T O R Y C O N T R O L P A Y S