I first check the archives and I did not find much in the past year.
I am looking for current I am looking for software to
run a small retail store. I want a software that is made for a
jeweler not something adapted. I want to track inventory, mailing
lists and customer data base. Also I need something that will let me
do price list with pictures. No item in the store will have ugly
price tags. also It is easy to change prices by not having the tags.
SoI want to hear from the smaller stores. What is good what is bad
and how much did it cost on a Windows format.
I have used Winjewel. for about 7 years. IIt has worked well for us.
Free trial download at winjewel.com. Tagging items is really
important for doing inventory. Seems to me having lists of pieces
with pictures, if you have to look up items every time to give a
price to a customer would take up to much time and be cumbersome.
The store I work at uses a great program called “The Edge” from an
employee point of view I love it. I love the fact that you can
easily take photos of all your work that you sell, and all the work
that comes in for repair. it makes things much easier than having to
draw out each piece. The only down side that I have come across so
far is the fact that they are still writing the software even as the
customers are using it. Then again, bugs are fixed quickly and the
support is good.
I have no idea on it’s price or anything, but their URL is:
Tracks inventory and all of that jazz but also dos a great job of
handling the shop.
TAGS? I visited one store once who printed the tags, along with the
pictures on sheets on paper. The jewelry sat in show cases ithout
tags, it was so clean looking! To price an item, this shett was
under the showcase drawer, they just pulled it out to price.
it was a small boutique type store, I wouldn’t reccomend it for
larger store but it sure was a neat looking.
Just be sure to check your local regulations regarding pricing. In
my area it is illegal to have items for sale that are not tagged with
the price in a visible, printed format. Your area may have similar
regulations which would mean that those “ugly” price tags would have
to be on your pieces whether or not you wanted them to be.
Also, I know from personal experience (more than 25 years of
operating a retail store) that customers want to see the pricing up
front without having to ask about it. You will lose sales if people
cannot readily see pricing on many of your items. Obviously you won’t
want up-front pricing on some of the higher-end items, but on your
lower-end and mid-range items, visible and readable pricing for the
walk-by customer may make the sale possible. Just my opinion,
however :-))
Sandi Graves, Beadin’ Up A Storm
Stormcloud Trading Co (Beadstorm) http://www.beadstorm.com
Saint Paul, Minnesota USA
651-645-0343
I have used multiple POS systems. I have read what the “reviewers”
state, researched until blue in the face, been lied to about
everything from the developers abilities to “user friendliness”. I
have seen systems with accounting that does not work, with such
impossibly backwards POS input as to make customers AND employees
want to do away with the system, with databases so fouled up that
the system crashes almost predictably, and with such backwards
programming as to confuse even those who wrote the programs. I have
used everything from QB to Jewelry Master, Jewelry Shopkeeper, and
Jewels2000. NONE of them work except possibly in the most basic of
mom & pop stores. These systems do not work for professionals. It is
apparent that they have ALL been developed without the help of an
experienced and knowledgeable jeweler. and sometimes without the
help of an accountant with experience in the jewelry industry. All
are developed by programmers who know little or nothing about actual
jewelry operations and needs, and most have only some rudimentary
idea of how to tie the logic and flow of our business to the
accounting. I no longer look for accounting in the POS programs. I
use QB for my basic accounting needs and nothing else. I no longer
believe ANYTHING I am told by these developers. I especially no
longer believe the lies that “we are working on adding that and it
will be in our NEXT release.” I threw out QB for POS because I was
lied to for over a year concerning their “upcoming” POS system. I
offered my extensive background in the jewelry business to help
create a POS system that would work. I was NEVER contacted by ANYONE
at QB who had ANY authority. much less anyone who cared. QB lied and
lied concerning what the POS system would do, and finally attempted
to market a POS system that is only a sales gimmick for selling you
expensive hardware to convert your computer terminals into very
expensive cash registers. I threw out Jewelry Master because it was
a one man show, was sorely lacking in benefits, was not user
friendly, and was incapable of collecting and producing information
and reports to actually make projections and run the business. I
threw out Jewelry Shopkeeper because the front end accounting did not
work with the back end accounting, it was incredibly hard to manage,
I received absolutely NO support from this two man show, found it was
not compatible with Microsoft programming, and was told that Louis
was NEVER going to move into the Microsoft compatible world. I am
currently throwing out Jewels2000 because the system is not user
friendly, the employees are not user friendly (with the exception of
Rodger who is a principal but who must delegate to his employees),
it too does not work properly in a Windows environment, the operation
of the system is not logical, and the reports are pathetic (being
incredibly hard to use and in some instances simply impossible to
filter). In addition, we have NEVER had a version that worked. We
never even received a manual until we had the system for two years.
I have worked so incredibly hard in my attempts to mold my business
around this defective and hard to use product that I am now simply
disgusted with it. The man hours spent on attempting to make it work
over the past two years could have been better spent by developing
my own software.
David Geller understands my problem with all of these companies. He
even warned me about my expectations concerning Jewels2000 so far as
its severe shortcomings with reports. and reports are David’s strong
point. At this point, I am planning to purchase and install The Edge.
I have spoken to the owner of the company, and have never been more
comfortable with the answers to my questions. David Geller also
believes in The Edge. and if it is good enough for David, then it is
good enough for me.
These developers apparently do not know what they cost all of us in
real dollars through their incompetency, complacency, and total
disregard for providing a product that works in a logical manner with
a user friendly format. I want to put every one of these “losers” who
develop unusable software on notice that we are watching them.
reporting them to each other. and making note of the incompetents who
are selling a product that does not work for us.
NONE of them work except possibly in the most basic of Mom & pop
stores. These systems do not work for professionals. It is
Apparent that they have ALL been developed without the help of an
Experienced and knowledgeable jeweler.
It was my fortune to have used only one POS system, Winjewel, and I
consider myself a professional, and Winjewel was developed by a
jewelry store owner. I have used it for about 7 years. It has had a
few minor glitches, but the person who developed It was very
responsive to correcting problems, they have great support, and they
will do custom modifications. Free trial at www.winjewel.com