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Retail Management Systems, Ltd.
Case Study Document
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Hot Mama |
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"The guys at RMS-POS set me up to be able to connect directly to my server from home so I can work at my own schedule and since we have a busy family life as well this is a real bonus."
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Business Profile:
In November 2004, "Hot Mama" opened its doors in the chic 50th and France shopping district in Minneapolis. The concept was developed by Michael and Megan Tamte soon after the birth of their first-born, Allison, in 1997. Recognizing and appreciating the change parenthood brought on her life, Megan sought to build a store that focused entirely on serving moms and moms-to-be. Frustrated that most boutiques catered to singles and those in their early twenties, she targeted the missing gap - her generation - a large group in their late twenties to mid-forties who had or were having children.
By building a theme around motherhood, Megan created an upscale boutique that nurtured, encouraged, and supported mothers while offering only the most contemporary clothing to the fashion-forward mom. Megan and her team of buyers search the globe for clothing, jewelry, and accessories that will make women look and feel beautiful. For those who are pregnant, Hot Mama also offers today’s hottest maternity fashions.
Hot Mama is designed to be welcoming and child-friendly. The service is intended to be high-touch with friendly guidance from Hot Mama stylists who pride themselves on finding the best fit for women.
Hot Mama currently has grown to 2 stores since Nov 2004 and the 2 new stores opened in Sept 2006 and Nov 2006. www.hotmamaonline.com
Michael, how did you come to choose Microsoft RMS for your stores?
Well, I am an accountant so financial control is critical for me. Initially we started out with Quick Books POS because I am familiar with it however after a year or so I knew we were rapidly outgrowing it. I started to look for a system that was scalable and could handle our planned growth. Microsoft of course met our criteria in this regard so I took a serious look at it and decided this was the way to go. There is a big difference between operating a single store and multiple stores and we needed the inventory control capabilities offered by RMS.
How did you find Microsoft Retail Management Systems?
From my research I had pretty much decided on Microsoft RMS so I looked for a company that was qualified to sell and install it and that is how I found the RMS-POS guys. I did not want to have a huge bill for training and installation since I have considerable experience with software myself and they allowed us to self train as much as possible. We had their guidance at critical times as required and the conversion from the old system was not near as painful as I had expected.
Do you feel that RMS has the scalability to handle all 4 of your stores?
Yes for sure, I really don’t see that the number of stores is an issue. I certainly have the comfort of knowing that I can see what is going on at any store at any time. The guys at RMS-POS set me up to be able to connect directly to my server from home so I can work at my own schedule and since we have a busy family life as well this is a real bonus. I can do purchase orders, reports, financial integration at 11 at night if I choose so it really makes a difference in my schedule. |
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What are some important features of RMS that have affected your operations?
We are fairly high volume stores and we rely on the quick sales transaction functionality of RMS. The fact that we have fully integrated Credit Card processing through Mercury Payments really speeds it up. We are also able to offer Gift Cards from Mercury that we can track right though our POS screen and this has proved to be very popular with customers. We have recently added the CustomerSearch function from RMS-POS and we know this is going to make it a lot easier to add a new customers simply by entering their phone number and retrieving their name and address instantly from an internet database. Retaining customer sales history is really valuable in a fashion store and we want to capitalize on this as we grow. The reporting functionality of RMS is very valuable to assist in buying decisions and analysis. Custom reports are easily generated. We are able to export out pretty much any report or Purchase Order into Excel and import back in so this creates a lot of shortcuts that we can take in managing inventory.
Thanks for your comments Mike. We wish you great success as you continue to grow your company!
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