Monday 4 August 2014

K3 aquires Retail Technology Limited

K3, which supplies and supports Microsoft-based Enterprise Resource Planning software to the Retail, Manufacturing and Distribution sectors is pleased to announce the acquisition of Retail Technology Limited (“RTL”). 
K3 views the acquisition as a unique opportunity to further extend its growing footprint in the Omni channel retail solution market for smaller organisations.
The combined business units of K3 RSG and RTL is a 35 strong team of professionals devoted to the development, supply and support of systems to smaller retailers predominantly on the Microsoft Dynamics RMS platform. We are the most successful supplier of Microsoft Dynamics based retail solutions in Europe and we believe that the combination of ‘RSG’ and ‘RTL’ will be able to provide unrivalled technology solutions and support for many years to come.
We very much look forward to continuing to work with customers and suppliers to bring you the opportunity to utilise some of the new and exciting solutions that we are bringing to market at K3.
Please be assured that it is ‘business as usual’ with the same team delivering support and advice that will be supported by more resource and capability from the wider K3.
We look forward to welcoming you to our exhibition stand at Moda if you will be attending. We will be exhibiting our range of solutions on our stand number

Friday 10 January 2014

Colton Footwear Expands

Colton Footwear - an independent branded family footwear retailer in Berkhamsted and Chesham, Hertfordshire.

In 1952, Mr Charles Potter opened his shop at 264 High Street, Berkhamsted. In 1974 this business was taken over by his son Raymond, who traded at this location for a further 27 years before opening Colton Footwear at its current premises of 240 High Street, Berkhamsted. In 2003 Richard, a son of Raymond’s, took over the day to day running of Colton Footwear. In mid-2012 Colton Footwear went online with their website which allows customers to browse styles, brands and make purchases online. On 3rd August 2013, Colton Footwear opened a new store in Chesham. All at RTL would like to wish them every success with their new store! Now, let’s hear all about it from Richard Potter:



How did the business get to where it is today?
My grandfather started selling shoes on a market stall, where my father helped out. From there my father opened a high street shop and ten years later I entered the business, taking over day to day operations.

What ambitions do you have for your business?

To survive in this new age of internet sales and provide the local community with a service.

How does your Retail System help you achieve your goals?
The stock control, till and reporting system are invaluable to our everyday operation. With reporting I can get good repeat sales and keep stock levels low. We have also recently embarked on a Shopify website, but it is still early days to report on this!

Your website is hosted by Shopify and fully integrates with RMS - how easy was it to get this up and running?

Getting the website up and running was a simple experience, most of the information data was already held in our “matrix” on our database. We then just had to add the pictures and make a few tweaks to make our webpage look professional. We had our website up and running in no time at all!

How does your website contribute to your goals?

Our website helps us showcase our products to our customers as well as allowing online transactions. We have found a number of our customers view the website before coming in store. I think an online presence is vital for trading these days.

With the recent expansion, this would have brought about additional Retail System needs, how did RTL deal with this process and would you recommend us to other retailers?

Having one shop already running smoothly, adding another shop was a relatively painless experience. The RTL support staff have vast amounts of experience when it comes to installing and configuring Microsoft Dynamics RMS and their RMS Add-ins. Most of the processes we had in place were replicated and this made it an easy transition from one to two stores. RTL are a great company to work with and I would recommend them every time!

Do you sell on any other platforms?

No - however I am aware that their are opportunities to trade on platforms such as Amazon, eBay etc and there are integration links that link your stock with the RMS database.

Which retail company do you admire most and why?

I admire a lot of retail companies as I know how hard it can be at times. Online you have to admire how Amazon have dominated a new marketplace and in the high street how Zara and Topshop get products so quickly to market. Although I probably admire the simple and effective Ikea! It is a shop that does what it does very well and has created really the only DIY furniture destination. It is always busy and you can never visit without buying something, usually tealights!

What is your favourite shop and why?

My favourite shop is Selfridges. I like the fact that you can buy everything from high street to high end goods. I like the history of the building and the way it still feels modern.

What is the trait you least like in yourself and why?

I am more of a night person, I would like to be more energetic in the morning and hit the gym before work!

Who have you learnt from most in your retail career?

I have learnt the most from my father who has tried to pass on his 50+ years experience in footwear retail.

What job would you have done if you hadn’t become a retailer?

I was working for British Telecom (data arm) before becoming a retailer. After completing a Media Production degree I had hoped to become a producer or director in TV or film!

What keeps you awake at night?

I’m quite relaxed, normally I find that everything can be done the next day. On the odd occasion when there are lots of things to do, or lack of staff I can worry but generally I try not to worry. If I am having a bad week I try to rationally understand why we have been quiet, normally everything works out in the end.

What advice would you give someone starting out in retail?

I think most people don’t realise how much capital it takes to run a business. You may have great ideas and be a great entrepreneur but you always need plenty of stock. If you can purchase the freehold then it takes away one of the variable costs.

What is the most satisfying part of running Colton Footwear?


When customers come in complimenting the store, the shoe selection and making a sale to them.

Wednesday 2 October 2013

RMSify Version 3 Webinar

RMSify has opened up a whole new opportunity for retailers using Microsoft Dynamics RMS! RMSify allows a RMS database to interact directly with the Shopify eCommerce platform.

If you missed the webinar on RMSify Version 3, here's your chance to catch up!


Thursday 25 July 2013

Stock Management 101 / 1


The proper management of stock has an even greater importance since the emergence of on-line sales where inaccurate stock levels can easily lead to retailers being unable to fulfil orders placed on-line.

Accurate accounting of stock has of course always been important and retailers that have not taken this seriously have suffered lost sales opportunities which went quietly by...

Every Dollar, Pound or Euro invested in stock that doesn’t sell cannot be spent on stock that does sell.

The fact of the matter is that you, as a retailer, need to stock products your customers want to buy whilst trying to obtain the best possible price which is the price your customer is prepared to pay for your products at a given time.

This is the first in a series of articles about Stock Management and we shall try to cover most aspects.

If you are already a user of RTL’s Retail Management System, you may be interested in enrolling for “Planning for Profit”. Click on the link on the left for further information.

If you are a shoe or apparel retailer, stock management is even more complex as collections contain a number of styles that come in different fabrics, colours, sizes, leg lengths, cup sizes etcetera.

In the coming months we shall cover lots of different aspects of stock management, so please visit our blog again soon.

Wednesday 8 May 2013

Vendor Managed Inventory and RTL

Vendor Managed Inventory is what it states. The stock levels for the brand are managed by the vendor, generally with input by the retailer. There are two good examples of this in the UK; Clarks AFU and Start-rite.

If you're a Clarks or Start-rite stockist you will know the benefits of this system, particularly during the busy Back To School period.

Retail Technology Limited's system fully integrates with these two vendors. So, what are the benefits;

  • Electronic catalogue information is automatically uploaded to the stockists' RTL system. Thus no manual input of style information. It's done for them! This saves manual data entry plus printing of labels/barcodes as the system will simply recognise the barcodes already on the box end label.
  • The RTL system receives packing notes automatically. What this means in practice is that the retailer simply scans the barcode on the packing note and the stock levels are updated. This saves time and increases accuracy.
  • Stock transfers between a retailers' stores are recorded and sent back to the vendor to ensure that the vendor's stock records synchronises with the retailer's.
  • Since there is an agreed stock quantity set for each individual item (style/colour/size), these quantities can be adjusted. A good example is a ladies sandal; when it is first received in February at the beginning of the Spring season the retailer will want higher stock levels. As the season progresses, the retailer will want to stop replacing stock sold to the same degree if at all.
  • From time to time, stock takes must be done to ensure that the retailer's and vendor's stock records match. The RTL system allows for these stock takes to be exchanged thereby ensuring proper synchronisation.
The RTL Supplier Integration Module by RTL has been operational for over fourteen years and has proven to be a most reliable and worthwhile tool saving retailers time and money whilst increasing accuracy.

If you are a Clarks or Start-rite stockist and are exploring Retail Management Systems, make sure you talk to RTL!