POS Solutions Provider Targets SMB Retailers
This VAR expects to double sales this year by selling SMBs its custom POS (point of sale) software with POS peripheral bundles.
James Berard, owner of JRB Development, has built his business by selling to the smaller customers in the SMB market. However, that is no small opportunity, since there are approximately 2.5 million businesses in the United States with fewer than 99 employees. That market segment is where JRB has secured more than 1,300 customers since the business was founded in 2004.
Many of those customers use a POS software application developed by JRB called Perennial, tailored to serve the small business owner’s POS requirements and budget. Perennial is designed for retailers that do not require product modifiers (the capability to modify product components such as a food order in a restaurant). “Any type of retail business that sells a product with a bar code label can use our software for POS,” explains Berard. “We have clothing retailers, salons, hard goods resellers, convenience stores, and more as our customers.” To complement its software solutions, JRB exclusively sells POS peripheral products from POS-X, a vendor of POS components and complete systems.
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Targeting the small business segment requires a sales and installation model that isn’t necessarily traditional. For instance, many JRB installations are performed by the customer, at the customer’s site. Although JRB offers professional services, most of its customers do not require those services.
For example, JRB recently sold a retail store a complete three-station POS solution. The customer wanted two POS stations and a third management system in the main office. The customer found JRB from an ad the company placed on the Google home page. JRB sold the customer three licenses for its Perennial POS software and two complete POS-X peripheral bundles. Each bundle consisted of a POS-X thermal receipt printer, four rolls of thermal printer paper, a POS-X printer-driven cash drawer, and a POS-X USB bar code scanner and stand. In addition, the customer purchased two credit card readers and X-Charge software to process credit cards. The customer provided the computers that serve as POS terminals.
With telephone assistance from JRB technicians, the customer was able to successfully set up the POS stations and a management system. All computers are connected to the customer’s file server, which stores the Perennial database. “Since the initial setup of the POS system, no additional support has been needed,” says Berard.
That type of installation has led to 100% sales growth this year for JRB. Before the end of this year, Berard says JRB will begin to offer turnkey POS systems. The sales model will be the same for the turnkey systems, with JRB continuing to use its successful Internet marketing techniques. However, POS system configuration will take place at JRB headquarters in San Diego, not at the customer’s location. Once the system is tested, it will be shipped to the customer, providing a preconfigured turnkey POS solution.