Questions to Consider When Comparing Garden Center Software with Other Point-of-Sale Systems

1. What are the qualifications of the software developer?
Windward Software Inc., the developer of Garden Center Software, has been in the business of creating point-of sale software for 20 years and has approximately 1,500 clients in over 22 countries worldwide. Because every business is unique, Windward incorporates hundreds of “soft switches” to make our software products work the way businesses want them to.

2. Does the software use a proven “industrial-strength” database engine for optimum performance, flexibility and data integrity?
Garden Center Software uses the powerful and flexible Pervasive SQL database engine. Unlike Microsoft Access or similar office-use databases, Pervasive SQL performs lightning-quick, multi-field searches and scales with your company, from stand-alone through the Web, supporting thousands of end users. With support for NT, Linux and NetWare, Pervasive SQL can move with you, if you choose to migrate your server operating system. Its auto-recovery feature keeps Garden Center Software up and running, with information at your fingertips.

3. Does it support use of touch-screen monitors and barcode scanners at the point-of-sale?
Garden Center Software works with the latest technology in barcode scanners and includes a user-definable, touch-screen selling interface for speedy processing of sales transactions.

4. Will it provide credit card authorizations in 4 seconds or less?
Garden Center Software is compatible with PC Charge and Mercury Payment Systems software to permit credit card authorizations over high-speed (ADSL & Cable) internet connections.

5. Will the software allow you to sell, track and redeem your own gift certificates and gift cards?
Garden Center Software includes the ability to sell, track and redeem both gift certificates and gift cards to increase traffic and sales. Gift certificates can be printed at the time of sale.

6. Can the point-of-sale terminals continue operating in case the network server goes down?
The Garden Center Software “Stand-Alone Register Option” allows register terminals to continue ringing up sales even if the network server goes down. This option also permits detaching register terminals from the network to sell in remote locations of the nursery or off-site as required.

7. Does the software support special orders and back orders?
Garden Center Software precisely tracks special orders and back orders from the time of order placement, through the ordering/receiving process, to receipt by the customer.

8. Can you schedule delivery at the time of sale?
Garden Center Software allows deliveries to be scheduled at the time of sale. Directions and special notes can be included for the delivery person. Delivery schedules can be viewed or printed out as required.

9. Does the software handle selling by different units of measure?
Garden Center Software allows inventory items such as bulk material and pavers to be sold in up to 5 different units of measure with automatic conversion.

10. Does it include job costing plus the ability to produce estimates and work orders for landscaping projects?
Garden Center Software includes the ability to create estimates and quickly turn them into work orders and invoices as required. A job-costing module is available to monitor income, expenses and profit for each landscaping project.

11. Does it allow you to set up customer loyalty programs to keep customers coming back to buy?
Garden Center Software includes powerful customer loyalty features with the ability to set special pricing and rewards programs for specific items or product groups. It also permits rapid identification of customers by scanning a barcode on a loyalty card or key-tag. Drill-down reporting tells you who is buying what and when so you can target your advertising effectively.

12. Are there enough price levels and quantity breaks to handle your current and future needs?
Garden Center Software allows up to 99 price levels and 98 quantity breaks to accommodate the most sophisticated inventory pricing requirements.

13. Can you set different price/discount levels for customers based on inventory categories?
Garden Center Software allows you to set price/discount levels for preferred customers based on inventory categories. This means you can automatically provide higher discounts (lower prices) on inventory categories with higher margins while minimizing or eliminating discounts on less profitable items.

14. Does the software include a customer relationship manager (CRM)?
Garden Center Software includes CRM as a standard feature making the scheduling and tracking of customer follow-ups and promotional activities a snap. Drill-down reporting allows you to easily analyze buying patterns.

15. Will it store plant characteristics - data and pictures?
Garden Center Software allows characteristics data and pictures of plants and other products to be imported from supplier websites and digital catalogues. Rapid multi-criteria searches can then be performed to find plants that meet customer requirements. Plant characteristics data and pictures can also be included on sign and label formats.

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16. Will you need a separate program to produce nursery specific barcode-labels and signs?
Garden Center Software includes integrated barcode-label and sign printing as a standard feature. A specific label format can be assigned to each inventory item to simplify label printing when ordering or receiving inventory.

17. Can you to design your own forms, signs and labels without learning programming?
Garden Center Software allows the user to easily design the sales slip, estimate, work-order, invoice, check, statement and purchase order layouts without having to learn a programming language. Using the same procedure you can easily create your own sign and barcode-label formats.

18. Is remote inventory counting and order-taking with portable, hand-held devices possible?
Garden Center Software includes the ability to use hand-held data collectors such as the Unitech PT-630 for order taking, inventory counting and receiving on a batch basis. The optional Wireless Remote Inventory Counting, Price Checking and Order-Taking module is also available for use with the Symbol PPT 2846 Pocket PC.

19. Can inventory pricing be selectively updated from supplier digital price lists?
Garden Center Software includes a powerful “part-load” utility to allow the selective updating of inventory pricing with import from supplier digital price lists.

20. Can multiple vendors and barcodes be attached to an inventory item to eliminate duplication of SKUs?
Garden Center Software permits storage of multiple vendors and barcodes per SKU eliminating the need to create additional SKUs for a specific inventory item.

21. Can the software suggest product orders based on seasonal min & max inventory levels?
Garden Center Software allows you to define your own seasons and then set maximum and minimum inventory levels for each season. Based on these seasonal maximum and minimum levels, Garden Center Software can suggest purchase orders to optimize inventory levels.

22. Can the software suggest product orders based on sales history?
The purchase order module in Garden Center Software will suggest orders based on sales history over a user-defined period.

23. Can you email or fax documents directly from the software?
Garden Center Software permits estimates, orders, invoices, purchase orders and customer statements to be emailed or faxed directly out of the software for maximum efficiency.

24. Does the software include a broad variety of meaningful, ready-to-use management reports?
In addition to a broad variety of valuable, canned reports, Garden Center Software provides management with the ability to create their own reports without having to learn programming.

25. Does the software include a fully integrated “real-time” accounting and inventory system for up-to-date reports and financials anytime?
Transactions occurring in Garden Center Software (e.g. sales, receiving payments, printing checks, etc.) are immediately posted to its general ledger eliminating the need to import, export or re-enter data into other accounting systems. Not only does this greatly reduce bookkeeping labor, but it also provides up-to-the-minute reports to assist with important daily business decisions.

26. Can employees be restricted to only those modules and features necessary to do their jobs?
The Garden Center Software security module allows management to specify the areas of the software each employee is allowed to use and then controls access by user login and password. Garden Center Software also tracks all transactions performed in the point-of-sale module by time, date and employee.

27. Is a time clock feature included to track employee work times?
Employee work times can be tracked and reported on by the Garden Center Software time clock feature.

28. Does it link to web-based “shopping-cart” software enabling you to sell to “the world”?
The Windward E-Commerce Option links to the inventory and point-of-sale modules in Garden Center Software for efficient data updating and order processing.

29. Does the software support multiple profit centers and locations allowing for future growth?
Garden Center Software supports multiple profit centers and locations with optional modules permitting inventory lookups, inventory transfers, reporting by location, consolidated reporting, automatic data updating and much more.