IQ Retail launches new products

MD of IQ Retail, Chris Steyn, says that businesses in the retail industry need to take advantage of new technologies to remain competitive in the current economic climate. Steyn says, “We have taken the lead in embracing the latest technologies, especially in the areas of system interconnectivity and integration of services. These include airtime sales, electronic fund transfers, online backup solutions, managed and hosted cloud solutions, business intelligence, e-commerce and business-to-business solutions. “As a supplier of business software system solutions for the past 25 years, IQ Retail now has more than 20 000 installations in South Africa, Namibia, sub-Saharan Africa and distribution in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Greece, Australia and New Zealand.

These include airtime sales, electronic fund transfers, online backup solutions, managed and hosted cloud solutions, business intelligence, e-commerce and business-to-business solutions. “As a supplier of business software system solutions for the past 25 years, IQ Retail now has more than 20 000 installations in South Africa, Namibia, sub-Saharan Africa and distribution in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Greece, Australia and New Zealand.

“IQ Retail remains at the forefront of software development in the changing retail environment, which today offers more options than ever for making purchases and payments. “The best way for IQ Retail to provide cost-effective, innovative and efficient business systems, was to enter into partnerships with leading companies, each specialising in their respective fields in the IT industry. The result has been the launch of new products and services through our reseller networks and partners.” Steyn adds, “These partnerships have provided state-of-the-art and innovative IT systems which will give our clients and their user base a distinct competitive advantage. The new products, which will revolutionise the way in which retail businesses operate their IT systems, were officially launched at a recent conference held for our national value added resellers (VARs). “Presentations were made by all the principal partners, with household names such as Hewlett Packard (integrated POS hardware), Blue Label Telecoms (leader in pre-paid airtime products), Nomad EFT (integrated speed point devices with transaction switching), Iron Tree Automated Online Backup, Vodacom Business, Jasco Telecoms (IQ Cloud and network infrastructure), Shopdirect (e-commerce), Cashguard (secure cash handling system), ESET Antivirus, Tower Investments (system financing) and Qlikview Business Intelligence.” “POS systems need to do more than just facilitate the selling process, they need to generate income. They need to not only add value to customers shopping experience, but also to facilitate in attracting new customers. With our partners we are doing more than merely adding value, we are increasing revenue for the POS system users as well,” comments Michael Reyneke, co-owner of IQ Retail.

“By including value added services in our entire range of software, we are providing the business owner with the opportunity to sell their own products, and benefiting the client with an added service. Our new product range now extends the offer to the customer with the option of paying utility bills, fines, purchasing airtime or prepaid electricity, and in doing so attracting further revenue.” Steyn continues, “What differentiates our systems is that they are fully scalable. A client can start off on our IQ FreePOS system. This replaces the traditional cash register and is free to download from the IQ Web site. Should the client require more features they can upgrade to the full IQ POS system. If they later require an integrated ledger and financials, they can upgrade to IQ Business.

“Later on when the business expands, they can upgrade to IQ Enterprise, which offers centralisation and consolidation of financial information as well as synchronisation of stock across multiple branches. Each of these upgrades is a simple process and there is no need for conversion of data.” Steyn concludes, “The upgrades and system enhancements in our product range will assist our clients to survive the current difficult trading conditions in the retail sector.

“IQ Retail has been presented with the BuildIt (part of the Spar Group) National Service Provider of the year award for 2010. This can be seen as an endorsement for our expertise in designing and developing efficient IT systems for the retail sector. We are proud to receive this award in recognition of the major contribution that IQ Retail has made to the operation of the BuildIt outlets.”

source (http://it-online.co.za/2011/09/07/iq-retail-launches-new-products/)