Retail Realm Review

Two of the components in that suite are Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 and Microsoft Dynamics RMS.

Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 is designed for single outlet operations, while Microsoft Dynamics RMS is meant for small to medium-sized retailers. It offers features that retailers with more than one branch will find useful. Read on to learn whether either of these solutions is right for you.

What You’ll Need

Both Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 and Microsoft Dynamics RMS are POS software, so in order to run them you’ll need a workstation and a cash drawer. If you want to accept credit cards, you’ll also need a card reader, as well as a merchant account with a credit card processing company. Retail Realm’s POS systems aren’t tied to a specific credit card processor, though Mercury (now called Vantiv Integrated Payments) is a preferred partner.

Microsoft Dynamics RMS Features

Retail Realm bills Microsoft Dynamics RMS as a tool to automate the sales process. It features quick setup, inventory management, the viewing of customer histories, the processing of non-sales functions, discounting, ease of scalability, and a wide variety of additional modules.

Quick Setup
When you’re transitioning to a new POS solution or using one for the first time, you don’t want to spend too much time setting it up. Microsoft Dynamics RMS has built-in wizards that make setup fast.

Inventory Management
Don’t disappoint customers with out-of-stock items or tell them you don’t know when the next shipment is. Microsoft Dynamics RMS lets you track and manage inventory through a number of stock and sales methods, including standard, serialized, kit, assembly, matrix, lot matrix, voucher, non-inventory, and weighed. Salespeople on the floor can see availability and stock location through the POS system. You can also quickly generate purchase orders and export them to Word or Excel.

Viewing Customer Histories
Your customers’ shopping history is a treasure trove of useful information for your staff. With the touch of a button, they can view a customer’s transaction history to offer the best possible product (and upsell, too).

Processing Non-Sales Functions
Sometimes, customers return things. Other times, they want to put an item on layaway. You don’t need to send them to a special department for that – you can process those requests within Microsoft Dynamics RMS. In addition, you can place back orders, work orders, and create sales quotes.

Discounting
Everyone loves a good deal. Microsoft Dynamics RMS allows you and your sales staff to quickly apply discounts during the transaction.

Ease of Scalability
Are you about to open your second (or even third) branch? Microsoft Dynamics RMS grows with you – Microsoft’s SQL server can handle almost unlimited amounts of information, so you don’t have to worry about how much data you can store.

Wide Variety of Additional Modules
Retail Realm has an app store of sorts where you can add on modules to further customize the POS system to best meet your needs.

Reporting

Retail Realm’s website boasts that Microsoft Dynamics RMS can generate a wide range of reports, although the only ones it provides specific details about are sales reports and trends. Because it’s a Microsoft product, you can export the data into Excel.

Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 Features

Because Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 is meant for single-store retailers, it offers fewer features than Microsoft Dynamics RMS. Its features include inventory management, customer history viewing, and employee performance tracking.

Retail Realm Pricing for Credit Card Processing

Retail Realm’s website doesn’t publish credit card processing costs, because the company isn’t a credit card processor. Your credit card processor will set these costs, and fees are in addition to the POS software, hardware, and accessories you may need to purchase.

Want to know what you’ll pay for credit card processing? Request a free no-obligation quote from processors that support Retail Realm.

Retail Realm Pricing

Retail Realm doesn’t publish the cost of Microsoft Dynamics POS 2009 nor Microsoft Dynamics RMS. The POS system costs are in addition to credit card processing fees and the hardware and software you may need to purchase.

Accessories

Retail Realm doesn’t sell its own accessories. However, its business partners (including HP) sell workstations to run both POS systems, as well as provide cash drawers, barcode scanners, scales, printers, card readers, and tablets.