T UCH j2 RETAIL systems newsletter
IT NEWS BUSINESS
A J2 future for AWPL Sango the new cool in POS
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UPS what happens when the lights go out
Introduction In a world that appears to be constantly changing, there are many things that never really change. Economies go up and down. Sales go up and down. And businesses get bought and sold. Our current environment sees the economy going down, our sales on a continual path of growth and‌.. J2 have a new owner. As previously announced, French based POS hardware organisation, The Aures Group, has purchased J2 Retail Systems. The new owners have visited Australia and are immensely impressed with the business and have given us the green light to continue to do what we do. For our customers this means that it is business as usual here in Australia. The up side is that now we have access to the Aures hardware with the first being the Sango as featured in this newsletter. If you have seen some of the Aures hardware you will quickly see that they pride themselves on the aesthetics of their hardware. You wouldn’t expect anything less from a French organisation really. I must say that I have been impressed with the Aures products for both their innovative design as well as the performance to match. The J2 business in Australia has continued to remain strong, so strong that we have had to expand our warehouse capabilities to keep up with demand. Our growth is testament to the quality of our product and commitment our staff have to our customers. I hope that you enjoy another of our newsletters and wish you all the best in the coming months. Phillip Wild Managing Director, J2 Retail Systems
news & InformatioN J2 expands office With the continual growth that we have experienced at J2, it was inevitable that we would outgrow our warehouse space. So when the opportunity arose to rent our neighbouring warehouse we jumped at the chance.
stock and storage.
Our existing warehouse and office
You will still find us at the same
remains with it becoming the despatch warehouse whilst the new warehouse is dedicated to incoming
address so if you are in the area drop in and we’ll be glad to show you around.
Sandwiched in between both warehouses is our staging area which provides ease of access to both warehouses and great process flow.
POS POS taking J2 further in NZ To cater for the growing demand in the New Zealand market, J2 Retail Systems has appointed well established POS hardware distributor, POS POS, as our New Zealand distributor. Since the appointment, POS POS have worked hard to grow sales in the NZ market and have performed as an excellent representative of our brand.
They have great reach into the POS market thanks to their excellent portfolio of products and well established local sales and support staff. If you are located in New Zealand and interested in J2 products please give the team at POS POS NZ a call on 0800 854 358.
Aures Group After ten years of operation, J2 Retail Systems has been sold to French retail technology company the AURES Group. After a visit from the managing director of the AURES Group to
Australia it became very clear that they were impressed with the Australian business and gave their blessing to continue with our work unchanged.
is no changes albeit gaining access to some great new products from the AURES stable.
From a customer perspective there j2retailsystems.com.au
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product showcasE
The Little Brothers The J2 480L and J2 680L
Sometimes we don’t need all the bells and whistles in our POS hardware. Most of the time we need a solution that can simply manage the day to day tasks effectively. That is where the new J2 480L series POS PC and J2 680L integrated touch terminal come in. Sometimes we don’t need all the bells and whistles in our POS hardware. Most of the time we need a solution that can simply manage the day to day tasks effectively. That is where the new J2 480L series POS PC and J2 680L integrated touch terminal come in. Sharing the majority of features with their bigger brothers the J2 480 and J2 680 respectively, these latest POS hardware offerings do away with many premium components to provide a more cost effective solution. So what has been taken away? The processor specifications are slightly reduced yet still feature quad core CPU’s that are more than adequate to drive most POS applications. Hard drive specifications are SATA 2 rather than the latest SATA 3 specifications meaning hard drive write speeds are a fraction slower. RAID capabilities have been left out
as well as a Parallel and PS2 port on the 680L but are included on the 480L. So what do you get? The J2 480L and J2 680L share the same motherboard and specifications so developing a standardised operating environment across your store no matter the POS hardware style is possible. The J2 680L comes with a 15 inch TFT True Flat Resistive or Multi Touch
j2 480L
Projective Capacitive LED backlit touch screen. Powered USB ports are included with 2x 12v and 1x 24v. Cash drawer ports and 4 powered serial ports. So when budgets are tight you now have a more affordable J2 device that gives you the performance and reliability retailers have come to expect from J2. For further information contact J2 Retail Systems.
j2 680L
The Sango The New Cool In POS Style is often a subjective thing but when it comes to cool factor it is a more cut and dry decision. The all new Sango terminal from the Aures group and available from J2, is definitely well planted in the cool camp when it comes to integrated touch terminals. The POS world rarely sees dramatic design changes but who ever said that the grey box is mandatory in POS? One look at the Sango terminal and you quickly see there is no “grey” about it. Designed from the ground up for style yet performance, the Sango is built around a cast aluminium exo-skeleton which allows for the offset monitor design. Not only does this design look visually appealing but allows for the void under the monitor to be used for housing other peripherals such as receipt printers, creating a compact foot print. The 15 inch, LED backlit, adjustable monitor is touch enabled with a choice of ELO or
PCT technology. The CPU comes in either an Ivy Bridge i3 or Intel Cedar View D2550 processor which will provide the grunt to power most POS solutions. Up to 8GB of RAM is available with a single 2.5” SATA HDD or SSD to handle data storage. The usual array of USB and Serial ports are offered allowing for the connection of multiple peripherals. Another great design feature is the ability to choose from up to seven interchangeable colours. The monitor surround and high gloss polycarbonate CPU cover are both removable allowing for simple colour changes to suit your store fitout. When style matters in your store then the Sango is the ultimate choice of integrated touch terminals. For further information contact J2 Retail Systems.
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FeaturE
Up up and away for AWPL. If you have had the need to travel lately you would have witnessed the bustling hub that our local airports have become. Retailing in airports is booming thanks to the growth in traveller numbers. This unique retailing environment poses a number of challenges yet provides a necessary service to those in transit. It is more than likely that your visit to your local airport has taken you past or into an AWPL Retail Solutions business. AWPL Retail Solutions is a leading retail group that specialises in operating retail outlets in airports across Australia and New Zealand. Their stores encompass fifteen different brands with products ranging from wine purveyors, newsagents and books to specialist products such as Australian made fashion and gift wares. With 60 outlets across Australia and New Zealand, AWPL is well positioned as the leading retail solutions provider for the travel sector across the region. With a broad range of outlets all operating in challenging environments, AWPL has invested heavily in ensuring that their retail outlets provide lasting impressions. Not only must they provide attractive retail spaces in accordance with their landlord’s expectations but meet the challenges of retailing in a difficult environment.
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Some of these challenges include limited stock storage space, small retail areas, the need to process sales quickly as customers are often in transit and in a rush and providing retail spaces that are both attractive and effective. An area of critical attention has been AWPL’s point of sale solutions. Not only must they be able to process sales efficiently but offer reliable operation day in day out for long operating hours. After 15 years of operation, AWPL had begun to experience problems with their existing POS hardware. The PC and monitor based systems started to experience slow performance, freezing computers and unacceptable break points between POS PC and monitor units. Maintenance costs had increased and the only solution was to invest in replacing the existing POS hardware with something that would put AWPL back on track. AWPL chose to begin discussions with their existing supplier but once it was established they could not
provide the right solution their search began to find a suitable supplier. In seeking a new POS hardware solution a number of criteria was established. The new POS hardware had to be reliable and robust to handle long operating hours. With limited counter space, the solution had to be compact yet offer neat and tidy cable management. An all-in-one integrated touch terminal was preferred to a POS PC and monitor solution. The solution had to be easily and rapidly deployed and when it came to performance it had to offer high speed processing capabilities. After an extensive search, AWPL chose the J2 680 integrated touch terminal. The J2 680 is the powerhouse in the J2 range of integrated touch terminals. Though capable of running up to quad core processors, AWPL chose a dual core processor as it would provide more than enough power to operate their chosen POS solution from Retail Directions.
“Not only does the J2 680 terminal provide a stable base for sales processing but the ability to add a customer display to the back of the terminal which was attractive to AWPL.”
A Projective Capacitive Touch (PCT) touchscreen was chosen for its robustness and reliability. AWPL took the opportunity to upgrade their receipt printer fleet at the same time as their computers, choosing the J2 201 thermal receipt printer. Not only does the J2 680 terminal provide a stable base for sales processing but the ability to add a customer display to the back of the terminal which was attractive to AWPL. Customer displays in airport locations have been seen to be a great promotional tool and the simple and compact mounting on the back of the J2 680 provides a great marketing solution. With only a small IT team, AWPL looked to J2 to help with the rollout of their new POS hardware. J2 helped streamline the rollout by pre-imaging AWPL’s software and assisting in streamlining shipping of products both to central locations and directly onsite.
they were keen to have support throughout the life of the hardware. AWPL opted to partner with J2 to provide a 3 year Monday to Friday onsite repair service. With sites located in remote areas such as Alice Springs and international locations in New Zealand, having the onsite repair service has meant that any issues can be addressed professionally and promptly onsite without the need for AWPL IT staff to be deployed. The future is bright for AWPL with over 50 terminals already deployed without any issues experienced since installation. Next time you are at your local airport in Australia or New Zealand, a visit to any AWPL retailer is a must to not only take a peek at the J2 solutions but the great range of products they offer.
AWPL has been able to efficiently deploy new hardware across their network of stores but also in choosing J2 j2retailsystems.com.au
SPRING 2013
Education
What happens when the lights go out? Long run-time UPS transforming POS
Without doubt, one of the greatest point of sale fears for most hospitality and retail outlets is the drama associated with a power outage. When the lights go out, the panic sets in as the ability to process sales and access data is lost as systems are deprived of their life giving electricity. Staff become unsettled as their processes are broken. Manual processes are quickly structured to try and get by. All the while the customer is embroiled in the mess feeling sorry for the business but really just wanting to pay and move on their way. If you are lucky that the sudden disruption in power and resultant immediate shutdown of your computers has not corrupted your POS database then you also
hope that no further damage has occurred as a result of the immediate shutdown. It is in these instances that an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS) can save your day and hip pocket. UPS’s have been around for many years and simply put they provide a backup power source in the event of power failure, allowing the safe shutting down of computer systems. When the electricity is sapped from your computer, the UPS kicks in, providing power via a small battery. Long run times under battery power have typically been unachievable with most UPS’s allowing for the safe shutdown of computers and nothing more. UPS’s are changing though and now J2 can offer UPS’s devices that allow
for extended run times into hours rather than minutes.
your computers ensuring they can run with design tolerances.
Advances in battery technology have been critical in the achievement of long UPS runtimes but J2 has also worked hard to develop efficient computers that can run on the ole sniff of an oily rag.
A J2 UPS can be mounted in the base of all J2 integrated touch terminals except for a few smaller units where space is limited. For these models the UPS can be mounted externally.
In some environments and UPS configurations runtimes from between 1.5 to 5 hours can be achieved with a J2 UPS.
As an added advantage, all peripherals powered by a J2 terminal can also be powered by the UPS when the mains power fails.
If you’ve ever monitored your stores power supply you will probably notice a fluctuation in the voltage. It is not uncommon to experience voltages as low as 210v and up to 260v. These fluctuations can be detrimental to the operation of your computers and peripherals. A UPS can assist in smoothing out line fluctuations to provide a stable voltage supply to
So a UPS can keep your POS systems working when the light goes out and avert an otherwise unwanted situation and hopefully a loss in sales. Sounds good to me. For further information on UPS’s contact J2 Retail Systems.
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Phone: (02) 9584 5222 Email: info@j2retailsystems.com.au
j2retailsystems.com.au
Every care has been taken in compiling the contacts of this newsletter, but we assume no responsibility for the effects arising therefrom. J2 Retail Systems do not accept any responsibility arising in any way (including negligence) for errors in, or omissions from, the information provided in TOUCH newsletter. All information was correct at the time of print.