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Summer 2009/2010
Retail Systems Newsletter
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Welcome Welcome to the first edition of Touch, the J2 Retail Systems newsletter. Our aim is to keep you informed about what is happening at J2, share some success stories with you as well as provide some educational articles that will help you in supporting, selling and getting the most out of J2 touch terminals. It has been a busy time for the team at J2 since opening our doors in Australia in July. With the support of our loyal customers we have quickly been able to establish J2 as one of Australia’s premium brands of touch terminals. With our UK head offices full support we have been able to introduce some new, class leading solutions into Australia such as the J2 615 touch terminal and have been able to respond to the demands of the marketplace effectively. In a marketplace where there is little formal education about products, confusion as to what is good or bad in touch terminals is difficult to find. J2 is a technology led organisation that has a philosophy to share the knowledge we have amassed over the years to benefit our clients. This edition of Touch provides you with an insight as to the history of J2 as well as answer some questions we often get asked about. We will also showcase a product and try and provide you with some more in depth information directly from the design teams desks. Our door is always open to our clients so if further information is required on anything that you may read about please don’t hesitate to give us a call or drop into our office. I would like to thank our supportive customers for their loyalty in difficult economic times and wish you all a merry Christmas and happy and safe new year and look forward to bigger and better things in 2010. Yours sincerely Phil Wild
General Manager
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Inside J2 Retail Systems stablished in 2002, J2 is a UK-based group E specialising in the manufacture of PC based
control and flexible, cost effective and high quality manufacturing processes.
touchscreens, LCD touchscreen monitors and pointof-sale hardware to the retail, hospitality and leisure industries.
The end result is that J2 can offer high quality POS terminal solutions at competitive prices.
The company was formed by a group of experienced POS hardware specialists who led a management buy-out of a prominent US based touch terminal vendor. This brought together two companies. J2 Retail Systems and Jade Communications. 3 years later, Jade was sold, leaving J2 with a thriving business designing and manufacturing touchscreen computers.
After discovering potential in a fast growing Australian market, POS hardware specialists and shareholders of J2 Retail Systems, Moray Boyd, Tony Sampson and Alex Nelson established a wholly-owned subsidiary located in Sydney, Australia in an effort to broaden the use of J2 solutions in the Asia pacific region as well to provide local support.
Originally selling OEM terminals from numerous suppliers, J2 changed their approach to an in-house design approach in attempt to respond to market demands.
The directors appointed long time POS terminal industry stalwart, Phil Wild, to head up their new office. Phil’s experience in the Australian market is unparalleled having held senior sales positions at Javelin and Vantex and was the former general manager of EBN Australia before its decision to close its Australian office.
Norm Campbell, a worldwide leader in touch terminal design, was recruited to head up J2’s research and development team. J2 now had the designs but required the quality manufacturing environment to bring the leading designs to life. J2 began sourcing contract manufacturers that were able to meet their quality, cost and supply demands. After a worldwide search, J2 has partnered with world leading contract manufacturers that are seeing J2 products built alongside other world leading brands such as IBM, HP, Apple, Toshiba and Sony. This business model provides J2 with complete design
Utilising this local Australian office and supported by an experienced, in-house design team and quality manufacturers, J2 have since solidified their position in the Australian market, providing reliable products supported by quality services. Now with J2’s local support, the entire organisation is designed to meet the niche demands of the retail and hospitality industry in the Australian market. The future looks bright for J2 in Australia.
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J2 Christmas Shutdown Dates Who’s Touching J2? J2’s international success is now being emulated in Australia thanks to the dedicated team at J2 and supportive resellers. In the space of 5 months J2 solutions have been implemented across Australia by some of the nation’s leading hospitality, retail and gaming organisations. Our wins:
Subiaco Hotel – H&L Sky City Casino Darwin Tony Romas – TriniTEQ Chooks – Guzzware Zarraffa’s Coffee – Guzzware WA Turf Club – Retail Systems
The list of J2 users grows day by day as the word spreads about the reliability, performance and support of J2 solutions.
The team at J2 will be closing down over the festive season so please ensure you note down the following dates. Closing: 12pm, 24th December 2009 Last Orders Shipped: 23rd December 2009 Last orders to be received by: 5pm, 22nd December 2009 Re-open: 11th January 2010
Tech News The 650 model will no longer be available with a Core Celeron 1.6 GHz processor. The 1.6 GHz processor has been replaced with the Core Celeron 2.0 GHz processor. This processor provides a performance increase at no extra cost.
New Cardiff City Stadium kicks off its first season with EPoS solution J2 Retail Systems and ECR Concepts, a provider of EPoS systems for retail, catering and cashless operation, have revealed that their combined solution is driving point-of-sale operations in the new Cardiff City Stadium (Stadiwm Dinas Caerdydd). The duo has provided the hardware, software and services for an integrated front-office and back-office till system installed in the Stadium’s retail superstore, bars, corporate hospitality suite and concourse kiosks. A total of 56 units were installed in time for the Stadium’s opening match, a pre-season friendly against Celtic FC, which took place on 22 July. Pontypridd-based ECR Concepts secured the technology contract after a lengthy and competitive process of tender and evaluation. This included working with stadium consultant, David Spencer, who has managed the entire project from the foundations upwards. Explains Sean Hosking, Managing Director of ECR Concepts: “We supply systems to a number of football and rugby clubs, so were easily able to demonstrate our track record. The hardware solution was important too and, with J2, we could put forward a reliable system that is proven for both retail and catering use.”
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front office, plus it provides full-blown stock control,” says Sean Hosking. Hosking boasts that the ECR software is “written quite tightly so we don’t need vast processing power.” He describes the J2 tills that he has installed as “a perfect fit for us.” ECR Concepts also interfaces its system with a provider of smart card technology. Corporate visitors and season holders are given smart cards to access the Stadium and to identify themselves and their purchases in the retail superstore, so the business can profile them. In future, this will be extended to cashless ‘e-purse’ facilities across the Stadium.
Adds David Spencer: “We couldn’t fail to be impressed by the credentials of ECR and J2. They came up with a competitive package and, given ECR’s location, could guarantee us a responsive technical support service.”
Cardiff City Stadium can accommodate some 27,000 spectators in its all-seated ground. From the start of this 2009-2010 season, it will be the home of Cardiff City FC and will also host home matches of the Cardiff Blues rugby union team. After the Millennium Stadium, it is the second largest stadium in Wales.
ECR has deployed the same three-in-one solution across retail, hospitality and kiosks, with each variant configured for the particular environment. “In terms of functionality, the solution offers Cardiff City Stadium everything it needs in the
Other local venues which have installed a combined ECR Concepts and J2 Retail Systems solution include the new stadium at Scarlets Rugby (Parc y Scarlets) in Llanelli, now the home of Welsh Rugby Union.
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DEMYSTIFYING Total Cost of Ownership I nstalling a new point of sale solution is not a cheap investment. It is for this reason it is understandable that many purchasers are transfixed on the initial purchase price.
included in the cost of the solution. Other costs that are often forgotten about besides the initial purchase cost of the equipment is ancillary services and products such as network wiring and infrastructure.
However, if this approach is taken the purchasers cost analyses excludes the cost and benefits of a solution over its entire operational life.
Staging and deployment
By taking an approach that factors in all costs and benefits over the life of the solution, a more accurate view on the value proposition is gained. This evaluation is called “Total Cost of Ownership� or TCO. The four aspects of calculating the TCO cover the entire lifecycle of a solution that include: 1. Evaluation and procurement 2. Staging and deployment 3. Store operations and system management 4. Removal and disposal
Evaluation and procurement All POS projects start with the evaluation of solutions. Often these costs are not evaluated when organisations choose POS solutions. It is most common that staff are employed to evaluate POS solutions which must be
Whether it be a single store or multi store installation there is a cost in installing and deploying a POS solution. Often technicians are required to configure the system which is generally included in the initial purchase price. The cost associated with your staff’s time in learning how to use the systems, as well as the disruption to your business as staff come up to speed with the use of the new solutions is often not evaluated when purchasing a solution.
Store operation and system management All POS solutions have an ongoing cost and benefit associated to them. Basic operation of the solution including electricity as well as the benefits of operation efficiencies must be calculated to determine the true cost of the solution to your business. There is also the cost of maintenance and the staff time involved in keeping the system operating as it should.
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Removal and disposal All POS solutions have a life. At the end of the solutions life there are costs and revenues that need to be calculated to determine the TCO. Costs include disposal of the hardware, staff time in dismantling the system. Revenue by also be gained from the sale of the equipment.
Access to internal aspects of a touch terminal including processors and hard drives must be easy to minimise the time technicians are required to service the product. The quicker the product can be fixed the lower the cost.
What influences TCO?
Manageability
With it now becoming apparent that there are a number of different factors that need to be calculated when determining the TCO the differentiating factor between each solution with be the things that influence the cost of each.
The manageability of a POS solution is a critical cost factor. If the solution is cumbersome and involves significant man hours in support to keep the system operational then it will not be cost effective.
There are primarily four influencing factors to the TCO of a POS solution: 1. Reliability and usability 2. Serviceability 3. Manageability 4. Environmental
Reliability and usability Nothing beats a reliable POS solution. Manufacturers, such as J2, invest many man hours in ensuring products are designed for the purpose to minimise the chance of failure. These hours of design and testing are aimed at reducing the cost to POS users of failed equipment. Not only does unreliable hardware provide an organisation with the hassle of having it repaired but also the disruption to the trading of a business can be financially crippling. The more widespread use of touch screen terminals is a direct reflection of their impact on the useability of POS solutions. With often high staff turnover in retail and hospitality environments it is important to minimise the associated costs of training new staff. By having a more intuitive POS solution will enable new staff to get up to speed as soon as possible whilst at the same time minimising costs of training.
Serviceability No matter what a POS solution company may tell you, there is always the chance of equipment failure. With a touch terminal housing thousands of components, it takes just one faulty part to render a terminal inoperable. In this instance it important that the repair of the unit can 6
be done promptly to minimise the impact of the loss of operation to the trading of the business.
The people behind the solution need to be knowledgeable so that any issues can be identified and rectified promptly.
Environmental With the world becoming more focused on the impact we make on the environment, companies are seeking more environmentally friendly solutions. As a result of the market push, manufacturers have responded with more sustainable manufacturing processes as well as achieving efficient performance characteristics. Modern processors are up to 30% faster whilst utilize 35-40% less energy. This can represent a massive energy cost saving in large installations.
Conclusion The initial purchase price of a product is not the only factor when deciding on what POS solution to purchase. Though you may be able to save a few dollars finding cheaper hardware, this does not mean that the total cost to the business over the life of the unit is beneficial. A cost saving of a few hundred dollars will quickly be negated if the hardware fails and a technician is required to repair the unit. As computer hardware is used over a number of years you want to ensure that the solution you have will be just as effective on day 1 as its last day of operation. Having an organisation that can support your installation is critical. So when next evaluating which POS solution to go for consider the total cost of ownership and not just the purchase price. ď Ž
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J2 615 Driving Solid State Drives into the POS Industry Dubbed “The Pioneer”, the J2 615 integrated touch terminal is the first touchscreen POS computer to offer a Solid State Drive (SSD), as a standard addition to 1GB of RAM. Producing faster speeds, power and heat reduction, pole mount ability and a robust build, the J2 615 sets the reliability benchmark for POS touch terminals.
Fast The J2 615 features Intel’s new Atom 1.6 GHz processor and a SSD which provides read and write speeds up to 400% faster than HDD, allowing you to keep up with the speeds demanded by the latest POS software.
Fanless Utilising a fan less design, the J2 615 has revolutionised POS touch terminals with the addition of an SSD hard drive. Without the normal fans and moving parts required with traditional HDD’s, the dust and grime that is attracted into fan cooled touch terminals has been eliminated. Furthermore, reducing the amount of moving parts has reduced heat output allowing the touch terminal to run without fans and reducing power consumption. Typically the power reduction is around half to one quarter the consumption of a HDD.
Built to last From a fan less design to ELO sealed LCD touch screen and an optional UPS, the J2 615 is built to excel in the harshest environments reducing dust, grime, splash and power failure damage. Add to this J2’s trademark 3-year parts & labour warranty and an exceptional cost of ownership, and you have a machine that simply cannot be rivalled.
Key Features: > Intel’s new Atom 1.6Ghz CPU > 15” touch screen with ELO resistive touch screen > Solid state or HDD > High reliability thanks to no moving parts > Fan less > 1 GB RAM Standard > 4 x external serial ports > 4 x external USB ports > 3 track MSR option > Audio out > Optional UPS > Dual display support standard > OPOS driver compatible 7
Road y r a d Boun 5 8 3 6, 83 SW 222 t i n N U dale t r o M 5222 4 8 5 02 9 50 825 9 Tel: 411 0 1500 : b 4 8 5 Mo 02 9 u om.a Fax: c . s tem ilsys a t e .j2r www
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