Highlights of Version 9.6 Improvements Since
Version 8.7
If your version is older than 8.7 then there
are many other prior improvements
Also see the newer improvements that were
added to
Versions 9.7 and 9.8 between 2005 and 2005
« A completely new
module added to Jewelry Shopkeeper is Shop-Pro EMail-Merge. This fully Windows
based module allows you to send personalized reminder notices to your customers
by e-mail. This program will search through your Shopkeeper customer list for
those names with e-mail and adds them to the send list.
« With EMail-Merge you
can select customers based on whether they have repairs or layaways awaiting
pickup. You can then write a template message for repairs and one for layaways
and the program will customize it for each customer, filling in their name,
e-mail address and repair or layaway job number, etc.
EMail-Merge also lets you select customers based on purchase
amounts or other criteria such as zip code, customer type, etc. You can save
many different templates for future re-use.
« New Gross Margin
Return on Inventory Investment (GMROI) reports are perhaps the most critical
measuring tools for evaluating the overall performance of your inventory
investments segment by segment.
« GMROI reports can
analyze by a) major class code, b) inventory groups, c) vendors, d)
manufacturers, e) minor codes, f) minor codes within major codes and
f) by price-points.
« Shop-Pro now uses a scaleable Windows report
viewer for on-screen reports to greatly help reading reports on-screen so you
can now see the full width of reports and see more lines at a time; Scroll up
and down with the mouse‑wheel; Move and resize the report window, Cut ‘n’
paste text, change fonts, etc.
« A jsReport folder is
now added to the Windows Desktop where you can find copies of recent Shop-Pro
reports.
« In addition, various
reports automatically store an Excel XLS version of the last report in this
jsReport desktop folder. You can open these reports in Excel, reformat, remove
or add columns and calculations and graphs.
« The summarized sales
and inventory analysis by price point has increased from ten to fifteen the
number of different price points. This allows you to more accurately analyze
your inventory performance.
« Network printing has
been improved and made more reliable.
« The use of Gift Cards
instead of standard gift certificates is seen as more professional. The use of
re‑usable Gift Cards is now supported in Version 9.6.
« More and more
jewelers are introducing commissions into pay packages. A new feature gives you
the ability to decrease commissions the greater the discounts given to
customers.
« Repair envelopes can
now print four phone numbers including any extension numbers. This can help you
reach customers quickly when their jobs are finished or when you have an
important question halfway during a repair. A letter next to each number H, W,
M, S indicates Home, Work,
«
The
time-clock punch-in / punch-out screen now displays a message to employees
which the manager can change. For example, this could be a simple message such
as "Please remember that the radio promotion gift certificates have
expired."
« The chart of accounts
file now stores 48 months of month‑end General Ledger balances. This is
up from 24 months in previous versions.
« Receipts have an
extra long receipt message specialized for each category of inventory. If you
sell a Bullova Watch you might want to include the warrantee terms. If you sell
a Pearl Necklace you might want to put some care and maintenance instructions,
etc.
« A layaway mail-merge
export for customers with outstanding layaways lets you create customized
letters and envelopes and labels from MS-Word.
« The repair envelope
can now print barcodes, which can improve the accuracy and speed of looking up
jobs. It can greatly speed up the processing of batches of jobs such as when
you move them from location to location or mark them as completed or billed.
« Inventory and repair
pictures now have an improved viewing screen. The new on-screen viewing screen
is sizable and movable and has a higher quality picture. It is compatible with
Windows XP down to Windows 95.
« If you track the
location or case code of your merchandise a useful new inventory report
provides a very concise summary of inventory by location with just one line per
location. On perhaps just one or two pages you can quickly review the
distribution of inventory. Previously all of the inventory by
location reports were detailed and extremely long.
« A new option allows
you to specify automatic discount percentages, based on the inventory minor
class code, to be taken off items at the sales screen.
« Shop-Pro now has a
screen saver to blank the screen and reduce monitor burns.
«Powerful new customer
sales analyses reports can now be sorted to identify customers with
the largest number of visits even if they haven't spent the most. Customer mailings
and mail merge features can select first-time customers who had never visited
before.
« Memorized Reports save your
preferences for sales and inventory reports to help you quickly run them each
week or month with the same selections so you can accurately compare reports
run with the same criteria.
« New sales
performance reports analyze and summarize sales activity to show you how
many sales transactions occur at each hour of the day and on what days of the
week.
« A new
report calculates the Average Total of Each Sales Ticket and shows the results
summarized by month or by day or by sales clerk or by zip code.
« Hot-Seller Reports let you choose to
show only those styles that have sold more than a certain quantity and/or only
those styles whose average turnover speed is better than a certain number of
days.
« Older versions do not print well with new Windows. The new
version has been updated to work with Windows XP and Windows 2000. Network
printing has also been improved.
« Each item in the inventory list now has an extra
description line for more details. You can select which one — or both — will be
used for reports, sales receipts and price tags.
« Inventory capacity has been expanded: Unlimited number
of location codes per Sku; Maximum quantity of each item now 9,999; Maximum
weight of each item 99,999
Maximum price of each item $9,999,999.99.
«You can now
change or correct the major class code of items directly from the inventory
take-in screen.
« Each item can be tracked by an alternative part
number.
« Improved inventory reports by location give you a
much more compact comparison of inventory by case or store code.
« Enhanced sales features include
new Gift Receipts that omit prices and dates so your customers can include them
when they give jewelry as a gift.
«The sales
screen can now calculate cumulative discounts such as taking 6% off a price
that's already been discounted by 12%
(which is, of course, not 18% off but 17.28%.)
« The use of Gift Cards
instead of standard gift certificates is steadily becoming more prevalent. The
use of plastic reusable Gift Cards is now available.
« Receipts can now have extra long receipt messages
specialized for each category of inventory. E.g., if you sell a Bullova Watch
you might want to include the warrantee terms. If you sell a Pearl Necklace you
might want to put some care and maintenance instructions, etc.
« Better repair tracking offers
repair templates to prompt users for items such as Center Stone, Condition,
Treated, Serial Number, etc. to reduce typing and remind users for important repair
details. You can type in many different repair templates for different types of
jobs so that watch overhauls, ring sizings, prong replacements can each have a template
to prompt for the right type of information.
« Quick-Update has been enhanced to allow you to type
in a list of repair numbers and then update their status all at once.
« Repair envelopes can now
print barcodes which can improve the accuracy and speed of looking up jobs. It
can greatly speed up the processing of batches of jobs such as when you move them from location to location or mark them as
completed or billed.
« Repair envelopes can now
print four phone numbers including any extension numbers at work to help you
reach customers quickly when their jobs are finished.
« More jewelers offer
commissions. A new feature gives you the ability to Decrease Commission
percentages the Higher the Discount given to the customer.
« Inventory and repairs have
an Improved Image Viewing Screen compatible with Windows XP (& 95/98/Me/2K)
« All-new
Employee Time-Clock feature calculates hours worked and perform
simple pay calculations.
« New Spell-Checker feature helps correct errors in
appraisals.
« With improved accounting
each check and general journal entry can now be split
between up to eight general ledger codes — up from four.
«The chart of accounts file now stores 48 months of month‑end
general ledger balances. This is up from 24 months in previous versions.
« End-of-month statements can reprint detailed sales
activity for 1 to 11 months because customers don't respond to statements with
just an "Opening Balance".
« End-of-month statements can be processed and printed
several days before the month-end.
« Numerous
other improvements — See detailed lists.