A new business partnership between the National Newsagents Federation and Norcon offer packaged EPoS solution to its 16,500 members
A new business partnership between the National Newsagents Federation and Norcon offer packaged EPoS solution to its 16,500 members
At the 2011 Conference of the National Federation of Retail Newsagents (NFRN) held last month in Torquay, the industry body that serves all sellers of newsprint announced that it had finalised a business partnership with a specialist software developer and service provider for this retail sector.
The NFRN, whose membership encompasses independent newsagents as well as convenience stores, supermarkets, and petrol forecourts that sell newspapers, is now able to propose an electronic point-of-sale (EPoS) package to its members tailored to their specific business needs and attractively priced.
To provide this package, the NFRN turned to Norcon Computers and its hardware partner, J2 Retail Systems. Established 18 years ago, Norcon is the longest-serving software company for the newsagent trade. Nearly 1,800 businesses nationwide (including symbol groups such as Londis and Costcutter) use its News Slave, Response and PosiTill applications to manage their operations.
Providing specific retail functionality
The NFRN has recommended Norcon’s Point-of-Sale Intelligent Tilling System (PosiTill) as having all the functionality needed for day-to-day trading by smaller newsagents, convenience and community stores. PosiTill manages till-point processing services, in addition to full accounting, and reporting. It is described by the NFRN as “a high-quality entry-level system, with all the necessary functionality and none of the reporting complexities that can be associated with other EPoS solutions”. The package also includes Norcon’s News Slave for Windows and a preloaded database of 30,000 products.
In addition to full installation, set-up and training services provided by Norcon, the package will come pre-loaded on a contemporary PC-based touchscreen scanning till, the J2 615. The J2 615 was designed, developed and launched by international EPoS manufacturer J2 Retail Systems, whose installed base includes many tens of thousands of retail users worldwide.
Breaking down price barriers
Wayne Graves, Norcon sales director, said: “We’re very proud to have been selected as a formal business partner of the NFRN. With decades of experience, the Federation was impressed by what we could offer in terms of software and hardware. Importantly too, we were able to offer a membership package priced to break down the barriers that have prevented many smaller news businesses from adopting EPoS.”
He added: “We have been very pleased with the J2 615 POS Till Point. It is an ideal platform for our software and a very cost effective solution for NFRN members to invest in EPoS.”
Alan Smith, vice president of the NFRN, said: “Having used this system for many years, this is a real breakthrough for those amongst our 15,500-strong membership who have felt that EPoS was beyond their means. Now there’s a specialist solution available to help all retail outlets to improve how they manage accounting, deliveries and stock control. Thanks to Norcon and J2, it’s also one that makes EPoS affordable to all.”
