Point-of-sale software has export focus

Andrew Bell and Mark McGeachen of AdvanceRetail in Penrose. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

An Auckland company specialising in point-of-sale retail management software is making inroads into overseas markets.

"It's not rocket science - though in hindsight it's actually a lot harder," says Andrew Bell, chief technical officer and co-founder of AdvanceRetail Technology.

The company's point-of-sale systems are used by large New Zealand retailers such as Paper Plus and Smith & Caugheys, and offer a wide range of solutions, from monitoring inventory and sales to loyalty programmes and marketing surveys.

A head-office suite uses sales patterns and predictive logic to suggest re-order quantities.

Other advantages include optional customer-facing second screens, used to sell "companion" products to the customer.

"It's also providing a media channel instore," Bell says. "Outside of a sale, it can be used to play your latest advertising."

The system can prompt the operator to complete survey information, which can then be used for marketing purposes. It also keeps track of serial numbers for consumer electronics and cellphones.

Another option is a handheld, wireless unit that enables managers to check details of a product while they are on the showroom floor.

The device can also be used for stocktaking or to compile a gift registry or wish list.

The company goes back to 1968, when parent Data Group was founded. It started developing retail solutions on a DOS platform in 1987.

When Bell joined in 1996, his focus was to develop a Windows-based retail management solution.

"When I joined there were five of us. We've grown steadily from there to our present size of 40 staff and have grown our market share as a result."

He estimates the firm's local market share at 60 to 70 per cent.

Bell, a Kiwi by birth, spent most of his childhood in Britain. In 1987, he represented the country as a young ambassador of British engineering.

"I went to Nasa and spent three months working on the space station solar cells. I had what they call a Gold VIP tour - you get to sit in the flight controller's chair and push the buttons."

Returning to New Zealand to raise his family in 1996, Bell joined Data Group, and co-founded AdvanceRetail Technology with managing director Mark McGeachen.

The business now has offices in Sydney and Brisbane, and business partners in Singapore, Malaysia, China, Hong Kong and Ireland.

"The company is very strongly built around an export focus. Markets like Australia are critical to us," McGeachen says.

The product has been developed, he says, with overseas sales in mind.

AdvanceRetail Technology

Who: Co-founders Andrew Bell and Mark McGeachen.
Where: Auckland.
What: Retail management software.
Why: "We see ourselves as delivering technology platforms to retailers."