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SQUARE ONE General Design
Retail Management Software
SQUARE ONE is a very comprehensive retail management software system that has been in use for over 20 years. It has been designed and sold as a turnkey product using IBM’s RS/6000 as its server and running on IBM’s AIX UNIX operating system. We selected this combination because the servers are extremely reliable with excellent longevity and the operating system allows for multi-user and multi-tasking activities without the fear of overloading the system. There are no limits to the number of users, processes, or stores that can be running on the system at the same time.
We used MicroFocus Cobol to develop the retail management software. Its design is modular and very flexible. It is character-based and uses flat files for data storage. Along with the basic system, which manages administration, point-of-sale, purchasing, receiving, book returns, special/mail orders, sales analysis, and physical inventory, there are a number of optional modules that can be added as needed. These include sub-systems for web orders, member clubs, used books, accounts payable, accounts receivable, textbooks, and rentals as well as a powerful multi-store management module. All of the software is fully integrated. Our years of experience, our detailed knowledge of the retail environment gained through working hand-in-hand with our customers in their stores, and our willingness to do custom programming based on unique customer needs, has resulted in a feature-rich product that is very responsive to the user.
Although it is UNIX-based SQUARE ONE has been adapted
throughout its life to take advantage of the latest technologies.
Workstations can be PC’s that connect across the stores
network. We simply add a terminal emulator to the desktop for
the connection to the server. Of course terminals will also work
as workstations and even though they are serial devices they too
can be connected to the stores network. Virtually any printer
can be used with network printers being ideal as they are available
to all users. Remote logins are possible and multi-store operations
can be run off of a central server connected via a telnet session,
a VPN, or whatever other method the store deems appropriate. We
have also configured label printers, scanners, receipt printers,
keyboards, and other ancillary devices to work with the software
so that our retail management software package is a complete one.
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