CROSS- REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application claims the priority of the provisional application with serial number 794/CHE/2014 filed on 19 February, 2014 postdated by one month to 19 March, 2014 with title, "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR RETAIL MANAGEMENT" and the contents of which is incorporated in entirety.

A) TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present invention is generally related to an e-commerce system retail management system. The present invention is particularly related to an integrated retail management system and method. The present invention is more particularly related to an intuitive, affordable and a global comprehensive retail management system solution for increasing operational efficiency, performance, productivity and ultimately widening profit margins for retailers.

B) BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0003] In the past, the retailers had a hard time in providing customer service to the customers who still purchase in the physical stores. With online shopping available and easily accessible to most of the purchasers, the retailers desire to make the shopping experience a pleasant and quick experience. During rush times (sales events, evening hours, weekends, holiday seasons, etc.), many purchasers visit the physical retail locations. Retail sales person and managers have a difficult time in assisting all the customers, during these rush times or busy periods due to the checkout lines being very long thereby requiring the employment of maximum number of cashiers and the inventory stock in the store may become much disorganized. In addition, many customers look for the different sizes that may not be put on display or look for help in finding items that were displayed online or in advertisements. The purchasers want to spend as little time as possible in waiting in a line and do not want to wait for more time in a line to purchase the items or to speak with a sales person.

[0004] In today's ever changing business environment, the distribution requirements have become more complex. More features, more automation, and more adaptability are required today in solving these complex challenges in distribution.

[0005] A vendor has a direct impact on a retailer's ability to deliver the best possible product offering, on time consistently. In addition to the requirements on the vendors in the production and order process, the retailers and brands need to manage a compliance of product quality and social issues such as worker conditions. As the standards are increased gradually, the complexity of tracking and need to achieve the set targets are also increased. A need for effectively managing a large number of geographically dispersed vendors requires several consistent processes that support regular communications and enable collaborative relationships over a time.

[0006] Specialty apparel retailers face a variety of challenges in today's complicated marketplace. Many companies take an advantage of growing the sales and a warmer consumer market to expand. This expansion, however, creates additional challenges, particularly when it comes to inventory management across the multiple stores in different cities, states or even countries.

[0007] Hence, there is a need for a method and system for managing and controlling vendors, inventories across the warehouses and shops effectively for improving a performance and increasing profitability. There is also a need for an automated solution for allowing the retailers to be mobile to enable the retailers to move to various locations within the retail store. Still further there is a need for an automated and integrated solution to enable complete transactions to enable an item search, price lookup, item purchase, etc., effectively and efficiently. Further there is also need for an affordable retail inventory management platform that is easy to implement, and flexible enough to meet the changing needs of the retailers, and to scale up or down business according to the business needs. Overall, there is need for a method and system to provide an intuitive, affordable, and global solution for covering all the operational needs of retail management within single robust and agile system for retailers.
[0008] The above mentioned shortcomings, disadvantages and problems are addressed herein and which will be understood by reading and studying the following specification.

C) OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The primary object of the present invention is to provide an integrated retail management system and method for solving the demanding challenges of warehouse distribution, inventory management and retailing.

[0010] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method for Vendor management for allowing the retailers and brands to effectively track vendor and factory performance and to ensure social and technical compliance.

[0011] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide Warehouse management solutions for providing a directed warehouse workflow.

[0012] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an Inventory Management for managing, controlling and tracking the inventory across the entire retail organization.

[0013] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a Purchase Order management and transferring method for streamlining the purchasing and transferring of products.

[0014] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide Centralized Transaction Control, Reporting and Analytics methods.

[0015] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide Customer management, retention and loyalty methods for improving customer satisfaction.

[0016] Yet another object of the present invention is to provide Financial Management for maintaining Customer Accounts, Vendor Accounts, Bank transactions and sales and purchases.

[0017] These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become readily apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

D) SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0018] The various embodiments of the present invention provide an integrated retail management system for managing an entire business of a retailer. The retail management system comprises a sourcing and manufacturing management module, a vendor management module, a warehouse management module, a financial management module, a distribution management module, a customer relationship management module, a business management module and a plurality of point of sale systems. The sourcing and manufacturing management module manages the manufacturing of a plurality of products and services and sourcing of the plurality of products and services from a plurality of vendors. The vendor management module facilitates one or more retailers and brands to effectively track each vendor and calculate a factory performance for each vendor. The warehouse management module manages a directed warehouse workflow. The financial management module comprises an accounting module and a profit and loss module. The accounting module is configured to manage and track a plurality of retail transactions between the retailers and the vendors. The profit and loss module is configured to estimate a profit and loss percentage of a retail business over a period of time. The distribution management module manages a distribution of plurality of products and services between the warehouse and a plurality of retail stores. The customer relationship management module provides a plurality of personalized customer services. The business management module comprises a planning module and a transaction module. The business management module is configured to organize the sales, purchases and marketing of the plurality of products and services for completing a financial transaction. The plurality of point of sale systems installed at the retailers outlet or stores for performing retail transaction.

[0019] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the planning module of the business management module further comprises a merchandise module for keeping a record on the purchase and sale of one or more merchandise products or services.

[0020] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the accounting module of the financial management module is configured for managing and maintaining accounts on one or more products and services and handling financial transactions of the one or more products and services.

[0021] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer relationship module is configured to track a behavior of a plurality of customers and calculate a customer retention factor for each of the plurality of customers. The customer relationship module is configured to attract the customers by providing a plurality of loyalty programs. The plurality of loyalty programs is integral and customized to offer a plurality of rewards and discounts.

[0022] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the vendor management module is configured to provide the retailers with an ability to efficiently manage a plurality of pricing and promotions related processes. The pricing and promotion related processes include an automatic routing of various forms and documents to decision-makers for review and approval.

[0023] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the warehouse management module performs a plurality of auto-identification processes to track an inventory and a plurality of built-in user-configurable warehouse optimization processes to control the use of a warehouse space and equipment.

[0024] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the warehouse management module further comprises an inventory control and management module to update and replenish an existing stock of the products and services. The inventory control and management module further is configured to manage transfer of the products and services between the warehouse and the plurality of retail shops.

[0025] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the inventory control and management module further comprises a statistical based demand forecasting sub-module seamlessly integrated within the retail management system for providing a complete planning for meeting a demand in a business supply chain. The inventory management module adopts a plurality of supervisor-configurable processes to provide a warehouse manager with an ability to properly set up the inventory for meeting a specification of the warehouse that are managed.

[0026] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system further comprises a purchase order module for managing and transferring a purchase order (PO) and a purchase requisition (PR) for streamlining the purchasing and transfer management. The Purchase Order comprises a plurality of purchase transactions saved in payment details, common details and a purchase order summary. Each product of a purchase order in-combination with the quantity is saved in the purchase order module.

[0027] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the purchase order module further comprises a demand forecasting sub-module to project and handle a plurality of demand forecasting sub-module projects and automatically create the purchase orders (PO) or the purchase requisitions (PR). The demand forecasting sub-module further customizes the purchase orders (PO) or the purchase requisitions (PR) by adjusting a quantity or a request delivery date to the vendor.

[0028] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the system further comprises a centralized transaction control module for communicating a transactional and customer data to a central database and providing reliable access to secure and accurate up-to-date information on the transaction and customer data. The centralized transaction control module further returns and prevents shrinkage by verifying the transaction and customer information against the database to spot suspicious irregularities.

[0029] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the system further comprises a reporting and analytics module configured to consolidate and present the transactional data for providing an integrated real-time reporting solution preloaded with a wide array of standard reports for automatically generating one or more analytic reports. The reporting and analytics module is configured to share the generated reports with the retailers and/or administrators.

[0030] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the system further comprises an Employee Management module provided for sales performance tracking of a plurality of employees. The employee management module is configured to set a plurality of goals for the individual employees and involuntarily award appropriate rewards for different levels of employee productivity.

[0031] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the accounting module further comprises a customer accounting module configured to
maintain the financial transactions relating to the plurality of customers associated with the retailers. The transactions are maintained in a customer account created for the respective customer.

[0032] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the accounting module further comprises a vendor accounting module configured to maintain the financial transactions relating to the plurality of vendors associated with the retailers. The transactions for the individual vendor are maintained in a vendor account.

[0033] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the financial management module further comprises a general ledger configured for creating and maintaining the journal entries and integrating the entries with the Customer Accounts, Vendor Accounts, Bank transactions and sales and purchases. The general ledger is configured to prepare a plurality of income statements and balance sheets in a customized format.

[0034] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the account management module is a unified ledger system configured to determine the plurality of transactions by the analysis codes attached to each of the transactions.

[0035] According to an embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of ledgers is a subset of data associated with transactions pertaining to sales, purchases, staff, assets, and deposits. The plurality of ledgers are integrated and updated in real-time.

[0036] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the account management module further comprises an expense module configured to capture and analyze a business expenditure and employee expenses. The account management module further comprises a time-sheet module configured to provide a user interface for allowing a plurality of users to record a time spent on jobs, and a reporting module configured to allow the users to access reports and dashboards on a self-service basis.

[0037] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the account management module of the retail management system comprises a data transformation tool (DTT) configured to provide a seamless integration for both to and from the third party applications, for providing flexibility while ensuring the integrity of the core financial data.

[0038] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the account management module further comprises an enquiry management module configured to provide a user interface to view, print and convert a plurality of enquiries and reports. The enquiry management module is configured to provide a multiple runtime selection criteria through the enquiries. The enquiry management module facilitates the user defined fields to be created in any ledger and be used within enquiries and reports.

[0039] The various embodiments of the present invention provide a method for retail management. The method comprises the steps of receiving a
plurality of products and services from a plurality of vendors; managing and controlling the inventory across an entire retail organization by an inventory management module; transferring the products or items from the warehouse to the inventory of outlets or shops; creating a plurality of purchase orders and purchase requisitions for obtaining the products from the vendors for replenishing the inventory; managing a customer satisfaction; improving customer's shopping experiences by tracking customer information and choices; generating a plurality of reports and analytics; sharing the generated reports with a retailer or an administrator in real-time, and tracking vendors, employees' sales performances, inventories, and a point of sale transactions.

[0040] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the products received from the vendors are stored in an inventory of a warehouse

[0041] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of managing and controlling the inventory further comprises steps of providing a quick view on on-hand quantities, sold quantities, received quantities, on-order quantities and in-transit quantities for each product across multiple store locations; tracking the products in the inventory across an entire product life cycle; predefining a plurality of style grid templates for all the user apparel inventory management needs; creating a plurality of user-defined fields to track a plurality of miscellaneous attributes; creating a plurality of bar-coded labels for the products received into the warehouse; defining a plurality of pricing levels for each product based on the store and the customer; tracking a movement of a merchandise within a plurality of sub-locations of the warehouse; setting a maximum discount percentage to the plurality of specific products so as to limit an impact of discount on the items' profitability; tracking a plurality of serial numbers through the entire product life cycle or on a plurality of specific transactions only; setting up a plurality of tax codes to track item-specific taxing requirements; and applying a plurality of changes and corrections to a plurality of product descriptions, system-wide so that the data remains consistent.

[0042] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of creating the plurality of purchase orders and purchase requisitions for obtaining the products from the vendors further comprises the steps of automatically creating the purchase orders based on one of an existing stock, minimum/maximum stock levels, and customer order commitments; optimizing the merchandise replenishment through the transfer of over-stocked and low-selling items products for an even distribution of the merchandise; effectively managing a plurality of purchases for the plurality of stores via a single 'master' purchase order; automatically distributing the purchases of the products to the stores in need of stock; creating the purchase orders that meet the vendor's minimum order requirements; preventing the reception of orders for a plurality of specific items that are discontinued or out of season; receiving the merchandise with or without
referencing the purchase order; and printing a plurality of barcodes and labels as needed or as part of a receiving process.

[0043] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of managing a customer satisfaction and improving customer's shopping experiences further comprises the steps of tracking a plurality of customers by setting up a plurality of user-defined fields to track a miscellaneous customer information; determining the information required for a plurality of new customers to ensure that a plurality of employees are entering all relevant information into the system; providing a quick and easy access to customer purchasing history; allowing a plurality of sales representatives to provide a personalized service and a meaningful recommendation to customers; using a plurality customer security levels to control the personal identifiable information about the customers, which is viewed and/or edited by employees; and providing an integrated customer loyalty program for rewarding a plurality of rewards based on customer spending, visits, and profitability.

[0044] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the step of tracking the employee sales performance, further comprises the steps of providing the appropriate rewards for differing the levels of employee productivity; dividing a single commission between the multiple employees involved in the same sale; creating a plurality of user-defined security groups to control a user access to specific areas and functions within the retail management system; tracking the
employee sales performance by recording the specific employee details for each sales transaction and optionally requesting the users to logon between each transaction.

[0045] These and other aspects of the embodiments herein will be better appreciated and understood when considered in conjunction with the following description and the accompanying drawings. It should be understood, however, that the following descriptions, while indicating the preferred embodiments and numerous specific details thereof, are given by way of illustration and not of limitation. Many changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the embodiments herein without departing from the spirit thereof, and the embodiments herein include all such modifications.

E) BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] The other objects, features and advantages will occur to those skilled in the art from the following description of the preferred embodiment and the accompanying drawings in which:

[0047] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of an integrated retail management system for managing retail outlet level to warehouse to manufacturing/sourcing level, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0048] FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart illustrating an Inventory Management module for managing and controlling the Inventory across the entire retail organization both at the shop and warehouse level, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0049] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a Purchase Order Module, for managing Purchase Orders and Transfers through the retail management system, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0050] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a Customer creation process for setting up user defined fields to track customer information for providing personalized customer service, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0051] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a Point of Sale scenario, where a retail transaction is completed and the customer is awarded with loyalty points, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0052] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps adopted in a Sales Order Module, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0053] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a Product Repair Module for repairing of sold products, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0054] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an Exchange of Product Module for exchanging of products, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0055] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an Account Management Module for producing comprehensive accounting information and options for analysis, according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0056] Although the specific features of the present invention are shown in some drawings and not in others. This is done for convenience only as each feature may be combined with any or all of the other features in accordance with the present invention.

F) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0057] In the following detailed description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which the specific embodiments that may be practiced is shown by way of illustration. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and it is to be understood that the logical, mechanical and other changes may be made without departing from the scope of the embodiments. The following detailed description is therefore not to be taken in a limiting sense.

[0058] FIG. 1 illustrates an integrated retail management system for managing retail outlet level to warehouse to manufacturing/sourcing level, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The integrated retail management system 100 comprises a sourcing/manufacturing management module 101 for managing manufacture of plurality of items/goods or sourcing of plurality of items/goods from vendors, a warehouse management module 102 for managing a directed warehouse workflow, a distribution management module 103 for managing distribution of plurality of items between warehouse and stores, a business management module 104 comprising a planning module 104a and a transaction module 104b, a retailing management module 105 for managing one or more retailers and brands to effectively track vendor and factory performance, a financial management module 106 comprising an accounting module 106a for managing and tracking retail transaction and a profit and loss module 106b for estimating profit and loss of a retail business over a period of time, a customer relationship management module 107 for providing personalized customer services and point of sale systems 108 installed at the retailers outlet or stores for performing retail transaction.

[0059] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the planning module 104a of the business management module 104 further comprises a merchandise module 104c for keeping a record on the purchase and sale of one or more merchandise products or services.

[0060] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the customer relationship management module 107 improves sales performance by providing one or more personalized customer services and integrated, customizable loyalty programs build customer retention by offering rewards for spending, visits, profitability, or other metrics.

[0061] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system and method provides a complete enterprise solution that comprises getting products or items from suppliers or vendors; storing the products or items obtained from the vendors in the inventory of the warehouse; transferring products or items to the inventory of outlets or shops; creating purchase orders and requisitions for obtaining products or items from vendors to increase stock levels and replenishing the inventory; managing customer satisfaction and improving customer's shopping experiences by tracking customer information and choices; automatically generating reports and analytics and sharing the generated reports with the retail owner or administrator in real-time; effectively tracking vendors, employee sales performance, inventories, Point of Sale transactions and much more.

[0062] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system comprises a Vendor Management module, a Warehouse Management module, an Inventory Control and Management module, a Purchase Order module, a Centralized Transaction Control module, and a Reporting and Analytics module for solving the demanding challenges of retailing and for improving an operational performance as well as increase profitability for retailers.

[0063] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the Vendor Management allows one or more retailers and brands to effectively track vendor and factory performance and also ensures social and technical compliance. The Vendor Management module provides increased visibility and helps in collaborating with trading partners to improve vendor performance. The Vendor Management module further provides the retailers with an ability to efficiently manage all pricing and promotions related processes, including the automatic routing of various forms and documents to decision-makers for review and approval.

[0064] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system comprises an advanced, logical Warehouse Management module for providing a directed warehouse workflow, track inventory to virtually 100% accuracy and controls the use of warehouse space and equipment. The retail management system solves the demanding challenges of warehouse distribution of the Vendor products and manufacturing by offering the accuracy, flexibility, and power that warehouse management demands, providing total control of the warehouse, from receiving, put away, and replenishment to physical/cycle counts, customer and production order picking, shipping, and complete productivity management. The retail management system utilizes auto-identification processes, real-time wireless mobile devices, and provides directed workflow with built-in user-configurable warehouse optimization processes. A few warehouse management functions comprises Cycle counting, replenishment, moves, transfers, location management, physical counting and space optimization that are better managed and trusted by the retail management system. The retail management system supports a proactive approach (orchestration), versus a reactive approach (execution or expediting mode.) which allows clients to easily move from conception, to execution, and finally to full orchestration excellence in their operations.

[0065] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an Inventory Management module for managing and controlling the Inventory across the entire retail organization both at the shop and warehouse level, according to an embodiment of the present invention. To replenish the existing stock or inventory in a particular shop that is in case of requesting for products, the products or items are moved or transferred from other shops as well as directly from the warehouse. The inventories of both the shop requesting for products or items and the warehouse are updated in the retail management system through the Inventory Control and Management module. The retail management system generates a shop to shop request form for the items to be dispatched according to the requested shop (201). The shop to shop request form is received with respect to each of the shop location (202). All the transactions relating to product transfers are recorded in the shop master module according to shop locations (203). The overall shop inventory is updated as per the shop location. Based on the change in product quantity, the details are updated or inserted in the shop location details (204). The product transfer is also done location wise at the admin level (205). The shop inventory is updated, if products are directly transferred to the selected shops, without any request for products from the selected shop (206). A received tag is generated on the request form, on receiving of the products at the respective shop location (207).

[0066] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the Inventory Control and Management module for effectively controlling and managing the Inventory across the warehouses and the retail shops. The Inventory Control and Management module conveniently manages inventory across the entire retail organization. The Inventory Control and Management module supports multiple warehouses, zones, fixed/random locations, and other user-configurable staging areas. The Inventory Control and Management module further allow quick view on: on-hand, sold, received, on-order and in-transit quantities for each item across multiple store locations. The Inventory Control and Management module of the retail management system provides the functionalities such as but not limited to: tracking inventory items across the entire product life cycle from purchasing, to receiving, to transfers, to sales and more; tracking an unlimited number of inventory items and associated item images; predefining an unlimited number of style grid templates for all the user apparel inventory management needs; creating an unlimited number of user-defined fields to track miscellaneous attributes; creating bar coded labels (via PC or wireless scanners) for items received into the warehouse from production, location labels, shipping labels etc,.; defining an unlimited number of pricing levels for each item for store-based and customer-based pricing; tracking merchandise movement within sub locations of the same store location (For example: from stockroom to sales floor or sales floor to display area); setting maximum discount percentage to specific items to limit the impact of discount on the items' profitability; tracking serial numbers through the entire product life cycle (from receiving to sales) or on specific transactions only; setting up an unlimited number of tax codes to track item-specific taxing requirements, like local and regional-based tax structures; applying changes and corrections to item descriptions, system-wide so that data remains consistent. The Inventory control and Management module ensures timely, accurate inventory rotation/turnover and thus reduces wastage of products due to date expiration. The Inventory Control and Management module further comprises supervisor-configurable processes to provide warehouse managers with the ability to properly set up the inventory for meeting the specific needs of the warehouse(s) that are managed.

[0067] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the module for managing and controlling the Inventory further comprises a statistical based Demand Forecasting sub-module which is seamlessly integrated within the retail management system for providing complete demand planning for business supply chain. The module uses proven exponential smoothing formulas to mathematically project future inventory requirements for sales. The module is totally integrated with the warehouse and manufacturing modules and other automated interfaces to track all inventory levels throughout the entire supply chain in real time.

[0068] FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a Purchase Order Module, for managing Purchase Orders and transfers through the retail management system, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The product request form (301) is generated based on a selected warehouse category (302). The generated product request form is then sent to the Purchase Order console which consists of at-least four consoles (303) such as, the Purchase Order (306), Requested Items or Products for a warehouse or shop (307), Items or Products Received (308), and Items or Products Dispatched from the Vendor (309). The Purchase Order comprises Purchase Transactions saved in Payment details (304), Common details (305) and the Purchase Order Summary where each product combination with quantity is saved (311). Once the Dispatched Items or Products are received, the items or products are transferred and stored in the inventory (310), wherein, each product transaction is recorded in the Inventory Master (312) and in turn updates the inventory details such as the Product combinations, transferred quantities etc. on successful transfer (313). If the requested quantity of products or items is not available in the warehouse inventory (314), then the Product requested quantity is directly passed to the Purchase Order Console (315). Else, if the requested quantity of products is less than or equal to the available quantity of products in the warehouse inventory (316), then the requested quantity of products are transferred to the requested shop location from the warehouse inventory (319). And if the requested quantity of products is greater than the available quantity in the warehouse inventory (317), then the available quantity is directly sent to the requested shop (320). The rest quantity (requested quantity - available quantity) is considered as purchase order quantity and is passed to the Purchase Order (PO) Console (318). Once the products are transferred and delivered to the requested shop, each of the transaction related to the product transfers is recorded in the shop master module according to the shop location (321). The overall shop inventory details are updated as per location and transfer of products (322).

[0069] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the Purchase Order Management and Transfer module performs a plurality of functionalities such as but not limited to: automatically creating purchase orders based on: existing stock, minimum/maximum stock levels, and customer order commitments; optimizing merchandise replenishment through the transfer of overstocked or low-selling items based on needs or as an even distribution; effectively managing purchases for all stores via a single 'master' purchase order and have those goods distributed automatically to the stores in need of stock; quickly and efficiently creating purchase orders that meet vendor minimum order requirements; preventing the ordering of specific items that are discontinued or out of season; receiving merchandise with or without referencing a purchase order and printing barcodes and labels as needed or as part of the receiving process.

[0070] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the module for managing and transferring Purchase Order further comprises the Demand Forecasting sub-module. The Demand forecasting sub-module provides a secondary feature to project and to auto-create Purchase Orders (PO) or Purchase Requisitions (PR). During the process of creating the Purchase Orders (PO) or Purchase Requisitions (PR), the demand forecasting module provides the flexibility to customize the Purchase Orders or PR by adjusting the quantities or the request delivery dates to the vendor.

[0071] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system comprises a Centralized Transaction Control module for communicating the transactional and customer data to a central database and providing reliable access to secure and accurate up-to-date information. The Centralized payments allow the retailers to issue and redeem store credit, gift cards, and loyalty rewards at any locations in real-time. The Centralized Transaction Control module prevents shrinkage by verifying information against the database to spot suspicious irregularities. The Retailers also perform a centralized lookup of customers from the database for delivering more personalized customer services.

[0072] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system comprises a Reporting and Analytics module. The robust and flexible reporting and analytics feature of the module consolidates and presents all the transactional data into easy-to-use reports to improve store performance. The Reporting and Analytics module of the retail management system provides an integrated reporting solution preloaded with a wide array of standard reports to make better, more informed decisions. The Reporting and Analytics module uses the standard reports for monitoring key performance indicators, tracking inventory stock levels, determining best/worst sellers, managing employee commissions, generating sales tax liability reports, determining top customers, and much more.

[0073] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system is an integrated retail management system, which comprises managing from retail outlet level to warehouse to manufacturing/sourcing level. The Retail management system further comprises a Customer Management module; Employee Security, Management and Productivity module, and Financial Management module for managing the total retail business. The retail management system comprises a Point of Sale (POS) system and also manages the item movement from inventory to shop, financial transactions across different geographical locations such as but not limited to head office, stores, etc.

[0074] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a Customer creation process for setting up user defined fields to track customer information for providing personalized customer service, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The Customer Creation Process is initiated (401) by setting up user defined fields such as Customer Name, Customer Phone Number (404), Customer Address details (403) and the like. The Customer Address Type is selected first and then the customer address details are saved (402). Then the Customer Loyalty Reference Number is generated (405) and finally the Customer details are created and saved in the retail management system. The Loyalty Points earned by the customer is zero soon after the creation of the customer and saving the customer details (406).

[0075] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a Point of Sale scenario, where a retail transaction is completed and the customer is awarded with loyalty points, according to one embodiment of the present invention. At the Point of Sale (POS), the Customer availability is searched either through Phone Number or Loyalty Reference Number (501). If the customer is available, then the earned Loyalty Points are added for the particular customer in the customer details (502) along with the Customer's Phone number and the Loyalty Reference number (504). Else if the customer is not available, then it means that the loyalty reference number for the customer is not filled (503) and thus the Customer is created by applying the customer creation process (505).

[0076] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the Customer Relationship Management module is designed to improve sales performance through more personalized customer service and integrated, customizable loyalty programs and build customer retention by offering rewards for spending, visits, profitability, or other metrics.

[0077] FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the steps adopted in a Sales Order Module, according to one embodiment of the present invention. At Point of Sale (POS) the customer is searched by phone number or loyalty reference number (601). If the existing customer details are available (602), then the Sales Order Process is initiated (605). If the customer details are not available, then the customer is created (603) and the customer details are saved (604) and forwarded to Sales Order Process. From the product combination sold on successful sales order (606), the Sales Order Process generates the Sales Order where the common details regarding the sales are saved (610), the Sales summary details (611) and the Sales Transactions are recorded (612). On successful Sales Order, the product's quantity is deducted on the number of quantity sold from the Point Of Sale location after the shop transfer (613) and the shop location details are updated (614). If applicable, the courier charges (logistics charges) are added with the sales value (607). Also, the gift vouchers are redeemed and the sales value is deducted (608). The overall Transactions are saved in the Customer Payment Details (609).

[0078] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the Customer Relationship Management module of the retail management system comprises the functionalities such as but not limited to: tracking an unlimited number of customers; setting up an unlimited number of user-defined fields to track miscellaneous customer info, such as size, favorite color, favorite brand, birthday etc.; determining exactly what information is required for new customers to ensure that employees are entering all relevant information into the system; quick and easy access to customer purchasing history allowing sales representatives to provide personalized service and meaningful recommendations to customers; using customer security levels to control exactly what Personally Identifiable Information about customers are viewed and/or edited by employees; and integrated customer loyalty program allowing tier rewards based on customer spending, visits, profitability and other metrics.

[0079] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system comprises an Employee Management module. The Employee Security features provided by the module improve security with employee sales performance tracking. The streamlined and flexible Employee Management features of the module improve store performance and reduce losses. The staff Productivity features of the module increases the productivity by establishing sales goals for stores and individual employees that are compared to sales performance for managing commissions and reward employees based on performance.

[0080] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the Employee Management module of the retail management system provides the functionalities such as but not limited to: Flexible commission tracking system allowing appropriate rewards for differing levels of employee productivity, easily splitting a single commission between multiple employees involved in the same sale, creating an unlimited number of user-defined security groups that controls user access to specific areas and functions within the retail management system, accurately tracking employee sales performance by recording specific employee details for each sales transaction and optionally requiring users to logon between each transaction.

[0081] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the Accounting module further comprises a Customer Accounting module, a Vendor Accounting module, a General Ledger, and a Bank transactions module. The Customer Accounting module performs functions of: creating and maintaining invoices, receipts, and credit invoices to the customer; integrating with the Sales Order and invoicing, General Ledger and Bank Sub-Modules; entering receipts against invoices or as an advance, wherein the advance receipts are applied to corresponding invoices at any time in future; printing customer statements with all the transactions in various formats; and generating customer aging reports in various formats with defined aging periods. The Vendor Accounting module performs functionalities comprises creating advance payments before an invoice is raised; protecting posted transactions from alteration to ensure highest levels of data security; flexible reporting system and authorized rights to print registers, Memos, Aging Analysis, Vendor statements for one or many accounting periods and for individual or selected scores; and retrieving customized reports to have a precise position of amounts due facilitating good health of the business. The General Ledger comprises creating and maintaining journal entries; integrating with Customer Accounts, Vendor Accounts, Bank transactions and sales and purchases; posting data from all other modules online; and preparing income statements and balance sheets in customized formats. The Bank Transactions module comprises creating and recording payments, deposits and bank transfers; integrating with the Customer Accounts, Vendor Accounts, and General Ledger modules; Bank reconciliation; and printing checks in customized formats.

[0082] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a Product Repair Module for repairing of sold products, according to one embodiment of the present invention. The product repair process is initiated at the shop level (701) based on a category (702). The repair products are saved in repair product details (703). If the category of products to be repaired is in the warehouse (704), then a warehouse repair request is generated at the admin level (705). Then the repair request is sent to the concerned vendors for repairing (706). After the products are repaired, they become ready for dispatch to particular shops location wise (707). The shops receive the repaired products along with the product repair request form (708). If the category of products to be repaired is not warehouse level, then the product repair request form is directly received at the shop level. The products are then delivered to the customers (709).

[0083] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retailer uses the retail management system for issuing coupons, gift cards, gift vouchers etc. and triggering impulse buying and guerrilla marketing for promoting the Retail Stores and making particular brands popular among customers which in turn improves the performance and increases the profits.

[0084] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an Exchange of Product Module for exchanging of products, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The retail management system comprises exchange of product module for exchanging of products and updating the same. During exchange process (801), the product to be exchanged is received at the shop (802). The product is exchanged at the shop and the exchanged product details are stored in the "exchanged product details" chart at the store (803). The exchanged product details are updated in the location wise shop master chart (804). Further, the shop location details are updated location wise in the retail management system (805).

[0085] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system comprises an account management module for addressing complex regulations and reporting requirements; disconnected payroll, grants, billing, and other financial systems that requires mastery of different tools and applications; and unreliable financial data, such as current encumbrances and accounts receivable. The account management module is linked seamlessly with a POS and other systems for producing comprehensive accounting information and options for analysis. The account management module comprises features such as but not limited to consolidation; profit /loss by outlet / region / type / product range, etc; integration with other systems; purchase invoice matching; integrated project accounting; automated cost allocations; and multi-dimensional analysis.

[0086] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the account management module is a unified ledger system, wherein every transactions such as a sales invoice, purchase payment and so forth are determined by the analysis
codes attached to each of the transactions. The account management module (unified ledger system) comprises a ledger. The ledger is essentially a subset of data with associated transactions for which business processing rules are applied.

[0087] According to an embodiment of the present invention, plurality of ledgers are created such as but not limited to sales, purchase, staff, asset, deposits, etc. The plurality of ledgers provides great flexibility and the ability to easily analyze and view transactions.

[0088] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of ledgers are integrated and updated in real-time. The updating of the plurality of ledgers reflects postings made in other areas of the retail management system, instantly. Other advantages includes period end work is reduced as period end ticking exercises, wherein checks on distributions and interfaces are no longer required; reporting is simplified as data is all in one area; integration is easier as data is all in one area; enables automated complex calculations and simplifies data entry with retail management system; and provides accounting user defined input screens UDIs for simplifying inputs and reduce errors. The UDI screens are in any layout, font, color, character set that are supported by MS Windows. The screens further comprise arithmetic rules and lookups to assist the user.

[0089] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management system comprises a retail management accounting web portal, for
enabling managers and non-finance users to securely access information relevant to their roles regardless of their location.

[0090] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an Account Management Module for producing comprehensive accounting information and options for analysis, according to an embodiment of the present invention. The account management module of the retail management system comprises purchase ordering module (901), expenses module (902), timesheets module (903) and reporting module (904). The purchase ordering module (901) enables users to initiate and process requisitions entirely within a user friendly web browser environment, such as but not limited to requisitioning product/catalogues and non-product based requests, purchasing product/ catalogues and non-product based requests, receiving goods and/or services, invoice matching and commitment accounting. The expense module (902) ensures all business expenditure is captured and analyzed correctly and employee expenses available incorporating workflow approvals and claims tracking. The time-sheets module (903) comprises simple entry screens, which allow users to record time spent on jobs i.e. timesheet entry is provided within the account management module of the retail management system with work flow approvals. The reporting module (904) allows users to access reports and dashboards on a self-service basis i.e. management reports are provided on a self-service basis.

[0091] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the account management module of the retail management system comprises a data transformation tool (DTT) to allow seamless integration both to and from third party applications, for providing maximum flexibility while ensuring the absolute integrity of the core financial data. Integration ranges from a simple posting of financial transactions into the account management module of the retail management system to much higher levels of integration including sharing of common files. The data transformation tool (DTT) allows seamless integration to and from third party applications, transformations and look ups are allowed to be embedded into interface definitions, provides full validation of data, provides full audit facilities and produces optional inbuilt email notifications, when files are processed. The data transformation tool (DTT) delivers an unprecedented level of integration both to and from existing, and future applications used within the organization.

[0092] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the reporting module (904) delivers real time financial information and analysis with the retail management system and also accounts reporting and enquiries. The account management module delivers effective reporting easily and quickly as part of its accounting and business management module.

[0093] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the account management module of the retail management system comprises enquiry management. The enquiry management allows all enquiries/reports to be viewed on screen, printed, emailed or sent to Excel, PDF; allows multiple runtime selection criteria through enquiry screens; allows user defined fields to be created in any ledger and used within enquiries and reports; allows to define/create custom columns and add to enquiry screens.

[0094] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the reporting module allows reports to be created using Microsoft SQL reporting services or any MS SQL server compatible reporting and analysis tools; reports include any data held within account management module and optionally from third party applications; reports are formatted to suit each organization and each group of users; reporting dashboards are delivered via a web browser; reports are managed through a web based report manager in a number of ways such as schedule reports, manage report subscriptions, and controlled access to reports; and reports are rendered or exported to a variety of formats such as but not limited to rtf, Tiff, XPS document, Web Archive formats.

[0095] According to an embodiment of the present invention, the retail management accounting web portal enables easy preparation of accurate financial statements, helps to ensure compliance, and maintain a detailed chart of accounts such as master payroll and human resource challenges like tracking employee contract start and end dates and manage a variety of compensation packages consistently and efficiently with a flexible payroll management solution;performing internal accounting with ease and accuracy like reducing the challenges that come with transferring balances across accounts, including the increased chance of error and the staff time spent juggling manual entry and reconciliation processes, saves time and meet reporting requirements with control account management and managing payables control accounts by segments, saving valuable time and gaining a detailed picture of your finances to help you meet demanding reporting requirements; tracking and managing commitments like tracking online purchase requisitions as management functionality and flexibility to tighten budget controls without halting purchase order processes through web-based capabilities.

[0096] The account management module of the present invention free up the staff within the organization by streamlining functions such as core financials, information systems, records management, human resources and payroll, accounts payable and receivable, grants management and billing systems.

[0097] The retail management system along with the account management module helps any organization to maintain accountability and compliance while giving the speed and agility needed to respond to shifting market conditions and changing regulatory requirements. The retail management system keep a close eye on critical banking activities, and automate financial management processes to make better business decisions.

[0098] The retail management system reduces inefficiencies drastically by linking the people to information and to each other within the organization. At the same time, retail management system supports the growth aspirations with tools that surface the insight needed to drive business impact.

[0099] The account management module help the organization to streamline accounting and payroll, automate reporting, stay compliant with various requirements, and improve grant management.

[00100] The foregoing description of the specific embodiments will so fully reveal the general nature of the embodiments herein that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily modify and/or adapt for various applications such specific embodiments without departing from the generic concept, and, therefore, such adaptations and modifications should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalents of the disclosed embodiments. It is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation. Therefore, while the embodiments herein have been described in terms of preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the embodiments herein can be practiced with modifications.

[00101] Although the embodiments herein are described with
various specific embodiments, it will be obvious for a person skilled in the art to practice the embodiments herein with modifications.

CLAIMS

What is claimed is:

1. An integrated retail management system, the system comprises:
a sourcing and manufacturing management module for managing manufacture of a plurality of products and services and sourcing the plurality of products and services from a plurality of vendors;
a vendor management module for managing one or more retailers and brands to effectively track each of the vendors and calculating a factory performance for each of the vendors; a warehouse management module for managing a directed warehouse workflow; a financial management module comprising an accounting module for managing and tracking a plurality of retail transactions between the retailers and the vendors, the financial management module further comprising a profit and loss module for estimating a profit and loss percentage of a retail business over a period of time; a distribution management module for managing distribution of plurality of products and services between the warehouse and a plurality of retail stores; a customer relationship management module for providing a plurality of personalized customer services; a business management module comprising a planning module and a transaction module, wherein the business management module is configured to organize the sales, purchases and marketing of the plurality of products and services for completing a financial transaction; and a plurality of point of sale systems installed at the retailers outlet or stores for performing retail transaction. The system according to claim 1, wherein the planning module of the business management module further comprises a merchandise module for keeping a record on the purchase and sale of one or more merchandise products or services.

The system according to claim 1, the accounting module of the financial management module is configured for managing and maintaining accounts on one or more products and services and handling financial transactions of the one or more products and services.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the customer relationship module is configured to track a behavior of a plurality of customers and calculate a customer retention factor for each of the plurality of customers, the customer relationship module is configured to attract the customers by providing a plurality of loyalty programs, wherein the plurality of loyalty programs are integral and customizable to offer a plurality of rewards and discounts.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the vendor management module configured to provide the retailers with an ability to efficiently manage a plurality of pricing and promotions related processes, including an automatic routing of various forms and documents to decision-makers for review and approval.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the warehouse management module performs a plurality of auto-identification processes to track an inventory and a plurality of built-in user-configurable warehouse optimization processes to control the use of a warehouse space and equipment.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the warehouse management module further comprises an inventory control and management module to update and replenish an existing stock of the products and services, wherein the inventory control and management module further is configured to manage transfer of the products and services between the warehouse and the plurality of retail shops.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the inventory control and management module further comprises a statistical based demand forecasting sub-module seamlessly integrated within the retail management system for providing a complete demand planning for a business supply chain, wherein the inventory management module adopt a plurality of supervisor-configurable processesto provide a warehouse manager with the ability to properly set up the inventory for meeting a specification of the warehouse that are managed.

The system according to claim 1, further comprises a purchase order module for managing and transferring a purchase order (PO) and a purchase requisition (PR) for streamlining the purchasing and transfer management, wherein the Purchase Order comprises a plurality of purchase transactions saved in payment details, Common details and a purchase order summary, wherein each product of purchase order in-combination with the quantity is saved in the module.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the purchase order module further comprises a demand forecasting sub-module to project and handle a plurality of demand forecasting sub-module projects and automatically create the purchase orders (PO) or the purchase requisitions (PR), wherein the demand forecasting sub-module further customize the purchase orders (PO) or the purchase requisitions (PR) by adjusting a quantity or a request delivery date to the vendor.

The system according to claim 1, further comprises a centralized transaction control module for communicating transactional and customer data to a central database and providing reliable access to secure and accurate up-to-date information on the transaction and customer data, the centralized transaction control module further returns prevent shrinkage by verifying the transaction and customer information against the database to spot suspicious irregularities.

The system according to claim 1, further comprises a reporting and analytics module configured to consolidate and present the transactional data for providing an integrated real-time reporting solution preloaded with a wide array of standard reports for automatically generating one or more analytic reports, wherein the reporting and analytics module is configured to share the generated reports with the retailers and/or administrators.

The system according to claim 1, further comprises an Employee Management module provided for sales performance tracking of a plurality of employees, wherein the employee management module is configured to set a plurality of goals for the individual employees and involuntarily award appropriate rewards for differing levels of employee productivity.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the accounting module further comprises a customer accounting module configured to maintain the financial transactions relating to the plurality of customers associated with the retailers,
wherein the transactions are maintained in a customer account created for the respective customer.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the accounting module further comprises a vendor accounting module configured to maintain the financial transactions relating to the plurality of vendors associated with the retailers, wherein the transactions for the individual vendor is maintained in a vendor account.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the financial management module further comprises a general ledger configured to creating and maintaining journal entries and integrating the entries with Customer Accounts, Vendor Accounts, Bank transactions and sales and purchases, wherein the general ledger is configured to prepare a plurality of income statements and balance sheets in a customized format.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the account management module is a unified ledger system configured to determine the plurality of transactions by the analysis codes attached to each of the transactions.

46
The system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of ledgers is a subset of data associated with transactions pertaining to sales, purchases, staff, assets, and deposits, wherein the plurality of ledgers are integrated and updated in real-time.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the account management module further comprises an expense module configured to capture and analyze a business expenditure and employee expenses, wherein the account management module further comprises a timesheet module configured to provide a user interface for allowing a plurality of users to record time spent on jobs, and a reporting module configured to allow the users to access reports and dashboards on a self-service basis.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the account management module of the retail management system comprises a data transformation tool (DTT) configured to provide a seamless integration for both to and from third party applications, for providing flexibility while ensuring the integrity of the core financial data.

The system according to claim 1, wherein the account management module further comprises an enquiry management module configured to provide a user interface to view, print and convert a plurality of enquiries and reports, wherein
the enquiry management module configured to provide a multiple runtime selection criteria through the enquiries, wherein the enquiry management module facilitates the user defined fields to be created in any ledger and be used within enquiries and reports.

22. A method for retail management, the method comprises the steps of:
receiving a plurality of products and services from a plurality of vendors, wherein the products received from the vendors are stored in an inventory of a warehouse; managing and controlling the inventory across an entire retail organization by an inventory management module; transferring products or items from the warehouse to the inventory of outlets or shops; creating a plurality of purchase orders and purchase requisitions for obtaining the products from the vendors for replenishing the inventory;
managing a customer satisfaction and improving customer's shopping experiences by tracking customer information and choices; generating a plurality of reports and analytics and sharing the generated reports with a retailer or an administrator in real-time; and tracking vendors, employees' sales performances, inventories, and a point of sale transactions.

23. The method according to claim 22, the step of managing and controlling the inventory further comprises steps of:
providing a quick view on on-hand quantities, sold quantities, received quantities, on-order quantities and in-transit quantities for each product across multiple store locations;
tracking the products in the inventory across an entire product life cycle; predefining a plurality of style grid templates for all the user apparel inventory management needs; creating a plurality of user-defined fields to track a plurality of miscellaneous attributes; creating a plurality of bar-coded labels for the products received into the warehouse; defining a plurality of pricing levels for each product based on the store and the customer; tracking a movement of a merchandise within a plurality of sub-locations of the warehouse; setting a maximum discount percentage to the plurality of specific products so as to limit an impact of discount on the items' profitability; tracking a plurality of serial numbers through the entire product life cycle or on a plurality of specific transactions only;
setting up a plurality of tax codes to track item-specific taxing requirements; and applying a plurality of changes and corrections to a plurality of product descriptions, system-wide so that data remains consistent.

4. The method according to claim 22, the step of creating the plurality of purchase orders and purchase requisitions for obtaining the products from the vendors further comprises steps of:
automatically creating the purchase orders based on one of an existing stock, minimum/maximum stock levels, and customer order commitments;
optimizing the merchandise replenishment through the transfer of overstocked and low-selling items products for an even distribution of the merchandise; effectively managing a plurality of purchases for the plurality of stores via a single 'master' purchase order; automatically distributing the purchases of the products to the stores in need of stock; creating purchase orders that meet the vendor's minimum order requirements;
preventing the reception of orders for a plurality of specific items that are discontinued or out of season; receiving the merchandise with or without referencing the purchase order and printing a plurality of barcodes and labels as needed or as part of a receiving process.

25. The method according to claim 22, the step of managing a customer satisfaction and improving customer's shopping experiences further comprises steps of:
tracking a plurality of customers by setting up a plurality of user-defined fields to track miscellaneous customer information; determining the information required for a plurality of new customers to ensure that a plurality of employees are entering all relevant information into the system; providing a quick and easy access to customer purchasing history; allowing a plurality of sales representatives to provide a personalized service and a meaningful recommendation to customers; using a plurality customer security levels to control the personal identifiable information about the customers, which is viewed and/or edited by employees; and providing an integrated customer loyalty program for rewarding a plurality of rewards based on customer Spending, visits, and profitability.

26. The method according to claim 22, the step of tracking the employee sales performance, further comprises steps of:
providing the appropriate rewards for differing levels of employee productivity,
dividing a single commission between multiple employees involved in the same sale, creating a plurality of user-defined security groups to control a user access to specific areas and functions within the retail management system;
tracking the employee sales performance by recording specific employee details for each sales transaction and optionally requesting the users to logon between each transaction.