We now have extensions of COVID-19 lockdown in NSW with new restrictions.

As a Victorian who has gone through a few lockdowns, I can assure you that these snap suspensions are wearing everyone down. It starts its stops, etc. It has a name now *lockdown fatigue*. We all feel it.

Now as a person in retail, I can assure you that click and collect are excellent. You should have it. An online shopping website is also great. Again you should have it. As our software is has a unified commerce retail platform, there is no reason why you do not have both now. No one else in our market space can make such a claim.

The problem here is that most retail needs people contact.

So the big question is, when will these COVID lockdowns end.

A reasonable guesstimate based on this terrific tracking site for Australia is COVID LIVE here

So far, we have done 8,255,473 vaccinations.

Our current rate of vaccinations is about 800,000 a week.

On world figures, governments are looking to get about 2/3 of the population vaccinated. This seems to be their herd immunity figure. We have about 25.36 million people.

So we need to do 25.36 million people x (2 vaccinations) x 2/3 = 34 million vaccinations.

That is about (34 - 8,255,473) = 25.5 million left to do

So we need in weeks (25.5 million / 800,000) = 31 weeks or Jan 2022

This is not good enough for retail as most retailers want at least Nov 2021 so we can have tourists! 

To do that we need 1.5 million vaccinations a week, can we do it that high? I doubt it so I would not count on a great Christmas tourist season this year.

Some points here to consider:

- Covid variants are a real wild card. 

- A significant limiting factor now in vaccinations is the Pfizer vaccine. Its availability should increase, so maybe the vaccination rate will go up. I hope so because no one wants to go through another six months of this.

- The first shot gives about 70% immunity so that we may open up the country earlier. 

- We do not know yet how long the COVID-19 vaccine protection lasts. Clinical trials are currently underway. If so, this calculation may be way off as we all may need a booster shot too.

- The kids need to be done, but these can wait till we get the adult population done.

What is clear is that the vaccinations will continue for a long time.

Let me know your thoughts.

This question has been bugging me since yesterday when I got my COVID shot. While there, I started thinking about this question. My clients have many employees that work indoors and have contact with over 300 people daily.   If they have COVID, these people could create a 'perfect storm' by superspreading. 

Still, in the current circumstances, I was advised that most employers should assume that they can't require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID.

This is what the federal government are saying as they are not forcing anyone to take the vaccine. Yet, many state governments are saying something different, as more important here many of the public health bodies. Currently, there have been a few notable legal cases where employers have been allowed to sack staff who refused to take a flu vaccine.  There have also been cases where an employee has sued the employer over lack of care, resulting in them getting COVID.

This pandemic is a reminder that we are all interconnected and no cannot go it alone

As everyone is flat out doing enough vaccines for those that are voluntarily taking it, little is heard about inforcement. But what happens when the number who want it willingly winds down? 

Also what if an employer demands an employee takes a vaccine. The employee then takes it and although most people who are taking the shot report no symptoms, some do report pain, mild fever, headaches, etc. In our company, one guy had to take the next day off due to significant tiredness after taking the jab.

Another potential problem here is that the government wants to do the vaccinations on the employer's premises. What happens here if someone gets sick? Who is responsible here? 

This all is something that needs to be addressed.

Now doctors are worried about this. For example, I had to sign a waiver after a long speech on the possible effects of the shots. Then after I took the COVID shot, they told me to wait for after for about 15 minutes in the doctors' surgery just in case. I was also given a medical certificate for the next day. Plus, I was told several times if I felt anything wrong to call emergency ASAP. The process took over an hour.

Here are some tips if you are taking a COVID shot, from my experience.

1) Do it at the end of the day. If it affects you, you have a night to recover.

2) Plan what to do if you cannot come to work the next day.

3) Do not go with your partner and have the shot together. Instead, do it on different days. 

There was great hope that we were returning to normal with vaccinations finally rolling out and the virus contained. Suddenly it went South, the Victorian government has just invoked an emergency week of lockdown.  This tightens restrictions again in Melbourne. Another bump on the road, a reminder that things change and that we must all as a community be vigilant.

So we have decided to close our Melbourne office down for the week, we will review this decision as the situation unfolds.  

Be assured that we are pleased to announce that POS Solutions will continue to work and help our customers during this time of uncertainty. Our interstate offices are all open and our Melbourne staff are now working from home.

Stay safe. 

When Ian Grant's Caravans decided they needed POS Software, they came to us.  We were delighted as they are one of Australias busiest caravan sales yards where people from all over Australia to get their caravans. Now that the caravan shows have started again, we are having in Melbourne our annual supershow. You may want to check them out at site No. 9 & 10.

If you want to go, you need to buy tickets before it's like in previous years. They do not sell at the door tickets. But, if you are like me, I am sure you will find it interesting.

What I find is that caravan sales yard need much specialised in their POS Software. This is a challenge.

It grew when COVID hit. Suddenly all caravan software had to go into the cloud to work enabled. So now remote working on the caravan sales yard is standard in our caravan system. Lucky Ian was integrated into our online shop.

What such systems need is the ability of a CRM to track potential customers. This is often particularly difficult as much here works on finance, and many people use several finance companies.

In the workshop, repairs here need a wide range of functions in our system. One feature that proven useful here is automatically sending service reminders when customers need service. SMS is better here than email, and this SMS option is free with us. Next, you need to keep a history of the quotes. Then, you need to be tack track quotes to actual costs. Then keep a record of completed operations. Finally, you need to check your workshop schedule at all times.

Inventory control has to be spot on as ticket items are expensive. The big problem here is that sale items often have subsections. Sometimes these subsections need to be tracked too. As a detailed history of everything is required what helps is our detailed Google-type search. It can use various search functions, such as searching by brand, model, rego, etc. Also, very detailed inventory flow reports are needed. This is because of the high prices of the goods. This allows constant monitoring of inventory levels. This helps maintain the best inventory at the best price.

Our software provides you with the latest technology. This makes your business more controllable and profitable.

There is a tremendous increase in computer hardware sold. We have been moving heaps. Here above are some pictures of yesterday.

The big problem is the troubled supply line because of COVID. 

This is partly because of the increase in the tax concessions for computer hardware now available. So now accountants are advising their clients to buy as they can write off more. You can probably write off a lot of money now. 

It is also because new computers are much better than the previous ones. Some of the new AMD ryzen and Intel chips are a qualitative leap in technology. We see a 50% increase in raw speed on benchmarking. This is together with their dramatic price decrease. In a typical retail system, upgrading one computer, the server can increase the systems speed. So if you get one computer, make the old server a new cash register, and you have a more extensive and faster computer system.  

Also what people are doing is moving from the older hard drives to the newer hard drives here that are much faster. It is a low-cost way of increasing your speed.

It is also because of COVID. The lockdowns have forced people to see that they need more than a mobile to meet their technology needs. For example, if you need a home office,  you need a proper computer, large screens and webcams for zoom and printers at home. 

As I said, the biggest problem is the import complications of getting computer hardware into the country. So we have many people just waiting for gear.

If you want to know more give us a call.

This afternoon, Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Victoria would begin another five-day stage four lockdown from midnight tonight. Again because of problems in quarantine. Restrictions are here listed. If you need to know your shops or homes 5 KM radius click here.

This could not happen for our Victorian clients in a worse time, losing most of the trade with the Australian Open, Valentine's Day, the weddings, and functions now all delayed. It is another massive blow to our economy, which was starting to get back on its feet. Many are going to have stock that will need to be written off, who wants Valentine's Day stock after the day.

Still, as we head into lockdown once again, it's important to remember that we have been here before with you so we will keep doing it. We do not expect any difficulties in continuing our support to you.

Still, for now, our office will be closed.

For many months, many businesses have needed to get details of visitors who stay for more than XX minutes on their premises. The exact details and requirements vary in different states. 

With this in mind, we tested the free COVID tracking apps available, found guestttrack worked the best, so we recommended it to our clients to use.

It saves a lot of time. What a business does is create a COVID tracking form. Then put it in a prominent place, e.g., the front door, so people who enter can scan their details. It then records the details and stores this as the government requirements. As such the business have zero work here.

Now some state governments have released their COVID tracking app, e.g., the Victorian Government which is about eight months late if you ask me.

From the comments of my clients, these apps seem to very programmatic in practice. For example, the Victorian one, people report it is complicated in use and it has scanning problems. This is similar to what people have reported with the ACT app to me although not as bad there. 

So we recommend to my clients if they want to use the state government apps to use it. But continue using guestttrack as a backup. 

We intend to continue with guestttrack, it works so why change?

There is a recent decision by the South Australian Government to go into lockdown as they have 35 active cases.

As a Victorian who has gone through lockdown, I can relate to what my clients are about to go through soon.  What can I say, stay safe and I know it is not easy to be a prisioner.

Those businesses that are going to remain open is because they are classed as an essential service.  

This does highlight a problem that I have spoken about here many times that the decision on that as the definition of an essential service depends on whims, there is no standard. 

It is up to the business to prove that they are an essential service. 

Here in Victoria, VANA was able to help many of our clients.  

Until a simple, low-cost sensor that can detect COVID-19 infections is widely distributed and/or a vaccine comes, we will be hit by repeated COVID waves - second, third, fourth, etc. A lockdown can likely happen anywhere. As South Australia shows, this can happen suddenly with no warning in an area doing fine.

Our advice remains the same 

Go through your shop and services. Look at what could be classed as essential.

These goods and services should be right out in the front.

Show the world that you are providing that vital service.

It might help.

The recent cuts in JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments are having an immediate impact on Australian family budgets.

You can see it here on this website. 

Halfway down, there is a map. Put in the search <your postcode>

Then press <play> and see over time the effect of the pandemic in your world.

With COVID, many businesses have found that they need to keep some details of a visitor who stays for more than XXX minutes. The details and the times vary in different states and the category of business. The problem in retail shops is they often do not know whether someone falls into this category.  So some are putting COVID tracking forms on their front door for people to scan.

It isn't good that although the state governments have had many months to prepare, they seem not to have not planned how we are to do this. As usual, my state of Victoria is probably the worst here. 

Most businesses are using pen and paper. However, some of my clients in Queensland and NSW have discovered, this might violate the privacy laws. As no-one wants to be snared in a possible looming data privacy calamity, many Australian businesses are now outsourcing the management of their COVID check-in obligations to some COVID tracking software. This has the added advantage of automating the process.

Now some state governments have released apps that can do it, but I am hearing problems running them. It's weird as they will work for some people and not others. Sometimes a person that has logged on cannot log in a few minutes later. I suspect that their software is not ready and being hastily deployed. 

If you do not have a state app or even if you do use the state government app, I suggest that you have something else as a backup. If so, that makes sure that this app has publicly disclosed its check-in figures to the relevant authorities. 

Please do not select a backyard product.

One free such app that seems to cross all the requirements is guestttrack, which is free. We use it and think it does the job well. 

Note if you need professional COVID signs for your shop, here are many free signs. Unfortunately, it does not have a public tracing notice, so here is one that we use, which can be modified for your use.

We are seeing now signs like this that are springing up at the entrance of a business and/or the front counter. 

In parts of Australia now, retailers have to record some of the people that come into their shop. For example, in NSW, if a person came into their shop and spent an hour there, they have to note their contact details.

Here are some potential issues that you need to consider

- Each state has different requirements. You need to find out what you need to get.

- It is unclear in some places what happens if a person refuses to give this information. 

-The retailer does not have to verify the information. But in some states, they do have to confirm that the person has filled in the information.

- A problem came up when the health department audited a few of our clients.  Then one of our clients told us that they knew some that got in trouble doing this manual. They found out that these are medical records, and there are strict laws with Australian privacy laws. 

Then we all used a manual system, but it was clear that we all had to switch to something better. 

So, although we could have automated the process using either our CRM or set up Google Forms what we decided that we do not want concerns like what information and an "invasion of privacy" issue.  So we decided to use an existing automatic system. 

The one we decided on after trying a few was guestttrack. 

It is free and does the job well. 

It only took me a few minutes to set up.

Then it operates, and I do not have to worry about it.

Another plus was that if someone comes, it remembers their details so the next time, it takes them seconds to fill out.  This saves a lot of time. 

It also gives you a full audit trail.

So I recommend it.

PS If you want some help with it, by all means, give me a call.

How can we sign and witness documents during a pandemic? This is getting to be a real problem in this pandemic.

Business must go on, and documents must be signed. How do we do this, as many of us often now are not near a printer or fax?

This is what I do. I converted the electronic document to be signed into a pdf. Then I use a free website, pdfescape <no longer free checked on 2023 April>

I import the pdf to that site.

Then I put in the details required by the document electronically and then sign using my mouse instead of a pen.

Then I add under my signature with the following note. 

This document was electronically signed in accordance with the COVID-19 Omnibus (Emergency Measures) (Electronic Signing and Witnessing) Regulations 2020.

Note this is allowed in Victoria; looking at several states, I found that they all I found to have something very similar, but you need to check for your state the exact wording if you are not like me, a Mexican.

So far, only one supplier has made a fuss over this to me, most now from what I can see, are aware of the problems and accept this solution. 

I hope this is of help.

As governments all over Australia are put financial relief measures for SMB businesses impacted/closed by the COVID-19 restrictions.

Yet many of my clients are not able to get anything.

What do you say?

I have a client who has a dog training school. Well, it is closed, and somehow for some reason, they are not eligible.

A client a beautician has been closed down.

What they are noticing is that some of the bills are not stopping.

Not mind you $5,000 or $10,000 grant very far if your business is closed. 

Why identifying your top-selling items and you can do with this information!

This is widely used by our clients in music shops but it can be used by any business.

Well, who knows what sells well today! It is all different than it was! With COVID-19, your experience now works against you.

What you need to do is look at today, see what worked, and try to figure out why it worked. We can help you with this, and it is easy to do in our point-of-sale system.

Go to Register reports

Now select "Top N Stock Sales for a Given Period"

Now in the form put in yesterday.

Now a report comes out that looks like this with your top sellers listed.

Now, these need to be reviewed to see what you did right here. Take your time.

Now the kicker in retail is a top seller today will often be a good seller tomorrow. Studies show that a top seller today will sell about 66% tomorrow. So you need to check if you have adequate stock for tomorrow. If not in that spot you will need a substitute. 

Give this a shot and tell me how you went.

Dear valued client,

Boy have things change, but we are open and trading as usual

The past few days have been tough for many businesses in Melbourne like us and we are all here feeling the pain that has come with the implementation of Stage 4 restrictions. 

What however is clear, that our clients are more essential than ever before to our community. So we are committed to helping them navigate these uncertain and challenging times.

So all our support phone lines are open, email services working, our mail is getting picked up, are team is fully operational and will continue to be available to help you with any queries relating to any of our products and services. 

Its all business as usual.

We will keep you updated as we all work through the evolving coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.

We hope that you and your loved ones continue to stay safe during these unprecedented times and we wanted to thank you for being part of the POS Solutions community.

Kind regards,

Bernard Zimmermann

Director

In these troubled times, when everyone is getting lost on what to do. We are seeing the entire country is coming come under quarantine orders. Consumers are shunning human contact. Retailers are scrambling to adapt. What is reassuring is the work done by the various retail associations to me notably VANA, Pet Industry Association, VECCI and the Pharmacy Guild

I am in communication with them often. I know that they are in contact consistently with major decision-makers. I would say the advice and help that they are giving me and their members have been first class.

Who knows what to do now?

To find out I am reading all the information they are sending. Sometimes this helps me to know what to do. If I do not know, I am grateful that I can ring them up to get an explanation so explain to me the situation. What I do appreciate is if they do not know, I am getting the truth that they do not know. I also appreciate that they are explaining to me fully the situation.

I confess without these peoples help now. I would be lost.

I am happy, and almost all my clients would agree with me that when they need their local community, is working for them.

Yet there is a lot more work as it is clear that this situation will last months. The Spanish flu lasted from February 1918 to April 1920.

Where I disagree with many people, is I doubt after we are going back to what was. This virus will change the reality for us all. There is no going back. People are getting used to a new type of shopping. Shops are reporting to me that they are seeing customers that they have never seen before. Many of the people that you used to deal with are not coming back. Their customer base and so their needs have changed.

I got asked what time should people be closing the shop, as I was not too sure, I decided to see what others are doing last night. 

After looking at a few shops, I decided that this sign looked fair and reasonable. Also, they are a big company, so I am sure they have checked it out. 

So this would be our recommendation.

The shop starts its closing down procedures at 7:30 PM, so the public has a 15-minute window to finish off their purchases as the tills get shut down at 7:45 PM. 

And remember, at 8:00 PM curfew starts.

Our Melbourne office will close tonight 
Our Interstate offices will remain open

Under Stage 4 ‘Stay at Home’ Restrictions, workplaces in our area we are required to close our Melbourne Office so from 11.59 pm on Wednesday 5 August 2020 for six (6) weeks. Actually, this is something we expected, so we were already prepared. Almost all our work now has already been moved to remote, plus with our offices interstate open we do not see this restriction as having an impact on our operations in supporting you.

- Today we have the technology infrastructure in place that we need to run our business remotely.

- Our people are as accessible as if they are in the office.  

- We are available to meet you at any time via videoconferencing technology.

So we will continue to be working with you to navigate your business through this crisis and continue to support you in this ever-changing world.

We are all in this together.

Well, there are many changes to everyone, there are many restrictions on us because of COVID-19.

In Victoria, the big one is that people can only shop 5 km from home. What can they do, nothing but stay strong? There are plenty with worse problems now then this restriction.

If you want to know your feeder area for the shop now in Victoria, there are many sites out there that can help you.

I went through them, and these interactive maps can show a five-kilometre radius around your shop. I picked them as they appear to be the easiest and best ones to use. Have a shot and see which one works best for you.

{Link was removed}

https://2kmfromhome.com/5km

The Age newspaper

Put in your address into the search bar, click 5 km, and a circle will appear showing your radius. The people in this area can visit your shop for shopping once a day.

If you find some better ones, let me know.

I got quite a few enquiries about my post on marketing face masks, so after talking to a few people here are my thoughts.

The spread of coronavirus is driving the demand for face masks. 

"The global face mask market size was valued at $1,523.0 million in 2019, and is estimated to reach $ 2,455.4 million by 2027 with a compound annual growth rate of 4.4% from 2021 to 2027."

The industry is looking at an annual growth rate for disposable face masks of 53% for the next few years. 

This is in a high growth rate industry with high margins! So as well as traditional brands like 3M, who are going flat out, many others are entering this space. If them, why not you too?

It sells in many shops.

Interested, then you should, of course, do some research first. 

Check out what is for sale in your local area, talk with your staff, customers, etc. Try to figure out your niche. Actually, why not try a few niche markets and see how they work out for you. the cost of entry is minimal. $30 can buy you 100 disposable masks, worst case your family can use them. 

Of course, common sense here is required when entering the market of where to buy and how to handle it. Worst case though if you get some stock that you cannot return, and have doubts. All you need to do is use a texture to cross out the claim, e.g. as above N95, and sell it as a face mask. If you are paying about a $1 for a disposable each and selling at $2.50, you have room to discount. 

Note although there is no legal rule for sales of face masks to the public now yet, you cannot make false claims. For example, you should not sell an N50 mask as an N95. I would advise you NOT to make any medical or health claims about your product even if you believe they are correct. However, if your face mask is washable, adjustable, or reversible, then YES talk about this.

As far as I know, there is only one Australian supplier of P2 (P2 is the Australian standard which is like N95 US standard) face masks.

If you are concerned about whether you are dealing in fake face masks, here is some information on how to check to spot a fake face mask {link removed} and Counterfeit face masks

As far as monitoring how sales are going in your shop, it is easy, make a new family, then every so often

Go to Register reports

Select the "Top N Stock Sales for a Given Period"

Put in the appropriate options for this family and you get a report with the sales in order of what is selling. The rule is now, to concentrate on the top sellers.