11/24/2008

Hey mate, I just spent some time playing with my data in Margin Master. Hat off to you mate, its a fantastic piece of software. I really appreciate how much time you have put in getting it right for us. I am confident we are going to get lots of retailers from down under using the program. Just wanted to say thanks

Mike Coates
Coates Mitre 10 Home & Trade
Lithgow NSW 2790
Australia

8/12/2008

Hi Brad,
With the help of you folks I've been working our inventory with Margin Master since last winter. I'm pleased to say that we've just had the best, May, June and July ever! Our average ticket is up and our average margin is up in spite of our customer count being slightly down. An even brighter consequence is I've never had more money in the bank so my disposition has improved. The staff appreciates that too! There have been virtually no complaints from the customers; perhaps because of all the news regarding rising prices on most all items. Actually, I think the customers expect it so I sure don't want to disappoint them. Right now would be an excellent time for any dealer to seriously address their margins. I print four or five pages at a time and keep the staff busy with this project when they would otherwise be slow. Our RBM has suggested bringing in a high school person to do the re-pricing. I've found it works better to devote extra staff time to the pricing project as they already know the store and inventory locations so the changes happen much faster. It has obviously paid off for me. If there's anything I can do to help spread the word just let me know. This is definitely the easiest, smartest most consistent way to handle inventory pricing.

Regards,
Tom Read
Lakeland ACE Hardware
Pinckney, MI

6/30/2008

As we sat in Bozeman making fun of [store name withheld]'s spray paint pricing, I was sitting there thinking "we do lots better than that", so this morning when I had a few minutes free, I thought I would just do a small spot check to see how we looked. In the first five aisles, I identified 53 sku's that were not in price sequence, missing tags all together, had different prices on shelf or peg next to each other, or other "obvious to the customer" price issues. WHAT A WAKE UP CALL!

Jim Lee
Kings Ace State Avenue
Billings, Mt.

3/30/2008

When we started this project after Christmas MM said we could expect another $62,000+ by implementing rather modest changes (All to Level 1, B & NC to Level 2, no rounding). We've now worked the list down to the point it says we can expect about $9,000 additional profit. I believe we're seeing the results already. Our sales and customer count are down but our avg. ticket and GM are up so we have higher profit than we ever had. Cost control is helping also but MM has to be playing a major role in our current success. And, the best seasons are ahead of us so the recommended changes should only be magnified.

Put me down as a staunch advocate of your program. If there is anything I can do to help you folks please let me know.

Regards,

Tom Read
Lakeland ACE Hardware
Pinckney, MI 48169

3/8/2008

I have come to view Margin Master as an indispensable tool for running my business.  Besides managing retail prices, I also use it to help me spot problems with my inventory (missing or typo-ed location codes, incorrectly set up MSU's, etc.)

I was an engineer for quite a few years before I started selling plungers and I have NEVER known a software developer to be as responsive as you and your team are.

Mike Brennan
Fort Valley Ace Hardware
Fort Valley, GA  31030

5/22/2007

A huge step in pricing was going to Margin Master.  I was amazed to discover that I had 2500 items priced incorrectly.  I made those changes and set in place a rounding scheme that affected another 3500 Sku’s.  In a month’s time those changes we made.  Time will tell what the gross margin difference will be, but I do know that simply getting items that were priced incorrectly to the right price will more than pay for Margin Master. 

Ken Story
Othello Ace Hardware
Othello, WA 99344

5/11/2007

It only took us a year on E4W to figure out that the system for price changes stinks. It may have been more money but Margin Master is the answer. It is wonderful software and has incredible support behind it.

Spend the money. The payback is quick.

George W. Preckwinkle
Bishop Ace
Springfield, IL

2/18/2007

I just wanted to send a quick note to you and the folks at Margin Master to say thank you for your help and your product.

After many hours of developing our store strategy, we ended up changing our prices on approximately 5700 Sku’s, which resulted in a forecast of an additional $36.000 of sales for the first year.  Although the initial work and effort were a little time consuming, we are extremely pleased with the immediate results. 

We finished our bin tag replacements and price finalizations during the second week of this January.  The changes showed an immediate impact.  Our sales for January were up 10% from last January, and our margin improved to 48.3% from 45.2% last January.  (A significant increase even though we were blowing out our remaining Christmas items for very little, if any, margin at all).

The first two weeks of February are showing similar successes as well.  Our margin for the first two weeks of February has improved to 47.7% from 43.6% from last year.  (This also during the first two weeks of February where margins are lower due to the "Dollar Days" promotions).

We of course were very sensitive to our market and our customers during this transition.  We were careful to only select "blind" and "non-competitive" skus in a few select departments.  We have not heard any complaints or comments about some of our price changes and strategies. 

I am certain that we more than covered the cost of the Margin Master program in the first few weeks since implementing the changes.  I couldn't be more pleased!

I would also like to add that your help with training and troubleshooting was excellent.  Your support has been top notch and extremely quick when e-mailing for assistance or training. 

Thanks so much for everything.  I look forward to seeing the new changes at the show in Las Vegas.  See you then!

Sincerely,

Tim Haight
Merrill Ace Hardware
Merrill, WI 54452

1/25/2006

I bought the Margin Master. The first 20 minutes I was on it I looked up class 151 our glass prices. I had it look up everything that was less than Ace Retail. Based on last years sales the increase in profit was $1253.00 dollars wow.

Mark Welna
Welna Hardware
Minneapolis, MN, 55404

10/31/2005

We somehow screwed all of our Hillman prices up. A customer pointed out that we were 20-30% under the bin tag at point of sale. We really have no idea if it was months or 9 months that they were wrong since they were scanning less bin tag no one complained. Come to find out the Hillman price level we are on match’s Level one. So we could have asked Ace for a level one down load of that vendor, but we just choose those parameters and fixed in minutes with Margin Master.

Regards
Bill Wygal
Bills Ace Hardware
Concord, CA 94521

8/4/2005

Having bought an existing store that hadn't done price changes in a very long time; I needed a quick and efficient way to update prices. In less than one month our team has made over 7,000 price changes and I've seen the daily margin jump 4-5 points. Based on our sales volume, Margin Master paid for itself in exactly 9 days. 

Bill Jablonowski
Coppell Ace Hardware
Coppell, TX 75019

6/27/2005

This software is a must for ANY retailer who is serious about making money!

Art Freedman
American River Ace Hardware
Folsom, CA 95630

9/27/2004

I sent the price changes to the server yesterday… whole store at once! The extra cash I will take out of the store will be $2,666 per month (recall I have a 2,500 SQ FT store and was supposed to already be on level II). This makes my cash take out at an additional $622.00 per week, and I could not resist doing it ASAP.

Even the smallest store in Atlanta cannot “afford” to miss out on these benefits. This is a tool to manage the money I put in MY POCKET. Yesterday, the first day with the new prices, I had a 59.5% margin. YES!

THANK YOU!

Paul Harwood
Adamsville Ace Hardware
Atlanta, GA 30331