Oscar Head Office

Many Oscar systems are installed in stores which form part of larger chains, usually but not always under common ownership. Referred to as ‘multiples’, these stores benefit from the business efficiency that Oscar brings to individual outlets while at the same time integrating seamlessly into a ‘Head Office network’ that brings information from all the stores together at a central location.

The key ingredient in this type of retail integration is seamless, dependable electronic communication and Oscar Head Office provides exceptional reliability through the use of broadband Internet connections (a fall back using the old ISDN technology is also available for sites that are not broadband capable).

Oscar Head Office is built around industry standard software and uses modern SQL (Structured Query Language) and Microsoft Office compatible databases to provide the best technical infrastructure and low cost of ownership.

cool dude with headphones

What is Head Office?

Oscar Head Office allows multiple retailers to view transactions, introduce new products, amend pricing and much more from a central location. Head Office does this by connecting to each store as and when required to exchange data and, of course, financial results.

Oscar Head Office consists of one or more Back Office Oscar (Boscar) units linked to a broadband communications router. The Boscar units are equipped with barcode scanners and have access to their own copy of the database or bibliography being used in the chain (Typically OCC/Millward Brown or Neilsen BookData information).

Each satellite store reports sales, stock and other data and end of day and at other, scheduled, times. This data is used by Head Office to compile reports for management and re-order purposes.

Product specialists or buyers based in Head Office can compile new product data for distribution to the satellite stores, either by extracting it from third party databases like Neilsen BookData, importing database files from third-party suppliers or by creating unique product descriptions. Each item can be centrally priced and when ready, the descriptions can be forwarded automatically to the branches for incorporation in their own, local, data.

Oscar Head office uses an industry standard SQL database structure, allowing users with qualified IT staff to create customised reporting of virtually any aspect of their trading activities. For users who do not wish to embark on IT issues, Ranger’s customary high quality technical support is available for producing specialist reports and helping to answer the fascinating management questions that arise from having such detailed access to retail outlets’ performance figures.

Organization

Each satellite, or branch, store uses an Oscar Epos system to handle day-to-day sales, stock and order processing. At the end of each trading day, each satellite sends a full set of transaction data to a secure central server over the Internet. An automatic schedule backs up this process for satellites that fail to carry out a manual end of day.

Traditionally, distributed Epos (Electronic Point of Sale) systems like Oscar attempted direct electronic communication with centrally located computer systems and in some cases with other branches as well. Because of the unique nature of each connection (Satellite – local telecom provider – trunk exchange – another local provider – and finally central location) such systems were extremely hard to maintain and in some cases, fault diagnosis became virtually impossible. All this was further compounded by the mysterious ‘black art’ nature of the old fashioned ISDN communications often used in the past.

Head Office Oscar sidesteps these extremely complex and frustrating technical issues by utilising modern broadband Internet technology. For the system to work reliably, all that is required is for each satellite, and head office itself, to communicate with a chosen Internet Service Provider, or ISP.

Since broadband connections are ‘always on’, it is straightforward for Ranger’s support team to verify that each system is working normally and react before any technical issues become apparent to the retailer. Of course, any problems that do emerge with the broadband connection can be easily diagnosed by local telecom engineers without needing any specialised knowledge of the Oscar network at all.

Satellite stores and Head Office share a common central server in order to reduce system complexity and improve reliability. In this configuration, each system has only to communicate with a common server on a ‘one to one’ basis, rather than the ‘many to one’ configuration that would be needed if satellites communicated directly with Head Office.

Working in the reverse direction, Head Office can send updates on catalogue items and other subjects to the central server for distribution to satellites.

Communication

All communications for Oscar head Office are directed through broadband ADSL routers. A ‘Router’ is a device similar to a modem that allows each satellite to connect to the central server using the public Internet with very high security. The Routers in Oscar Head Office have three possible tasks:

Connection to the central server for transfer of daily transactions
Connection to an Internet Service Provider for web browsing
Incoming connection to Ranger for technical support, catalogue update and chart return data

Satellite stores report to the central server at end of day or automatically at a preset time. These connections normally occur outside of opening hours, but can be made during the day if needed.

What is transferred?

Ranger’s philosophy with Head Office is to allow anything that can be reported at store level to be reported at Head Office. This means that data transfers include:

For each branch: Unique Branch ID number and Shop Name, Number and date of last file imported from this branch.
For each transaction: Branch ID, Invoice Number, Till Number, Date, Time, Cashier ID, supplier or customer Account, Document Type (Sale, Booking In, Etc), Booking out Reason, Comment.
For each line item: Descriptive items including: Barcode, , Author - or Artist, Title, ISBN - or Catalogue Number, Format, Class, Genre, Analysis - Analysis code at the time, Grade - Second Hand items, Supplier of this item
Transactional data including: Line item type (Sale, return, booking in etc.), Quantity (Number of items on the line), For booking in types only, how many were booked in as Free, Customer Order - For purchase orders only, is this item for a customer special order, Number of these items that are being sold as part of a deal, Deal Code.
Financial data including: Actual selling price after discount (sale items only), Bought At cost, Average Cost (at time of sale), Buy Price – ‘Official’ Buying price at the time, Sell Price - Full Selling price at the time, VAT - (sale items only), Deposit - For special orders only, the deposit left, Discount Percent, Discount - Total discount give on this line (sale items only).
For each product: Barcode, ISBN, Author, Title, Supplier, Analysis Code, Format, Genre, Deal, Distributor, Restock Policy, Minimum Stock Level, Pack Size, Buy Price, HQ Stock, Comment.
For each stock item: Branch where these products are, Barcode, Number of this barcode in stock at this branch, Number on customer orders, Branch Sales last week of this barcode, Branch Sales this week of this barcode, Branch Selling Price, Branch's supplier of this barcode, Branch's Analysis Code for this barcode, Branch's Genre for this barcode, Branch's Deal for this barcode, Branch's Last Sold Date for this barcode, Branch's Last Booked In Date for this barcode

Reports

Oscar Head Office uses a database query language to construct detailed reports to the user’s specific requirements. Most reports are arranged in ‘landscape’ format to allow branch or region data to be presented in columns across the page. However, Head Office can also generate ‘Single Shop’ reports that replicate the Portrait format reports used in individual outlets.

The system contains a selection of standard reports including the following:

Sales Reports (for any period, including between past dates)
Stock Reports
Core Stock (core stock highlights items where the stock is below the minimum level)
Discounts given
Department Sales
Key Activity (analyses operator performance and can be used to calculate bonus payments)
Price Changes (reports on changes made locally in the branches, even if transient)
Sales Summary (allows summaries of product groups, suppliers, price ranges or other criteria as required)

Each report displays the chain in a ‘landscape’ format, showing data for individual satellites side by side. The example shown here shows sales quantities and stock levels for a number of branches, together with an overall total.

Oscar Head Office also collects each till’s Z report and places these in a directory structure so that they can be inspected as required.

Margin Reports

Perhaps the most important function of the Head Office Oscar system is the reporting on sales margins for the branches. Margin reports are usually organised on a comparative basis with individual branch or region summaries and overall summaries for the business as a whole.

Oscar branches record the actual purchase cost of each item at the time of sale in three forms and forward this information to head office for each transaction:

The current purchase price of the item from the last purchase transaction
The ‘Official’ purchase price at the time of the sale from an industry database, if available
The ‘Rolling Average’ purchase cost at the time of the sale, based on the effective cost on a FIFO basis

Head Office margin reports can be based either on the branch level costs (usually in the case where branches make independent purchase decisions) or on independent cost records held on the head Office Oscar system. Typically Head Office cost data is acquired automatically from purchase orders or goods inwards operations on centrally purchased stock.

In the example on the right, sales are analysed by ‘HQ Buy’, a centralised HQ cost price, and summarised both by volume percentage and net margin.

Product Data

Oscar `Head Office' allows distribution of new product data, or the amendment of existing data, to branch stores on demand. New product data is likely to consist of product catalogues for items not included in the published bibliographies or music and video catalogue.

This data can be transcribed electronically from manufacturers listings, or entered manually by the user. Ranger provides a transcription service for the transfer of third-party electronic data onto the Oscar system.

Data amendments could not be simpler. The desired products are simply scanned into the Head Office system and the amendments made. Fields distributed to satellite shops from Oscar Head Office include the following:

Catalogue Number
Artist
Title
Format
Genre
Class
Mbid
Variant

Company
Label
Distributor
Buy price
Sell price
Dealer price
Analysis code
Deal code

‘Deal Code’ is an especially powerful tool because it allows products to be placed on temporary, time limited, promotional pricing without retrieving the physical stock in the branches for re-scanning.

MultiShop

Oscar Head Office is complimented by data exchange facility called ‘MultiShop which is employed widely in the Oscar network. Although technically independent, the two systems can often be found on the same Oscar systems.

MultiShop allows every terminal in each branch to display stock levels for any product in the other branches. This is especially helpful in answering special order queries and, of course, with making stock transfer decisions. The MultiShop data appears virtually instantly on a dedicated information panel on the Oscar screen.

MultiShop is a fully automatic facility that is operated by Ranger on behalf of the retailer. MultiShop data is normally updated on an overnight basis.

MultiShop provides smaller chains with the type of data centralization only usually available to multiples with their own IT departments.

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