Vitamin Stores

The Challenges and Rewards of Owning a Convenience Store

As more consumers become health conscious, and seek natural, organic solutions to various ailments, vitamin shops have become a staple in many shopping centers and health clubs. This is a growing retail sector and figures to remain prominent as the baby boom generation passes from middle age into retirement. For the vitamin shop owner, there is a personal satisfaction in creating a business that helps people live healthier lives.

A Healthy Industry

Retail vitamin sales in the United States reached $9.4 billion in 2009, a 7.5 percent increase from 2008.

An entrepreneur interested in opening a vitamin store will have to decide whether to explore franchise opportunities, or launch as an independent retailer. As the market is dominated by franchises, the independent store might have a more difficult time breaking through, but can succeed with the right location and ownership.

As with any business, however, the more time that is devoted to research and education, the more likely the result will become a stable, profitable venture.

Comcash offers several resources for entrepreneurs considering ownership of a vitamin shop, or those already in the process of building or purchasing this unique type of retail establishment.

Tips to Get You Started

Sometimes the number of details to address when starting any new business can be daunting.

Here is a brief overview of some of the most prominent issues. For additional information, other resources are listed below.

  • Franchise or Independent?
    As stated above, the industry has several prominent international brands already established. With a franchise you’ll receive help in getting started, but pay for the privilege of this assistance and instant name recognition. You’ll avoid the franchise fee with an independent store, but will now be in competition with the GNC stores of your community for customer loyalty.

  • Know Your Products
    Entrepreneurs who do not have a background in nutrition or natural health must research their business, so they can answer customer questions about how different vitamins and supplements work.

  • Safety First
    A security system, particularly one that incorporates video surveillance, is an essential step to protecting your customers, employees and inventory.

  • Customer Service is Key
    What separates one vitamin store from another? Customer service can make a difference. Invest in an efficient and reliable POS (point-of-sale) system to expedite purchases so customers can get in and get out on their schedule.

  • Get Organized
    Even after legal and zoning issues have been resolved, running a vitamin shop means keeping track of customer and product data and using that information to better serve your market. Many POS systems, such as the one provided by Comcash, also offer inventory management and back-office administration reports that can impact management decisions.

  • Check out the Competition
    What are other vitamin shops and drug stores in your city doing to attract customers? More important, what are they not doing? By visiting your competition, you will not only find ideas that can be adapted for your store, you may discover an untapped niche that your business can serve.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Glimpse of the Cloud

Here’s a cool video

o on the Microsoft Data Center infrastructure.

Posted in Blog, Uncategorized | No Comments »

About our Product and our Company

As we finish up December and look forward into next year, its a time when we meet with our employees for their year end reviews and then we do our strategic planning and budgeting for the coming year. The great thing about reviews is you can quickly get a sense of your strengths and weaknesses.

Our greatest strength is our relaxed and flexible work environment. We also rate highly on our devotion to innovation.

Looking out into the coming year we want to continue to support and expand our reseller community and leverage our great Help Desk whenever possible. We also want to be innovative as we look at new projects in the Cloud, but we want to do it in a way that provides continuity for our thousands of customers.

Posted in Blog | No Comments »

Comcash and Nexternal provide best of breed POS and Ecommerce.

Olive Organic goes live with Comcash and Nexternal.

Newport Beach, June 20, 2010: Comcash today announced another successful Ecommerce integration using its latest interface to Nexternal. Comcash and Nexternal have partnered to provide a best of breed solution for small to mid-size retailers that wish to link their brick and mortar stores with a modern, stat-of-the art online presence.

Organic Lifestyle, Inc. dba Olive, Fine Organic Living has been a Comcash POS customer since 2008. Organic Lifestyle is focused on making a conscious effort to reduce the wear and tear on the Earth, and understands that big change can happen when people do little things. All Olive products, design, and business decisions are driven by a desire to be environmentally and socially responsible.

Their website is http://www.oliveorganic.org/index.php and working with Comcash and Nexternal, their ecommerce site was successfully launched in 2010. Dave Neubert, General Manager of Olive, said, “The Comcash/Nexternal interface is working flawlessly so when I sell something in the store the website quantity is updated immediately and accurately and vice versa. It’s become a tremendous tool for expanding our business. Although tricky at times, the site launch and integration of the two systems was handled professionally and tirelessly by the Comcash and Nexternal teams. Although customizing our POS system to our web interface seemed like a daunting process, Comcash was unrelenting in their pursuit to make it happen. We are pleased to grow our business with Comcash at our side, as they’ve proven their dedication to making sure we’re satisfied every step of the way.”

Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, Comcash is one of the nation’s leading developers of Point of Sale Software. Comcash also develops and distributes products and services related to its core Point of Sale offerings. For more information please contact Randi Clark at (800) 287-0008.

Posted in Press Release | No Comments »

Comcash spins off Liquor Monitor into separate business unit.

Liquor Monitor has reached critical mass in terms of the amount of business activity…

Newport Beach, March 30, 2010: Comcash today announced that it has spun out its Liquor Monitor division into a wholly-owned subsidiary and has established a dedicated management team to lead that business forward.

“Liquor Monitor has reached critical mass in terms of the amount of business activity and interest it is receiving in the marketplace, said Richard Stack, CEO of Comcash. “It requires a dedicated effort and focus and with that we expect great things to come from this business.”

“With the release of the next generation Liquor Monitor spout using accelerometer technology and our continued enhancement of the Liquor Monitor management software, Liquor Monitor is a clear leader in this emerging industry,” Stack noted. Liquor Monitor is now beta testing its latest innovative Liquor Spout.

Several Comcash engineers and other staff have moved into the new business unit and the business will reside in office near the Comcash HQ.

Headquartered in Newport Beach, CA, Comcash is one of the nation’s leading developers of Point of Sale Software. Comcash also develops and distributes products and services related to its core Point of Sale offerings. For more information please contact Ariel Fitchett at (800) 287-0008.

Posted in Press Release | 7 Comments »

Upcoming Events