FROG conference draws retailers
By Jeff Linville -- Furniture Today, November 4, 2001
CHARLESTON, S.C. — The Furniture Retail Operations Group held its 14th annual user conference here last month, and some 70 retailers turned out despite a few last-minute cancellations in the wake of the terrorist attacks.
Attendees took an active part in the sessions, asking many questions on a variety of topics. That suited Tim Trefry, owner, president and chief executive officer, who said FROG doesn't have a long list of accounts but does try to listen to its clients.
"The computer industry has failed miserably at making our lives simpler," Trefry told the gathering.
While automation saves time, new kinds of tasks take back that time for most people, he said. Trefry said he bought a new laptop recently to replace an older model that was running out of memory. He said he spent about 80 hours loading software and setting up preferences just to get the new device even with the old one.
Providing retailers with fancy software packages doesn't do them any good if the people aren't using the programs, he said. Trefry asked attendees how many of them were using the follow-up program to keep track of the stream of business transactions. Only about 20% raised their hands. He asked how many don't even know what the program was, and about as many said they didn't.
Trefry said when he hears some of the reasons that people give for doing so much work on paper, he thinks, "We haven't done a very good job of training." In fact, he said he believed retail software providers in general haven't trained users as well as they could.
One of the new features Trefry presented is FROG's customizable alert program. Supervisors can keep up with what is going on by notices sent automatically when an employee does something out of the ordinary.
Trefry said the owner could receive an e-mail message if an account becomes 90 days overdue, or when inventory sinks to a certain level. If an employee cancels an order or gives a consumer a credit, an alert can be sent.
The focus of the conference was to educate retailers on what FROG's software can do, while soliciting suggestions and complaints so the company can improve it.
When Trefry asked for suggestions about alerts, the group mentioned ones for overtime hours, when the percentage of damaged freight hits a predetermined level, and when sales are made with no deposit or financial information.
Many stores have a net profit of only 3% or 4%, Trefry said before the conference, and his company's job is not only to write software, but to help companies make better use of their time and resources.
Even the best retailers have returns, he said, and the return rate can be higher than the profit margin. Because of the money involved, retailers must do a good job of keeping track of returned products. A manager might pitch a fit if the registers are off $25, but they don't keep up with a $400 mirror returned that day, he said.
"That's like taking money out of the cash drawer every day," he said.
The computer system could be set up to issue an alert when a piece is returned and a credit given.
While new features are important, Trefry said some old ways of doing things still work just fine. Java code will allow more uses from wireless devices, but information is still accessible on the old system.
"I don't see us ever getting rid of this code," he said.
| Tim Trefry, left, and Ann Trefry, owners of FROG; Robert Jaye and Alan Jaye, North Carolina Furniture, Pembroke Pines, Fla. |
| Jay Landau, left, RouteView Technologies; Earl Studdard, North Carolina Furniture Direct, San Marcos, Texas; Ben Kerby, Kerby's Furniture, Mesa, Ariz.; and Dave Hatcher, FROG. |
| Rick Uhrich, left, FROG; Del Sawyer, Sawyer Furniture, Mobile, Ala.; Frank Schumacher, Gerdt's, Southport, Ind.; Deon Glorius, FROG; and Albert Bouw, Klingman Furniture, Grand Rapids, Mich. |
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