Myriad, users share thrill of the new
By Ray Allegrezza -- Furniture Today, April 10, 2005
New Orleans — The Big Easy was the scene of Myriad Software's 11th annual user conference here last week.
Under the theme Expanding Your Vision, the event brought together retail software supplier Myriad executives and some 150 customers for four days of seminars, presentations, workshops, brainstorming and recreation.
According to Carolyn Crowley and Russell Higgins, who launched San Diego-based Myriad 15 years ago, the primary objective of the conference is to facilitate and expand the features-and-benefits knowledge of the company's customers.
Myriad serves more than 500 companies that range in annual sales from $2 million to $70 million.
"While that number includes some Top 100 names, the bulk of our customers would best be classified as medium-sized dealers," Crowley said. She said about 75% of Myriad's users are independent dealers and the rest are in dedicated store networks, including Norwalk, Bassett, La-Z-Boy, Lane, Thomasville and Broyhill.
Three videos shown at the conference profiled a trio of Myriad customers: Furniture Galleries, a Butler, Pa., store owned by the Offstein family; a nine-unit chain of Thomasville stores in New Jersey, operated by the Massood family; and Yuma Furniture, a Yuma, Ariz., store operated by Richard Houston.
This year, as in years past, the focus was on new features and products from Myriad. The newest modules included Browser Edition Inventory, Integration with Routeview and Cost/Price Change Management. The company also announced Third-Party Financing through GE Card as well as updates and enhancements to the Myriad Web site, www.myriadsoft.com.
At each conference, Myriad also rolls out enhancement based on customer requests collected from the prior year's event. This year it was the Eclicktic Promotional Price Calendar, used to implement changes in retail prices, including promotions, or manufacturer costs.
Higgins said many of this year's enhancements will help retailers "move the technology onto the sales floor, especially in areas such as point of sale. A diverse and rapidly growing group of retailers ranging from Home Depot to food chains such as Albertsons are all focusing on electronic point of sale." This trend, he continued, "is helping to condition consumers of all ages to such things as self-service checkouts."
To allow furniture retailers to participate in this trend, Myriad has a wireless sales floor module that allows the salesperson to scan barcodes on price tags and see pricing and product information such as product dimension, inventory availability, features and benefits.
Crowley, in observing how other industries are using technology as a selling tool, shared her recent experience with using the Internet to shop for a new car.
"I entered in the information for a few comparable brands, and the next day I got a phone call from a dealer offering one of the brands I was interested in. He explained that he had been alerted that I had been on the Web site and asked if I would be interested in coming in to test-drive the car I had inquired about.
"Imagine having a consumer who is comparing different brands of furniture and one of them is yours. You, the retailer, get that customer's name and needs and can call and follow up to serve her. That would be our vision," Crowley said.
Commenting on upgrades to Myriad's Web site, Higgins said, "Myriad users now have direct access to our internal data base. This means users can now submit and review their enhancement suggestions and support questions directly through our site."
One Myriad customer at this year's event was Eddy Massood, who operates Thomasville stores in New Jersey.
"This is a must-attend for me," he said. "One of my favorite things is the best-practices breakout sessions. Since we are all using the same system, I pick up valuable tips on many of the ongoing enhancement features that Myriad continues to provide us with.
"In today's market, it's all about how well and how fast you can get the order to your customer," Massood continued. "Myriad's products and services help us do that."
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Myriad, users share thrill of the new
Apr 11, 2005
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