A CSD Staff Report
The old saying goes, “A good bartenderwith questionable ethics will own yourbar in five years.” Tidel Engineering, a subsidiary of Sentinel Technologies Inc.,can’t help convenience store owners findgood employees, but you can bet your bottom dollar it will help keep your cash safe.
That’s because Tidel has been at theforefront of virtually all of the major advancesin retail cash management since its inception in 1977, and it’s poised to introducenew technologies in the coming months thatwill ensure the money retailers take into theirstores doesn’t end up in the hands ofthieves.
Why Cash Management?
Cash Management has been worked ondiligently by retailers at least since 1884,said Ed Grondahl, senior vice president ofsales and marketing at Tidel. But threats stillexist forcing convenience store owners tofind cash management partners that candevelop technology to stay one step ahead ofarmed robbers, crooked employees andcounterfeiters.
Tidel has been developing bill readersand cash controllers for the conveniencestore industry since the early 2000s. Billreaders add two major improvements:
- Significantly reduce the amount of timestore managers spend handling money.The manager’s office, for the most part,is an unsecured area making it an easytarget for disgruntled employees or smartcrooks.
- Eliminating counterfeit bills from beingaccepted by store employees. Bill readers are the ideal safeguard against counterfeit currency at the store level becausethey prevent the phony bills from everentering the register. What’s most important is that every time a new bill isreleased into circulation, a visit must bemade to each store with a bill reader toload the software for new bill recognition.
However, with the latest releasesfrom Tidel, bill readers can now be updated from thedata center with no trips to the stores. This creates a significantsavings. For example, a 1,000-store chaincan now eliminate 1,000 service trips, “asavings that alone will pay for the bill readersin a short period of time,” Grondahl said.
Why Tidel?
When it comes to partnering with a wholesaler or DSD supplier, retailers must first askthemselves the crucial question, “Can theyconsistently meet my needs?” Tidel urgesretailers to ask that very same questionwhen choosing a cash management solutions provider because it is confident thathistory will show how well it stacks upagainst its competitors. Ask yourself, “Whohas been the industry thought leader in cashmanagement for three decades? Which company does every major petroleum c-storechain use for cash management? Whichcompany offers customer service globally inover 120 countries?” The answer will be aclear selection of Tidel Engineering.
Tidel has been a manufacturer of cashsecurity equipment designed for specialtyretail marketers for 30 years. It designs andmanufactures products for cash security androbbery prevention, as well as retail cashmanagement. To date, Tidel has sold morethan 200,000 retail cash controllers in the U.S. and over 40 countries, making it anattractive option for convenience store andpetroleum marketers with operations in multiple states, countries and Canadianprovinces. Tidel provides a 24-hour, sevenday customer service center and offers customer service and support in over 120 countries worldwide.
Benefits of a Tidel cash managementsolution include:
- Freeing up the store manager’s time
- Full automation of the cash managementprocess will deter robbery attempts andimprove shrinkage by more than 1% ofsales
- Cash management systems provide areturn on investment of less than sevenmonths
- Allow the POS to be the control point forbalancing all of the cash, not just the till
- Tidel will provide a custom solution that istailor-made to your business needs. (Configure your own solution at www.tidel.com)
“As companies move into complete cash management solutions, it does little good if hardware, software or the network is down for any significant period of time, next calendar day service ought to be the minimum you expect,” Grondahl said.
Key Takeaways
According to Grondahl, retailers shouldremember the following when choosing acash management system:
- Buy a system that is capable of sharing information between the POS and the safe.
- Be certain bill readers can be updated without a trip to the store.
- If it takes longer than 20 minutes at the end of the day to handle money and reporting, you have the wrong system.
- Do not put the manager in the dangerous position of counting money in the office.”This invites a potentially dangerous robbery situation,” Grondahl said.
Information about Tidel and its line of products can be found at www.tidel.com orwrite to [email protected]