Press Release

BrighterShop Au103 Retail Point of Sale Software Supports New FileMaker Pro 10 and Introduces New Features plus Special Pricing

Sleek new interface, new features and low price a boon for retail shop owners

Sydney, January 23 2009 – Australian company, Ambrite Pty Ltd, has announced the availability of BrighterShop Au103, a new version of the popular Mac and PC retail point-of-sale software, updated for the newly released FileMaker Pro 10. With this new version, for a limited time, the company has also introduced 50% off special pricing.

Retail POS solution - now for FileMaker Pro 10

With a fresh new interface, FileMaker Pro 10 delivers dramatic design changes and BrighterShop Au, developed on the FileMaker platform, benefits from these developments.

“All of the new ‘look and feel’ features in FileMaker Pro 10 are a boon for BrighterShop users,” explained Mark Richards, Managing Director of Ambrite. “In a retail environment, the look, simplicity and speed of operation are all important. FileMaker Pro 10 helps BrighterShop deliver a great user experience and an attractive package.”

Easing Set-Up Costs for New Retail Stores
In a time of softening retail demand, storeowners need to be aware of cost-effective solutions for retail business management. While BrighterShop offers a robust set of features for the independent retail store, Ambrite is sensitive to the caution of start-up retail operations. Lowering the cost of entry without compromising the quality of the solution is important, especially in the ramp-up phase of a business. While computer systems are easily re-deployed in the event of changing business plans, specialised software is harder to absorb.

“New retail businesses don’t want to overcapitalise on equipment,” emphasises Richards. “We have undertaken two initiatives in consideration of the current economic climate and to introduce our new version. One, we have reduced the cost for new purchases, and two, we have introduced a low-cost yearly rental of the software that can easily be written off as a business expense.”

Customers can now purchase a BrighterShop Au103 license for a special introductory price of $1500 ex GST. This represents 50% off the normal recommended retail price. Alternatively, customers can take advantage of 50% off the Annual License Rental for $550 ex GST. Special pricing is available until 30th April 2009.

Existing customers can upgrade to BrighterShop Au103 at no charge.

Advanced Price Testing
BrighterShop lets retailers analyse retail prices and ask 'what if I set the price point here?' and shows how the profit and margin would be affected by a proposed price change. The software can project the total difference for dozens or hundreds of items at the same time. This eliminates the need for laboriously preparing analysis calculations in a separate spreadsheet.

Better Data Mining
A new feature of FileMaker Pro 10 is the ability to save search queries for repeated use and run them in one step from a drop-down menu. This feature adds nearly limitless customisable reporting to BrighterShop's extensive set of built-in reports and lets BrighterShop users develop and save sophisticated queries to “mine” their retail data for up-to-the minute information – critical for business success. This further differentiates BrighterShop from other retail systems where customisation of this sort would require the developer to modify the software.

“There are many advantages to the customer of using a system based on FileMaker Pro,” stated Richards. “Being able to extend the functionality of the system without relying on the developer is a major one. FileMaker Pro 10 has definitely delivered this for us.”

Additional advantages of FileMaker Pro implementations include the low cost of multi-user deployments, cross-platform compatibility, simple data import and export, extensibility for other business functions and built-in network and web sharing functionality.

US-based co-developer of BrighterShop, Rob Costin of BrighterData, has found the new development features in FileMaker Pro 10 have simplified the development process, allowing the faster development of new features and simplification of the programming required. Script Triggers, which launch scripts triggered by user actions or based on time limits, are one example of these features.

“Using Script Triggers allows me to eliminate a whole bunch of custom-developed code to get new versions out the door faster,” said Costin. “This results in a better, more feature-rich application that is easier for me to maintain.”

Customer Communications is Key
BrighterShop Au103 also extends the software’s advanced tools for customer communications. Retailers can easily search for groups of customers based on purchasing history or other criteria and send targeted and personalised emails to them. This, combined with Gift Certificates, customer credit tracking, special orders, notes and keywords, creates a powerful customer relationship solution.

“Things as simple as letting a customer know their special order has arrived, to as complicated as conducting an email campaign for a new product release, are a single click away,” stated Richards. “Successful retail is all about repeat business and customer loyalty. BrighterShop gives you the tools to keep in touch with and keep your customers.”

About BrighterShop Au
BrighterShop Au is the result of a two-year development collaboration between US-based developer Rob Costin of BrighterData and Mark Richards of Ambrite Pty Ltd to customise the BrighterShop retail point of sale software system for Australian retail regulatory and market conditions. Any retail business that purchases and tracks stock and makes sales to customers at one or more checkouts can utilise BrighterShop.

BrighterShop runs on any Mac or Windows computer with FileMaker 9 or 10 installed.

Customers can download a full-featured trial of the software at no charge from www.brightershop.com.

Key features
BrighterShop Au is a complete retail point of sale (POS) solution, purpose-built for Australia and NZ. With a powerful feature set, BrighterShop is easy to learn, easy to use, easy on the eyes and affordable.

Key operational features include:
- Ability to handle multiple exchange rates
- Purchase Order and inventory control
- Bar code and scanner support
- Ability to handle lay-by sales
- Ability to handle Consignment Contracts and Consignment Stock
- Ability to handle Items incorporating multiple components (bill of materials) and to handle ordering of mixed package Items from suppliers
- Item price testing and modelling
- Store credit and Gift Certificates
- Complete customer sales tracking and customer marketing communications
- Support for to-dos
- Cost-value accounting
- Clear, concise and attractive reports
- Licensing per store location (not per work station) allowing the use of additional computers without additional license fees

High-resolution images can be downloaded as follows: -

Image: http://www.ambrite.com.au/press/home_screen.png
Caption: BrighterShop Au103 Home Screen showing areas of functionality

Image: http://www.ambrite.com.au/press/sale.png
Caption: BrighterShop Au103 sales include powerful Lay-By facilities

Image: http://www.ambrite.com.au/press/BrighterShop_In_Store.jpg
Description: BrighterShop in use in Sydney store

   Ambrite Pty Ltd • abn 31 068723124 • PO box 286 Waverley NSW 2024 Australia • phone: +61 (0)2 9386 9368