CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

Buying Groups

ProSource Review

by Ellen Cunningham

This review is part of our directory of buying groups/group purchasing organizations. Buying Group Name: ProSource Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Consumer electronics/home entertainment Number of members: 500+ Website: http://www.prosourceinfo.com/ In 2008, the two groups formed a strategic alliance, and by the end of 2010, they officially merged to form ProSource. As of 2016, ProSource does over…

ProSource a member-owned amalgam of two buying groups: Pro Group and HES. Pro Group was founded in 1985 and HES was founded in 1994.

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Buying Groups

Nationwide Marketing Group Review and Profile

by Ellen Cunningham

This review is part of our directory of buying groups/group purchasing organizations. Buying Group Name: Nationwide Marketing Group Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Appliances, furniture, electronics, custom installations Number of members: 3,500+ Website: http://www.nationwidegroup.org/ How does this group work? Surprisingly, there isn’t very much information on the group’s website about how it works. An interview with a…

Nationwide Marketing Group (not to be confused with the Nationwide insurance company) touts itself America’s largest buying and marketing organization. Its 3,500 members operate over 11,000 storefronts across the US and have $15 billion in combined annual sales. Nationwide is so large that it has seven regional divisions. Each of them is led by a retail industry veteran. Nationwide is based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

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Accounting and Finance

Calculating Margin: Determine Your Profit

by Ellen Cunningham

Jump to Resources for the margin calculator. You know the margin has to cover a lot more than you and your employee’s salaries. Everything your business does, all the money it spends, from utilities to credit card processing, comes from that sliver of income. It’s vital to understand exactly what your costs and expenses are…

When you’re selling products and services, the way to make money looks straightforward — Sell the item for more than you paid for it and pocket the difference. That difference, the “margin”, is what you rely on to stay in business.

Calculating-Margin-Determine-Your-Profit

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Business

Self Checkout: Should You Implement It?

by Brian Penny

Consumer Reports recently published a survey of how consumers feel about self-checkout. The top complaint of the 62,917 subscribers surveyed was too few open checkout lanes. Nearly 75 percent of respondents liked self-checkout’s ability to save time. We decided to delve into the self-checkout lanes to determine the good and bad. Here’s what you need…

Self checkouts, where a customer rings up their own items, bags them, and pays without a cashier, have been implemented in many grocery chains, fast food restaurants, and chain retailers across the country, with NCR Corporation supplying 68 percent of these systems. Should you jump on the self-serve checkout train, too?

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Business

Before Profitability: How Long Until You Run Out of Money

by Paul Maplesden

Defining Profitability Calculating Run Rate Establish How Long You Can Stay in Business Changes You Can Make to Become Profitable Defining Profitability First, let’s define profitable. At the most basic level, being profitable means achieving something beneficial, usually making money. For small businesses, that means that your business is earning more money than it…

It’s a sad fact that if your business isn’t making more money than it’s spending, at some point you’re going to run out — And in almost all cases, that means you’re out of business. With a good understanding of your costs, margins, and sales, you can calculate exactly how long you’ll be able to stay in business. More importantly, you can use those figures to make informed decisions so you can survive longer, and get a plan in place for achieving profitability.

Before-Profitability-How-Long-Until-You-Run-Out-of-Money

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Credit Card Processing

Using a PayPal Account In Store: Cards and the PayPal App

by Ellen Cunningham

The two companies have reached an end to a 3-year-old disagreement where First Data would not allow PayPal transactions. PayPal also reached deals with Visa and Mastercard. This shows that PayPal is willing to play nice with the card brands it has previously clashed with, and is serious about eliminating previous hurdles that have prevented…

It’s here: Taking PayPal in stores.

Okay, technically it’s been here for a little while, but the number of stores that can accept PayPal is about to shoot up dramatically with the official beginning of First Data’s in-store PayPal acceptance.

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Buying Groups

National Association of Retail Buyers and Sellers Review

by Ellen Cunningham

This review is part of our directory of buying groups/group purchasing organizations. Buying Group Name: National Association of Retail Buyers & Sellers Industry/Specialty: Retail Number of members: Unknown Website: http://www.narbuyers.org/ How does this group work? NARB bills itself as a community of retail professionals who share insights and ideas. Once you join, you get access…

The National Association of Retail Buyers & Sellers (NARB) is a non-profit founded in 2009 by two retail industry veterans. Their goal was to create an organization that would help retail professionals share information and best practices with one another so that all members could succeed. One of the benefits of joining NARB is that you’ll get special offers (read: discounts) from vendor sponsors. However, increasing members’ buying power isn’t the sole purpose of this NJ-based organization. It also seeks to develop members’ careers and serve as a resource for many aspects of retail buying and selling, store planning, and product development. Unlike many buying groups or group purchasing organizations, NARB is only open to individuals, not to businesses.

National-Association-Retail-Buyers-Sellers

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Buying Groups

Royal Buying Group Review

by Ellen Cunningham

This review is part of our directory of buying groups/group purchasing organizations. Buying Group Name: Royal Buying Group Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Independent Convenience Store Retailers Number of members: 6,000+ Website: http://www.royalbuying.com How does this group work? Like most group purchasing organizations, RBG negotiates rebates and discounts on behalf of its members. As a member, your…

Royal Buying Group (RBG) was founded in 1995. The group, based in Illinois, is designed to support independent convenience store retailers. RBG negotiates with national vendors to increase members’ buying power and reduce their operating expenses. In addition, this buying group offers such benefits for its members as educational programs and networking events.

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