CardFellow Credit Card Processing Blog

Buying Groups

MEGA Group USA Overview

by Ellen Cunningham

This review is part of our directory of buying groups/group purchasing organizations. Buying Group Name: MEGA Group USA Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Appliances, Furniture, Mattresses, Consumer Electronics Number of members: 1,700 Website: http://www.megagroupusa.com/ Based in Tennessee, the group has 1,700 members with 3,200 storefronts across the US. How does the group work? MEGA works with members…

MEGA Group USA is a buying group with members in multiple industries, including appliances, furniture, mattresses, consumer electronics, seasonal, and outdoor merchandise categories.

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Buying Groups

Review of Furniture 1st Buying Group

by Ellen Cunningham

This review is part of our directory of buying groups/group purchasing organizations. Buying Group Name: Furniture 1st National Buying Group Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Furniture Number of members: 215+ Website: http://www.furniturefirst.coop The group was founded in 1994 by a group of independent furniture retailers and by September 2016, had grown to over 215 members in over…

Furniture 1^st National Buying Group is a cooperative buying group based in Pennsylvania.

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Buying Groups

Overview of Furniture Marketing Group

by Ellen Cunningham

This review is part of our directory of buying groups/group purchasing organizations. Buying Group Name: Furniture Marketing Group Industry/Specialty (if applicable): Furniture Number of members: 100+ Website: http://www.fmgbuyinggroup.com/ FMG was founded in 1991 after the demise of Retailers Marketing Guild (RMG). The founding members of FMG wanted to create an outlet similar to RMG for…

The Furniture Marketing Group (FMG) is a buying group based in North Carolina and is dedicated to bolstering the purchasing power of independent furniture retailers.

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Credit Card Processing, Restaurants and Bars

Tablet POS Systems for Higher Checks and Faster Turnover

by Brian Penny

You’ve probably seen wait staff carrying tablets to let customers pay tableside, or noted the sleek, low-profile systems at trendy bars. While many smaller establishments use a tablet at the counter, Olive Garden, Panera Bread, and Chili’s are among the major restaurant chains using them at tables. These tablets allow diners to view menus, order…

Using tablets as a POS system replacement is becoming more and more popular with restaurants and bars.

Tablet-POS-Systems-for-Higher-Checks-and-Faster-Turnover

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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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Credit Card Processing exposed