Home Page > Pos Software : RHQ

JPMA’s RHQ

RHQ is jpma's enterprise level solution for centrally managing store chains. RHQ resides at the Retailer’s headquarters, where it is networked to the PoS Servers at each individual store. Through the use of it’s transport mechanism, RHQ is able to send data down to the stores, receive data up from the stores, as well as communicate interactively with the PoS Terminals at the stores.

Each of these three abilities enable RHQ to provide essential chain management functions:

To the stores – (figure 1)

Centralized promotion management – Since RHQ is tightly integrated to the PoS Designer, full advantage may be taken of PoS Designer's wide variety of promotional abilities. Promotions are configured on selected items at a central point, and may be applied to the entire chain, to individual stores ("sites"), or groups of stores ("zones"). Once at the store, the promotions can apply immediately, or at a specified date and time. RHQ provides the Retailer with 3 ways of working with promotions:
- Screen Input – As RHQ is an ASP.net application, screens may be accessed through any PC on the network – at the headquarters, and at the stores.
- Spreadsheet Input – This innovative system allows each merchandising group to record their promotions using a spreadsheet application and apply the spreadsheets to RHQ which automatically handles the rest.
- Merchandising System Interface – When interfaced to RHQ, Merchandising Systems have a single robust interface point to and from all stores with guaranteed delivery.
Centralized file management – Using the RHQ platform, the Retailer may add and modify items, departments, customer records, etc. – and send the result to all of the stores in the chain.
Initial Load – New stores can receive their critical databases centrally from RHQ. This insures consistency across the chain. RHQ can even download and install new software release packages at the store level.

From the stores – (figure 2)

Centralized Reporting – Each store sends RHQ complete transaction log data from every sale at scheduled intervals. This data is stored in RHQ’s relational database where it is reported on using Crystal Reports®. Detailed item movement by store is available in a near realtime frame, and with the highly detailed transaction data source in an open ODBC database, it is relatively easy to create custom reports in RHQ.
Centralized Journal Viewer (“Electronic Journal”) – Just as the PoS Designer allows the User to search for and reprint copies of sales receipts at the store level, RHQ provides this feature at the Host level. A copy of any receipt from any store can be reprinted at RHQ. Enhanced searching capability not found at the store level is also provided.

Interactive with the PoS – (figure 3)

Centralized Customer Lookup – When a customer number is entered at the PoS, it will be looked up centrally at RHQ. All customer information, such as associated promotions, and accumulated points are returned to the PoS. Safeguards are in place if the store should be offline to RHQ.
Customer Update – When the customer transaction is completed at the PoS, customer data such as the new point balance and sales history, is updated at RHQ and is instantly available at other stores.
Centralized In-House Credit / Debit – The PoS Designer has extensive capabilities in the area of In-House Credit / Debit, and RHQ provides full support for these features in a chain wide environment. This includes store credit with credit limits, store debit with daily limits, and payments to account for either credit or debit. RHQ's central file is immediately updated after each Credit / Debit transaction.

RHQ Interface to Merchandising Systems at Host

Leveraging the use of RHQ’s ability to send updates to the stores as well as it’s detailed database of sales activity, RHQ is the ideal platform to use as an interface between stores and merchandising systems in place at headquarters. This eliminates the complexity of interfacing to each store's PoS Server and substitutes a proven and dependable transport mechanism for data exchange to and from the stores.

In addition RHQ serves as a platform for converting the data to and from the merchandising system’s format. There are a variety of merchandising systems that the Retailer may have. They could be anything from a "home grown" system to established systems from companies such as SAP or JDA. Even among the established systems there is variation.

The 3rd party interface in RHQ was designed from the beginning to be as open and flexible as possible. The interface points are modularized so that custom modules can be added for various interfaces, and a set of "interface tools" such as "file drop" and FTP are already integrated into the system. In addition, an extensive set of parameters specific to the merchandising system are used so that new versions of the merchandising system can be easily accommodated.

RHQ adds value to the data it is receiving and sending from the 3rd party system. For example, some Retailers will create new items using the merchandising system, but put them on promotion using RHQ. This can save the price of a costly "promotion module" in the merchandising system. In addition, full advantage will be taken of the extensive promotion capabilities within the PoS Designer. Promotional abilities will no longer be limited to those of the merchandising system.

A case in point for the above is the department store chain Citistore, based in Hong Kong. Citistore uses RHQ in conjunction with SAP to provide cost savings and promotional benefits. (see the JPMA press release here)

RHQ Structure, Supporting Functions and Technical Details – (figure 4)

RHQ is built upon Microsoft's ASP.net framework. As such, workstation connectivity throughout the chain becomes as simple as accessing the network. No software is required at the workstations to access the RHQ Server.
RHQ uses SQL Server for it's database. This provides dependable and powerful features in an open system database such as; unlimited storage, backup and restore capability, remote connectivity, and ODBC compliance.
RHQ uses MSMQ in it's transport layer. MSMQ is very dependable and guarantees delivery. For security, stores must “register” with RHQ in order establish communications. RHQ will only communicate with a registered client.
Only data elements that have changed are sent to the stores using compressed XML format. This allows for readable yet efficient transport.
Like the PoS Designer, RHQ is fully literalized and supports double byte languages.
System parameters allow the User to configure various task transmission times, and defaults.
RHQ uses a similar concept of security as found in the PoS Designer. Employees are assigned a Security Profile which defines the functions they are allowed to perform. Employees sign on from any workstation to begin a session. If an employee does not have access to a function, that function will not appear on the main screen.
Screens employ "collapsible panels" (figure 5) which hide selections until the User is ready to see them. When navigating through screens, "breadcrumbs" let the User know where they are, and provide a one click solution to return to previous screens.
To aid in selecting groups of items that are to be put on promotion, "Filters" are provided that allow the user to select items based on various criteria. Filters may be saved and re-applied.
A Site Status feature lets the User know at a glance that a store has received it's promotions and is sending it's t-logs. Critical events, or informational events, may trigger email notifications.

The above is just a thumbnail sketch of RHQ. For more information, please contact JPMA Sales and Marketing – ask for Document Number FD4x-004 – “Survey of RHQ Features”.