Web Site Helps to
Level Playing Field
For Small Retailers
Small businesses have won a major victory now that the U.S. House of Representatives has approved permanent normal trade relations with China by a 237-197 vote.
So said Christopher Wysocki, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Small Business Survival Committee. Speaking for the small-business advocacy organization, he said the bipartisan vote by the House reflects Congress’ courage in the face of intense pressure from special interests seeking protectionist policies.
Protectionism would have hurt U.S. consumers and businesses, as well as the cause for freedom in China. The vote was a victory for economic opportunity and freedom for both the United States and China, Wysocki said.
“One of the best ways to help improve human rights and undermine the Communist regime in China is to open that nation up to trade,” Wysocki said. “With free trade comes prosperity and exposure to the ideals of freedom and democracy.”
Raymond J. Keating, chief economist for the SBSC, agreed.
“It is not just big international conglomerates that will benefit from reducing trade barriers with China,” Keating said. “Small business will benefit as well, whether as consumers of imports from China, actual importers of goods, or as exporters to China.”
Keating cited U.S. Department of Commerce figures which stated that 82 percent of all U.S. firms exporting to China in 1997 were small- and medium-sized enterprises with fewer than 500 employees. In fact, 55 percent had fewer than 50 employees, he said.
The number of small-business exporters increased by 141 percent between 1992 and 1997, and small businesses accounted for more than 35 percent of all U.S. merchandise exports to China in 1997, Keating said.
Keating noted permanent normal trade relations with China does not mean the United States should be any less vigilant in defense. Also, Keating urged Taiwan should also be allowed permanent normal trade relations status as well, despite China’s objections.
“Taiwan is a glowing example of democratic capitalism, and the U.S. should continue as a strong ally and advocate for this island nation, no matter what the Chinese communists say,” Keating said.
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StoreAlliance.com Just That: In a market dominated by the major national chains, small- and mid-sized chains need to find more effective ways to compete. Now they can turn to StoreAlliance.com, a Carlsbad-based subsidiary of Point of Sale Ltd., located in Ra’anana, Israel.
StoreAlliance.com allows smaller businesses to take advantage of the same state-of-the-art applications as the conglomerates, providing a stream of rapidly available, accurate and easy-to-understand data at a fraction of the cost, said Elaine Murphy, spokeswoman for StoreAlliance.com.
This will help deliver a suite of software solutions to grocery retail chains and stores in a centrally hosted, Web-based environment.
Any retailer with a computer hooked up to the Internet can log on to StoreAlliance.com and benefit from advanced information technology software at a fraction of the cost of traditional proprietary systems.
The applications are based on a suite of software systems developed by Point of Sale Ltd. and currently in use in more than 15,000 stores across 41 countries, said Rick Cumberland, general manager of StoreAlliance.com.
StoreAlliance.com has been designed to act as a fully integrated vertical portal for the grocery retailing industry, and access will be on a subscription basis. The home page will offer industry news, information, new product reviews, discussion groups and bulletin boards.
A monthly fee will allow retailers to enter the company Web site, enabling them to benefit from a host of services including retail chain management, E-tailing applications and customer relationship and back office management, he said.
In addition to reviewing the previous day’s results, the program allows the retailer to carry out performance comparisons on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, thereby helping to identify important trends. These reports can be presented by chain, store or department. The system operates on standard PC platforms and is compatible with most computers, Cumberland said.
StoreAlliance.com will help level the playing field between small chains and large ones, something reflected in the company name, he said.
“The name StoreAlliance.com was chosen to represent our goal of building a community of retailers, where stores align themselves together for the common good,” Cumberland said. “Our Web-based system will offer the smaller businesses equal access to the same state-of-the-art applications as the larger conglomerates, providing them with a stream of rapidly available, accurate and easy-to-understand data at a fraction of the cost.”
The result is that small retailers in the grocery industry will be able to enjoy the enormous cost and labor savings that Point of Sale software and systems have consistently delivered, he said.
The U.S. rollout is part of an $8 million-$10 million year 2000 investment announced by the company during the fourth quarter of 1999.
Send small business and retail news to Lee Zion at lzion@sdbj.com.
