Kerrisdale Cameras

Kerrisdale Cameras | Aralco Client since 1992

A British Columbia landmark since 1961, Kerrisdale Cameras, with 8 stores across Vancouver and Victoria, is a photographer’s dream. With everything photo-related from the latest digital cameras to the widest selection of used lenses, it is also an accountant’s biggest headache. Using Aralco Retail Systems’ point of sale and back office software has really helped bring order to the chaos! Since 1992, Kerrisdale Cameras has relied on the program to manage the store inventory, keep track of photo developing, and provide accurate information to their accounting department.

Joining Kerrisdale Cameras, after having worked at Visions, one of Western Canada’s largest electronics retailers, Ms. Turnbull, the company’s office manager, was impressed with Aralco’s point of sale and inventory management system. “It surprised me to see how advanced their system was. The features in the program were right on par with software that Visions used in their stores, and sometimes even better!” she said. To be compared so favourably to a custom-designed program for a large company is quite a testament to the power and scope of Aralco’s software development.

After coming to Kerrisdale Cameras, Ms. Turnbull discovered that the company had a unique method of dealing with the costing on their inventory. Unlike other consumer goods, cameras and other electronic items pose a dilemma to retailers because as newer models with more features and lower prices are introduced, the higher-cost older products become more difficult to sell. Manufacturers try to help retailers by providing rebates on the older items remaining in inventory. The question then arises: now that the cost has been effectively reduced, can the average cost still be accurate? The staff at Aralco worked very closely with Kerrisdale Cameras to come up with a method of dealing with this challenging situation. The program was modified to provide for this, and the software is now able to support camera and electronics retailers with ease.

Results

The staff has found learning and using the system very user-friendly. The program is so full of features that Ms. Turnbull feels that, in the day-to-day operations, she only uses a fraction of what it is capable of. The drill-down inventory lookup has not only saved Ms. Turnbull a great deal of time, but provides all the employees with valuable data at the touch of a button. “I think we all wish there was more time in the day to spend time learning about what else the program can do. But there’s no denying the amount of time the software saves” said Ms. Turnbull.

The company management especially appreciates the real-time information the Aralco system provides. We are getting the data that we need from Aralco to run our business.

Everyone at Kerrisdale appreciates the support they receive from Aralco.  They talk with enthusiasm about the staff at Aralco, particularly the speedy response time to their calls. “Although they are not a hardware company,” Ms. Turnbull explained, “they still go out of their way to help, even for our hardware crashes. Even when our problems with our system had nothing to do with the program, the support staff really makes an effort to find a solution. I would definitely recommend Aralco Retail Systems to any business looking for a feature-rich point of sale and inventory control software. It’s a positive addition to any retail environment”.

About Kerrisdale Cameras

Founded in 1961, Kerrisdale Cameras has 8 stores in Greater Vancouver and Victoria in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. They are a family owned and operated, full-line photographic retailer committed to providing the best selection and service in Western Canada.