Retail Update: Hopping the pond to the UK

NCH Software continues to expand our presence in retail stores worldwide. Most recently, with the help of Channel Assist, you can now find several NCH Software products on the shelves of retailers like Dixons PC World in the United Kingdom. The UK is already one of our largest online markets, and we know that being in retail stores will only strengthen our presence there. Software titles available include Golden Records, Express Invoice and essential software suites of our audio software and business software products.

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WavePad Makes Doing Radio Fun Again

Guest post by Paulette MacQuarrie of Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio

Back in 2002 I was introduced to audio editing software, when the AM station broadcasting my weekly radio show finally went digital and got rid of its reel-to-reel tapes.

It was the end of a romantic era, and I was not enamoured of the change. (Can anyone say "buggy whip"?) But I eventually realized it had ushered in an exciting new era of its own.

The things I could do now! No more razor blades, guesswork, or scrubbing tapes. No more recording shows onto cassette — they could now be archived on a microchip! And on a website for listeners who missed the radio broadcast. (This was before the term "podcast" was invented.)
Best of all, I could record in my own home studio. No more traffic!

I was well aware that as time marched along, my software was becoming dated. Still, it was comfortably familiar. I had become reasonably competent with it, and I hated learning new software on my own. It was hard enough with help!

When the time came to upgrade my computer, however, upgrading my audio software was no longer optional. I discovered to my horror that it was not compatible with Windows7.

One day while in an office supply store in Bellingham, WA I found myself in their software section. A nice-looking box labelled Audio Essentials by NCH Software caught my eye.

The description sounded good and the price was way less than an upgrade for my existing program. And, I recognized the name WavePad as one that a colleague has for years been ranting and raving about, and bugging me to try. So I bought it and once it was installed, it was pretty much love at first sight.

I don’t usually go crazy over software but WavePad cut my production time in half just on my first try. So what’s not to go crazy about?

Working with my old program involved selecting and arranging regions, then doing a mix-down to a Wave file. This resulted in a studio mix that, after all my finicky editing, was considerably more slick than what I had produced on reel-to-reel. And gradually I forgot how much I enjoyed the "performance high" from recording "live to tape" in my pre-digital days.

WavePad has rekindled that excitement while providing more efficient tools for the studio work.

Probably the most useful is "Insert file" (under Edit menu). I can add ready-to-air files (commercials, interviews, etc.), rip tracks off CDs in seconds and copy them in, as well as record my intros and extros right into the file. No mixing down and converting … just save file as an mp3 and I’m done.

Now the fun is back again!

I love the click-saving icons for basics like adjusting volume (Amplify), fading and cross-fading, mixing and pasting files, noise reduction, etc. I especially love how you can zoom in and out with the scroll of a mouse wheel!

WavePad has handy time markers along the bottom of the page and an indicator showing the length of the entire file and selections. That keeps me on track so I have less editing and adjusting to do later.

I still like to work in WAV because it’s uncompressed. The Batch Converter allows me to convert the show and several components to mp3s in a flash, to post on my program website. Skookum!

WavePad has to be one of the most user-friendly programs I’ve ever encountered. The interface is uber-easy and user-friendly. The brief video tutorials are helpful, and the manual is excellent. The support staff are prompt, friendly and helpful. Definitely real people!

Now I’m starting to experiment with MixPad and am finding it a similarly pleasant experience. It’s almost a surprise how fast and easy it is! I’m looking forward to using the other NCH products that came in the package.

My only regret is waiting so long to make the switch!

Author bio: Paulette MacQuarrie lives on Vancouver Island, Canada where she produces and hosts a syndicated one-hour weekly variety show called Nash Holos Ukrainian Roots Radio in (mostly) English. More details at the show’s website www.nashholos.com and blog nashholos.blogspot.com

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New Mac Point of Sale Software

Our business team has been working to bring our popular business software to the Mac in addition to Windows, so that businesses have more quality and economical software solutions available to them. The Mac release of Copper Point of Sale Software is just one more step in that direction, providing an easy streamlined retail checkout software application to make the checkout process quicker and more accurate for both your customers and your records, no matter which platform you prefer.

The Copper POS system works a like a cash register. You enter in the products you carry as well as any coupons or promotions that can easily be selected and applied to a purchase by the cashier at the time of check out. Using Copper will help eliminate errors in product pricing and tax calculation, and will generate customizable receipts for your customers. So if you run a retail store and you are a Mac user (or even a Windows user), you will want to take a look at how Copper Point of Sale Software can help you record your sales transactions.

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New Barillo Barcode Generation Software

One of our most rapidly growing software areas is our business software suite. In the last year, we not only made significant improvements to our existing business software but also introduced several new business applications including Reflect CRM Software and Copper Point of Software. Now we're starting 2011 in the vein with our first new product of the year: Barillo Barcode Software.

Barillo is a free barcode generator that allows you to create graphic files for EAN-8, EAN-13, UPC-A and UPC-E barcodes. Barillo makes creating labels even easier by allowing users to set the image size needed and export to a variety of different graphic file formats.

The first barcodes were created to label railroad cars but after being introduced to grocery stores to use in the automatic checkout process, they became almost universal and are now being used by businesses everywhere to satisfy the need to accurately identify and track items. With barcodes being so widely used, we are excited to add Barillo to our range of business software utilities to help customers using products such as Inventoria Inventory Management Software since barcodes are so key to maintaining a successful inventory tracking system.

In the future we’ll be adding additional barcode types to Barillo, as well as directly integrating the Barillo Barcode Generator into related software including Inventoria and Copper for easy access to this vital feature when and where you need it.

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Software On-Demand

I recently finished reading The On-Demand Brand by Rick Mathieson, which takes a look at how our culture has become increasingly demanding, seeking instant gratification. From everything from fast food to television, we are no longer willing to wait for things. While Mathieson points to Burger King and their "have it your way" campaign in 1970's as a starting point for this trend, technology and the internet have only increased our need for having things the way we want them on our own schedule. Mathieson goes on to examine ten rules that marketers should know in this on-demand world, all relating to how companies need to shift their thinking to be in line with the expectations consumers have.

The software industry has seen this shift too. We've talked before about software buying trends and the percentage of people who buy their software in a retail store versus purchasing online. It used to be the only way to get software was to get the box with several floppy drives or CDs inside to install from, and it could be a rather time consuming process. Now, you can download and install software in fraction of the time. You don't really need to make plans in advance about your software needs; if you come across a need you can download a software solution on-demand.

NCH Software has adapted to this on-demand mentality quite well. We spend a lot of time trying to improve the usability of our programs so that a user can have the software up and running in three minutes or less, catering to this high-speed demand. Most of our products are under 1 MB in size, so the download time is negligible. We also have a wide range of products that are easily integrated, making it easier for customers to customize a software solution to meet their needs by picking and choosing only the exact products and features that they are looking for. All so you can "have it your way" with software on-demand.

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NCH Software Now in Canadian Retail Stores

Today is the first day that two of our essential business software programs are available across Canada in Staples business supply retail stores. As bundled French and English versions of Express Invoice Invoicing Software and Inventoria Professional Inventory Software hit the shelves today, it marks not only the first time NCH Software products are being sold in retail stores outside the US Market, but also as the first time localized versions of our software are being sold in a retail store environment.

NCH first entered retail stores across the United States early this year. WavePad, VideoPad, PhotoStage, FlexiServer, and Golden Records are just some of the software titles that can now be found at stores including Office Depot, CompUSA, Micro Center, and Fry’s. Seeing our software on the shelves at retail stores in the US has been incredibly exciting and we hope our success here will help us continue to branch out to still more retail stores both here and in other countries, including Australia where we are based, in the future.

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Slow September - Or Was It?

We were a little bit low on our blogging quota in September, but not without good reason. We have very busy with some exciting projects that left us with little time for blogging. For example we have just been finishing up the artwork for some bilingual English/French boxes for our first software products that will be sold in Canadian retail stores that will be sold soon starting out at Staples Canada. And that is just one of the exciting things that we hope/plan to see come to fruition in the not too distant future. We'll do our best to keep the blog posts coming and we hope to have more exciting news to share soon, so be sure to stay tuned for more updates on seeing NCH Software in stores in Canada and more.

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Announcing Copper Point of Sale Software

Our Business Team has been busy expanding the range of products that we have to help small businesses. We had Reflect CRM Software join the ranks in June, and now we have just complete and released Copper, a point of sale software system perfect for retail stores.

Copper works a like a cash register. You can input the different products you carry into the system as well as coupons and promotions that can then be easily added to a purchase by the cashier when someone is checking out. Copper will help eliminate errors in product pricing, calculate subtotals and tax, and generate receipts. You can even customize your printed receipt, all to help improve the entire checkout process and customer relationship.

If you run a retail store, Copper allows you to have multiple cashiers cashiers logging in, making it easy it easy to standardize your product pricing and discounts as well as reducing errors. Whether you are looking for a better a better way to record sales transactions or print out receipts for customers, we hope you will give Copper point of sales software a try along with other some of our other business software solutions for a complete and integrated solution.

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Software Buying Trends

Earlier this year, LifeHacker posted a wonderful info graphic depicting data from the US Census Bureau comparing how many sales are being made online versus in retail stores across a number of categories.


I found the results of What People Buy Online vs. in Stores fascinating. I'd love to see something that showed trending over time, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for results in years to come. As the world becomes increasingly more connected online, I imagine these numbers will continue to shift in favor of making purchases online.

I did find the software results a little surprising. There is nearly a 50/50 split between computer hardware and software purchased online and at retail stores. I would have expected a larger percentage of purchases in this category to be made online, similar to what is seen with other electronics.

I imagine consumers perceive software products as more legitimate or reliable when seen inside retail stores because they fear online products come from fly-by-night businesses that will be gone tomorrow, or maybe consumers don’t feel comfortable buying something so intangible. On the other hand, consumers who do buy online recognize the ease and immediacy of being able to download an application and have a solution instantly. For example, the software utilities we provide at NCH Software download and install, in most cases, in under a minute. That means you can install a program like Prism Video Converter to convert a troublesome movie file that won’t play on your computer before you could so much as make it out your driveway to go to the store in search of a solution.

Until late last year, 100% of NCH Software sales were made online. We are still new to the retail market and our retail presence is still actively growing, so I am curious to see where the split will be in our overall software sales once we are more firmly established in retail stores. Shoppers in the U.S. can currently find Golden Records, Express Invoice as well as software suites of our audio, video and burning software utilities in stores, with additional products including dictation/transcription software, Inventoria, WavePad, VideoPad, and FlexiServer also being added to the mix. Will we eventually see half our sales being made through retail stores, or will retail sales settle at a lower percentage as more customers migrate to online purchasing? I guess only time will tell.

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NCH Audio Suite Complete for Mac

With the release of Zulu DJ Software for Mac earlier this week, all five of the core audio software tools that make up the NCH Audio Suite are now all available for the Mac, completing the Audio Suite for Apple fans. Take a closer look at these 5 essential audio tools for Mac and Widows PC users alike:

• WavePad audio editor
  
• MixPad multitrack recorder and mixer
  
• RecordPad audio recorder
  
• Switch audio file converter
  
• Zulu DJ Software
  

Note: All 5 audio software products are available for download and purchase individually through the NCH Software website, and the retail box with all these audio tools bundled together is available at a selection of retail stores in the US including Fry's, MicroCenter, CompUSA, Amazon and more, so keep your eyes peeled for NCH Software in a store near you.

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NCH Software Now In Retail Stores

We announced this week that our Audio Suite and Golden Records are now both for sale at Fry's Electronics, J&R and MicroCenter retail stores across the United States. Making our software available in retail stores in addition to selling them on-line has been a project a long time in the making and we hope that this is just the tip of the iceberg and that there will be both more stores and more of our software titles to coming to a location near you.

I have to admit that after having worked on this project for so long I couldn't help but take a little detour on my way home the other night to see then end result of an actual NCH Software boxed product on the shelf at the Denver MicroCenter. I couldn't help but take a picture even though I know that most stores frown on you taking photos. While this might not be as exciting to the rest of the world I couldn't help but be a little thrilled just to see those boxes sitting there amidst all of the other software.

The NCH Audio Suite includes five essential audio tools and NCH favorites WavePad Audio Editor, RecordPad Sound Recorder, MixPad Multi-track Mixer, Switch Audio File Converter and Zulu DJ Software in one package.

Golden Records is a vinyl to CD or MP3 converter that comes packaged with an RCA to 3.5mm converter cable to help you connect your old turntable to your computer for digitizing your albums.

If you live near one of these retail stores we hope you will go check them out, and if not you should still keep your eyes peeled and hopefully we will be at a store near you soon.

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