Merlin esp is a functionally-rich inventory control system designed specifically for the retail environment. It was originally designed and deployed in supermarkets and so is especially suited to efficiently managing a huge number of product lines. The "back office" component interfaces to the point of sale system. This can be supplied as part of merlin esp or it can be an "external" point of sale system. The system will also interface, if required, with a "host" warehouse to obtain product updates, promotional information and to send orders etc. Merlin esp will also interface with a range of portable data entry terminals - these allow entry of ordering information, label requests etc.

Some features include:

• Full departmental performance reporting - perpetual history.
• Full product history to enable informed, accurate decisions and minimise shrinkage.
• Track trends and provide seasonal sales information down to item level.
• Customisable and pre-defined reports, many of which are in Excel format.
• Excel format reports are generated seamlessly enabling the user to further develop the data.
• Automatically generated suggested orders based on sales history, triggers and customisable rules.
• Full PDE ordering capability with split and print facility.
• Full Cash Office functionality with detailed reporting provides a very accurate profile of individual cashier as well as store performance.
• Cash office designed to minimise fraud.
• A rich set of options for controlling pricing
• Date-driven and/or quantity-driven promotions
• Simple and fast shelf label printing with a large number of pre-defined formats available for both "everyday" and promotional pricing.
• Detailed information on shelf labels to minimise incorrect ordering.
• Automatic End of Day and optional Automatic Start of Day.