What's New

True Value stores are now configured with a single "Primary Vendor: True Value" setting, plus one choice indicating whether the POS has transitioned to Do it Best SKUs (Pre-transition or Transitioned). Stores previously set up as "Do it Best + True Value Levels" are automatically migrated to the new "True Value + Transitioned" configuration at startup.

The Store Assessment, previously available only for True Value stores, now supports Do it Best and Ace Hardware stores. Each vendor sees its own price levels, awareness codes, and taxonomy fields, with vendor-specific rounding schemes and selection boxes added automatically when needed.

The Store Assessment engine now supports multiple vendors through configurable profiles, allowing Do it Best and Ace stores to run the assessment with their own price levels, awareness codes, and taxonomy fields. True Value assessments produce identical results to previous versions.

Added the True Value Store Assessment tool and three interactive training lessons that guide users through setting up True Value stores (pre-transition and transitioned) and using the assessment to create pricing strategies. The assessment analyzes a store's current pricing and suggests potential True Value pricing plans based on configurable goals.

All training lesson narration audio has been re-rendered to incorporate updated pronunciation rules, ensuring consistent and accurate voice-over quality across the entire training library.

Changed all user-facing terminology for True Value stores from "converted/not converted" to "transitioned/pre-transition" to align with preferred industry language. This affects displays throughout the True Value Assessment, Store Information settings, and documentation.

Fixed an issue where rebuilding main tables after vendor or price-level configuration changes could use an outdated vendor catalog view structure. The rebuild process now refreshes the vendor data view first to ensure it matches the current vendor setup before processing store data.

The True Value Store Assessment now detects whether a store's POS has converted to Do it Best SKUs and clearly displays this throughout the application. Converted stores can now read leftover True Value item numbers still in their POS through Do it Best's cross-reference, ensuring all items are found regardless of which numbering system they use.

The True Value Store Assessment now enables rounding by default and applies the store's chosen rounding scheme to all price-setting steps, so the projected margins and price changes shown on screen match what the store will actually get. Plans can be compared across different rounding schemes to see how TV-1, AF-1, AF-2, and other schemes affect margins and price changes.

The True Value Store Assessment now offers Simple and Advanced views, generates six to eight multi-step pricing plans with descriptive names (e.g., "Fewest changes," "Best value per change"), and displays step names that explain what each strategy does. Steps now select on taxonomy descriptions stores already have, with improved tooltips throughout.

Fixed the rule text generated for "Possible Selling-Unit Issues" custom groups in True Value assessments to include the vendor type token (ACTIONVENDORTYPE~ALL), preventing creation failures when the step editor performs a round-trip validation.

The True Value Store Assessment now consolidates possible selling-unit issues (items priced under half or over double the suggested retail) into one custom group per store, making them easier to review and manage as a unit rather than as hundreds of individual SKU exceptions.

The True Value Store Assessment now shows item descriptions and likely reasons for selling-unit issues (items priced far from suggested retail), making it easier to identify and resolve pack-size mismatches and other pricing anomalies. The tab is renamed from "Pack-Size Items" to "Possible Selling-Unit Issues" to better reflect what the tool detects.

Fixed dialog windows appearing in the Windows taskbar when they shouldn't, and streamlined help icons on the Store Assessment screen to have one primary help button instead of multiple scattered icons.

The True Value Store Assessment now runs automatically when opened, shows a detailed explanation before creating any strategy, and includes blue help buttons on every tab that link directly to relevant documentation sections.

Updated the True Value Store Assessment feature to clarify that the analysis shows potential pricing plans (sample models) rather than recommendations, emphasizing that stores are responsible for their own pricing decisions. The terminology now refers to the top-ranked plan as "closest to the goals you set" instead of "recommended."

Updated the True Value Store Assessment screen to consistently use "current sitting margin" and "future sitting margin" terminology instead of "margin before" and "margin after," and enabled column header wrapping for better readability of longer, more descriptive column names.

Introduces an advanced pricing model for True Value stores that analyzes items by Do it Best product taxonomy (department → category → subcategory → product group) and customer awareness groups (A/B/C/D/E) to generate 6-8 strategic pricing opportunities. This engine calculates the optimal balance between price changes and gross profit margin, providing stores with clear pricing paths tailored to product categories and customer price sensitivity.

The True Value Store Assessment now chooses the store's program level and department steps based on the number of price changes needed and the resulting sitting margin, rather than average price gaps. A busy indicator shows analysis progress through each phase.

Added a comprehensive True Value Store Assessment tool that analyzes a new True Value store's current pricing position, compares all available pricing options with their financial impacts, and creates a customized starting strategy based on the store's ranked objectives and constraints.

Introduces a comprehensive assessment engine that analyzes True Value and converted Do it Best stores to recommend optimal pricing strategies. The system evaluates current pricing against True Value levels, identifies department-specific opportunities, calculates projected impacts, and generates complete strategy steps with rule text.

The True Value price level column names now display with spaces ("TV Level 1", "TV Level 1.5", "TV Level 2") instead of run-together text, making them easier to read in the pricing grid. Stores using the original naming from the first release will have their columns automatically renamed when the main table next rebuilds.

True Value pricing levels (TV Level 1, 1.5, and 2) now appear in Set Future Price to dialogs regardless of view configuration, and level calculations are optimized to skip recalculation when input data hasn't changed. Column labels now update immediately after choosing True Value levels instead of requiring a restart.

True Value variable pricing levels (Level 1, 1.5, and 2) are now calculated on your computer from the pricing rules synced from the cloud and your store's suggested retail, rather than being computed in the cloud. This includes a new TV-1 rounding scheme that matches True Value's rounding table and a one-step strategy builder for stores pricing on True Value levels.

Resolved a crash that occurred when restoring a database backup or switching to the demo database from within the application. The connection authentication settings were not properly transferred during the database switch operation, causing an error about missing User ID credentials.

Resolved an issue where NULL store details (like RSC code for True Value stores) were being written to the About and ApplicationSettings tables during database initialization, which could cause display problems in the About dialog and support tools.

All training lesson audio narration has been regenerated using an updated pronunciation dictionary to improve clarity and consistency across the built-in video tutorials.

Fixed an issue where the demo database restore would fail on first-run installations because the app was trying to read the backup file header through a database connection that didn't exist yet. The restore process now correctly reads the backup header directly from the target SQL Server.

The "SQL Service Stopped" training video has been rebuilt from a new recording with updated audio narration. This video helps users troubleshoot database connection issues after Windows updates.

Regenerated the narration audio for the training video that explains how to diagnose startup issues when Margin Master stalls during launch. The audio content remains the same, but was rebuilt from a new recording with updated voice rendering.

When a training video that's already published is rebuilt (re-voiced, re-recorded, or script changed), it now publishes itself automatically without requiring Brad to re-review or click Publish again. The approval carries forward to the new version, simplifying the workflow for fixing videos.

Added support for True Value's variable-pricing programs (Level 1, Level 1.5, Level 2) on the Do it Best catalog. True Value stores now sync their own catalog view and computed price levels, while Do it Best stores can opt into True Value levels for converted stores.

Two new training videos have been published and linked in the application's training library: one covering how to use Margin Master on a second computer, and another explaining how to fix issues when the store list appears incorrect.

The Help menu now features a unified "Get Help" hub that provides access to documentation, live support, AI assistant, and issue submission all in one place, replacing the previous separate menu items for Live Support and Documentation.

Added a new Get Help hub that consolidates all support options (documentation, AI chat, live support, issue submission, and follow-up requests) into a single, easy-to-navigate screen. This replaces the previous scattered menu items with a unified support experience.

The training course catalog now associates courses with specific vendors (Ace Hardware, Do it Best, True Value) to display vendor logos and organize courses by vendor group. The "Margin Master Concepts" course has been renamed "Why Margin Master?" to better reflect its purpose.

All 67 training lesson audio files have been regenerated to reflect updated pronunciation rules in the text-to-speech system. The voice model remains the same (en-US-AvaMultilingualNeural), but audio hashes have changed due to pronunciation adjustments.

Six new instructional videos have been added to the in-app training library, covering pricing configuration, price sensitivity codes, shelf tag printing troubleshooting, daily data update routines, vendor price discrepancies, and importing spreadsheets into Margin Master.

Four training videos were approved and published, including new content for Ace Hardware and Do-It-Best stores, plus updated versions of core pricing concept videos. These videos help retailers understand vendor-specific features and pricing fundamentals.

Updated the rounding scene in two concept training videos to follow a more compelling narrative structure, and renamed two concept videos to better reflect their content and audience.

Added two new pricing concept videos with matching one-page handouts for trade shows: one for Ace Hardware conventions covering Ace levels, MAP/IMAP and Critical Pricing; one for Do it Best markets covering recreated True Value variable pricing levels and Do it Best's suggested retail, both explaining strategy building, rounding, and sitting margin.

A new training video course for True Value stores transitioning to the Do it Best catalog has been approved and published, covering expectations during the transition and how True Value variable pricing programs carry forward.

Revised training video metadata to use "transition" instead of "conversion" when describing True Value stores moving to Do it Best, providing more accurate and appropriate terminology for this catalog change process.

Added a new training course specifically for True Value stores moving to the Do it Best catalog, including a video explaining what to expect during the transition and how the True Value variable pricing program carries forward in Margin Master.

Updated the True Value to Do it Best conversion training video with revised narration and graphics based on internal review feedback, clarifying the transition process, implementation timeline, and pricing strategy approach for converting stores.

Added a new training video concept for True Value stores converting to Do it Best, explaining what to expect during the catalog transition, how the variable pricing program is recreated, and how to manage the conversion using Margin Master's pricing strategy tools.

All training video audio files have been re-voiced with updated pronunciation settings to improve clarity and consistency across the embedded training system.

Nine new training videos have been approved and published to help users learn key Margin Master workflows including pricing setup, data routines, troubleshooting common issues, and multi-store management.

Training videos now publish to the Margin Master training website immediately when approved, without waiting for YouTube's daily upload limits. Videos are then uploaded to YouTube in batches during background processing, ensuring the training page stays current even when YouTube quota is exhausted.

A new training video explaining why different price change counts appear in Margin Master has been approved and published to the video training library.

A new training video has been published showing users how to narrow down and filter price changes into smaller, more manageable batches for review and processing.

A new training video explaining how to manually enter future prices has been published and is now available in the in-app training library.

A new training video has been published to help users understand what to do when their Main Table grid columns change or disappear unexpectedly.

A new training video "Your Pricing Strategies After an Update" has been approved and published to the in-app training library. This video helps store managers understand how to review and adjust their pricing strategies after receiving vendor catalog updates.

All training video audio files have been regenerated to reflect updates to the pronunciation dictionary, ensuring consistent and accurate narration across the entire training library.

A new training video explaining how to use the Future Price Panel for what-if pricing scenarios has been approved and published to the in-app training course.

Added new training video explaining the Summary section that shows pricing increases, decreases, and dollar impact. This video helps users understand how to interpret the pricing change summary statistics.

A new training video explaining how to read the pricing grid (prices, locks, and zones) has been approved and published to YouTube for the Main Table course.

A new training video covering the Button Row shortcuts has been approved and published to YouTube, helping users learn how to use the quick-access buttons in the main interface.

Published the "Selection Boxes: Choosing Which Items You See" training video to YouTube and made it available in the application's training course library.

Revised the "Your regular data routine" training lesson with clearer explanations based on video review feedback. The updated narration provides better context about data updates, POS system variety, and upcoming scheduling features.

A new training video covering the Data menu has been approved and published to YouTube, completing the menu-by-menu walkthrough series for new users.

A new training video covering the Strategy menu has been approved and published, completing another section of the menu bar tutorial series.

A new training video covering the View and Tools menu items has been approved and published to the in-app video library. This video helps users learn about display options and tool features available in Margin Master.

A new training video covering the Help menu has been approved and published to the video library, completing the menu bar tutorial series.

The interactive training system now has the ability to switch between tabs in multi-page panels and pre-select list items during video recordings. Two sample lessons have been rewritten to demonstrate these capabilities, including expanded coverage of the Future Price panel's tabs.

Updated the training video narration for the summary section to explain the summary options more clearly and concisely. The new wording better describes when to use Displayed, All, or None options.

Revised the narration script for the Summary section training lesson to improve clarity and accuracy based on Brad's feedback during video review. The updated wording better explains how the summary panel works and what the display options control.

Added a curated "Start Here" playlist that guides new Margin Master customers through essential videos in a specific order, covering why pricing is hard, the main window, and the regular data routine. Playlist automatically stays private until it has videos and updates itself with each release.

A new training video explaining what to do when a Margin Master update fails has been approved and published to the in-app video library.

Published a new training video showing users what to do when Margin Master becomes unresponsive. The deployment system was enhanced to keep live videos available even when newer unapproved builds exist locally.

The video approval and publishing workflow has been migrated from a Claude artifact review page to Manager's Video Review interface (/admin/concepts). A new automated release script now handles the complete publishing process, including YouTube uploads, playlist management, and training site deployment.

The in-app training lesson for resolving frozen program issues now includes guidance to email support@retailersoft.com when encountering problems outside normal support hours.

Updated the script and audio for steps 1-3 of the "When Margin Master freezes or will not open" training lesson to improve clarity and tone based on Brad's revisions.

Menu and feature tour videos now briefly display the actual screen or dialog that opens when you click a menu item or button, making it easier to understand what each feature does before using it. Each screen shown in a tour also links to its own detailed video.

Training video recordings now show the plain application interface without dimming, making the recorded content easier to see. Also fixed an internet connection check that could incorrectly report offline status on busy networks.

A new training video covering all 17 features in the File menu has been approved and published to YouTube, giving users a guided tour of core file operations.

Extended the concept video review system to support recorded course videos (tours), allowing each step to be reviewed as a section with automatic change detection based on clip content. Also added a draft script for a new concept video explaining vendor pricing as a baseline for pricing strategies.

All training videos (lessons and concepts) now display the Margin Master logo in the top-right corner at 80% opacity for consistent branding throughout the video library. Scenes that already show the full logo (like outros) are automatically excluded from watermarking.

The new training video explaining common pricing challenges has been reviewed and approved for publication to users.

Enhanced the training video scene review page to verify saves are properly stored in the database and prevent indefinite hanging. The page now confirms database writes succeeded and times out after 15 seconds if the server doesn't respond.

Updated "The Pricing Problem" training video with revised narration for scene 3 emphasizing pricing as a core business responsibility, and replaced illustrated graphics with actual Speedbor product photos in scene 4 for more realistic visuals.

Added a new "Getting started" scene to the pricing problem training video showing how new stores begin with an analysis of their own point of sale data, including items selling below suggested retail or below cost. Also revised several existing scenes based on owner review feedback.

Completely rebuilt the demonstration concept video "The Pricing Problem" to the approved final script and graphics, transforming it from a 3-minute high-level pitch into a comprehensive 6:30 walkthrough of sitting margin, pricing strategy, and the payoff of managing prices on purpose.

The training video publishing system now includes YouTube video IDs and playlist links in course data, and explicitly sets content types when uploading videos to blob storage to ensure proper browser playback.

Added the first video in the Margin Master Concepts series, explaining why hardware stores need a pricing tool. The video covers common pricing challenges like vendor pricing limitations, inconsistent hand edits, rounding losses, and the inability to preview margin impact.

Introduces a new kind of training content — concept videos — short animated explainers rendered from HTML/SVG scenes that show no application screens, used to explain foundational pricing concepts like vendor pricing baselines and margin strategy.

When a training video mentions another guide or lesson by number, the video now names the training instead and lists all references in timestamped show notes with links to the handbook and instructions for opening them in Training Mode.

The menu bar training video is now split into five separate chapters (one per menu), and all training videos now acknowledge that different vendors see their own pricing and columns. Video files now include SHA-256 hashes to verify content integrity.

Added a course catalog structure to organize training videos into courses with chapters, plus automation to generate Manager page course data and YouTube upload text. All 29 training tours have been reviewed and 22 are now organized into four courses.

Improved the visual guidance in training tours by fixing the spotlight ring to display above menu popups instead of behind them, and added spotlight targeting to 25 tour steps that previously told users to click menu items without showing which ones.

The interactive training lesson for the main pricing grid has been expanded from 2 steps to 6 steps, adding in-depth coverage of future pricing, MAP/IMAP columns, pricing strategy rules, and column layout customization.

Training videos now use narration specifically adapted for video viewing, removing Guide Mode's player instructions like "Click Next" and "Click Finish" that are appropriate in the interactive app but not in a passive video format. This makes the videos feel more natural and professional for viewers who aren't clicking anything.

When a POS import fails because SQL Server ran out of memory or disk space, Margin Master now diagnoses the specific cause, reports it as Critical to telemetry, and shows an import-failure dialog explaining what happened, confirming the data is unchanged, and offering Try Again or Contact Support instead of a generic "No Data Imported" error.