What’s New in Futura: Enhancements from Version 3.34 to 3.40A
Futura versions 3.34 to 3.40A introduce a series of enhancements designed to improve stock control, replenishment, promotions, POS workflows, reporting, and payment flexibility.
These updates focus on giving retailers greater control over inventory processes, improving in-store efficiency, and strengthening visibility across multi-site operations.
At a Glance
Greater Control Over Stock
Improved handling of stock corrections, inventory processes and IBT visibility give you greater control over stock movements.
Smarter Replenishment
Follow-on items and enhanced allocation logic help maintain availability across stores with less manual input.
More Flexible Promotions
Attribute-driven promotions and automated receipt-based vouchers support more targeted campaigns.
Improved POS & Store Operations
Faster returns, better item search, and more control at the till improve the in-store experience.
Flexible Reporting & Data Visibility
Expanded filtering, audit tracking, and reporting flexibility provide clearer business insight.
Expanded Payment Capabilities
Support for Alipay, ZipPay, Adyen, and Global Blue enhances flexibility for modern and international retail.
Greater Control Over Stock
Stock management processes have been enhanced to improve control and visibility across stock corrections, inventory handling, and inter-branch transfers.
Retailers can now:
- Delay the booking of stock corrections for review before they impact stock
- Backdate or forward date stock adjustments
- Track unbooked movements separately using delta tracking
- Improve visibility and control of IBT confirmations and discrepancies
- Validate EAN/barcodes with checksum verification
Why this matters:
These updates give you greater control over when stock changes affect reporting, helping reduce errors, improve auditability, and maintain more accurate stock valuation across your business.
Smarter Replenishment
Replenishment logic has been enhanced to better reflect real-world retail scenarios and product lifecycles.
Key improvements include:
- Support for follow-on items when primary products are out of stock
- Improved handling of linked item chains and substitutions
- More accurate replenishment calculations using item attributes
- Greater control over which branches are included in allocation
Additional configuration options also allow more control over how follow-on item demand and stock levels are calculated.
Why this matters:
Stores can maintain availability even when products change or sell through, reducing manual intervention and helping keep stock levels consistent across locations.
More Flexible Promotions
Promotional functionality has been expanded to support more targeted and flexible campaigns.
Enhancements include:
- Attribute-driven promotions using item characteristics
- Improved Mix & Match logic, including lowest-price item handling
- Automatic voucher printing at the point of sale based on spend thresholds
The updated Mix & Match functionality now gives greater control over how discounts are applied. For example, in a “buy 3, get the lowest priced item free” promotion, you can explicitly define which items the lowest-price logic applies to—ensuring promotions behave exactly as intended.
This builds on existing logic that already calculates the best possible combination of items in the basket, but now gives retailers more control over how those rules are applied in practice.
Why this matters:
Retailers can create more precise and predictable promotions, deliver more relevant offers, and drive increased basket value without relying on manual intervention or workarounds.
Flexible Reporting & Data Visibility
Reporting and audit capabilities have been expanded to provide more flexible access to data and improved system visibility.
Enhancements include:
- Expanded filtering using item attributes and product structures
- Improved tracking of item data changes
- Enhanced audit logging of system activity
- Support for units, variants, and attributes in reporting
Further updates allow deeper analysis within STPS reports, including filtering by attributes, country, and item hierarchy.
Why this matters:
Gain clearer insight into business performance while strengthening audit and compliance capabilities.
GDPR & Data Control Enhancements
Updates in this release also strengthen control over personal data and system access.
Key additions include:
- Logging of access to personal data across key modules
- Control over user access to sensitive programs
- Expanded tracking of data creation, modification, and export
Why this matters:
These enhancements support GDPR compliance while giving greater transparency and control over how data is accessed and managed.
Improved POS & Store Operations
Enhancements across POS workflows improve usability, control, and consistency in-store.
Key updates include:
- Restricting IBT destinations at POS to reduce errors
- Reprinting POS reports for improved audit visibility
- Configurable prompts and messages during transactions
- Improved item search using attributes
- Enhanced handling of manually entered items
Returns processing has also been improved with:
- Item selection screens for clearer processing
- Automatic assignment of the correct refund payment type
Additional updates across versions include improvements to receipt handling, return workflows, and POS logging.
Why this matters:
These changes make day-to-day store operations faster and more intuitive, reducing errors at the till and improving the overall customer experience.
Expanded Payment Capabilities
Payment functionality has been extended to support a wider range of customer preferences.
Enhancements include:
- Support for additional payment methods such as Alipay and ZipPay
- Integration with Adyen payment processing
- Improvements to Global Blue tax-free shopping
Why this matters:
These updates make it easier to support international customers and meet modern payment expectations at the point of sale.
The enhancements in Futura versions 3.34 to 3.40A focus on greater operational control, more flexible replenishment and promotions, improved store workflows, and stronger reporting visibility.
From stock corrections and follow-up item replenishment, through to receipt vouchers, POS improvements and expanded reporting tools, these updates provide practical improvements that support retailers in managing complexity across both stores and back office.
Performance & System Improvements
Several areas of the system have been optimised to improve performance and day-to-day usability.
Improvements include:
- Faster handling of stock corrections and booking processes
- Improved performance with large datasets
- Faster execution of system jobs and background processes
- Reduction in unnecessary system prompts
Why this matters:
A more responsive system helps teams work more efficiently, particularly in high-volume or multi-site environments.
Download an overview of the upgrade here.
Considering an Upgrade?
A more detailed technical document covering the full list of changes across these versions is available on request.
If you would like to explore how these enhancements could support your retail operation, or to arrange an upgrade, speak to the Futura team today.
📞 Call us on 01189 841925
or
✉️ Email us at helpdesk@futurauk.com
