The POS Software Blog

News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.

CategoryAdult shop software

How small business retailers can quit dead stock and free up cash in their businesses

June 5, 2015

3 Min read

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Small business retailers could have thousands of dollars of stock sitting on their shelves taking up space. If stock is not selling, it’s costing you. Once you have identified stock that is not selling you can begin to quit this stock, by putting the stock on clearance and continually reducing pricing until it’s sold out. Even if this means selling it below cost, it will save you money in the long run.

Tip: You can work out how much your shop space is worth by dividing the rent by how many square meters of space you have.

If a product hasn’t sold for six months then it’s costing you money to warehouse it. Quitting the stock will stop the cost from building up further and allow you to replace it with stock that will sell. Here is advice on quitting dead stock using our smart POS software.

NOTE: To effectively use this advice you need accurate stock on hand levels. Poor stock management will mean the results here can’t be used. You need to be able to trust your QOH figure is correct for this advice to be useful.

Finding The Stock

Use the ranked sales report with the following settings to work out what isn’t selling and put that stock on clearance.

Go to Reports > Sales Reports > Ranked Sales Report.

Set your Start date back six months from today and the end date to today’s date. Set the rest of the report settings as below.

When the report runs you will see the following:

Here you can see when the last time an item was sold (if at all) and the last time it was arrived.

Note: Items can show up that have only recently been arrived.

Ignore these items unless they haven’t sold in 4 to 5 months, then you may want to look into them.

The bottom of the report will give you a total cost of stock Inc and Ex GST. Consider this figure the value of dead stock in your store. You need to reduce this as much as possible.

Once you have the report print it out and start working through the list.

Set up a clearance table or bin somewhere in store and put product there with a clearance price. Simply advertise the area as Clearance Stock, Prices as Marked.

Keep discounting the product until it sells. Set a goal to get rid of the stock within say two weeks, if stock is still there after one week, discount further.

Now you can start filling that empty space with stock that is selling well. Use the Ranked Sales Report to show you top selling items and begin to build up those lines.

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Retailers loving our free POS software training

June 4, 2015

1 Min read

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We keen addicting additional free live training sessions for our POS software customers and they keep filling up. So, guess what, we are adding more.

These sessions are more about leveraging the software in the business than how to do this or that. They contain considerable retail business management and operational advice.

We are thrilled with the support from ur customers and grateful to be in a position to offer this training by our skilled training team.

This is POS software customer service at its best. This is the Tower Advantage^TM

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Disaster planning advice for small business retailers

June 4, 2015

3 Min read

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Disaster planning is vital for any retail business. Too often, the need for good disaster planning is realised after a disaster has hit the business. This advice from our POS software company offers business and computer related advice which is designed to mitigate the impact of a disaster on your business.

Insurance Protection

Insurance coverage is vital to helping a retail business overcome any type of disaster. In addition to ensuring that your insurance policy covers all disaster situations of concern to you, including flood, theft, water inundation, fire, earthquake, riot—be sure to carefully read the policy, ensure that your insurance policy / policies cover payouts for the following:

Business interruption. The amount should equal your anticipated gross profit for whatever period you choose to be covered.
Data recovery. Including the hiring of experts to recover data from backup sources or the manual entry of data which cannot be automatically recovered. It needs to ensure that you are covered to the point of recovered data being useable in transacting business.
Lost stock. This is stock stolen, lost from the business.
Damaged and unsaleable stock. This is stock which is water damaged, scuffed or dented and which will not attract full price.
Dated stock. This is stock which you cannot sell by the due date.
Glass. Many policies require explicit statement of glass coverage.
Temporary trading premises. Business interruption may cover this. Ensure that it is explicitly stated.
Key person injury and/or death. This will usually be a separate policy. Depending on the disaster, coverage may also be available through the overall business policy.

Ensure that the value of stock, fixtures and fittings covered by your policy is an accurate reflection of the real value of these items. Talk with your insurance company about the best approach to track this on an ongoing basis.

Insurance brokers can provide access to assessors who can advise on the appropriate level of insurance for your situation.

Use your Point of Sale system to track all stock movements in and out. The stock on hand in your software should be your coverage.

Ensure that your insurance policy protects for the seasonal nature of your business

Data Protection

Business data is one of the most valuable assets of the business. Like insurance, the value is often not understood until you need what you do not have. Retailers who are serious about protecting their business data in the event of any disaster follow these steps:

Backup your business data every day, at the end of the day, without fail. Our cloud based backup service is ideal.
Maintain a separate backup for each day of the week. Consider a separate backup for the last day of each month.
Remove the backup medium, usually a USB stick, from the business premises each day.
Store the backup in a safe, dry place.
Check the usefulness of the backup by restoring and checking the data.
Store original business software in a safe off-site location

Disaster Planning

Here are some general suggestions on planning for a disaster.

Keep off site copies of: Business contracts and agreements; employee contact details, business account and other passwords, insurance details, recent photographs of fixtures, fittings and stock.
Maintain a register of all employees in the business at any time.
Prepare and place in a prominent place an evacuation plan.
Maintain a professional grade OH&S compliant first aid kit.
Regularly maintain all fire extinguishers.
Ensure that the business premises is safe and maintained to the local building codes and OH&S regulations.

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The NEW Loyalty: a fresh approach for small business retailers

May 30, 2015

1 Min read

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Tower Systems develops software for small and independent businesses in specialist retail channels.

Our jeweller software is just for jewellers, our bike shop software is for bike retailers, our pet shop software is for pet shop retailers, our newsagency software is for newsagents, our garden centre software is for garden centres and our gift shop software is for gift and homewares shops.

Each of our customers has common challenges: BIG business and online business.

We can help you compete with BIG business and online businesses.

Our POS software offers four approaches to loyalty. One, the NEW loyalty, is fresh, unique and loved by shoppers.

We are seeing small and independent retail businesses enjoy double digit growth on the back on our approach.

We back our terrific Aussie software with practical training. We even help you train your employees. Click here to see one two minute video we produced for our customers to share with their employees on our unique Discount Voucher facility (the NEW loyalty). We explain how your employees make make this work for you.

We are not your average software company. We care about independent small businesses. Our software is tailored to the needs of specialist retail channels.

We’re here to help.

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Small business retailers love free End of Financial year POS software training

May 28, 2015

1 Min read

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Retailers are embracing the FREE POS software training from Tower Systems in End of Financial Year processes. Developed specifically to serve retailers this year in the run up to June 30, this session is an all you need to know approach to stock, business data and other factors that are vital to being prepared for EOFY.

This training is a continuation of the weekly POS software training tower Systems launched years ago, training the company happily and willingly offers to provide our customers with more free learning opportunities through which to love our software and love our company.

When we say this training is free, there is truly no cost. we even pay for the phone call to provide audio access – anywhere in the world. This is another Tower Advantage^TM.

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Sunday retail management advice: keep your loyalty pitch simple for success

May 24, 2015

1 Min read

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A loyalty program is only as good as the over the counter pitch through which you seek to engage shoppers. Check out this brief video we created to train retail employees on what has to be the easiest to use over the counter shopper loyalty offer.

Tower Systems leads with professional employee training videos which help retail employees leverage more value for the business from our software.

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Smart POS software helps retailers as policing of under-age retail sales increases

May 19, 2015

1 Min read

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Policing of age-restricted products has increased this year with considerable undercover detection action in several states.

Retailers using our smart POS software benefit from being able to tag products as having an age restriction. This results in a pop-up requiring an age check prior to proceeding to process the sale.

Our age-check is a procedural intervention on which retailers can rely to reduce under-age selling mistakes by employees. It is also evidence they can provide to authorities to indicate that the business has processes to stop under-age selling.

Easily setup, the age-check facility in our software is another way business owners can establish processes and facilities through which their business can be professionally managed in their absence.

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POS software training video library helps retail employees gain skills

May 19, 2015

1 Min read

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Retailers using the Tower Systems POS software have access to a training library of more than 130 training videos. These videos are professional in production and valuable in the content offered.

The videos can be accessed from any computer, anywhere and at any time.

The video training resources are comprehensive. They are also loved by our customers.

Regularly enhanced, the Tower Systems POS software video training library is a real asset to our business – allowing us to show a point of difference which wins us business.

In addition to POS software training, our library also includes training on business use of the software – covering how to engage on the shop floor. This is an area many POS software companies neglect in their training.

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How POS software can help small business retailers change shopper loyalty

May 16, 2015

1 Min read

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POS software can do more for small business retailers than they may think. Good POS software, like that from Tower Systems, goes deep into the business, away from the sales counter, helping in many ways.

Help with leveraging shopper loyalty.

Reward to drive deeper shopper engagement.
Track your loyalty liabilities to understand risk.
Track shopper engagement through comprehensive date, time and person engagement to understand the loyalty buttons to push.
Choose the loyalty offer right for you – good POS software will offer multiple loyalty offers for you.
Be consistent in your loyalty offer such that every shopper is offered a consistent pitch.
Un a loyalty program that is different to those around you. For example, if others nearby offer a points based program, go with something different.

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Tower Systems helps small business retailers benefit from the immediate asset write-off in the federal budget

May 13, 2015

1 Min read

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Tower Systems has begun an education campaign for small business retailers in Australia in selected specialist retail channels outlining how they can benefit from the immediate asset write-off opportunity announced in the federal budget last night.

Retail businesses turning over $2 million a year or less can immediately write off the purchase of our Point of Sale solution.

Our software delivers the productivity benefits the federal government is keen to see small businesses access.

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How POS software can help small business retailers manage employees more effectively

May 12, 2015

1 Min read

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POS software can do more for small business retailers than they may think. Good POS software, like that from Tower Systems, goes deep into the business, away from the sales counter, helping in many ways.

Help with managing employees.

Easily create rosters and share these with employees how and where they want.
Track sales by employees.
Track sales by time – allowing shift comparisons.
How employees understand performance in the context of what they can do to help the business and themselves.
Cut time taken on everyday tasks such as end of shift.
Eliminate often frustrating tasks such as the daily backup.
Give employees information that helps them more effectively serve the business.
Bring certainty to the counter and help employees be more consistent.
Provide employees with vital information about products so they can be consistently knowledgeable.

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Sunday retail management advice: challenge your POS software help desk advice

May 10, 2015

1 Min read

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Sometimes, POS software help desk advice is not right. It could be they did not understand the question, that you did not completely explain the question or that they got it plain wrong.

A good POS software help desk will offer a structured escalation process where you can take any concern and have it considered away from the help desk. Such an escalation process will involve senior management and have at its heart good communication.

Tower Systems has a structured escalation process with three points of escalation outside of the help desk function. Customers can use this or they can bypass a step as all contact points in the escalation process are published regularly.

Tower customers can speak directly with the owner of the business, Mark Fletcher, on 0418 321 338.

We encourage customers to challenge help desk advice to ensure that the advice is right for the actual question or problem. This can be done in a respectful way with the outcome always on ensuring the best possible customer service experience.

Retailers who actively engage with the POS software help desk process usually achieve a more meaningful and valuable outcome for themselves and their business.

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The new approach to stock take using POS software

May 8, 2015

1 Min read

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Demonstrating its commitment to innovation, the latest release of POS software from Tower Systems offers a completely new stock take facility.

Completely re-designed from the ground up, this new stocktaking facility works as well with tablets as it does on your traditional desktop.

Packed with new features, this new stock take facility is available for the end of financial year stock take retailers will undertake over the next two months.

Tower Systems is committed to providing its small business retail partners a continuously improving POS software experience through considerable investment in software development.

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How POS software helps small business retailers from the front door to the back office

May 6, 2015

2 Min read

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Software is only as valuable to a business as the contribution it makes. This contribution can be measured in time and money for its from these two that all other benefits flow. Here are ways our point of sale software will help gift shops, jewellers, bike retailers, pet shops and more make more money and free time

Better customer service. Our software guides the sales process and gathers all necessary information, freeing retail staff for selling.
Saving time. Using our software, sales are processed quickly. As retailers ourselves we have focused on delivering fast and efficient processing for sales.
Reducing theft. Stores without a POS system are more susceptible to employee theft. In fact nearly 50% of retail shrinkage comes from employee theft. Our software can help to significantly reduce or eliminate these occurrences. We draw your attention to suspicious behaviour. For more security, you can password protect any area that you do not want employees to be able to access.
Better decisions. We provide access to real-time information. Whether you have one store or 30 stores, you have instant and up to the minute access to sales numbers, stock, margins and more. This ability to have instant and accurate information enables you to make the absolute most out of your investment.
Increased sales. In many ways throughout the business we help with this.
After sales marketing. Using our loyalty program you send targeted letters, emails, and direct mail to customers based on purchases and other criteria. We have several loyalty options.
Payment integration. With integrated Eftpos you can un clutter the counter, streamline sales processing and make record keeping easier. Time and money saved.
Reduced mistakes. Using our software you can cut paperwork and this cuts mistakes. You can rely on the software to advise sales data and thereby stop you buying products which are not selling. Good retailing begins with good buying.
Better integration with suppliers. Thanks to the supplier links in our software you are able to give suppliers data in return for better deals. There are many case studies in our files of this working to the benefit of our retail customers. Good retailing begins with good buying.

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200 retailers using our new roster software

April 28, 2015

1 Min read

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More than 200 retailers are using our recently launched employee roster software. Even though the software is only in beta release, plenty are using it actively i their businesses to manage rostering of employees and managing the labour costs of the business.

This cloud based FREE roster software from Tower Systems is another way the company is reinvesting into small business retail channels – to provide tools retailers can use to better manage labour costs.

The Tower Systems POS software has had roster software for many years. This latest facility reflects a next generation approach. It is available to any business regardless of the POS software they use.

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More suppliers join Tower Systems EDI community

April 27, 2015

1 Min read

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Small business retailers are set from more suppliers joining the Tower Systems EDI user community offering access to electronic invoices, stock files and other benefits.

With someone dedicated full-time in our business to help wholesales and others connect with retailers, we are well positioned to be able to help overcome hurdles in suppler organisations. This service is one reason we have more suppliers connected with our customers through our software.

The latest supplier coming on board to offer electronic invoices will be a help to many customers as they trade in the newsagency and gift marketplaces – where we serve over 2,000 small businesses.

The moment they are ready we will announce to our customers.

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POS software helps small business retailers sell more gifts

April 27, 2015

1 Min read

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People purchasing gifts want to ensure that the recipient can exchange the gift if it is not quite right.

Retailers using the Tower Systems specialist gift shop POS software have the ability to print a gift exchange receipt detailing the items purchased but not the price paid.

This facility has been in our software for years. It was developed with retailers offering gift exchange services. The receipt printed was recently enhanced to connect with quality gift purchases.

This gift / exchange receipt facility is another point of difference for Tower in several of our retail channels it is am important pert of the Tower Advantage^TM.

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POS software reports on KPIs for small and independent retailers

April 21, 2015

1 Min read

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Few small business POS software products report on return on investment, stock turn, return on floor space and return on shelf space. The Tower Systems POS software delivers on reporting on these and other KPIs, enabling retailers to have a better understanding of business performance and through this the opportunity to make better quality business decisions.

Return on investment, stock turn, return on floor space and return on shelf space are the most vital of retail business Key Performance Indicators. That retailers using the Tower software can access these for themselves and easily demonstrates a valuable point of difference.

Since some small business retailers don’t understand the KPIs, the Tower help desk and business management teams offer assistance in understanding and guidance on decisions which can be made as a result of tapping into the KPIs.

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Sunday retail business management advice: leverage your top sellers for more value

April 19, 2015

3 Min read

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Every retail business can sell more to every customer. This is easy when you have good business data and use this to make good business decisions.

Making more money from every sale starts with you understanding shopper behaviour today.

Get a report from your Point of Sale software listing your top ten selling items, by unit sales for the last three months. Do not look at dollars. Unit sales is the far more valuable count since this is a discussion about leveraging volume.

In the Tower software the report is a 10×10 Report. This lists the top 10 items and the ten items selling with those 10 items. (You can set the number to anything besides 10.)

In a typical retail store, the top ten selling items will account for between 30% and 50% of revenue of the business.

Look at your top sellers report and concentrate on the top selling items. Consider these questions about the top selling items:

Do you have appropriate impulse purchase products located on either side of each top item?
Are the top items spread through the store, to maximize customer throughput?
How often do you move the top items?
Do you have the top ten items in multiple locations?
What impulse purchase items do you have at the counter which will appeal to customers who purchase any of the top ten items?
Has the list of top ten sellers changed in the last year? If so, how have they changed and what can you learn from this.
Are there products which you do not currently carry which you could add to the store to sell with the top ten sellers?
Do customers who purchase the top ten sellers ask for any other items?

The idea embedded in these questions is very simple. Use the top ten sellers, or top twenty or top thirty, to focus your attention on items with which you can work to achieve more sales in your business.

By focusing on the top sellers and what you can sell with them you can increase the size of the average shopping basket.

If you can’t see opportunities for achieving more sales by placing products next to or with the top sellers then speak with your team and speak with trusted customers. Don’t rest until you unlock suggestions to try.

There is plenty of additional money to be made from your top sellers. Invest time and attention on this project and get ready to bank the results.

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Aussie POS software helps small business retailers grow

April 18, 2015

1 Min read

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Small business retailers want to grow, who doesn’t? With rent and labour costs increasing each year, growth is mission critical. POS software company Tower Systems helps its customers grow by providing advice on how to use the software to grow.

As retailers ourselves we can provide practical advice on how to use the software to more than transact sales, we can help retailers use the software to grow their businesses. We do this every day on our help desk, through our consulting services, through our knowledge base and through our business mentoring assistance.

We encourage, guide, educate and support our small business retailer customers in their desire to grow their businesses. it’s something we take serviceably.

Even on the weekend. Take today, Saturday … we have been helping one business owner understand opportunities in their slow selling inventory pool to unlock cash and space for more productive use.

We are serious in our commitment to small business retailers from our software through to the practical advice and support we provide.

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POS software helps gift shops, small business retailers handle special orders

April 17, 2015

1 Min read

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The POS software from Tower Systems has excellent facilities for handling special orders, pre-orders and other forms of orders for customers that are unique to the customer and a point of difference for the business to offer.

Special orders and customer pre-orders are a point of difference for small independent retailers over big businesses. Being bale to do this with consistency and certainty can help these businesses more successfully compete.

Thanks to years of refinement and working with retailers in a wide variety of retail situations, Tower Systems offers a competitive advantage from the recording of customer details, tracking an order,k advising its arrival and handling a range of payment options including time payment.

We have retailers today transacting valuable business in pre-orders of highly valuable product as a result of these tools in the software. They are financially better off today and over the long term as special order customers tend to return for more orders.

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Sunday retail management advice: success today is important for tomorrow

April 12, 2015

2 Min read

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Too often we see small business retailers running their businesses thinking that they will make their money when they sell. Our experience working with thousands of retailers is that focusing on today, on the right now, will ensure the best outcome for the future of the business.

Our strategy – Make every day your pay day – is simple and effective. It’s made up of basic points:

Run with the leanest roster possibl Just about every newsagency business I review has capacity to lower labour costs.
Have your best people working the floor, helping customers spend more.
Stock what sells.
Get rid of stock which is not selling.
Have stunning displays that attract people from outside the shop.
Have compelling displays in-store that encourage people to browse beyond their destination purchase.
Always have impulse offers at high traffic locations.
Charge more every time you can. Review your prices for products people come to yoo because of convenience.
Buy as best you can.
Grab settlement discounts every time you are able.
Use your business data to guide your decisions.
Promote outside your store.

Be responsible for the profitability of your business. Don’t blame your suppliers, your landlord, your employees or some other external factor … it all comes down to you – the decisions you make and the actions you take.

If you relentlessly pursue profit with a clear focus you’re likely to see profit grow. That’s better than waiting to make money when you sell because that’s less likely to happen in this market.

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POS software company provides more help to small business retailers reducing theft

April 4, 2015

1 Min read

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Tower Systems has been helping more retailers using its POS software POS software to deal with employee theft situations. We have a structured process for independently checking evidence without being influenced by stories. The process has been praised by police and prosecutors. It has been on show in court rooms where we have provided expert witness evidence.

Employees in retail businesses using our software are on notice. We have tools you will never find which can uncover behavior which indicates without a doubt that theft is occurring. This evidence has stood up scrutiny and resulted in successful action.

Our advice to retailers is to use the facilities in our software for theft reduction. If you have a concern, ask us for a free Theft Check service.

We’re here to help. That’s our motto. When it comes to employee theft, we’re in your corner and there to help you deal with it and get through the emotional and operational challenges of discovering a theft situation.

Our theft related work is undertaken at senior levels within the business. It is highly confidential. Our most cases are never discussed until completely closed and even then only ever without identifying details.

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POS software offers small business retailers choice on loyalty

March 28, 2015

1 Min read

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There is loyalty software and then there is loyalty software. The Tower Systems approach to loyalty software in its POS software for small business retailers is broad, flexible and shopper-focussed.

With options from the more traditional points based approach through to an immediate benefit engagement offer and the ability to blend the two, the Tower Systems software provides retailers with tools they can use appropriate to local needs.

Feedback from retailers using the Tower Systems loyalty facilities is thrilling. Stories of growth, shopper engagement and terrific bottom line results. This really excites us.

While many businesses like points based programs, evidence indicates the immediate benefit engagement offer is more valuable in many retail situations. The results on a P&L and elsewhere in business reporting are compelling.

Beyond the software, Tower Systems is engaged with its retail partners to help them choose the right mix of loyalty offers which work best in their circumstances.

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Free roster software for small business retailers

March 26, 2015

1 Min read

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Tower Systems has launched free roster cloud-based roster software developed specifically for small business retailers.

This easy to use platform is serves single location and multi location retailers. It offers a variety of tools and helps retailers with budgeting to drive a better labour cost outcome.

The new employee roster software for retailers is another enhancement from Tower Systems, delivered at no cost to its customers – demonstrating innovation in a practical and no cost way.

This is another way we live up to our motto: We’re here to help.

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