The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
A few of us from Tower Systems got together recently to talk through some of the key software enhancements to our POS software from recent years, for a video to share with our customers. The reaction has been terrific. here’s that video:
We are often asked at our Tower Systems POS software company for help when it is too late. In this article, we share steps any retailer can contemplate from them moment they realise their business is in trouble, from the first thought that closing may be the only option.
Tower Systems is more than a software company. We are retailers too. We cherish the relationships with our retail business customers. We will help whenever and wherever we can to help small and independent retail businesses survive challenges and grow.
If your retail business is in tough times and facing imminent closure, you may be able to save it if you act quickly and ruthlessly. Based on years of working with many different retailers, I have found that some basic steps can successfully turnaround a business in trouble. But you need to be ruthless.
The following tips are designed for businesses with a little (but not too much) time available to fix things. While they are not appropriate to every business, the ideas can lead to others that may be appropriate.
This advice is also appropriate or businesses not facing imminent closure but certainly facing tough times.
Crucial to saving a business from closure is to understand why it is in this situation. You have to be honest with yourself about this. How did it get to this?
Do not be afraid or ignorant in confronting these questions.
Make an honest appraisal of the state of the business as the truth can inform what you do next.
You have to own your situation. This means being realistic about what you face and what got you there. This is important as it opens you to what you need to do to resolve the situation, to rehabilitate your business.
Now, to the urgent steps you could take to avoid the closure of your retail business:
What we offer here is general advice, a shopping list of advice from which you can choose. It is intended to get you thinking of ideas that could work for you.
No two situations are the same. No situation is impossible. No business is dead until the doors are closed for the last time.
Never give up. Fight hard and fight smart to turn your business around.
Facing tough circumstances in retail can be like the deer in the middle of the road at night facing the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. Don’t freeze. Take action to mitigate your situation. A series of small steps could be the difference between closure and trading out of the problem.
In your business data there are bound to be opportunities and insights around which growth can be achieved. If you are not sure where to look or what they could mean, ask us. We will help.
A fresh look from at retail today and the opportunity for intentionally pursuing change for a brighter future.
Find a private place, hang a do not disturb sign on the door, put on music you love and please read on.
In this blog post, we share what we hope will prove to be valuable ideas, which help you create a more successful business and a more enjoyable business life. You will have seen some members embracing some of these ideas already as we have shared our thoughts through a process of evolution.
While this is advice from our Tower Systems POS software company, it is advice from us as retailers – yes, we own and run successful retail shops.
To us, conscious intention is deliberate decision making, pursuing change, for a better outcome for you, your business and all it serves.
Retail is changing, faster than ever. In change, you can create opportunities. This is exciting. The key is to be deliberate in your embrace of change.
Yes, you have heard that before, probably so much that you ignore it. What we share here is important, new, and written for you.
Today, the pace of change is faster and the extent of change more comprehensive, most likely beyond what you see. There are myriad factors at play, myriad pressures on retail.
There are more competitors, many you will never see.
Shoppers are more empowered.
Shopping is less like shopping.
No business is immune: city, country, high street and shopping centre.
The days of making major changes and leaving them in place for years are over.
The borders between types of retail businesses are blurred.
Your customers can easily now be more than locals.
People want to be able to buy when they want to buy.
What constitutes a shop has changed, forever.
It is okay to keep doing what you are doing. Our advice is you make your decisions and take your actions with conscious intention. Drifting is not an option, unless you do it consciously, with intent. If your decision is to not change, we 100% respect that.
In summary, to get you thinking, here is a list of what we see as different:
Every business needs a Unique Selling Proposition (USP), that which is unique about their business in the area from which they draw customers, that which separates the business from other businesses.
It is vital that you know what your USP is and that you are mindful of this in all business decisions. Please see our knowledge base article on USP.
The process of change itself has changed. Whereas in the past we would plan, plan and plan before execution, today, we are in a world of rapid change and more change if the changes are not delivering what we need.
Motion (change) is and must be perpetual. It is almost like every day you asking what can I change today?
It is easy to feel overwhelmed. We suggest a small steps strategy. Undertaking many small steps can make any project more digestible and affordable. You do not have to do everything at once. Take small steps, but keep taking them.
Your inventory determines who your shop will appeal to, the occasions they will buy for, whether they talk about you, whether they will come back and if they trust you.
The more your business looks like a traditional business in your channel, the more it will be judged as traditional, the more it will perform traditionally. There is nothing wrong with this, if it is a conscious choice.
We encourage you to not run a traditional business because there is no evidence in performance data or in retail history to indicate that traditional model has any upside.
The best way to not be considered traditional is to not look like one.
Here is what this means:
Be grateful people are in your shop and show this in your interaction and the interaction of all team members.
Saying hi to shoppers is nice, but not out of the ordinary.
Encourage team members to change up their greeting: good morning, nice to see you, thank you for coming in today…
Work on farewells: thanks for visiting, it was good to see you, take care out there…
In-store, offer experiences that are unexpected and / or appreciated.
Love your customers. Consider a wall of customer love with photos you have taken of customers and photos customers have brought in.
Reset your customer interaction with a focus on more fun and happiness.
What you do, say and share outside also defines the business in the minds of shoppers and would-be shoppers. It is vital that your out of business communication and representation is intentional and reflective of how you want the business seen.
The more you post on social media and talk about products and services that are not known to be in your type of shop the more you become your own thing.
Be intentional in what you do and say outside your business. Further your mission ahead of the mission of the channel or channel traditional suppliers.
If you do not change your business it will perform in line with its current trajectory. If you are happy with that, embrace it.
If you are not happy with the current business trajectory, change is essential.
Tower Systems, through its local small business experienced retail team can provide insights, suggestions and encouragement for you to reset your business.
We all have current retail experience.
We can bring detached perspective to help you combat store-blindness.
Leveraging our engagement starts with asking.
If you are thinking of a website, we could develop it for you. In addition to developing and selling POS software, Tower Systems develops and sells POS software connected Shopify websites.
Now, not to brag, here are some of the Tower POS software connected websites our awesome web dev. team has developed:
There are many more than these. We have also developed websites that connect multiple retail outlets.
To help customers keen for a Shopify website we have just launched a 12 month interest free payment plan for new Shopify website development. This is for new websites ordered from now. Our sales team can explain this to you but essentially it is 12 monthly payments of $550.00. The site goes live as soon as you and your data are ready. The payment plan is designed to help you smooth out your cashflow. To consider a Shopify site developed by us, please email sales@towersystems.com.au.
Our approach to Shopify website development is structured, transparent and certain. We deliver websites based on the brief provided by each customer, using collateral they provide and after gaining their approval at various steps in the process.
With all of our web development work done here in Australia, you can be sure that each website has that Aussie feel and that its development is supporting the local Australian tech industry. There is no better support for a retail; business calling for locals to shop local than the business itself shopping local.
Tower Systems is grateful to serve more than 3,000 local small business retailers. We are not a big business software company. We think small businesses rock!
A consequence of Covid is short-term retail space opportunities. Ion our work with retailers and through our iPad / tabled based Retailer Roam product we have experience helping retailers with pop-up shops. Here is advice we have to share:
Definition: a pop-up shop is a temporary shop, one that is open for a limited period of time, usually around a month, rarely more than three months.
We have assembled our pop-up shop advice and tips into key topic areas.
WHY?!
Like any business decision, a decision to open a pop-up retail location needs to be based on good research and the business itself needs to have a purpose. So, before you begin, think about why.
Here are some reasons to do a pop-up shop:
LOCATION.
With a pop-up shop you don’t have time to find your customers. The location needs to already have good traffic passing daily, traffic you can easily leverage. Even more so than in fixed-location retail, location is critical.
The best locations are shops that have good passing traffic that is of interest to you and that have been vacant for a while where a landlord might be happy with something rather than nothing.
OCCUPANCY COST.
Negotiate the lowest rent cost possible. Some landlords see pop-up offers as a reason to charge a premium. Only sign up for a price you are 100% happy with. If it is expensive and does not work financially, don’t sign hoping it works out, because in retail it rarely does work out better. In a pop-up business you have less time to see if it works out. Also, preferably, no contingency deposit.
LABOUR COST.
Staff the business with a lean roster. This shop is about selling. that means, products placed for a price proposition rather than beautiful displays that take time to maintain. Every staff member is there to sell and maximise revenue from every shopper visit. There is no room in the roster for fat.
FIXTURES AND FITTINGS.
Don’t spend a cent on fixtures and fittings. That needs to be your starting position. It’s a pop-up shop. People expect it to be efficient, cost-effective. Using tables and boxes adds to the feel of the shop feeling low-cost and that can help drive sales. Suppliers can be a good source for loaned fixtures.
INVENTORY.
Ask suppliers to offer consignment stock or special clearance deals they’d like to move fast. Go for items that can be sold out of a box, to make display and ranging easier. In-box displays of particularly cheap items can work very well.
PRICING MODEL.
Price to sell. This means being below usual retail. Price to understandable price points. For example, you might have a $10 table, a $20 table and so on. Consider bundling items into packs, which make price comparison difficult.
PROMOTION.
Don’t spend money on sign writing or marketing. Use social media and bargain websites and anywhere similar where you can list the store and its products.
Host an opening party. List this as a local event on Facebook.
MANAGEMENT MINDSET.
Your mindset in managing the pop-up shop needs to be different to a fixed-location retail situation. Pop-up shops are about low cost, low overheads, low prices. Be ready to do deals. Whoever manages the pop-up shop needs to be different to how they would be in the fixed-location retail business.
SPEED.
You need to move fast. From the moment you sign a lease or agreement, the clock is ticking. Ideally, you’d open within 24 hours and when you are done, closing and clearing out the shop is done in 24 hours or less. This is all about maximising the time for income-production.
TRACK PERFORMANCE.
Cultivate good data that can guide business decisions for your next moves.
Is a pop-up shop worth doing? Only you can determine that. We have seen plenty of pop-up shops work well for the retailers, contribute good GP, help move slow stock and help open to the owners category opportunities not previously considered.
Do the planning and you should expect to benefit.
In any local retail businesses, it is the people in the business who really make the business stand out, it is in the people working in the business that valuable differentiation can be found.
The right staff members can make or break a shop.
This is why we ask Is our POS software right for your retail team members? when we are talking with a retail business owner about our POS software. It’s a serious question, an important question, a question that helps local small business retailers in their assessment not only of Tower Systems but of any other POS software company they are considering.
In considering this, Is our POS software right for your retail team members? it is important to understand what your retail; business team members want out of POS software. It could be they have needs beyond what the business owner knows. It could be that they see opportunity beyond what the business does today. Including them in the POS software evaluation and consideration process brings them along, gives them some stake in the ultimate decision that is made.
Here at Tower Systems, when we demonstrate our Pos software, we record it, with your permission. We then share the link too the video so you can share it with your team members, so they can learn about our POS software and consider for themselves whether our Tower Systems POS software is right for them, and through that, right for your business.
We welcome the opportunity to demonstrate our POS software to your team members, so they can see the software in action, touch it and feel it. We often learn from these situations, which we love.
Front line retail team members know a lot about the business in which they work and its customers. Tapping into that knowledge is valuable for us and in our consideration of what we can develop in our POS software as we expand its reach.
So, we care about the question Is our POS software right for your retail team members?, a lot. We ask it ourselves and encourage small business retailers considering partnering with us to ask this too. In doing this we are able to nurture more valuable and appreciated partnerships. And, the businesses we say we are not the right fit to benefit as well.
Tower Systems makes and supports POS software for local specialty retailers.
It’s the big question for any retail business owner considering POS software for their business. Is the POS software they are considering right for their business?
How can they know?
How can they be sure?
Plenty of POS software sales people will say it is. Here at Tower Systems we will not. We think the question as to which POS software is best for your business is a question you need to answer for yourself.
We do ask it ourselves, though, throughout the sales process.
We ask ourselves: Is our POS software right for your local retail business?
It’s important that we form a view. The last thing we want is to sell our POS software into a situation it is not a good fit for. If we think our POS software is not a good fit for your retail business, we will say so. Life is too short to chase every sale regardless of the value it offers a retail business.
We determine if our POS software is a good fit for your business by asking questions, lots of questions. We want to know what’s important to your business, what keeps it running, where you want improvement, why you are looking for POS software and what POS software must have for it to be considered.
Yeah, we ask lots of questions, and in doing that we help you firm up your own views as to what matters to you and your business. We have had many sales prospects tell us they love this process and how we help them better understand their needs.
But back to the question on our minds: s our POS software right for your local retail business? We look at your needs, what your business does, what our software does and discuss it through, to form a view. Once we know what we think, we discuss it with you.
Sometimes, when we tell a local retail business owner that we do not think our POS software is a good fit for them, they are frustrated. Usually, once we explain why, they either suggest changes to their business or thank us and move on.
Transparency is key all through this. We benefit from it and so do those considering our POS software.
Tower Systems develops specialty retail POS software for a range of specialty retail channels.
Not all POS software is the same. There are companies, like Tower Systems, that invest in creating unique POS software to serve niche needs of specialty retailers. In doing this, for example, for jewellers, we have created facilities that serve the needs of other specialty retail channels.
Good POS software is living, evolving … to meet evolving retail needs. This is what we do, constantly evolve the software based on needs expressed and voted on by customers.
No, not all POS software is the same. There is generic off the shelf and, then, there is specialty POS software for specialty retailers.
Here are 7 unique ways the POS software from Tower Systems helps small business retailers to run more successful and enjoyable businesses:
In the POS software from Tower Systems retailers have access to many opportunities, many more than the 7 listed here, opportunities through which the businesses can more efficiently operate and can reach more new traffic shopper opportunities.
Tower Systems develops POS software and it develops POS software connected Shopify websites. We develop magento and Woo, too, but it’s in the Shopify space where the needs of most of our local small business retailers are met.
Our portfolio of POS software connected Shopify websites is comprehensive, covering a range of specialty retail situations including jewellers, garden centres, toy shops, firearms dealers, produce businesses, farm supply businesses, gift, homewares, fashion, and more.
We are grateful to our community of local small business retailers for their support, and encouragement.
We are often asked for website advice, how to be successful online. While we have comprehensive advice for our customers, in this public space, Tower Systems is happy to share this list of top things to consider if you want your local retail business to be successful online.
This best of the best advice about taking your retail business online is based on many years of experience.
If you are interested in our POS software or having us develop a POS software connected Shopify site for you, please email sales@towersystems.com.au or call Tim on 0401 883 917 or Justin on 0434 365 789.
Click here to find out more about our specialty retail POS software. Click here to see our YouTube Channel where you can see up to date demonstrations of our various specialty retail POS software products.
Click here to access our fixed-price standard POS software connected Shopify website quote.
Click here to see the checklist we provide our Shopify customers. It outlines what’s critical about preparing for a Shopify site.
Click here to access our website customer questionnaire. This is designed to help you clarify your needs. A copy of your responses is sent to you.
Tower Systems only serves local small business retailers, with specialty retail POS software and with fixed-price Shopify website development, through which we deliver POS software connected Shopify websites.
To make the cost of development of a Shopify website less challenging on cashflow, we are pleased to have been able to release an interest free payment plan for our local small business retail customers who get us to develop a Shopify website for their business.
By spreading the Shopify website development cost over a year, local small business retailers are more able to afford having a beautiful POS software connected website created for them.
there is no extra cost, to additional charge. All we have done is take our one-off cost and spread it over a year, with monthly payments.
Shopify web development proceeds unhindered. The site is taken live the moment it is ready and approved by our customer. And, yes, this can be prior to the website development cost having been fully paid. By ensuring this we are demonstrating that the interest-free payment plan offer is really about making getting live online more cash-flow respectful for small business retailers.
Having developed many websites for local small business retailers already, we have considerable experience on which to draw. It was clear to us that the challenge on business finances was a factor in business owners making a decision to proceed. hence, our offer of interest-free financing for the cost of Shopify website development.
Since launch a few weeks ago, the take-up of the offer has been considerable. We are grateful to be in a position to underwrite the cost of this offer for our POS software customers. Our hope is that many businesses get online that may not have been in a position to do so at this point in their business cycle.
This interest-free Shopify website development program is another way Tower Systems offers practical help and support to local small business retailers and thereby empowering them to better serve their local communities.
Retail has fundamentally changed, not only because of the coronavirus pandemic but because of the role technology is playing in operation as well as customer engagement and connectivity. Online plays a key role, making being online critical for any business that wants to be in a position to compete.
Retailers are reaching shoppers they would otherwise not have reached. They are selling more, too. We continually say to retailers considering going online that they done;t know what they don’t know. The first few weeks online can be illuminating, revealing and encouraging.
Local small business retailers can shine online because they can be more flexible and move faster than big businesses. This is critical in the online world today.
Tower Systems is grateful to serve local small business retailers with awesome specialty retail POS software and with beautiful Shopify websites connected to that POS software.
Tower Systems is grateful to be able to continue to help Australian and New Zealand small business retailers through COVID-19.
Our business is open and our office is open, since we meet the criteria for being essential.
What we introduced in February 2020 when we saw how Covid is playing out around the world and the impact it is having on businesses is still available. This Tower Systems support package is helping local small business retailers to pivot and embrace opportunity found within the Covid situation. Here is what we continue to offer:
Here at Tower Systems, it is business as usual and, through this, we are helping our POS software customers achieve a business as usual experience. We know this is comforting to our customers, helpful for their business planning and operations.
We continue to offer a full service POS software help desk service, releasing POS software updates and delivering our much-loves free one-on-one training to our retail business owners and their staff.
In offering business as usual, our customers have continuity of service. This helps them have what they need to work on their businesses … as that is what plenty of small business retailers have been doing through COVID-19, working on their businesses, re-calibrating, adjusting and, for some, pivoting. Indeed, we have helped some exciting pivots and we are grateful to have seen this and been part of it.
We are grateful to our team of software developers, help desk experts, POS software trainers, our back office infrastructure support and our sales team in that it is this group of people that has delivered for our customers through COVID-19 every day.
But back to the pivot opportunity. We see plenty of this in a range of local specialty retail channels in which we serve. By see we mean in real and accurate business data. Data show pivot opportunities and we can help our retail partners to explore these and consider whether they are useful. 2020 is a terrific year for a pivot and having the right software with flexibility can be helpful.
Afterpay has denied access to is popular buy now pay later finance platform to several groups of retailers based on a small selection of products they sell. While we understand the position of Afterpay and that is is following its own published guidelines, we think the company has an opportunity to revisit these guidelines.
Using our POS software, we can help local small business retailers comply with many regulations. This includes blocking access to some payment methods based on products and categories of concern to parties that support the business. Using this technology and appropriate business support and advice, we think we can help Afterpay connect with more retail businesses and live within its own regulations art the same time.
We are grateful that folks at Afterpay have at least listened to representations we have made on behalf of the engaged local small business retailers that we serve in our 3,000+ strong POS software user community.
This work we have done, lobbying Afterpay on behalf of local small business retailers, is an example of what we do beyond what is traditional for a POS software company. It is us offering help, service and engagement with a supplier so that the supplier might consider doing business with our customers.
Our work on a range of projects sets us up to help achieve the safety Afterpay is looking for, to ensure that their financing platform is not used for products or services outside what is acceptable to them. They would not be the first supplier we have facilitated this for and they would not be the last for sure.
From age checking to shopping basket oversight, we have tech within our software that enables us to serve a variety of regulatory needs and it is through these that we can help Afterpay achieve with it needs, if it is keen to connect with small business retailers in channels it currently does not bring on to its buy now pay later funding platform.
Tower Systems is a vertical market POS software company serving niche specialty retailer needs in only selected retail channels. We dive deep in to the specific needs of each channel to help them run engaged and locally focussed specialty retail businesses.
We are grateful to the creative team that has put this commercial together for us. We’re excited to reach more retailers. It’s on air from tonight in Victoria.
Two weeks ago our team at Tower Systems hosted four free workshops covering a range of topics related to creating POS software connected Shopify sites and how to drive traffic to them. The goal was to share insights and offer free advice and training for retailers looking to grow online sales.
All up, the four sessions covered close to six hours.
Here are videos of the workshops for anyone interested. If you are considering a website for your business, buyer beware. There are plenty of shonky business people in the web development space. Our hope is that the four workshops share information that you find useful in navigating a path to growing your online sales.
This last session is all about writing good blog posts and how they play a key role in driving traffic.
We are grateful to the retailer who participated.
Like any Saturday, today has been busy helping local small business retailers. In between, we took an opportunity to write an in the moment email with our top advice for selling online. The email we sent explains itself …
The 4 free how to sell online using Shopify for small business retailers workshops we hosted almost 2 weeks ago were appreciated by plenty.
Based on the questions and feedback, here is our top advice, our most important advice for local small business retailers about selling online:
If you are interested in our POS software or having us develop a POS software connected Shopify site for you, please email sales@towersystems.com.au or call 1300 662 957.
Click here to find out more about our specialty retail POS software. Click here to see our YouTube Channel where you can see up to date demonstrations of our various specialty retail POS software products.
Click here to access our fixed-price standard POS software connected Shopify website quote.
Click here to see the checklist we provide our Shopify customers. It outlines what’s critical about preparing for a Shopify site.
Click here to access our website customer questionnaire. This is designed to help you clarify your needs. A copy of your responses is sent to you.
Today, Thursday August 25, we are hosting a free workshop for small business retailers on writing blog posts for websites to attract online shopper traffic.
This is the fourth free Zoom workshop we have hosted this week for local small business retailers seeking advice and help in creating beautiful websites for their businesses.
From the workshops, a common question from people was about writing blog posts: how to, when to, why to and how to. So, we decided to share our experience from successfully using blog posts to drive online shopper traffic.
Writing blog posts can feel daunting. Let’s talk and see if we can help show a pathway to make this achievable free marketing for you. Plus, we will answer any Shopify / online sales questions you have.
Today, Thursday August 26 @ 10:30am Melbourne time:
https://zoom.us/j/94814612952?pwd=L25FRVkyVmFybzI1TjVmYzUrYXhvUT09
Meeting ID: 948 1461 2952 Passcode: 941762
Click here to access our fixed-price standard POS software connected Shopify website quote.
Click here to access our website customer questionnaire. This is designed to help you clarify your needs. A copy of your responses is sent to you.
Selling online is hard and relentless work. There are no shortcuts. But, there are decisions you can make to narrow your focus, so you can have some early learning opportunities.
Based on what we are seeing and based on the data from major retailers here, online is contributing more and =more to business bottom line. What Covid has done is speed up that transition.
Oh, and if you think online is not impacting you or not being used by your shoppers, based on my experience I am sure it is. Hopefully, we can offer advice that helps you see what is next for you online.
There is no easy road. But, that should not put you off for if you get it right, the reward can be wonderful. Click here to see some of the many websites we have created.
I have a small high street retail shop in suburban Melbourne that will do more than $160,000 in online sales this year. What we have done for that shop is what we advise our POS software and web development customers to do. It runs a POS software commented Shopify site, which we created here at Tower Systems.
A website is a hungry beast. if you leave things to someone else, I guarantee the results will not be as good as they could be. There is no easy road. We have a pathway that focusses on early wins, good commercial outcomes you will like.
We develop POS software connected websites for our customers for $6,600.00. But, we expect you to get your data ready, in the POS software, so it flows across. We guide you through this.
Using our specialty retail POS software we help local small business retailers to engage with click and collect retail.
Better still, with our beautiful Shopify websites connected directly with our POS software we are helping local small business retailers sell to anyone, anywhere, at any time online for click and collect and for delivery.
In our POS software we have the ability to manage click and collect orders, bringing structure and consistency to the workflow involved with picking items, packaging them and advising shoppers of collect opportunities.
We have been providing click and collect opportunities for local small business retailers for many years. Their use has grown through the Covid pandemic. It is terrific seeing the different types of businesses engaging with click and collect through our POS software: jewellers, garden centres, pet shop, toy shops, gift shops, newsagents and more.
Making click and collect easy and manageable for small business retailers is something we are proud to have brought to life. In addition to the facilities in our POS software, we provide these retailers with business execution advice, to help them achieve valuable outcomes using the tools we provide access to.
We first started pitching click and collect to our small business POS software customers more than six years ago. Our engagement has grown plenty since through enhanced software, more nuanced advice and better tools on the web side of the tech opportunities available to retailers.
Thanks to a dashboard, retailers are able to easily, in one place, manage orders and manage the work associated with these online orders. This central management of online orders, in the local retail shop, provides a consistent approach that small business retailers are loving.
While there is a surge of interest in click and collect because of Covid, click and collect will be vital in the future for local small business retail. It is here to stay as part of the retail mix, because shoppers love it. They love the time it saves, the ease of shopping. retailers, with good systems in place, love it too as it can help them reach shoppers they may otherwise not reach.
The Tower Systems POS software helps local small business retailers engage with click and collect.
Here are answers to some of the questions we have been asked about our Pet Shop POS Software over the years. We are grateful to serve so many in this specialty retail channel.
When you are ready, we’d love to show you our Pet Shop POS Software and through that show you answers to other questions you may have.
I am with AIRR, can I load their catalogue into the software? Yes.
I am with Indepet, can I load their catalogue into the software? Yes.
Can I record the microchip numbers for family pets? Yes.
Does the software work with and easily load supplier provided electronic invoices? Yes, including: Airr, Eastern Distributors, Premier Pet, Master Pet, Kongs and Pet Pacific.
Can I target market to customers based on dog breed? Yes.
Can I track when a customer may need more worming or other date related products for their pets? Yes.
Can I sell items without a barcode? Yes.
Does the software track frequent shopper dog and cat food purchases, like what you see in coffee shops? Yes.
Can the software report on the free dog or cat food we give away, to get a supplier rebate? Yes.
I buy products in bulk and re-bag them to retail size. Can the software handle this? Yes.
I buy several products in bulk to mix to create my own brand of feed. Can the software handle this? Yes.
Does the software have a pet shopper friendly loyalty facility? Yes, there are several options – you can choose the one that works best for your needs.
I am part of a pet retail group that does catalogues. Does the software let me manage time-based catalogue pricing? Yes.
Can I sell at fractional quantities? Yes. This works for selling by weight or by measure.
Does the software handle pet club member pricing? Yes, this can be a great marketing tool, getting community group members support the business and fundraising at the same time.
Does the software have a facility for encouraging infrequent shoppers to spend more? Yes, it’s proven to work well at achieving this.
I sometimes sell from away from the shop. Can the software do this? Yes, our Retailer RoamTMoption manages selling from anywhere.
Can I sell gift cards for my business? Yes.
Can I set an age check on age restricted items? Yes.
Does the software produce WAS / NOW price labels? Yes.
Can you manage quotes? Yes, you can create quotes and then turn them into sales if they proceed.
Can you reach out to customers based on past purchases? Yes, you can select customers for marketing past on a range of criteria, including past purchases.
Does the system handle account customers? Yes, you can setup and manage customer accounts.
Does the system produce invoicing and statements? Yes, these can be printed or emailed.
Does the software track product serial numbers? Yes. You have a couple of different ways you can do this.
I sell clothing, can I manage this by colour, size and style? Yes.
Does the software connect with my website? We partner with Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce and offer direct links to these.
Can I email receipts? Yes.
Can I track where my customers come from? Yes.
Do I have to pay for software on additional computers in my business? No.
Can I connect with my EFTPOS terminal? Yes. We have a direct link to Tyro and through Linkly we connect to all major banks.
Can I use my existing hardware? Yes, as long as your hardware meets our minimum standards.
Can I use my existing data with the software? Yes. We’d like to check your data to be sure. We will advise what can be safely brought across.
Does it integrate with Xero? Yes.
Find out more at www.towersystems.com.au/pet.
Afterpay is a terrific payment option that helps local small business retailers increase shopper reach and achieve a deeper shopping basket. In many small businesses, Afterpay has helped them leave LayBy and all of its associated challenges and costs and move to a new model, which appeals to a new suite of shoppers.
Providing access to Afterpay through our POS software is part of our commitment to helping retailers benefit from Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) opportunities like Zip Pay, Zip Money and Humm. these are all payment options, along with Afterpay, through our POS software.
The recently announced proposed take over of Afterpay by Square is set to turbocharge this BNPL space and we are grateful to play a small role in this space for years now. If you have a moment, seek out the interview on ABC Radio that Peter Ryan conducted with Square’s CFO, Amrita Ahuja, as it offers valuable insights local small business retailers will find interesting.
The Afterpay buy now pay later payment option is available through the Tower Systems POS software. This is another of the buy now pay later options that our software supports, like Zip Pay and Humm.
Taking payment via Afterpay through our POS software is easy, secure and business beneficial. We have made sure of this through the work we have done, to ensure that our small business customers are well serves through a frictionless solution. Like so much we have done with our software, our approach to Afterpay is fast, secure and something customers will love. It helps a local small retail business attract more shoppers.
The Afterpay POS software solution we have delivered is the Afterpay Card.
Add this to what we have done for years with Humm and Zip and you can see opportunities that serve plenty of local small business retail solutions across Australia, helping these retailers sell to shoppers who might otherwise not have purchased from the business at this time.
This move away from credit cards in the millennial and get Z groups is on and BNPL is playing a key role in this as they leverage these platforms for their purchases from the small to the large.
Through its POS software, Tower Systems provides local small business retailers with opportunities that are leading-edge in customer engagement and service.
The Afterpay buy now pay later payment option is available through the Tower Systems POS software. This is another of the buy now pay later options that our software supports, like Zip Pay and Humm.
Taking payment via Afterpay through our POS software is easy, secure and business beneficial. We have made sure of this through the work we have done, to ensure that our small business customers are well serves through a frictionless solution. Like so much we have done with our software, our approach to Afterpay is fast, secure and something customers will love. It helps a local small retail business attract more shoppers.
The Afterpay POS software solution we have delivered is the Afterpay Card. Here’s what Afterpay has to say about this new facility for their buy now pay later option:
We’ve made paying a better and easier experience for you when you shop in-store.
Afterpay Card has replaced the barcode system of shopping in-store. It’s a contactless Mastercard stored in your Google Pay or Apple Wallet, and is super easy to set up and use.
With Afterpay Card, you just App it, Add it, and Tap it to pay in 4 interest-free instalments.
We are grateful to be part of the release, to be able to bring this option to thousands of local small business retailers.
For a retail business to be ready for taking payment through the Afterpay Card is easy with our fast-track setup opportunities. Our software guides our customers. In almost no time at all, this new payment method is up and running in the business, offering the business a fresh approach to selling.
Using the Afterpay Card in a Tower Systems POS software connected business is as easy as using any credit card. Tap and go. It’s fast, easy, secure and backed by good business engagement reporting. Offering an additional payment method is something small business retailers embrace as they seek to reduce barriers to business growth. The Afterpay Card does that, it’s a timely solution for small business retailers looking for new revenue streams.
Tower Systems supports the Afterpay Card and welcomes its wider release within retail in Australia.
Tower Systems is grateful to be able to continue to help Australian and New Zealand small business retailers through COVID-19.
Our business is open and our office is open, since we meet the criteria for being essential.
What we introduced in February 2020 when we saw how Covid is playing out around the world and the impact it is having on businesses is still available. This Tower Systems support package is helping local small business retailers to pivot and embrace opportunity found within the Covid situation.
Our customers have access to a range of opportunities and benefits to help them best run their businesses in this situation.
Here at Tower Systems, it is business as usual and, through this, we are helping our POS software customers achieve a business as usual experience. We know this is comforting to our customers, helpful for their business planning and operations.
We continue to offer a full service POS software help desk service, releasing POS software updates and delivering our much-loves free one-on-one training to our retail business owners and their staff.
In offering business as usual, our customers have continuity of service. This helps them have what they need to work on their businesses … as that is what plenty of small business retailers have been doing through COVID-19, working on their businesses, re-calibrating, adjusting and, for some, pivoting. Indeed, we have helped some exciting pivots and we are grateful to have seen this and been part of it.
We are grateful to our team of software developers, help desk experts, POS software trainers, our back office infrastructure support and our sales team in that it is this group of people that has delivered for our customers through COVID-19 every day.
But back to the pivot opportunity. We see plenty of this in a range of local specialty retail channels in which we serve. By see we mean in real and accurate business data. Data show pivot opportunities and we can help our retail partners to explore these and consider whether they are useful. 2020 is a terrific year for a pivot and having the right software with flexibility can be helpful.
Here in Melbourne we are in our fifth Covid lockdown. As well as owning our POS software company and working with local small business retailers every day, I also own three retail businesses and several online businesses.
This Covid lockdown To-Do list for local small business retailers is practical advice you can action without cost, to make the most of the lockdown opportunity.
Whether your shop is closed or open but with less traffic, now is an ideal time to work on your business.
We are a local Aussie POS software company serving 3,500+ local small business retailers with POS software and beautiful Shopify websites. Beyond this, we also offer retail business management advice and help to our customers every day.
Thanks for reading. have an awesome rest of your weekend …
Mark Fletcher | mark@towersystems.com.au.
It was the second Covid lockdown in Victoria that was a defining moment for many small business retailers. Whereas first lockdown was a national experience, the second lockdown was unique to Victoria back then.
While there were many media stories about businesses doing it tough, the reality is that many of us had a good Covid, through all four lockdowns in Victoria. Here’s what worked for us and many of the local small business retailers I have spoken with:
Regional, rural and high street newsagents are likely to have a better lockdown than those in shopping centres. many Victorian shopping centres are yet to recover from lockdown 2 and beyond. We mention this as one consequence of extended lockdown for shopping centre businesses is to find opportunities outside the centre.
We have three physical shops in Victoria as well as an office and several online only businesses. What we have suggested in this post we have done in our businesses, and we continue to do them today. For example, as part of the be frugal advice, we made some decisions that we expected to be temporary, decisions we still follow today, decisions that continue to save money.
While things seem grim in NSW right now, at the local small business level you have an opportunity to make your own success, your own good situation out of a bad situation.
If your shop is open and not busy because people are staying at home, use the opportunity to make changes. Be bold, but frugal. Use the time, too, to plan for what’s on the other side – promotions, marketing, re-casting.
Footnote: through our work with newsagents and with the Tower POS software community more broadly, only a very few businesses did not make it through. We think this is because small business retailers are resilient and flexible, doing what is necessary. Good luck everyone!
The serial number tracking facilities in our POS software are appreciated across a range of specialty retail situation.
Having been first developed and jewellers, they were found to be useful in bike shops, too. Since then, they have been found to be useful in a range of specialty retail including firearms dealers, mobility scooter businesses, produce businesses, high-end game shops, sewing machine businesses and more.
Our serial number tracking tools are, we think, comprehensive and flexible.
By tracking serial numbers using the POS software, you can provide a level of service to customers they will appreciate. Serial numbers are listed on receipts. They are recorded, too, for later use should the item be stolen from the customer and they need to do a claim.
Tracking serial numbers in this POS software also sets your business up for longer term tracking of the service history of an item. This can be a valuable way to differentiate the services provided by your business.
Join Justin in a video that we shot recently on serial number tracking. Justin shows some of the benefits of the serial number tracking tools and answers some questions about these.
In the pet shop specialty retail channel, the serial number tracking tools within our POS software are used to record pet microchip details as they are a form of serial number. Being able to track pet microchips in this way, using the serial number tracking tools, helps pet shops to provide a service pet owners and lovers certainly appreciate.
Made here, locally, for local business needs, these serial number tracking tools are made to serve the needs of a variety of specialty retail businesses. Serving multiple retail channels is useful in that a need discovered in one is often of value to another. It is a key factor in the valuable evolution of what the software offers and how it works.
Tower Systems is grateful to its customers for guiding us on the needs in this serial number tracking space. They are the experts and we appreciate their suggestions and guidance.
If you track serial num bars in your retail business, this could be for you.
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