The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryProduce store software

Retailers: beware POS software companies that charge per transaction

April 14, 2022
3 Min read
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When comparing POS software for your retail business be sure to look at the total cost of ownership.

If there is a fee per transaction, work out what you would be paying for the software based on your current transaction volume level.

One local retailer recently discovered that they would be paying $5,000 a year more for another POS software product compared to going with Tower Systems. This is despite the other company saying they were low cost.  Once they added up the software rental cost, the per transaction cost, the EFTPOS cost and the cost for additional support to match what we consider to be basic support, the cost was even greater.

We all have EFTPOS costs so comparing the companies on that net each other off. The real differences were in the per transaction cost – we don’t have one – and the cost for extra support – there, it’s all included.

Taking a moment to more completely research the cost of POS software can reveal significant cost differences.

Another company said their rental was $50 a month less if you sign ups for their payments platform. You had to dig a bit to see the actual costs of that. What we found in that situation was that their payment costs were 33% above market cost, meaning a business that signs up for their payments platform would pay far more to use their POS software than if they went with us, where costs are transparent and fixed.

The retailer being hit with these costs, once they discovered the extent of them, was horrified at what they had been paying.

Here at Tower Systems we are a POS software company. We are not in the business of setting our price based on your transaction volume or how people pay. Indeed, it frustrates us when local retailers discover how much extra they have paid because they signed up to a transaction fee arrangement as most we have spoken to who did this did so without understanding. They thought it was a saving. They tend to feel dudded and this negatively impacts how they see all POS software companies.

All of us in business owe our customers transparency when it comes to pricing. Charging per transaction or charging based on the use of a payments platform is not transparent based on what we can see, or not see as the case may be.

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Retail advice: if you are concerned about rising EFTPOS merchant t fees, here are some steps you can take to help

April 1, 2022
4 Min read
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It’s an easy complaint to make – my merchant fees are going up, it’s not fair, time for me to consider another supplier.

Okay, yeah, that’s an easy take. It’s a cheap shot by us to call it out. But, let’s explain and explore it with you.

Our advice is to look at your data first.

We have thoroughly looked at hundreds of thousands of baskets from many retail businesses.

The most common reason merchant fees are increasing is because of more sales transacted using EFTPOS.

While sometimes the actual fee basis, flat fee per Tx or percentage, increases, this is rare.

Yes, the most common reason a retailer paid more in merchant fees last month than the month before is because more transactions were paid for on a card.

So, the EFTPOS provider is not the cause of the issue.

Retailers is some marketing groups have access to preferential rates that see them paying the lowest fees in the country.

But, that addresses only the base cost.

To address the growing cost to the business, of people using a card to pay, you need to be an engaged retailer. Here are some ideas:

  • Promote cash payment – if you want the costs associated with cash of course.
  • Be clear as to the cost of using a card. You could apply a surcharge, which I think is a ridiculous idea though.
  • Price knowing that cards will be used. Build the cost into your pricing model. Keep the bump under 2% and it is less likely to be noticed.
  • Lower a cost elsewhere to cover the cost. Look at your labour cost, for example. Shaving a hour of employee rostered time can save you around $30.00, that’s equal to purchases of $3750.00 on a card – depending on the type of card used.
  • Increase sales. While you should be single-mindedly focussed on this anyway, increasing sales helps you address the EFTPOS cost and more in the business.

It’s easy to kick a bank over EFTPOS fees. But … before you do that, look at your own behaviour. Here are common points in retail businesses that retailers overlook when they kick a supplier:

  • Dead stock. It’s easy to identity but often not. A problem not seen is not a problem to some. In my experience on conducting an audit of stock performance, usually, 20% of stock on the shop floor over which the retailer has full control underperforms and should not be there.
  • Bloated roster. Some prefer to spend money on people so they have time to themselves for relaxing, golf or to sit in the back office, where no customer purchases from.
  • Wrong trading hours. Some stay open too long while others are not open long enough. Either way has a cost to the business.
  • Being blind to theft. Theft in retail, like a local newsagency business, costs on average between 3% and 5% of turnover. Not watching for it, tracking it and mitigating against it has a cost to the business.
  • The wrong product mix. GP% is a key measure of retail business performance. Increasing yours beyond what is traditional for your channel provides you with a buffer. For example, transaction count / sales can decline and you can be okay. Measure GP%. Set a goal. Chase it. The air is cleaner in above average.
  • Ignorance. It’s not bliss. It’s not! There are insights in your software that can guide better decisions, faster decisions, more financially rewarding decisions. Yet, too many in retail don’t want to know. That failure costs them plenty.

The 6 items on the above list are all on the retailer to address.

We get that it’s easy to complain about high EFTPOS fees. If you are contemplating that, please take a moment to look back inside your business, look at the reason why and see if there are decisions you could make that are more valuable than complaining about EFTPOS fees or changing supplier. Our team here at Tower Systems would be happy to help.

Rising EFTPOS fees are likely not a problem since the y reflect rising sales, unless your provider is hiking your fees, which is rare.

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Xero connects POS software helps local small business retailers save time and cut mistakes

March 21, 2022
2 Min read
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The Tower Systems POS software connects directly with Xero and has done for many years. we are grateful to be a development partner of Xero, providing seamless and safe data flow between the POS software and Xero.

Retailers using the Tower POS software can turn on the Xero accounting software connection without additional cost. yes, this Xero POS software link is included with the software, helping to reduce the cost of accurate accounting for local small business retailers.

The development of the POS software Xero link has been overseen by our retail software development experts and our own COPA accountant, taking it beyond the usual software focus – this is a whole of business focus, a whole of business solution, which we use ourselves in the 4 retail businesses we currently own – yes, we have our own practical experience with this PSO software Xero integration.

Save time, eliminate bookkeeping costs, cut mistakes and make better business decisions sooner with the Tower Systems POS software Xero integration. This link cuts keystrokes and every keystroke cut is a possible mistake eliminated.

The Xero integration designed by Tower Systems, working with the folks at Xero, makes it easy for small business retailers to cut accounting paperwork and thereby tap into time and money saving benefits.

This POS software Xero link has been made for local small business retailers like jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, pet shops, toy shops, sewing shops, newsagents, produce businesses, fishing shops and many more. It has been made for them, to help drive efficiency.

PERSONAL SERVICE MATTERS.

Here are areas where the Tower Systems approach shines, where our personal service matters.

Our training is personal, one-on-one. It is delivered by someone with extensive retail experience.

Our help desk is based locally. When people call, the call is answered by a human and not a computerised phone system. We believe in personal service.

This matters especially to retailers using the Xero link in that if they have a query, it is vital it is answered quickly and professionally. This is the Tower Systems difference in action – based on our own personal experience using the POS software Xero link ourselves – we bring that experience to every call, every interaction.

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Specialty retailer POS software enhanced

March 16, 2022
2 Min read
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Tower Systems has released a new functionality POS software update, delivering genuinely new facilities to it’s customers, enabling some to offer and manage services they have not offered before.

This advance in POS software functionality for local retailers has some about through extensive customer and sales prospect consultation and comprehensive new tech. software development. The project has been many months in the making, involving several members of our local Aussie based POS software development team.

Our existing POS software customers have been provided access to there software update through an easy implementation pathway, along with easy access to training so that they can fully learn how these new facilities work and how to implement them within their business.

Our POS software rental customers have immediate access.

Our hosted close POS software customers have the update installed for them, when they want – with timing 100% their call.

As well as the new facilities introduced with this POS software update, plenty of existing facilities have been enhanced based on suggestions made through our transparent Software Ideas platform. Software Ideas is where our customers can suggest enhancements and other customers get to vote on these once we have provided feedback as to technical feasibility. Software Ideas is a differentiator for Tower Systems as it provides to our customers a level of transparency and and democracy that is not common in the commercial software space.

At the same time as releasing this update, we are releasing access to the most comprehensive overhaul of our POS software documentation in more than 15 years with new articles released as well as many existing articles enhanced and adjusted to serve the software its it is today and our customers as they make use of the software today. Our commitment to continual improvement of our documentation and user training resources is key to helping our customers leverage more value from their POS software investment.

Tower Systems is grateful to the active engagement of its customers as this is at the heart of what we deliver for our customers through these POS software and documentation enhancements. 3,500+ local small business retail customers do make a difference.

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POS software on-boarding, the key to success with POS software in your retail business

March 10, 2022
2 Min read
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POS software is like the structure of a house, roof, walls, floors … yes, the structure. What makes the house liable is the furniture and knowledge of how it all works.

This is what POS software onboarding is all about – the training, support and help to make the software useful, valuable, a good investment for your business.

Without professional onboarding, what you get from the POS software may not be what you hoped for.

The tips you learn, the efficient ways to use the software, the accurate handling of data – these are all valuable things to learn and know, all things covered in professional on-boarding, and much more.

The best onboarding for your POS software is that done by the POS software company itself, they are the other party most invested in your successful use of the software. While a third party consultant may do a competent job, they are not commercially invested in the long term benefits for you and your business and its use of the POS software as you are or as the POS software company is.

The Tower Systems approach to POS software onboarding is professional, comprehensive, tailored to each retail sector in which the company serves and fine-tuned to the needs of each business based on what they advise is key to them.

We provide an account manager to oversee the process and a professional software specialist to deliver the training and setup work and advice, to help you get the most from our POS software. These are Tower Systems employees, not outside consultants. This is a huge difference, a valuable difference. It is what makes the house a home, some place you will love, appreciate and benefit from.

This is what good on-boarding looks like. It is what helps local retailers get more value from their POS software. It is the fine-tuning, the tweaks, the adjustments that help deliver POS software setup for your business. No amount of reading or playing can substitute for the efficiency and gains from professional on-boarding by experts who have done it hundreds of times already. Their years of experience can put time and money on your side.

These are just some of the reasons why on-boarding by Tower Systems is valuable to all of our POS software customers.

Footnote: we call it onboarding. But, we have referred to it as on-boarding too as some do.

 

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Giving POS software customers more power

February 9, 2022
2 Min read
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Last week we released new customer facilities for our POS software customers. These are back office facilities, accessed through our website, for our customers and how they interact with us and, in particular, our support team.

Once our POS software customers log into our website they have access to new technology through which they can log their own cases, see any current cases, search their past cases and, access pre-set help that may offer immediate assistance for any new case.

This advanced self serve technology goes beyond what we offered in the past, beyond what is common is local small business retail POS software support.

What we released last week is a blend of leading edge, best practice, expert technology from overseas, layered with technology we have developed ourselves and populated with a truckload of knowledge and data from our years of service of local small business retailers.

What we released last week is technically innovative, the culmination of a considerable financial investment by us to bring this to life for our customers. we have been working on this project for close to a year. We brought in a CRM solutions expert from outside to help us bring this home.

The project is a good example of us investing in our infrastructure and bringing on board people expert in the area, rather than relying on only our experience.

We are grateful to be able to make this investment for our customers and thankful for the feedback already from customers who are loving the new facilities and the greater power they have for themselves.

POS software support is all about offering advice and answers that suit the questions and in a timely way that serves the needs of customers. What we have released fits with this, and more.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve 3,000+ local specialty retail businesses that trade in a range of unique retail niches. Our focus is on locally owned family businesses as serving their needs is different to serving big mass businesses. We do not serve bug business customers. Our service is personal, local – like the businesses of our customers.

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7 steps for a successful stock take in your retail business

February 6, 2022
3 Min read
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In order to stock take in your retail business successfully, keep these 7 steps in mind.

Bit first, make sure you are using smart POS software that lets you stock take while the shop is open, software that lets you stock take using several computers or terminals.

STEP 1: Decide who will be stock taking and how often it needs to be done. Ask yourself the following: “How big is my stock?” and “How long should stock last?”. Another thing to bear in mind is that stock takes must be done systematically and not on an ad hoc basis. Typically, a shop with 3,000 items can be completed by two people in less than a day.

STEP 2: You stock take should start with a stock count of your stockroom, before you move too the shops floor. Be consistent, methodical, in your approach, covering each space fully before you move to the next space.

STEP 3: In the old manual days, you would write a stock take list as stock takes can be very long processes and this list will act like an agenda for the stock taker. Also, it is useful to use reminders on stock take lists such as “if stock isn’t available check with suppliers”. But those days are over. Today, using smart POS software you can do a stock take faster and more accurately using the POS software.

STEP 4: Stock counts must be done individually to get accurate stock counts. Scan an item, enter a quantity, move on. You can scan each barcode if you wish but that tends to take more time. Move down each aisle in a consistent way: Scan, count, scan, count. Your POS software makes it easy.

STEP 5: All stock of the same type of product should be counted at once to get an accurate total of all stock for that item. This will make stock takes very quick and efficient. See point 4 for doing this in your POS software, scan, count, etc…

STEP 6: Rely on your POS software to store the stock take count data.

STEP 7: Once you have the stock take done, you are ready to use this valuable data to cut for the business dead stock, stock that has not sold in months or years, stock that his not paying its way. This is the value of a stock take for a retail shop.

The Tower Systems smart POS software helps small business retailers complete accurate and time efficient stock takes.

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Small business retail advice: how to compete with big business competitors

February 4, 2022
2 Min read
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Here at Tower Systems we only work with and support local retailers ranging from small shops to modest size family businesses with several outlets. We don’t sell to big business.

We have seen many local retail businesses compete with big businesses. The most successful have done well by not competing directly.

This is our advice today. if you have a big business competitor, spend less time looking at them and what they do and spend more time on what you do and how you can make your business more interesting, useful and healthier, because the healthier you are the better you will be.

Don’t compete on price. Price based shoppers are not loyal. They are not.

Be smart about this. Compete on value as value is appreciated. People who experience value will vie back again and again.

Using our Tower Systems POS software you have a range of options for competing on value. yes, the software itself helps you do this. It has facilities built into the software than enable this, that help you pitch value at the transaction level and after the transaction.

Small business retailers often express frustration at big business competitors: they have more money for marketing, get better supplier deals and often have lower overheads per dollar of revenue.

In our experience, there is little to be gained from worrying about these things, which we cannot change. There is more to gain from focussing on points of difference we can leverage.

For example, using our POS software, you can bundle items to make price comparison difficult or impossible, you can offer a loyalty pitch big businesses will not offer, you can be flexible in how and where you pitch products while big retail businesses are structured and, usually, inflexible.

Bundling is particularly useful as you can create a bundle unique to your business, which feels like it is a value proposition unlike anything they have seen to that point. While this is a product by product task, it is in these small steps that you can find success, by changing shopper perspective and winning business more direct competition may have denied.

The best way to compete with a big business is to not be in their lane. Create your own lane, your own playing field where big businesses are air a disadvantage. Our Tower Systems POS software can help you do this.

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It’s the add-ons that can cost more with POS software, but not at Tower Systems

February 3, 2022
3 Min read
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Here at Tower Systems we provide POS software for local small business specialty retailers rich in function, robust in structure and ever-evolving to serve changing needs.

Gift shops, garden centres, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops, toy shops, antique shops, sewing shops, nurseries, newsagents, mobility scooter businesses, farm supply businesses and fishing and outdoor businesses all use our specialty retail Australian made and supported POS software.

We bundle in with the Tower Systems POS software facilities that too many other software companies charge extra for or get to you go to a third party to access, which we think is not ideal for small business retailers.

By including these facilities and services in the one price, Tower Systems POS software customers know what they are in for, they can budget, they can rely on what we do and how we do it.

Take a look at this list of what is included with our POS software, what you done;t need to pay extra for.

  • Registers – no additional charge for additional registers.
  • Integrated payments for EFTPOS. Less mistakes. Less theft.
  • Accounting (Xero integration).
  • Ecommerce (Shopify / Magento / Woo).
  • Loyalty (points and discount vouchers).
  • Integrated LayBy.
  • Product care instructions on receipts.
  • Product box location tracking.
  • Integrated gift cards (your branding).
  • Community group pricing and local club pricing – to help promote your business locally.
  • Product bundling (hampers etc) – makes price comparison harder.
  • Was / Now pricing.
  • Special customer orders.
  • Seasonal sales tracking.
  • Targeted customer marketing.
  • Sell by weight.
  • Sell by length.
  • Sell by fractions.
  • Colour / Size / Style.
  • Digital receipts.
  • Secondhand goods.
  • 24/7 customer service. Staffed by humans, who are local. This is not an offshore call centre.
  • Launch services. To help you settle in and get running with the software.
  • API access.
  • Serialisation. Yes, you can sell products that come with serial numbers.
  • Dedicated account manager.

This is not a complete list, not by any measure. There are many more inclusions with our POS software that are marketplace specific, inclusions in terms of supplier integrations and more, that make this POS software specialist in nature for specific retail channels.

Tower Systems is a small business focussed POS software company developing, and supporting POS software for niche specialty retailers. Jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, produce businesses, farm supply businesses, fishing shops, pet shops, charity businesses, landscape gardening businesses, antique shops, sewing shops, haberdashery businesses, newsagents and more benefit from this software.

Find out more at www.towersystems.com.au Call 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au

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POS software customer Zoom meeting

January 19, 2022
1 Min read
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We are grateful to our POS software customers who joined us live Thursday last week for our first Zoom meeting of 2022 and to the many who accessed the video we shared after the meeting.

In this Zoom meeting we demonstrated some of the enhancements to our POS software that will be released in our first update for 2022 as well as taking questions and feedback from customers.

Accessibility is key not only to POS software users but to those who make the POS software. Connecting our development team with our customers regularly as we do makes for better, more useful POS software.

Good POS software does not come from dark rooms disconnected from the real world.

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6 things any local retailer can do for a more enjoyable 2022

January 13, 2022
2 Min read
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Advice to benefit any local specialty retailer … for a better 2022.

  1. Touch data less. Every time you touch data, entering an invoice, entering accounting data, it’s an opportunity for mistake or, worse, fraud. 
  2. Manage stock in one place. If you sell online and in a physical shop, manage your stock in one place. Double handling is fraught, and it wastes time.
  3. Add a revenue stream. Seek out new products or services. Broaden the appeal of your business. Broader appeal = stronger foundations.
  4. Leverage you. It’s likely your knowledge and passion are a key difference for your business. Share it. Your competitors can’t compete with you.
  5. Copy less. Big retailers advertise loyalty programs to trick shoppers to think points are a reward. Be different, run an honest loyalty program.
  6. Be authentically local. When you buy local, talk about it, celebrate it and, show shoppers with the local message on products tags and more.

We make POS software for local specialty retail. Find out more: email sales@towersystems.com.au or call 1300 662 957.

Click on any link below to see a video of a demonstration of our software. We don’t ask for your details, you don’t have to register, just click and watch.

Tower Systems is not your usual POS software company. Our videos feature real people from inside our business. We don’t animate to hide or hire actors to play us. No, we’re authentic, as is our software … because local small business retail is authentic every day. This is what separates local small business retail from big business competitors.

We are sincerely grateful to only serve small businesses, independent businesses, local businesses – and only in the retail space. This specialisation helps us be better at what we do, it helps us focus.

Being Australian matters to Australian local retailers.

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Made in Australia: POS software for produce / farm supply / stockfeed businesses

January 3, 2022
2 Min read
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POS software for produce / farm supply / stockfeed businesses
$199.00/month. Unlimited terminals. No lock-in contract.

We are grateful to the many local produce and farm supply businesses that have guided us in evolving this software and those who will help in the future. Your advice is appreciated and valuable.

See this software it for yourself. Click on the QR code for a 1-hour demo of the software.

We don’t need your contact details, you can watch it right away. If you’d like a personal demonstration in which we explore your specific business needs, please call us on 1300 662 957 or email our team on sales@towersystems.com.au.

Using this software you can handle customer special orders, quotations, varied price models, product use and care notes and plenty more.

This month, we launch enhanced dispatch and delivery facilities. Our customers can access updates for no additional cost.

We also develop POS software connected Shopify websites. Check out:

$199.00 a month for the Tower produce / farm supply / stockfeed business POS software delivers valuable benefits.

This is a total package software rental solution including produce business software, updates, help desk support, supplier invoice imports and knowledgebase access.

There is no extra cost for more terminals, no fee based on transaction or sales volume.

This software is made for produce / farm supply / stockfeed businesses, made to help you maximise GP%, made to help you promote your USP, made to help you easily encourage shoppers to return sooner.

We’d love to find out about your software needs. That’s where it begins. We start with your needs as it’s possible our software is not a good fit for you – we will never push or pitch our software if we feel we’re not the right fit.

To talk to one of our produce / farm supply business software experts, please call 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.

Tower Systems serves more than 3,000 local small businesses with retail management POS software, specialty businesses with needs unique to their channel. We only sell to small businesses, ensuring our focus on the most valuable type of retail businesses in the country. We are grateful to our customers for their support.

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How the Tower Systems POS software helps local small business retailers leverage Boxing Day sales

December 27, 2021
2 Min read
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Local small business retailers using the Tower Systems POS software and following retail management advice from us have had access to terrific tools with which to leverage the Post Christmas sale opportunity. Our training, support and retail business advice platforms have aligned to help retailers make the most of the seasonal sale opportunity – well in advance of the big day.

This year is no different. For weeks we have been prompting and advising our POS software customers, prepping them for the opportunity.

Businesses in the city and country, mall and high street have terrific tools to leverage this traditional sale season in the retail year.

While Black Friday, Cyber Monday and other events have grown in popularity, in Australia the Boxing Day / post Christmas sales continue to be an important feature of the retail calendar. We help our retail community make the most of the opportunities.

Our focus has also included training and guiding new retailers and those who have never undertaken such sales. Owning our own retail businesses for years, we have been able to drawn on our own advice to to speak from personal experience, to help those new to the Post Christmas sale opportunity to help it work for them.

From loyalty discount facilities to inventory opportunity discovery to targeted marketing tools, our POS software is an ideal platform through which to drive additional revenue this time of the year.

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POS software helps local retailers embrace pop-up retail

December 23, 2021
2 Min read
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Retailer Roam, the portable POS software from Tower Systems is perfect in a pop-up retail situation.

Where a pop-up shop needs to be up and running quickly, easily, with low cost and with a small footprint, Retailer Roam delivers on all these fronts and more. It is a perfect solution for pop-up retail shops.

Retailer Roam is serves retailers looking to take their business transactions to customers no matter where they are … local markets, on the farm, from the back of a truck, pop-up stores and more. Retailer Roam is truly portable POS software thanks to smart app development from the Tower systems web team working closely with the POS software development team.

This is why retailer Roam works well in a pop-up retail situation. It is POS software ideal for pop-up shops.

With pop-up retail more popular than ever, our pop-up retail POS software solution helps retailers to be up and running quickly, easily, safely and with an easy step to a m ore permanent future. Retailer Roam is made for pop-up retail … and more.

A common question we get is: Does Retailer Roam Require An Internet Connection?

Yes and No. You will need an internet connection to install the app and to obtain the base Retailer data.

If the location you’re selling from does not have internet connectivity you can use the device to transact, however, you will not receive any product updates or send sales back until the connection is re-established.

There is an ‘Offline Mode’ that can be turned on in settings for a smoother no-internet-connection experience. While in this mode the user will be limited to completing sales with what data has already been pre-loaded on the device. No API calls can be made in this mode, and sales will be stored locally until they can be synced.

There is an option to download all stock-data on the device; so, it can be used offline.

Retailer Roam is portable POS softeware for retailers on the move.

This is a wonderful solution for retail today, for businesses that want flexibility as to where and when they trade. It is continuing to evolve too as we discover more variations to the pop-up retail business model.

Check it out, on the App Store.

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Christmas marketing tips for local small business retailers

December 14, 2021
3 Min read
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For many years, Tower Systems has published marketing tips for local small business retailers leading up to Christmas. The goal has been to present ideas early in the season to encourage local retailers to engage beyond the traditional.

Here is an edited version of Christmas marketing ideas pitched to local small business retailers this year:

  1. Make it easy. People often talk about how hard Christmas is. Be the business that makes it easy. The ways to do this are have bundled gifts ready to go, pre-bagged or wrapped, with some card selections that are relevant, offer easy payment options including buy now pay later, free wrapping, better shop floor help, guide buying advice or tips on perfect gifts no one else will think of. Consider making Christmas easy as being a key part of your messaging.
  2. Be thrilled people are in your shop. Your personal smile or greeting is something they may not see in a big business where employees are less invested in each shopper and where the owner is usually thousands of kilometers away.
  3. Make the giving easy. If people purchase form you to send somewhere else. Offer a one-stop shop. Save them the trip to the post office.
  4. Make the shop less about Christmas. Consider pulling back on the Christmas visual noise. Go for something simple, muted, respecting the season but making a calm statement. Consider declaring the shop a Christmas carol free zone – not because you hate carols but because you want to help customers take a break.
  5. Help people rest and recharge. Create a Christmas shopping rest and recovery zone. Offer free tea, coffee, water and something to eat. Encourage people to take a break in your shop – without any obligation for them to spend money with you.
  6. Let your customers help each other. Setup a whiteboard or sheets of butcher’s paper, yes keep it simple. Get customers to write gift suggestions under different age/gender groups. For example: Girls 18 – 25, Boys 55+. Encourage your customers to help each other.
  7. Make price comparison difficult. If you sell items people are likely to price compare with other businesses, package them so price comparison is not easy. Put items into a hamper as a perfect Boy 8 to 12 bundle for example. Or offer the item with pre packages services if appropriate for an item.
  8. Less is The stack em high watch em fly mantra can be wrong. Indeed, it is often wrong in retail. Shoppers can be store blind because a shop is too full or a display is too busy. Consider creating simpler less cluttered displays and window promotions. Draw attention to what you want people to see by promoting that one thing.
  9. Christmas season in your shop should evolve. Major change weekly is vital for people to see what you have that they could buy.
  10. Be socially engaged. On Facebook, Instagram, twitter and elsewhere, be the calm voice, the person people enjoy reading or seeing photos from. Provide entertainment this Christmas rather than the usual retailer shrill of come and shop here!

The key to a more successful Christmas is to be different to what people expect from your business.

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Advice for local small business retailers doing it tough

December 10, 2021
5 Min read
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At Tower Systems, we are asked from time to time for help by a retailer doing it tough. Too often, the request comes when it is too late. In this article, we outline steps any retailer can contemplate from them moment they realise their retail business is in trouble, from the first thought that closing may be the only option.

Tower Systems is more than a POS 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.

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?

  1. Did you not make changes to your business when you should have?
  2. Has something local and unexpected impacted your business?
  3. Have you been a bad retailer, allowing the business to fade away?

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:

    1. Know your truth. If you run a computer system, analyse the data it collects. If you don’t know how to do this, find out. Look for surprise information in your data, things you did not know about your business. For example, look at the top selling items. If there are surprises there they could inform other decisions you make to urgently address your situation. Talk to your computer software company, ask for their assessment. Knowing your truth is key to owning your situation.
    2. Quit dead stock. If you have stock on the shop floor which is old – ‘old’ can vary between product categories – and for which you have already paid, quit it. However, stock that is greater than six months old is a reasonable guide – then take action to sell this at a substantial discount. Move the stock off display units. Line it up to look like clearance stock – stacked up on tables. Setup plain and simple signs indicating the discount prices. Create signage to show it as clearance stock. If you have enough clearance stock in your business, consider signs across your front windows. Give your sale a name that is unrelated to your situation. Here are some suggestions: MEGA SALE, FIRST EVER MARCH SALE, AUTUMN SALE, SMALL BUSINESS MIGHTY BIG SALE. Give it a name you can theme around.
    3. Run a loyalty offer. Immediately setup and run a loyalty program rewarding shoppers with dollars off their next purchase. The most successful loyalty offer in recent times is discount vouchers whereby vouchers are included on receipts offering an amount which is cleverly calculated by your software based on the items in the purchase. The goal has to be encouraging shoppers to purchase again soon based on the offer on the receipt for items they just purchased.
    4. Move things around. If your business is in trouble it is likely that it has not changed much in recent years. Change it. Move departments around, shake things up so your customers trip over things they did not think you sold.
    5. Review prices. Look at the common items you sell, consider a small increase in your prices. It could be a small increase will not hurt sales volume yet will add profit to your bottom line.
    6. Upsell well. At the counter, work to extend the basket for every sale possible. Do this with clever counter product placement and witty and engaging banter with customers offering upsell products. You goal has to be to make more from each customer.
    7. Stand for something. What is different about your business? What is special about it? What makes people want to come back? If you don’t know the answer to these questions you’re in trouble. If your answer is we’re the only shop of your type nearby you’re in trouble. If the answer is people have always shopped here you’re in trouble. You need to have a difference that people want and will talk about to others. It could be a product or a service. However, it cannot be a product line that is traditional to your type of business as that will not add value to your shingle in the way you want or need. What do you stand for?

This is a tiny snippet of advice we provide in this area, advice we share with our customers as a service beyond the POS software itself. Our advice has been developed over years of serving many different types of retail businesses. It is advice we have seen appreciated by many types of shops.

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.

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The POS software from Tower Systems helps small business retailers and their suppliers work more closely together

December 7, 2021
2 Min read
T

Thanks to smart hooks in the Tower Systems small business POS software, we are able to help local small business indie retailers and their suppliers work more closely and efficiently together.

The hooks include easy and accurately two-way flow of data, thereby enabling more timely and accurate supply of inventory to retailers and through this a strengthening of the supplier relationships.

Delivering this through a seamless, data-driven, relationship is key to both the retailer and wholesaler businesses. This is where good POS software shines, helping both sides of the commercial relationship to benefit. It sits at the heart of a good commercial relationship and feeds mutual respect.

Our POS software is a beautiful glue for retailers and wholesalers who appreciate working together.

The connections we offer have been built into our POS software to worldwide data sharing EDI standards. This ensures that they will serve the needs of larger businesses with more rigid IT infrastructure. This is important where small business retailers need to connect with IT systems in large business suppliers. The Tower systems approach means that small business retailers are not disadvantaged.

Through or work in this area of seamless two-way data flow, we are able to help smaller wholesalers walk the path of better IT connection with small business retailers. There are many case studies we can share showing the success of this work. regardless of internal systems in use in wholesale businesses, we are usually able to help them take the steps necessary to achieve a beneficial connection.

Our work in the area of EDI for retailers in channels such as fishing and tackle stores, produce businesses, bike shops, garden centres, jewellers and newsagencies is well established and consistent.

Tower Systems is committed to helping independent small business retailers to compete effectively and successfully in a rapidly changing retail landscape in-store and online. We do this by providing best practice software backed by friendly, human and local support, helping retailers to compete and to enjoy their businesses.

EDI is key in retail today for retailers and wholesalers who want an efficient apply chain. Tower Systems is ready to help both sides of the EDI relationship.

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Quote and invoice management software for local small business retailers

November 29, 2021
1 Min read
Q

The area of quote and invoice management varies between types of retail businesses.

Through its work with garden centres, jewellers, farm supply businesses, landscape supply businesses and pool maintenance businesses POS software company Tower Systems has found some similarities. It has developed software to serve these common needs.

While not the deepest and most sp[ecialist solution, it is cost-effective and useful ion a variety of situations, as our customers how us.

here is a recent video from us in which some of our team discuss and show quote and invoice management facilities in our Tower Systems POS software:

Whether your shop is big or small and your quote and invoice management needs are complex or simple, these tools from Tower Systems are part of the software for a range of specialty retail marketplace versions of our POS software. The key is to see if they fit your needs. The Tower team would be grateful to personally demonstrate them to you.

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Small business retail advice: if you are finding things tough in your local shop

November 17, 2021
10 Min read
S

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?

  • Did you not make changes to your business when you should have?
  • Has something local and unexpected impacted your business?
  • Have you been a bad retailer, allowing the business to fade away?

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:

      1. Know your truth. If you run a computer system, analyse the data it collects. If you don’t know how to do this, find out. Look for surprise information in your data, things you did not know about your business. For example, look at the top selling items. If there are surprises there they could inform other decisions you make to urgently address your situation. Talk to your computer software company, ask for their assessment. Knowing your truth is key to owning your situation.
      2. Quit dead stock. If you have stock on the shop floor which is old – ‘old’ can vary between product categories – and for which you have already paid, quit it. However, stock that is greater than six months old is a reasonable guide – then take action to sell this at a substantial discount. Move the stock off display units. Line it up to look like clearance stock – stacked up on tables. Setup plain and simple signs indicating the discount prices. Create signage to show it as clearance stock. If you have enough clearance stock in your business, consider signs across your front windows. Give your sale a name that is unrelated to your situation. Here are some suggestions: MEGA SALE, FIRST EVER MARCH SALE, AUTUMN SALE, SMALL BUSINESS MIGHTY BIG SALE. Give it a name you can theme around.
      3. Run a loyalty offer. Immediately setup and run a loyalty program rewarding shoppers with dollars off their next purchase. The most successful loyalty offer in recent times is discount vouchers whereby vouchers are included on receipts offering an amount which is cleverly calculated by your software based on the items in the purchase. The goal has to be encouraging shoppers to purchase again soon based on the offer on the receipt for items they just purchased.
      4. Move things around. If your business is in trouble it is likely that it has not changed much in recent years. Change it. Move departments around, shake things up so your customers trip over things they did not think you sold.
      5. Review prices. Look at the common items you sell, consider a small increase in your prices. It could be a small increase will not hurt sales volume yet will add profit to your bottom line.
      6. Upsell well. At the counter, work to extend the basket for every sale possible. Do this with clever counter product placement and witty and engaging banter with customers offering upsell products. You goal has to be to make more from each customer.
      7. Stand for something. What is different about your business? What is special about it? What makes people want to come back? If you don’t know the answer to these questions you’re in trouble. If your answer is we’re the only shop of your type nearby you’re in trouble. If the answer is people have always shopped here you’re in trouble. You need to have a difference that people want and will talk about to others. It could be a product or a service. However, it cannot be a product line that is traditional to your type of business as that will not add value to your shingle in the way you want or need. What do you stand for?
      8. Market within your budget. Photocopied black and white flyers designed with care can be cheap and effective.
      9. Attract people who don’t know what you sell. Run a no-cost or low-cost campaign to reach out to shoppers who have no ideal what you sell yet which could appeal to them. They are not to blame for not knowing what you sell.
      10. Different retail options: Consider becoming an outlet shop selling items from a supplier keen to quit bulk items. Rent space in your shop to another retailer. If you have higher priced items consider offering employees commission on sales. Maybe become an outlet for local artists taking on items on a consignment basis.
      11. Stop unprofitable behaviour. If you are doing things in your business which lose money or do not contribute to a good future for the business, stop doing them. Regardless of history or what your business might stand for, continuing with unprofitable activity only makes your situation worse. If you know something to be unprofitable and yet you say you can’t stop it, think carefully about that, about why you can’t stop losing money.
      12. Get suppliers to help. Suppliers often have old stock themselves which they want to quit at a substantial discount. Buy items you have not stocked before, negotiate good prices and put the stock out with a healthy margin but still at a discount to what others would be charging. Negotiate to pay once you are paid by customers.
      13. Trim employee costs. Cut employee hours and work more in the business yourself if you are not doing so already. While this can have a significant personal cost, the less you pay others the more be business benefits in financial terms.
      14. Trim overheads. Cut everything you can: cleaning, power usage, insurance, freight, banking. Look at every supplier relationship you have and see if you can negotiate a better deal to cut your operating costs. However, do not turn off lights as darkness is death in most retail businesses.
      15. What assets can you sell? Do you have computers, retail fixtures, vehicles or other assets you no longer use in the running of the business? If they are not being used, turn them to cash as quickly as possible.
      16. Get a job. If you have a partner in the business with you and the business can run with one partner, one of you should get a job outside the business. This is especially helpful in a husband and wife situation where the family income can benefit.
      17. Talk to your landlord. A good landlord will prefer a good business to stay rather than have then close down and a new tenant having to be found. Talk to the landlord, be honest with them about your situation. Given the landlord all of the information they need to make the decision you need them to make. This information will include sales figures, expenses and margin information. Usually, the more transparent you are with the landlord the more they will support your business.
      18. Talk to your bank. While banks tend to not get involved in lending to businesses that are struggling, it may be that they have contacts that can help you navigate to a solution. Maybe talk to another bank.
      19. Talk to colleagues. If you have nearby business colleagues in the same line of business, they might have stock they are happy to provide you for free or at a discount to give you stock to move for a good price.
      20. Refresh the business. Make the business look, smell and sound fresh. Beyond the products you sell and where tings are located, change the environment itself using scents and sounds. Too often when a business is struggling, those involved let standards slip and the business does not look attractive to shoppers. Avoid this laziness at all costs.
      21. Deliver amazing customer service. When serving customers be the perfect shop assistance and not the owner of the business facing closure. Keep your mind on the job at hand and not the cliff you’re worried might be a few steps ahead.
      22. Whoever is pressuring you the most to close or contemplate closing, talk to them. If it’s a supplier, the tax office or some other organisation or individual pressuring you about debts, be upfront with them, lay out for them your plan detailing the action you will take to turn your situation around, be clear about what you are doing and outline a timeline step by step for them. Seek their support.
      23. Set a timeframe. Decide where you want to be in a week, four weeks, eight weeks, twelve weeks. Set realistic goals. Measure yourself against those goals. Know what you will do if you fall short.

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.

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Small business retail advice: consciously pursuing retail success and enjoyment

November 16, 2021
9 Min read
S

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.

WHERE ARE WE AT?

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.

WHAT IS DIFFERENT TODAY?

In summary, to get you thinking, here is a list of what we see as different:

  1. Whereas in the past, a shop-fit would have a life of five or more years. Today, shops must look significantly different every eighteen months. We say this based on the rate of change we see in retail.
  2. Whereas in the past, fixtures were fixed, today fixtures float, can be moved, are flexible and enable rapid change without cost.
  3. Whereas in the past, lights were either on or off, today, darkness and shade are used to bring texture and emotion to parts of a store.
  4. Whereas in the past, a shop was made up of shop fixtures, today, everyday items make the best support for displaying products. Rugs on the floor, couches, easy chairs, rustic looking floors, natural looking walls.
  5. Shopkeeping is out. Engaged retail is in. Shopkeepers operate from the back room and behind the counter. Retailers engage on the shop floor.
  6. Local is more important than ever. Supporting local makers reinforces your local credentials.
  7. Whereas in the past, you did what you did because it was expected of the shingle, everything in the business now, all decisions, need to be about demographic targeting, a layered multi-demo strategy – chasing new traffic.
  8. Whereas in the past, your business was dominated by rules, today rules are gone for many product categories. Choices are at your doorstep.
  9. Whereas in the past, supplier representatives were a valued source of innovation advice, today, you are the innovator.

UNIQUE SELLING PROPOSITION.

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.

HOW WE CHANGE HAS CHANGED.

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?

SMALL STEPS.

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.

INVENTORY.

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.

  1. Buy consciously. Buy with outcomes in mind: know the shopper and the occasion, think about how you could market a product externally and know where a product fits in the story of your business.
  2. Be demographic conscious. The age of shoppers and those they purchase for is determined by what you stock. Buy for multiple demographics: pre-teen, teen, young adult, adult / family, mature / retiree. All product purchases should fit the demographics you preference.
  3. Be price-point open. Two similar items at different price points can perform better than one product at one price point. Choice can drive sales.
  4. Don’t buy for yourself. You are not your customer.
  5. Tell stories. A cool item may not sell if it is the only item of its type or category in the business. The same item placed as part of a story could perform much better. When you buy, buy to a story.
  6. Measure and cut. If items are not performing, cut them. Stocking items because someone may want them some day is not good. Use your data, act on it. Set your stock turn goals and use these to measure against.

SHOP LAYOUT.

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:

  1. Keep visual noise to a minimum. This means less posters and signs. Let your products be seen and be the heroes.
  2. Your shop should push back against what shoppers used to expect from your type of business.
  3. Make the front third of the shop open with non-permanent fixtures that are flexible and easily moved. These are best if they are everyday items: tables, a couch, boxes and more. The more colour, texture and style the less like a shop your shop will feel and the more relaxed shoppers will be.
  4. Floor rugs are effective too, under a table fixture especially.
  5. No tradition at the counter. Use the counter for products that are easily purchased on impulse, that play against expectations.
  6. A feature wall behind the counter that can be changed easily.
  7. Different colours and textures rather than the usual shop-fit look.
  8. Different lighting to highlight different part of the business.
  9. Less shop-fit made fixtures and more personally made or found items.
  10. Product placement such that it encourages people to explore. Embrace treasure hunt retail … where people wander the shop hoping to find treasure.
  11. Move tasks, pricing, returns and more to the shop floor. This will reduce shopper theft and increase sales.
  12. Have the least amount of staff resources behind the counter as possible. On the shop floor the same people can guide purchases.

CUSTOMER INTERACTION.

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.

  1. If you sell any type of candy, offer tastings.
  2. Have filtered water or iced tea to cool people in summer.
  3. Have homemade soup in small takeaway cups for winter.
  4. Structure times to demonstrate products. Hire people who are happy to demonstrate.

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.

OUTSIDE.

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.

WHAT IF YOU DON’T CHANGE?

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.

HOW WE CAN HELP?

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.

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