The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategorySocial Responsibility

Happy New Year, may 2023 fulfil your dreams

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We are grateful for the support and loyalty of our customers.

We are grateful for the opportunity to serve you and are committed to providing the best possible products and services in the coming year.

We are excited to see what 2023 will bring and are eager to continue working with all of you to create a better future together. We hope that the coming year will be filled with success, happiness, and prosperity for everyone.

Most of all, we hope your dreams for 2023 are fulfilled

From all of us at Tower Systems, we wish you a happy and healthy new year. Thank you for being a part of our journey and we look forward to continuing to serve you in the future.

Participating in a work from home university study

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We are grateful for the opportunity to participate in a study buy a leading university in Australia into work from home and how it is playing out for businesses and employees. The questions are thoughtful, and encouraging insights of our own as we contemplate aspects of what is the new normal that we had not considered before.

When Covid began we immediately moved to a work from home model for all employees who wanted it. As an essential business’s we could keep the office open, and we did with a skeleton team.

Now, almost three years on, the office based team remains small, with only those who want to be here. Everyone else, the majority of our Tower Systems team, works from home in situations they prefer in terms of commute time, time management and local community connections.

We are careful to not encroach on non-work time and have a number of processes in place to ensure this does not happen.

With some colleagues saving three hours a day commute time, the family benefits as well as the individual. It’s terrific.

We have invested more in tech infrastructure to facilitate a good work from home experience. Cloud based applications make it easy for our colleagues to collaborate, which, as a software development business, is important. This investment will continue as new tech support platforms emerge.

At the office things have changed too. We have re-purposed space to create hot desks for those who do want to come in for a few days. Plus, we have created purpose-built broadcast facilities to serve the easier production of the digital content we publish, as well and for the video calls we use for team meetings, POS software demonstrations and more.

The university study is looking at a range of interesting topics related to work from home, from the business and individual perspectives. It’s an interesting study in that it is being undertaken without any commercial connection or agenda. we think this matters because much of the noise about work from home until now has been shrill ‘news’ from landlords and other property connected spokespeople.

We are just one of many businesses participating, and we are sincerely grateful for the opportunity.

Comparison Advantage at their www.compareposquotes.com.au website is seeking to trade off our name, again

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Do a Google search for Tower Systems and the top result is an ad for Comparison Advantage and their www.compareposquotes.com.au website. Take a look:

This sucks because they are paying Google to trade off people searching for our company.

We had a sales prospect tell us recently that they used the Comparison Advantage www.compareposquotes.com.au website, entered their details and was hit with a torrent of calls, emails and text messages from some companies listed by Comparison Advantage all before they even understood if the software may be useful.

Tower Systems does not do this. We do not use Comparison advantage and their website www.compareposquotes.com.au.

Many consumers and business owners turn to comparison websites to help them make informed decisions about purchasing products or services. However, it is important to note that these websites may not always provide an accurate or complete picture of the options available.

One of the main drawbacks of using comparison websites like www.compareposquotes.com.au from Comparison Advantage is that they often only display a limited number of options. This means that shoppers may not be aware of all the options available to them, and they may not be able to find the best deal for their needs. Additionally, some comparison websites may only display options from certain companies or providers, which can bias the results in favor of those companies.

Another issue with comparison websites is that the information they provide may not always be up-to-date or accurate. Since the websites rely on the companies themselves to provide information about their products and services, there is a potential for bias or even misinformation. Additionally, prices and other details can change rapidly, so the information on a comparison website may not always reflect the most current situation.

Furthermore, using comparison websites can also be time-consuming and confusing. Consumers may have to sift through a lot of information and compare different features and prices in order to make a decision. This can be overwhelming, especially for people who are not familiar with the products or services being compared.

In conclusion, while comparison websites can be a useful tool for consumers, it is important to be aware of their limitations. They may not always provide a complete or accurate picture of the options available, and the information they provide may not be up-to-date. It is always a good idea to do your own research and compare multiple sources before making a decision.

As for www.compareposquotes.com.au from Comparison Advantage, in our opinion, steer clear of them.

We will not tolerate racist slurs

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Recently, a customer referred to a colleague using a racist term.

We calmly invited them to withdraw and apologise, explaining consequences of their behaviour for our workplace.

They refused to withdraw the slur. They refused to apologise.

We suggested they look elsewhere for software, which they have now done.

We would rather the situation had not occurred at all. We would rather they had not used a racist slur.

An important role for any business leader is to provide a safe and healthy workplace, one where people are respected, one where they experience support.

Tower Systems is proud to have a diverse mix of people on the team. We are grateful for their professional skills, their passion for local small business retail and their genuine interest in helping people achieve good things by using our POS software.

We are grateful for the 3,000+ local business business retailers using our POS software, for their support and for the wonderful interactions with them.

Thankfully, the incident to which we refer in this post is isolated, rare. We mention it today to place on the record our approach.

OPINION: Why we think you cannot rely on www.compareposquotes.com.au from Comparison Advantage Pty Ltd to offer a complete comparison service

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Comparison Advantage runs www.compareposquotes.com.au. Their pitch is “compare POS quotes. All major brands”

The thing is, this statement is not backed by the evidence.

We did a search this morning, December 5, 2022, for Tower Systems, our own POS software company, and the top result is an ad from Comparison Advantage with our business name in the ad. But we don’t advertise with Comparison Advantage. We don’t pay them to list our Tower Systems POS software on their www.compareposquotes.com.au website. because we don’t pay them, they do not include us. It seems to be considered a major brand by Comparison Advantage you have to pay them. That doesn’t make sense.

www.compareposquotes.com.au is not, in our opinion, an authentic comparison website. rather, it is an advertising platform. Businesses pay to have their software listed. Comparison Advantage Pty Ltd does not undertake any comparison itself. being listed on their website is a result of what you pay them, and not as a result of any assessment they have made as to the abilities of the POS software.

As the www.compareposquotes.com.au website notes, it is an introduction service:

  1. INTRODUCTION SERVICES
    CAF is a medium that facilitates the introduction of Users and Providers, in order for those Providers to provide Quotes, offers goods and services to Users. CAF simply acts as an introduction service to Users and Providers, and does not have any obligations or liabilities to, and is not a party to any contract between, Users and Providers in relation to such offers, goods or services, or otherwise resulting from the introduction. You agree and acknowledge that:

    • . any terms and conditions relating to Quotes, offers, goods and services are solely between you and the Provider and do not involve CAF in any way, except that they must not be inconsistent with your obligations under this agreement;
  2. as part of the Services, we provide links and introductions between third party Providers that are not under the control of CAF;
  3. any Quotes and subsequent follow-ups are not under the control of CAF, and any queries or complaints about the Quotes should be directed to the Provider;
  4. our provision of introductions between Providers and Users through the Website does not imply any endorsement or recommendation by CAF of any Provider;
  5. we do not constantly examine, determine or warrant the legality of any Provider, or of the offers, goods and services listed by a Provider on the Website. In the event that you wish to use a Provider, you are solely responsible for making your own enquiries;
  6. we make no guarantee of any cost savings or any other financial outcome by facilitating introductions between you and Providers;
  7. any terms and conditions agreed relating to an offer, a good or a service, or Quote provided via the Website, constitute a contract between a User and a Provider and do not involve CAF in any way; and
  8. all Quotes provided by a Provider are subject to change by the Provider without notice.

We’d go further and note that they only introduce you to businesses that pay them for the service. It looks and feels like an ad platform. we think it is an ad platform.

We don’t think that www.compareposquotes.com.au by Comparison Advantage Pty Ltd is accurate in its claims of representing major brands.

We also don’t think it is fair that they pay to use the names of businesses like ours to attract traffic. if someone is searching Google for Tower Systems, that is their goal, not to be presented an ad platform that lists nothing about Tower Systems.

We share our opinion about this here today because we are frustrated that this ad platform is seeking to trade off the good reputation and market depth we have achieved.

The last thing retailers want then they call the POS software help desk is to speak to someone in an offshore call centre

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There are POS software companies selling into Australia that support their POS software via an offshore help desk.

We think local Aussie and Kiwi retailers want locally based POS software support. Our Tower Systems POS software help desk people work from two countries: Australia  and New Zealand, with the vast majority in Australia, where the vast majority of our customers are located.

Here’s why we think local retailers would not want to speak with a POS software help desk located offshore:

  1. They don’t understand local retail.
  2. They have no reference point for your type of retail.
  3. They are less likely to have a conversation and more likely to run you through a structured Q&A script;
  4. They are likely managed per call, making calls about numbers, and not about customer outcomes.
  5. They are disconnected from the POS software development team.
  6. They can’t look out the window and comment on the weather.
  7. What they are paid does not add to the local economy.
  8. Offshore help desk employees tend to not have retail experience.

Here at Tower Systems we think local support matters for locally used POS software in the indie small business retail space.

Our help desk is run by people with retail experience, Aussie retail experience. They do not operate with a script. A typical call starts with them listening to your explanation of the reason you called. Next, is two-way conversation, in pursuit of a solution for you. If need be, they will speak to people from the software development side of our business.

Good POS software support is all about understanding the query and core to this is understanding retail and in particular, the specific type of retail – because not all retail is the same.

When you call a POS software help desk, your call is about your business, it is about you. Too often, we hear that offshore POS software help desks are about the software with little consideration given to the retailer business itself.

Retail is personal. Good POS software support is personal. This is what we understand, it’s what our customers tell us matters to them.

While an offshore POS software help desk is considerably cheaper for the POS software company to run, the money saved does not translate as a better situation for the retailers who call.

Here at Tower Systems we are proud to offer a locally based help desk service for the thousands of retailers using our locally developed POS software.

Compare POS Quotes continues to trade off interest in the Tower Systems POS software

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It’s 6:45am Thursday November 10 and the www.compareposquotes.com.au website continues to pay Google to attract people to their website when Tower Systems is typed into a Google search.

These are people searching for us and here is a business spending money to re-direct the search done by those people on their ad platform, in which we do not participate.

The businesses listed at Compare POS quotes pay to be there. These are businesses potentially benefiting from people searching for the Tower Systems name and clicking on the Compare POS Quotes ad.

In our opinion, this is poor business practice, questionable ethically because people in the example we share are searching for us, specifically for us, and the Compare POS Quotes website ad names Tower Systems, suggesting that clicking on their ad will help those searching “find the right Tower Systems” for their business.

We would not do this competitor named and targeted advertising for ethical reasons. But that’s us. Clearly, there are some quite happy to do it, quite happy to try and grow their business based on the interest out there in our Tower Systems POS software solution.

You can see from SEMRush data this morning that the traffic to the Compare POS Quotes website is primarily coming from this paid advertising, and, in our opinion, the traffic is not that much, but you can see that it has recently bounced.

What Compare POS Quotes is doing is like a competitor jumping in front of someone who is about to enter your shop to browse. For sure any local retailer would be unhappy about that, and they would be angry at any competitor doing it.

All we can hope is that people go to Google, type in Tower Systems, and click on the Compare POS Quotes ad as this costs them money. The more it costs them and the businesses that advertise with them, without a commercial outcome – the less they are likely to do it. We can hope at least.

We want interest in Tower Systems to grow because we make awesome specialty retail POS software backed by awesome local Aussie support. We want to grow for authentic and justified reasons – not because we jumped in front of someone looking at a competitor business.

Compare POS Quotes is running an AD on Google leveraging our Tower Systems name

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If you have a moment, go to google.com.au and type in Tower Systems. We just did this and the top result was an ad for Compare POS Quotes. The ad has our name in it. See…

We are not connected with the website.

There is no comparison with Tower Systems.

In our opinion, this website is not a comparison website in that we suspect that they have not actually compared the different POS software they charge to list on their advertising platform website. If we are wrong, please let us know.

In our opinion, Compare POS Systems is false and misleading when they include our business name in their ad and false and misleading when they suggest they compare.

POS software only gets listed with them when the company pays to be listed.

Look at the image we shared, you can see we are the first natural result in the Google results. The top one is the Compare POS Systems ad. It sucks.

If you click on the ad it will cost them some money. The more wasted clicks the less likely they are to keep paying for an ad that represents itself as being associated with us. Thank you.

We’d love people to click on the ad from all over Australia.

If you really want to compare POS systems, do it yourself, look carefully at each company you co sider. Take your time. Be thorough.

A POS software company relationship is long term. This is not something to rush or rely on someone else to do it for you, especially if they have a commercial interest in only showing you the companies that pay them to list with them. Comp-are POS Systems is not an accurate and fulsome comparison. It’s a commercial ad platform plain and simple from what we can see.

look, we are flattered that they think so much off us to pay for an ad with our business name in it. But we feel for anyone duped by this ad they are running. Click on the ad, cost them money, and then contact us to see if our POS software could serve your needs. we can be reached on 1300 662 957 or by email at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Tower Systems supports The Donation Dollar and encourages the good it offers local communities

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The Donation Dollar is a wonderful initiative, helping Aussies engage with and support local charities and community groups. We are proud too circulate Donation Dollars in our own shops and our Mint Coin Shop and to help retailers engage with the opportunity.

Here is the press release from The Royal Australian Mint with details:

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THE WORLD’S FIRST DONATION DOLLAR CONTINUING TO REMIND AUSSIES TO GIVE DURING THIS NATIONAL TIME OF NEED

With $6 million coins currently in circulation, The Royal Australian Mint is urging Aussies to check their change, pockets, and coin jars to find a Donation Dollar and donate.

9:01AM Monday, 5 September 2022, AEST – International Day of Charity (September 5th), marks the two-year anniversary since the Royal Australian Mint (the Mint) released the world’s first Donation Dollar: a one-dollar coin designed to be donated.

Since its 2020 launch, the Mint has released an impressive 6 million Donation Dollar coins into circulation, with over 2.9 million Aussies reporting* to have found one in their change. The goal is to continue circulating Donation Dollars until 25 million are released, including an additional $5m to be released this year. If every Australian donated a Donation Dollar just once a month, it has the potential to raise an additional $300 million annually for those who need it most.

New research released from the Mint has revealed that over half of Aussies (63%)* who have found a Donation Dollar coin proceeded to donate the coin, resulting in an estimated $1.9 million donated* to charities and people or businesses in need.

Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury, the Hon Dr Andrew Leigh says this initiative aligns nicely with the Government’s goal to increase giving by 2030.

“Australians are naturally generous, but sometimes in our busy lives, charities can be forgotten. The Donation Dollar is a tangible reminder of the importance of giving back. These coins make that ask: if you find one, donate it, and if that feels good, then take the next step in supporting Australia’s community builders.

“The Albanese Labor Government has an ambitious agenda to rebuild and reconnect communities. After decades in which rates of joining, volunteering and participating have waned, we want to build a stronger sense of civic society.

“The Australian Government has set a goal to double philanthropic giving by 2030, and to strengthen the community sector. By donating to support local charities, each of us can help shape Australia into a fairer and more connected country,” said Dr Andrew Leigh.

The innovative concept has remained a much-needed helping hand throughout the ongoing global pandemic and the resulting financial pressures. There are various ways in which Australians choose to donate their coins such as giving to charity (19%)*, a homeless person (19%)*, someone in need (14%)* or giving to a struggling business (11%)*.

Research has found the preference for cash rose throughout the COVID and lockdown period**. This has resulted in an increase in Donation Dollar circulation, therefore the opportunity for Australians to give to those in need is more prevalent than ever – not just in times of crisis, but all year round, in smaller amounts, more often.

Royal Australian Mint CEO, Leigh Gordon, said:

“We know through our findings that the more aware Australian’s are of the Donation Dollar the more likely they are to go out, find one and donate one*. Which is why on International Day of Charity wepage2image1461101168

are reminding Australians of the potential positive impact.

“The unique Donation Dollar coin features a green centre with a gold ripple design symbolising the ongoing impact each donation makes to those who need it most. Once received in their change, a Donation Dollar can be used to donate wherever cash donations are accepted. We encourage Aussies to double check their change, pockets, car consoles and saving jars for the Donation Dollar. The power lies in the hands of the receiver to decide where their coin will make the most impact. For example, they can donate it to their charity of choice, to a struggling business, or to anyone in need.”

Charities can find out how they can benefit from Donation Dollar by visiting www.donationdollar.com.au. Australian businesses can show their support for the initiative by downloading “accepted here” signage from the website.

We think this Compare POS Quotes ad is misleading

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If you search Tower Systems on Google today, this www.ComparePOSQuotes.com.au ad appears.

In our opinion, this ad appears misleading. we say this because it says in the headline Compare Tower Systems – POS Systems for every industry. The thing is, there is no comparison with us, no comparison with Tower Systems. So, why is Tower Systems in the headline. We think this is because we are sought after, searched for via Google and so this business, Comparison Advantage Pty Ltd, is using our business name as a form of click bait, as a way of getting people to click the ad.

If you click this compare POS systems ad that has our Tower Systems name, you are not comparing Tower Systems, we are not involved whatsoever.

So, guess what we did … we entered our details into their website that came up after we clicked the ad. They emailed us. While we were typing a response to their emails, they called us. Talk about spam.

We explained to the representative of Comparison Advantage, who sounded like they were calling from an offshore call centre, what the company was dong by boyu=ing our business name for Google advertising their response was that it was outside their area.

While we get that there is nothing illegal to this type of Google advertising, we think it is ethically wrong for one company to pay to present the name of a competitor in order to divert traffic the competitor may have otherwise achieved.

We think, it’s our opinion to be clear, that Comparison Advantage sucks. We think their approach is questionable ethically. But, hey, it’s our opinion only.

We have sought to raise a complaint with Google, but that is not an easy process. In fact, dealing with Google on anything like this is frustrating. We think the company makes it so deliberately.

Our Tower Systems POS software is awesome in our opinion. The best way to decide whether it is right for you is for you to take a look at it, and con sider whether it serves your needs. It may not. But do compare it. Using a comparison website like Comparison Advantage is no comparison at all as they are not comparing everyone, not even the key players in our experience. It is misleading we think.

Our thoughts on the Optus data hack from our indie retail business focussed POS software company

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The Optus data hack that was announced yesterday is serious. As to how serious, it’s too early to sell since Optus is yet to be sure as to the extent.

What we don’t understand is how Optus had this data organised and stored.

Our advice to our customers is to not, ever, store customer credit card, licence or other key identifying details in one place.

It’s why we recommend all payments are done through secure gateways, with only those gateways capturing and processing payment. This way the POS software itself does not need to store or even know the payment method or account numbers.

We also recommend any identifying details required for age specific purchased, details like a licence number, are sighted and accepted, but not stored. It doesn’t make sense to us to store a licence number or passport number. Maybe Optus had their reasons.

The last thing any business wants is to be responsible for the release into the public domain of private identifying details for any customer.

Software companies have a responsibility to provide tech platforms that meet the needs of local businesses. We have, in the past, been asked to store personal identifying details of customers, and declined. We explained the security risk. Some who asked understood. Others, it turned out, were not a good fit for us.

Software companies, like our POS software company’s have a responsibility to also provide advice to our customers since we are likely to be the tech experts in their world., We can’t make them behave a certain way, but we can at least explain what’s best when it comes to data security, protection from hacks and best practice backup tools to enable recovery would a hack be successful.

Local indie small businesses retailers following the advice we provide could not, ever, find themselves in the situation of Optus as the sensitive personal data would not be there to be taken in a hack.

Here at Tower Systems we take our role of making and supporting POS software for local indie retailers seriously. We are grateful to the 3,000+ local indie retail customer we serve for their support and engagement,. it means a lot to us and all who rely on us.

And the Big Men Fly

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Our head office is closed today for the AFL Grand Final eve public holiday. But fear not, we’re open in other states, providing awesome customer service and sales access to awesome POS software made for local small business retail.

Now, the And the Big Men Fly reference … it is a reference to an excellent Australian play by Allan Hopgood. It’s a classic AFL drama. But back when it was written, the AFL was the VFL.

Those were the days.

Poop clean up! … stories from local small business retail

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There was this time a a kid, maybe 5 or 6, pooped in the shop, in an aisle over from where their parents were standing. It happened quickly. Pants down. Poop. Walk away.

A staff member saw it and approached the parents. They said their kid would never do something like that. The staff member told them they saw it. The parents asked the kid and the kid ran off. See, they said, not our kid.

The staff member said they could show them a video of their kid pooping because there is a camera in that aisle.

The parents said it was appalling that they filmed kids in the shop and left, shouting what a disgusting smell as they walked out.

The staff member cleaned up the poop.

This is not an uncommon story in local small business retail. People doing things in public that disrupt, damage and hurt a local shop. The shop team members and owner are usually helpless to defend themselves as people caught in these situations often go ‘feral’ and cause more noise and trouble than it’s worth to defend.

It is a dark part of retail that makes it challenging, and upsetting often.

People seem to think that an open shop is open game for behaving in ways that tend to not be acceptable at home. It’s why some retailers leave their shops earlier than they planned when they bought the business or opened it. Its;s a reason people leave working in retail.

Cleaning up poop, vomit and urine is challenging, as is dealing with theft, fights, and more. Every day in some shops there are challenges. Every day can be hard.

Sure, there are bright sides, too, but there are dark days as well.

What makes it a bit different for locally owned retail businesses is that anything bad happening in the shop is personal as the owner is often in or not far away from the shop. They feel it, see it and smell it, whereas in big business, the financial stakeholders tend to be a distance from the sights and smells.

We hear the stories when talk with retailers. We empathise as much as we can.

What’s this to do with POS software? Nothing except that we empathise with what retailers deal with every day.

Local high street retail continues to benefit from people working locally

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Just about all local high street retailers will tell you trade is good, even if the face or a returned wave of covid infections.

High street retail is strong because shoppers are concerned abut big shopping centres. They prefer the easier local high street situation for shopping. We hear from shoppers that they feel this situation is safer for them. So, in a comparison of a shopping mall visit versus a high street retail visit, for plenty of shoppers the preference will be the high street visit.

The other reason local high street retail is strong is because plenty who shifted to work from home at the start of Covid have not returned to the city, to big offices. People are loving working from home, living and working locally … and, local retailers are loving serving them, helping out with new needs of this now more regional office based workforce.

We are not part of the camp calling for workers to return to the office. For our customers and even for our own business we support people working where they are able, where they are happiest. This is good for local communities, and especially good for local high street retail.

Of course, our views are selfish in that the vast majority of our Tower Systems POS software customers and local high street retailers. Jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, pet shops, games shops, sewing shops, fishing shops, charity shops, music shops, produce businesses, newsagents, camping shops, firearms dealers, convenience shops … and more.

These local shops benefit from shoppers preferencing local high street retail over a shopping mall or shopping during a lunch break from office work in the city.

Plenty of local retailers have adjusted their businesses to better serve these new opportunities that emerged from Covid and while some saw the shift as temporary, engaged retailers have planned for the permanent shift of some from city based work to suburban and regional work. The benefit for the local community of this shift is considerable as local retailers will spend more of what they make locally than a shopping mall big business or than a city based business.

What we are seeing in Australia, and globally, is a reset of how, where and when we work and having a front seat to this shift, this change, is a wonderful opportunity not only as an observer, but as a participant.

Work from home is here to stay, and we like that our POS software company

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We are grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed for this ABC TV news story about working from home through Covid.

Here at Tower Systems, and our other business, newsXpress, we offer our team members the choice of where to work. There is no pressure on them returning to work, to the office. We will support them where they want to work.

We filmed so much more for the ABC story. We appreciate their interest in our approach to business.

At our POS software company, we help local small business retailers sell memories

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What do you do? It’s a question you’re often asked when meeting someone for the first time.

Imagine the reaction when a local retailer says I sell memories.

How awesome is that. It’s emotional, heartwarming and intriguing all at once.

This is what local small business retailers using our POS software can say. Like the fishing shop that sells fishing rods, bait and more, and adds value by sharing local fishing tips and secret location details … and doing all of this consistently and easily through their Tower Systems fishing shop POS software.

This is one of the videos we have made to nurture part of what we do, the selling of memories. While this is made for fishing shops, it also speaks to other retailers where we support them selling memories to customers.

Embedded in out POS software are ways retailers can do this, sell memories, add value beyond the products they sell to make the experience wonderful, memorable.

We are so proud to be able to do this, to help our retailers sell memories that are heartfelt and cherished. And, while for sure, this is about what the tech does, it is about how what we do helps retailers to act in ways that play out as to how customers feel. This is where the memories are made – from feelings as a result of using the what the business sells, based on the use of the POS software we make.

Tower Systems is not your usual POS software company.

We make POS software for local specialty retail. We also run and operate 4 shops in Melbourne in the gift / homewares / collectibles spaces as well as 7 online shops. We understand the challenges of being small and local, and we have built into our software tools to help you thrive.

In you software you have easy easy for sharing locally relevant knowledge and advice, which can help your business stand out, and bring people back.

Like we said, Tower Systems is not your average POS software company.

As well as making and supporting our POS software, we also share retail insights.

To find out more about our POS software, email sales@towersystems.com.au or call 1300 662 957. You can also directly call Tim on 0401 833 917 or Justin on 0434 365 789.

Hey Retail Express, we are flattered at your interest in Tower Systems

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While we are flattered that Canadian owned software company Retail Express thinks Tower Systems is important enough to target in YouTube ads, it is frustrating that they are trying to woo sales prospects from people we attract to POS software demonstration videos at our YouTube channel.

Here is a screen shot from a Retail Express ad video that appeared for us this morning when we went to play our newsagency POS software demonstration video at our Tower Systems YouTube channel.

Being targeted like this by a Canadian owned software company is frustrating in that we are an Aussie owned software company.

We found out about Retail Express targeting us when someone called and let us know. They were confused because they wanted to see the video of the demonstration of our POS software and this video from the Canadian owned Retail Express appeared. Once we explained that Retail Express is paying YouTube (Google) money for their video to play before ours they understood what was happening.

Tower Systems does not pay for any keyword or company name ads or other content promoting us to run when people are searching for a competitor. People searching have a right to find what they are looking for, not a competitor paying to insert themselves in the search retails.

Retail Express is a competitor of Tower Systems. We’ve not seen their software, other than this ad they are running. We have switched some retailers from their software to ours. We are sure they will have switched some our customers to them. It happens.

What we do know is that we are an Australian owned POS software company. Our software is highly specialised in nature. we serve over 3,000 locally owned retail businesses. We only focus on local retail – we have no interest in chasing large retail groups or businesses. We are best at serving local.

Retail Express is owned by Marapost, a Canadian company.

If you go to play a Tower Systems YouTube video and the Retail Express ad comes up, please know that it’s not our choice their ad plays first. It’s something they are paying for. And, while we are flattered that they think we are important enough for them to do this, we wish they’d focus more on their own business rather than ours.

Retailers wary of the cost of some EFTPOS payments through POS software

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Processing credit and credit card payments through POS software can be expensive. Some POS software companies have arrangements that add to the cost.

This is why we say to retailers to take care, to take the time to understand the transactional cost of using the POS software.

In one situation recently a new customer for our Tower Systems POS software was grateful to create, through us, a low cost for EFTPOS transactions since through their other POS solution provider the cost was over 2% per transaction. The saving in their business amounts to a saving of $30,000 a year. That’s right, more than $30,000 in EFTPOS fees saved by switching to Tower Systems.

It is not uncommon to see 2% and higher fees for EFTPOS as plenty of companies operate at the core with this model of a per transaction clip to fund their business.

We think this approach is unfair. It is disappointing that the real details are often not obvious.

We’re a POS software company and charge a fair price for the software. That;s how we make our money. Our customers are free to choose the EFTPOS partner that best suits their need. We can share our insights through which they could save money.

It is frustrating seeing some POS companies make slick marketing pitches and hiding in fine print high operating costs, like we see from some through their EFTPOS fee arrangements. It’s expensive, and unreasonable in our view.

For any retailer reading this and wondering how to tap into the significant saving on EFTPOS fee costs, talk to us. We will share our insights and what we did in our own shops to keep these per transaction EFTPOS fees low and to a level that they are not a pain point in the business. Being retailers ourselves we live these concerns every day and we are grateful for the opportunity to share our knowledge.

If EFTPOS is used regularly in your retail business, consider looking at your arrangements to see if a fee reduction could be achieved. As plenty of Tower Systems customers have found, switching software can unlock financially rewarding benefits.

Church bookshops loving the Tower Systems church bookshop POS software

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Tower Systems is grateful for the years of support from a diverse group of church bookstores, at the local church level as well as at the state level and the national level. The christian bookshop marketplace is strong both physically as well as online.

Our POS software for church bookstores has evolved over the years. It offers facilities unique to their operation and respects their role in the broader church life experience.

Our POS software for charity retailers fits in this space, too, serving secular as well as church related charities.

From serving through our POS software single christian bookshops to groups of christian bookshops to shops connected with local churches to shops connected with broader christian organisations, our POS software offers a broad based solution to inventory management, special order management, online sales, imp-store sales, shipping and more.

Church bookshop software is specialty by nature, like the businesses themselves. We work closely with those working in the businesses as well as those tasked with overseeing each business. We are grateful for opportunities to speak at conferences and to engage with church bookshop folk in a range of forums.

Dealing with tax in an appropriate way has been vital as has been the need to integrate with other platforms that are used in some church bookshop situations. Our software is flexible and constantly evolving as we discover other ways we can serve this vital part of church life.

From evangelicals to catholic to independent to Seventh Day Adventist, our church bookshop software is as diverse as the world of faith and we are grateful to what we have learned on this journey.

Christian bookshops are unique in that they are businesses and they are also part of church life, often staffed, at least in part, by volunteers. We understand the need for easy to use yet highly functional software. This is where we are proud to offer Australian developed and supported POS software for Australian church bookshop and christian bookshop needs. We make it easy for volunteers to learn and use our POS software.

From the practical such as pricing, bundling, customer accounts, inventory management and more to the complex such as managing a single online sale across multiple outlets and the proper accounting for freight, our church bookshop and christian bookshop POS software is robust and proven. We appreciate the advice and guidance of so many in getting us here and for supporting our work.

Tower Systems is grateful to offer locally made and supported POS software for local needs.

The POS Software Blog

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