POS software blog

About our POS software for local small business retailers

POS software support – help for small business retailers

December 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

POS software support can be hard to access in some retail business situations. It could be due to technical, language or other factors.

Here at Tower Systems, our goal is to make POS software support easy to access, genuinely helpful and cost effective for small business retailers.

Our POS software support team is professional, capable and friendly. We offer access through several languages, too, to make the support experience more useful for customers where English is not their first language.

The POS software support team at Tower Systems is all in-house. That is, the company does not outsource POS software support to a cheap labour destination, there is no call centre in India, Pakistan, Indonesia, China, the Phillipines or similar, no the Tower help desk team works for the company 100% and is staffed by full time professionals.

POS software support here at Tower Systems starts with listening as this leads to understanding. get that right and we are more likely to get the customer service experience right. This is at the heard of POS software support engagement that people love.

POS software support is accessible by phone, email, text message, Facebook, Twitter, online chat and more. It is live and available through the company 24/7 given the time zones our retail partners operate through and the needs of the various niche retail channels in which we serve.

In addition to the human based support, all Tower Systems customers have access to our knowledge base. This is a deep well of resources packed with advice on how to use the software. It can be searched through a natural language query and is accessible for our customers 24/7. This easy access to updated and peer-reviewed advice about how to use our POS software makes self serve access to support a dream.

We publish to our knowledge base advice and articles based on what people tell us they want to know. We have made sure that our knowledge base articles are structured in a way that serves the immediate needs of our customers, packing articles with step by step guides into using the POS software.

We take providing POS software support seriously and do our best to provide our customers with engagement to a level and accessibility that best serves their local retail business needs.

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How much does a POS system cost?

December 1, 2020 / / 0 Comments

How much does a POS system cost? This is a common question from local retailers considering POS software for their business. It is often the first question asked: how much is your POS software?

Let’s get to it. here at Tower Systems, our POS software can be rented. Rental provides access to the software, updates, 24/7 support and other valuable assistance.

You can rent our gift shop software for $99.00 a month.

You can rent our garden centre software for $185.00 a month.

You can rent our jeweller software for $185.00 a month.

You can rent our bike shop software for $185.00 a month.

You can rent our toy shop software for $155.00 a month.

You can rent our pet shop software for $155.00 a month.

You can rent our newsagency software for $185.00 a month.

You can rent our fishing and outdoor business software for $185.00 a month.

You can rent our firearms dealer software for $185.00 a month.

You can rent our farm supply and produce software for $199.00 a month.

You can rent our adult shop software for $155.00 a month.

These prices include GST.

For sure, you can purchase outright, or lease, too. rental, though is the most popular approach. There is no locked-in contract. You can cancel at any time and the next month;’s billing stops.

So, how much does a POS system cost? Probably not as much as you thought when you consider you get the software, software updates, support access as well as access to an extensive online documentation platform of hundreds of articles guiding you in ow to use the software.

Tower Systems does not provide software to all types of retail businesses. Our software varies marketplace by marketplace. Each version of the software is fine tuned to serve the needs of the retailers in that marketplace. This is why the price varies by marketplace, it reflects the complexity for each type of business.

How much does a POS system cost? In addition to the software, there is the hardware. Tower Systems can help with this as a supplier or through advice you can take to a local computer shop or a friend for alternative supply.

Our goal is to help you find the answer to the question of how much does a POS system cost and to do so in a way you are happy with.

Footnote: for billing purposes, at Tower Systems a month is each 30 days.

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Where to buy computer hardware for your retail business

November 30, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Buying computer hardware for a retail business can be daunting. There are plenty of people who will offer advice and plenty of sources for acquiring hardware for a retail business.

The hardware retail businesses need is specialty in nature. You can’t put in a regular computer. Likewise, you can’t hop on eBay and buy any barcode scanner you find.

No, you need to purchase hardware that is fit for purpose for your retail business, you need hardware that is designed to work with the specialty POS software you have chosen for your retail business.

Take your time, do your research and know that you get what you pay for. Go cheap and you most likely buy hardware for your retail business that is not ideal or may not last as long as quality hardware lasts.

Not all barcode scanners are the same.

Not all receipt printers are the same.

Not all cash drawers are the same.

Not all computers are the same.

With computer hardware, you get what you pay for.

Our advice is think about your shop and what you say to people who say to you that your prices for what you sell are too high. What response do you give them. Think about whether you give yourself that same response if you are looking to buy cheap hardware for your retail business.

We have seen people buy cheap scanners who need to replace them with better and more suited scanners.

We have seen people buy cheap printers for their business only to replace them with printers that actually work in their type of business.

Yes, there really is specialty hardware for specialty retail. It sometimes costs more, but it usually saves money in the long term.

We run an online shop offering computer hardware for retail businesses. It is a small sideline for us, something we got into in service of retail businesses trading on our POS software and looking for quality hardware they could trust, hardware that we ourselves back.

The computer hardware that we recommend to retail businesses is quality hardware, recommended as ideal for the customers we serve. It is hardware backed by good manufacturer warranties, hardware with which we are personally familiar.

Our advice to retail businesses looking to buy hardware, barcode scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, customer displays and more is take your time, do your research, do not be driven by price, make sure that the hardware you are considering is right for the software you use in your business.

Take care and buy what is best for your business.

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POS software for baby gift and good retailers

November 29, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We are grateful that baby shops and retailers specialising in baby related gifts and goods are finding our POS software to be ideal for their needs. here is a short video where we share some of what they tell us they love:

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POS software for specialty audio and car audio retailers

November 28, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We are grateful that our POS software serves needs of specialty audio and specialty car audio retailers. here’s a short video explaining some of the features they love.

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Buyer beware: hidden costs can make POS software expensive

November 27, 2020 / / 0 Comments

That cheap POS system you might be considering m ay not be as cheap as you think by the time you add the four or five optional facilities that, with our Tower Systems POS software, are included in our everyday transparent price.

Too often right now we are seeing POS software offers, especially from businesses based outside of Australia, where the price quoted and the initial price signed for is not the price you pay foe what you want to do.

The pitch is appealing, hey start here for this price, sure it is cheap wbut it is a perfect place to start.

Soon, though, yonce you try and do what is core to your business, you need extra modules that cost more and, soon, you are paying more than the other software you decided against because it was too expensive. But, since you have invested time in your data, you don’t switch. Then, a year down the track, prices go up and there is something else that is an add-on cost and by then you are paying 50% more than the then price of the other POS software product you decided against because it was too expensive.

Buyer beware, take your time, get all the facts, ensure you understand the full cost, the total cost and the trajectory of the costs and then compare this across POS software packages.

Cheap POS software is not cheap. What may appear to be cheap POS software today will, for sure, be found to not be cheap at some point down the track. We hear this often.

We urge people to shop around, to look at other software, to compare functionality and to compare price. However, this has to be done based on the facts and not marketing spin. It has to be done thoroughly so that you as the customer are not let down. Only the facts matter.

This is why we say, don’t rush into a free trial because, that’s how they get you. They want you to become time and data invested and thereby less likely to actually look around what is genuinely best for your business.

Cheap POS software is like any cheap product, they have either cut corners, paid less for professional work than is the market rate or included less in the product. Its;s business 101. Sure, there is cheap POS software out there, it is not, in our experience, good for most retail.

Buyer beware. The hidden costs of POS software can make cheap POS software look expensive.

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It’s Black Friday, a key day in retail, and we’re grateful to help small business retailers

November 27, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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Thankful

November 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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Serial number tracking in POS software helps small business retailers better serve customers

November 26, 2020 / / 0 Comments

The POS software from Tower Systems offers serial number tracking of products sold. This is a powerful point of difference for the POS software as serial number tracking is not common in software.

Using the Tower Systems POS software, retailers can record the serial numbers of all items arriving in-store that have unique serial numbers. These can be tracked at the point of sale. They can also be tracked for warranty, servicing, valuation and insurance purposes. Stores can also record serial numbers only when they sell – when they record, at arrival or sale, is up to them.

The serial number tracking facilities in the POS software become valuable in almost any retail situation in which they are used.

Thera are some retail sectors where suppliers require the tracking of product serial numbers at the point of sale. There are some regulatory situations where tracking serial numbers is key. Doing this through the POS software brings certainty and consistency to retail businesses.

Tower Systems is proud to offer serial number tracking in its POS software. We are grateful to the many suppliers and retailers who have guided us on this over the years, keeping us on top of the needs of all stakeholders in this serial number tracking space.

Serial number tracking in our POS software has been available for many years. Sure, it has been enhanced over time as needs have evolved, but we first started offering it in software we sold close to 20 years ago. Of course, the software we sell today is completely different, made for today, for today’s needs.

Using the serial number tracking tools in our POS software, retailers can also maintain good records that are useful for themselves in their own management of their businesses.

From the moment stock arrives in the business we manage serial numbers, recording each serial number. alternatively, you can enter the serial number of the item when it is sold – the retail business decides on the appropriate time for them to manage the recording of a serial number. This is a local management decision they can make.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve more than 3,500 small business retailers across several niche retail channels – with specialty POS software offering facilities like serial number tracking covered here.

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Can your POS software handle different terms for different customers?

November 25, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We were asked the other day by a produce / farm business whether your POS software can handle different terms for different customers? Our answer is yes, using our produce business software retailers can offer customers different trading terms.

Using our produce business POS software, a business could have 3 different customers with each having their own trading terms. The extent to which you can set trading terms is set by the business, based on parameters in the software.

There is no requirement that all customers have the one consistent set of trading terms.

This is critical in the produce business / farm supply business space.

We are grateful to offer our retailers the opportunity for flexible trading terms using our POS software. In so many situations we see this and key, essential, necessary to safe and sound business management.

Serving in excess of 3,500 small business retailers in specialty retail channels, we have built into our locally developed and supported POS software facilities like this that enable flexible retail business management.

In the complex and demanding produce business space we find facilities like these to be key and differentiating for Tower Systems. We are able to serve our customers with solutions they love, thanks in part the the maturity of tools like these that we offer our customers.

We were so thrilled when we said yes, we can handle several customer account terms in our POS software for produce and farm supply businesses. The business folks we were answering were happy too. It is wonderful being able to serve niche and key business needs like these.

In rural and regional business situations we particularly find requirements for flexibility like this. It is interesting seeing how business owners leverage this flexibility in customer accounts management to drive business outcomes. Seeing first-hand how flexibility in the software plays for their business is a thrill, it encourages to help in more ways.

This is what POS software is all about, helping local small businesses compete, and through this to become more valuable for all who rely on the businesses.

Tower Systems serves retail businesses across more than 10 retail channels and each is specialty in nature, each encouraging more from the software, each offering wonderful learning opportunities for us and those we serve.

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The best POS software receipt in small business retail

November 24, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We reckon the receipt produced by our POS software is the best receipt you will find for small business retail. Are we biased? For sure. This is our creation, our baby.

The receipt produced by our POS software is  detailed, flexible, easily changed, encouraging, educational, factual, promotional, product supporting and loyalty engaging.

This is a receipt designed to help small business welcome shoppers back sooner.

So much of what is on the receipt is under the control of retailers. So much can be changed, easily.

Product use can care instructions can be included.

A loyalty encourager can also be included, the details of which are 100% under the control of the retailer and can be dynamically determined based on what has been purchased, when and by whom.

This is a smart receipt, a powerful receipt, a receipt designed to help small business retailers to grow their businesses.

This is a receipt for 2020 and beyond in so many ways, beyond what you can see.

There is much more to this receipt than you can see in this image, too. Our POS software offers plenty of tricks and opportunities beyond what is in this blog post.

Here at Tower Systems we are grateful for the encouragement and guidance from our retailer community to evolve the receipt beyond the traditional into something that is of genuine value in many different retail settings.

Retailers using our POS software have teremndous control over receipts, when they print, the detail included and so much more.  Our customers really are in control of the receipts their software prints.

The receipts our POS software produces can go beyond paper, too. There are electronic versions customers can leverage, but more on that another time. Suffice to say, we are innovators of all sorts of receipts, in many formats.

In addition to meeting statutory requirements, the receipts produced by the POS software from Tower Systems are a valuable and appreciated piece of marketing power in a retail business, showing off key differentiators in the business that themselves held;p to drive repeat business. We love that we have been able to do this.

Tower Systems serves more than 3,750 small business retailers across a range of retail channels. Our 40 years in the POS software development and support business have seen us move through generational changes and the old retail receipt is one example of this.

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Repairs / workshop management software embedded in our POS software

November 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Embedded in the Tower Systems POS software is comprehensive repairs / workshop management software.  This software has evolved over the years, initially in service of bike shops and jewellers and now working in a range of specialty and niche retail and service businesses.

Having repairs / workshop management software embedded in the POS software is key for inventory and m=labour management internally, without relying on multiple software packages and opening the possibility of a demarcation dispute between software vendors.

With many businesses in different retail channels already using the repairs / workshop management software in the Tower Systems POS software, the company has a deep well of experience from which to draw, to serve needs of many different retailers.

This is comprehensive software, packed with facilities, including plenty of options through which you can configure settings for the Repairs module such as printing job cards, terms and conditions and deposits, for example.

Here are the various settings within Repair Options of the repairs / workshop management software facilities in the Tower Systems POS software and their functions:

  • Job Card Setup
    • Select job cards to print out (For Repairer, Customer and/or Internal)
    • Select size of job card and which printer to print to
    • Fonts used on the job card
  • Customer Job Card Terms & Conditions
    • Terms and conditions that print on the Customer Job Card
  • Repair Options
    • Hide/Show cost prices
    • Creating and printing invoices when finalizing repairs
    • Fee descriptions on receipts/invoices
  • Calculating Expected Pickup Dates
    • Default date and time for expected pickups
  • Job Packets / A4 Job Cards / A5 Job Cards
    • Details to print on Job Cards
  • Repair Deposits
    • Force a deposit before repairs can be created
    • Set the minimum deposit amount

This is just the start. There are plenty of options that enable a business using the software to tailor settings so that they work well for the needs of the business.

The repairs / workshop management software facilities in the Tower Systems POS software allows you to create and manage repair jobs, an essential component for bike shops and jewellers. Before we start using the feature, however, it is advisable to configure some default options to make the the process more seamless in the future. Once configured, these options will be readily available for selection instead of having to enter everything from scratch each time.

Tower Systems supports this software with training and comprehensive support services.

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Aussie POS software helping small business retailers win from sale events like Black Friday

November 22, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Black Friday is this Friday, November 27. We’ve been helping retailers to maximise the opportunity in-store and online.

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60 Years of Supercars Mint Coin Set from the Royal Australian Mint

November 21, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We are grateful to promote 60 Years of Supercars Mint Coin Set through the Mint Coin Shop we built using our POS software and its integration with the Shopify e-commerce platform. What a wonderful mint coin product. Supercars are huge and these mint coins will be a Supercars fan perfect Christmas gift.

The Supercars mint coin set is another awesome gift from the Royal Australian Mint that is available from the online Mint Coin Shop.

Australia enjoys an enduring love affair with Supercars racing, and this year celebrates 60 years of the Australian Touring Car Championship. First held in 1960 at Gnoo Blas NSW, the Mint honours the 60 year milestone with the release of 9 coins highlighting some of the most celebrated race cars of the iconic ATCC series.

This Supercars mint coin set is selling fast.

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Small business retail advice: finding optimism

November 21, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Every day can be tough in small business. You can feel like the big competitors are winning and that you can’t climb the mountain to compete. You may not know where to start.

For some, 2020 has been that year, the year of challenges and worry so much that seeing ahead to the horizon can be difficult.

There are green shoots of good news and opportunities in every small and independent retail business that we look at. The key is to find these and to leverage them for more success.

A green shoot is a product or a category of products or a supplier performing above average in the business. Often, these successes have gone unnoticed.

Finding optimism is like mining, you have to look for it, sometimes for a long time. It is there, though, in every retail business.

As soon as you hear yourself talking your business down, STOP. Look at your data, look for the good news. That is what you need to think and talk about.

By looking at your data, we mean looking at year on year, quarter on quarter or month on month comparison data for departments, categories, suppliers or even individual products. Look for growth and once you see growth, think about what you can do with and around the products achieving growth so that you can achieve other growth.

Any product achieving year on year increases in unit sales is a product to be appreciated, nurtured and used to help grow other products that can sell to the same customer.

This is how you grow optimism. Find those small green shoots, no matter how small, leverage them with some small steps and, over time, build more success for your business.

Here at Tower Systems, we go beyond our POS software in our help for small business retailers. We leverage our knowledge to deliver good outcomes for our customers based on their business performance data. We work with them, guiding them, helping them to see opportunities and encouraging them to lean in to green shoots of success.

We are grateful to our small business retail customers for their engagement with son this path to success by cultivating green shoots.

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Spare parts inventory software helps parts retailers run more successful businesses

November 20, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Tower Systems helps parts retailers with spare parts inventory software, as part of its specialty POS software solution.

Using our spare parts inventory software, retailers are able to easily…

  • Track stock from large items to small, from items with barcodes to those without.
  • Handle customer special orders.
  • Sell online. Track by manufacturer.
  • Track by vehicle / product use.
  • Share care instructions.
  • handle bundles of spare parts sold together.
  • Track spare parts as they are used in repair work.

Using the spare parts inventory software that is part of the POS software from Tower Systems you can reasonably manage your inventory, track what you are selling and using, more accurately reorder and even better focus on adding value so that you are able to drive better business outcomes.

When it comes to special orders, managing spare parts inventory software is key in that you can sell spare parts to a customer before you have them in stock. This helps position you for better business outcomes, selling with certainty prior to the good arriving.

Developed for bike retailers, farm supply businesses and jewellers, the spare parts inventory software within the Tower Systems POS software is rich in features, designed to serve the spare parts inventory management needs of a variety of businesses.

While it can sound dry, spare parts inventory software is vital to the core successful operation of a business that deals in spare parts.

If your business deals in spare parts, look at the Tower Systems POS software to see if it may serve your business needs. Have a demonstration of the software. Compare it in detail to what you have today, with what you need. decide for yourself, in your own time, if this POS software is what you need to manage the spare parts side of your business.

Integrated with Shopify, you can easily sell online. Also integrated with Tyro and other EFTPOS payment platforms, easy payments are a dream.

Tower Systems seeks to help specialty retailers in many ways. Retailers selling share parts fit that bill. We are grateful to be serving more and more retailers in this space.

To organise a demonstration of our spare parts inventory software, please contact one of our sales team members, email sales@towersystems.com.au.

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When a small POS software company closes

November 20, 2020 / / 0 Comments

When a small POS software company closes it can leave retailers in the lurch.

A small POS software company is one with less than 1,000 customers. We say that in the knowledge of what it costs to properly support and maintain POS software. Less than 1,000 customers and you are unlikely to have the income necessary to properly fund the proper maintenance of the software.

We are sure there are small POS software companies with a few hundred customers, maybe even 600 customers who will disagree with what we have said. They will say they are big enough to maintain their software. The thing is, proper maintenance of POS softer requires contingency planning, appropriate redundancy and other protections built into their systems so that they can maintain their software in a timely manner and in a way to deliver good outcomes for small business retailers.

This issue of small POS software companies and the closure of a POS software company is on ur mind today as there is a small business out there that has dramatically dropped their price. We think it is at a price that is unsustainable for them. The deal feels like a race for cash for the business.

Our advice is do your homework, know the company you select software from, ensure they have what you will need for your lifetime use of the POS software. Cheapest is often not the best. it may be, but take your time, do your homework, ensure it is right for you and they have a financial stability to serve you as long as you expect.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve more than 3,500 retailers using our POS software with more being added weekly. We expect to pass 4,000 in a few weeks. 2021 is already looking good too with a pipeline of healthy opportunities where businesses plan ahead to switch software at a time that best serves their business needs.

There is one situation where partnering with a small software company is appropriate and that is in the case of a start-up. Start-ups or course start small. They are an important part of the software development eco-system in any country and need to be encouraged. There are many advantages going with a start-up. So, to be clear, our comments in this post do not relate to start-ups.

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Gift shops you can shop online

November 19, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Tower Systems is grateful to bring the local gift shop to your keyboard. Through our gift shop software and the websites we have created for gist shops have plenty of gift shops in our awesome list of gift shops we encourage you to shop for an authentic shop local gift shop experience:

These gift shops and more are part of the quite of local gift shops that Tower Systems has supported in getting online, to sell to Australians and, in some cases, to sell overseas, bringing gift giving opportunities to plenty of people in different situations.

The local gift shop is no longer the shop down the road. No, it is the shop online that you find the you search for the gift occasion you are purchasing for.

In supporting local gift shops with POS software made for local gift shops and with websites created for local gift shops, Tower Systems is able to being these opportunities to life for local communities as well as for local shoppers who who are shopping for niche and specific gift needs. This is where helping gift shop owners to bring to life solutions online and on the high street makes sense.

While people can shop for gifts overseas, our encouragement is that they support the local gift shop because shopping locally delivers the most important value to gift shops that are themselves called on to help the local community in myriad ways.

With a fully integrated POS software Shopify website solution, the local gift shop is able to take online their carefully selected and curated range of gifts too make them available across many location.

As we head to Christmas 2020, our encouragement to everyone when it comes to gift purchases is to shop locally, seek out local gift shops that can serve your gift purchase needs. Local, of course, can be down the road or elsewhere in Australia. This means that a shop online, interstate maybe, that offers locally made gifts could be better than a shop closer to you that sells imported gifts.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve hundreds of local gifts shops with its POS software. This is a terrific marketplace we serve.

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Shop small, shop local – how Tower Systems helps small business retailers

November 18, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Here at Tower Systems we believe in shop small. We love small business and small business retailers in particular. This is what shop small is about – supporting local small businesses.

Shop small matters because small businesses are more likely to support local communities. This is what we see in communities across the country where local shops are fast to offer support for community groups.

Shop small and the local community benefits. That’s it in a nutshell.

Through our POS software we help small business retailers to leverage the shop small and shop local opportunities … everyday through the POS software and levers that are available in the POS software.

Using marketing tools, customer communication tools and more our POS software helps small business retailers to demonstrate how shop small works. We offer multiple communication platforms through our POS software, through which small business retailers can pitch and reinforce their shop local messages. We also help small business retailers to go beyond telling and to actually show – you know … like show, don’t tell. We help small business retailers differentiations titan in their shop local messaging, to demonstrate in real terms their local community connection.

We love shop local campaigns because they absolutely do focus attention on the value for the community of shopping local. They bring to live the benefits for local community groups and local folks to be gained from supporting local businesses. This is what shop small shop local is about – the very circular nature of local communities.

The more community groups and their members shop small shop local the more those local businesses that benefit can support the groups.

Here are the benefits to shoppers who engage with shop small, shop local:

  • Local jobs, which benefit the local community more broadly.
  • Local makers, boosting local creativity.
  • Local community groups, they depend on locals for support and they support locals.
  • Save time.
  • Save money on travel.
  • Make the community better.
  • Nurture local happiness.
  • Make were you live a better place.

Shop small, shop local is about these things and more. It reaches beyond commerce and into the come and into community groups to make the whole local community better. It really can make a difference to living locally. This is where local small businesses can make a measurable difference.

We are grateful to help small business retailers engage with shop small, shop local.

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Shopify website development for small business retailers in Australia

November 17, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Tower Systems is proud to offer local, Australian-based, Shopify website development for small business retailers.

We have a team of skilled Shopify web developers, all working from our Hawthorn, Victoria, head office. This is in addition to our POS software developers. Both development teams work together, helping to create valued solutions for small business retailers.

We offer a one stop shop service whereby we offer specialty retail POS software and beautiful Shopify websites connected to this POS software. The connection is safe, fast and seamless. The Shopify websites we develop are made specifically for each retailer customer, to their needs, meeting their requirements, populated with data that is collated through the integrated POS software.

Being a Shopify website developer and a POS software developer in the one business and being Australian based positions us well to serve the needs of local Australian retailers.

We offer more of an end to end Shopify website development solution for small business retailers. Since we are retailers ourselves and using Shopify websites created by us, we bring that experience to life in our own shopper engagement.

Our Shopify website development for small business retailers is done on a fixed price basis. We do this because it is important that small business retailers know exactly what their cost basis will be. We collect information up front to ensure that the fixed price approach serves the needs of our customers, to ensure that the site is the solution our customers are looking for.

handing freight, payment type and other requirements, we help retailers to being to life online their retail businesses or at least parts of their retail businesses. We do this with care from a retailer first perspective. Too often, we see websites created from a tech first perspective and while this is cool for the tech folks, it does not serve the retailer well.

Selling online is a retail activity. It needs to be approached from a retail first perspective. This is what we do. As retailers ourselves we understand this from a unique perspective and through this we are able, we think. to provide our retailers with a Shopify website solution that is fit for purpose with them very much in mind.

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An early look at Christmas 2020 in local small business retail in Australia

November 16, 2020 / / 0 Comments

We are grateful to the many retailers who have shared recent year on year comparative sales data. This has enabled us to a deep dive into shopper traffic, basket depth and product category performance. We have done this to get an early look into what Christmas 2020 in local small business retail might look like.

The headline is that Christmas 2020 looks good in local small business retail.

Local high street retailers are doing considerably better than shopping mall retail. Suburban, regional and rural high street retail businesses, for which we have comprehensive sales data, are doing very well. They are experiencing solid double-digit year-on-year growth. For the dataset of 60+ businesses in our latest analysis, the average year on year revenue growth is 22%.

What is interesting is that the spike in revenue growth is not matched in a spike in shopper traffic. Rather, the revenue spike has come from shoppers buying more in each visit, driving better shopper efficiency. We are seeing average sale value increase by between 10% and 25%.

The dataset includes business across all states and territories except for the Northern Territory. The results are universal. There appears to be no difference between Victoria, which was in lockdown for some of the weeks under analysis and other states that were not in lockdown.

In terms of Christmas specifically, data indicate excellent year on year growth in Christmas card sales. The same is true for Christmas decorations, Christmas-themed home decor and gift wrap. Year on year growth is, again, 20% and more.

Locally made products are doing particularly well. Shoppers continue to engage with supply chain questions. A common question relates to sourcing from China.

Also of note is excellent growth in sales of calendars and diaries. The diaries growth encourages an optimistic outlook on 2021. Smart retailers are pitching it as that and having some fun with putting 2020 in the past.

Back in March, in the early days of Covid in Australia, jigsaws were hot. They sold out fast. Some expected the surge to fade over time. The latest sales data for October and even into the first two weeks of November suggest otherwise. Yes, jigsaw sales remain strong. half of the stores in the latest dataset sell jigsaws and every one of them is reporting year on year growth. The average of that growth is 150%. Key is breadth of range of supply.

In addition to the jigsaw growth, crafts, art, maker kits and similar are all showing strong results.

Comfort gifts are especially strong. Core in this category is plush. Plush is often dismissed as being tired or ho hum. We have seen sales in the plush space up as much as 50% off a strong base. In one local high street retail business in one recent week, for example, they did $1,850.00 in everyday plush, more than double their usual sales. Range, again, is key this this success.

Not reflected in the POS software collected data is anecdotal evidence that people are spending more this Christmas. Many retailers spoke to this. They spoke of shoppers saying they were spending more on loved ones as well as buying gifts for some they would not usually buy for.

There is the wonder as to the role of government stimulus funding on the sales results. While retailers think is is a factor, they do not see it as the key factor. If time does reveal it as a key factor, local small business retailers will respond accordingly. They are an agile bunch.

Considering the sales data and the and the anecdotal comments, Christmas 2020 looks strong. Plenty of retailers are already talking up the first quarter of 2021.

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Black Friday sales for retailers using POS software

November 16, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Embedded in the Tower Systems POS software are smart tools for leveraging Black Friday sales opportunities and more. These are tools that have multiple levers, multiple opportunities for retailers with which to compete with online retailers and big businesses.

Black Friday sales can be won by being smart and engaged, going beyond the usual straight discount. There is where the POS software from Tower Systems can help small business retailers differentiate.

Thanks to the seamless Shopify link, selling online to win Black Friday sales is achievable too with minimal business investment.

With the Black Friday sales a few days away, Tower systems has been busy offering advice and help to small business retailers, to help them make the most of the opportunity in 2020. We have been doing this based on experience in past years and as a result of our work across plenty of retail channels in physical stores using our POS software as well as online.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday and now key selling opportunities for retailers and our job as a POS software company is to offer our retail business partners opportunities to leverage these opportunities as much as they are able in-store and online.

Our Black Friday sales opportunities include bundling, BOGO offers, hampers, straight discounts, bonus product offers, post sales discounts and more. There are plenty of opportunities for helping small business retailers to have a terrific Black Friday opportunity this year.

It is easy for small business retailers to say Black Friday is not for me. We disagree, there are many opportunities that we see. It takes planning and engagement and this is where the options available ion our POS software come to play to help drive sales outcomes.

From our help desk team members to our marketing team to our leadership team, we are able to help small business retailers to win terrific business in Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. Our goal is to help many retailers new to Black Friday to have a terrific experience.

Black Friday is a good example of how we help beyond our POS software by itself. We have in the software tools that help achieve this. We back this with advice and support. We do this from the context of our own retail business ownership and management experience – reaching beyond what’s traditional for a software company.

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Thank you for shopping local

November 15, 2020 / / 0 Comments

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What differentiates our POS software co.

November 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

While we think there is plenty in our POS software that separated us from others, it is our active wonderful of retail businesses, where we play with our software daily, that is a key differentiator. here is a video that we shot for one of our stores a few days ago, launching our Christmas card range…

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Tower Systems … specialty POS software for specialty retail

November 14, 2020 / / 0 Comments

(play with sound on).

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