Tower Systems is thrilled with more retailers taking on our fishing shop software serving fishing supplies and tackle shops.
POS SOFTWARE FOR SMALL BUSINESS FISHING AND TACKLE SHOPS
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POS SOFTWARE LOYALTY FACILITIES HELP RETAILERS GROW SALES.
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Shopper loyalty became a thing around thirty years ago when UK supermarket giant Tesco tracked the results if its basic points based program.
Now, businesses of all sizes use points based programs to try and drive shopper loyalty.
Our view is points based programs are out of date and no longer competitive. Shopper behaviour has changed. Often you see people once and have one shot to drive the most valuable relationship for you. These on-shot customers don’t want to sign up for something or carry a card they will never use. However, they can be guided to spend more with you.
While we offer points based loyalty facilities in our POS software, we offer alternatives some of our customers are finding far more effective:
- Discount Vouchers. Through settings you control in your software, a voucher prints on receipts offering customers an amount off their next purchase. We have customers reporting double-digit growth and success attracting shoppers away from major retailers.
- Multi Buy. This works like a coffee card. Buy, say, 8 of an item over time and you get your 9th for free. You control the numbers, timing and how the program works in your business.
- Buy X get Y. This works per visit to the story, encouraging shoppers to purchase more in each visit. You have absolute control over the settings.
These three loyalty options as well as connections to external loyalty facilities provide our small business retail customers with options.
Better still, our loyalty facilities continue to evolve. We develop enhancements based on customer requests as well as based on what we see in retail overseas.
We also offer hybrid solutions where people mix our loyalty facilities. For example, we have customers offering discount vouchers and points where regular customers are treated differently to those making a one-off visit to the store.
We’d love to meet and talk about needs in your retail business, to see if our loyalty software and other POS software facilities can help.
We are an Australian software company selling software to selected retail niches like yours.
Please talk with one of our retail experts: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
Footnote: the photo is from a shop I visited in Hong Kong two weeks ago. Homeless is a fascinating mix of pop culture, homewares, gifts and quirkiness. I was in Hong Kong for the Gift Fair and to meet with innovative retailers.
HOW ANY SMALL BUSINESS RETAILER CAN GET SHOPPERS SPENDING MORE AND RETURNING SOONER
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The biggest challenges of any retail business are to get shoppers spending more in a visit and returning sooner than might usually be the case. In this article by Tower CEO Mark Fetcher, we explore a simple yet effective tool.
All retailers, want shoppers to spend more in each visit and to come back more often.
Yet most retailers are uncomfortable overtly engaging with shoppers to get spend more in a visit or come back sooner.
Years ago, the thought was that a shopper VIP card or points based loyalty program was the way to go. Today, with such programs commonplace, their value is diluted.
There is talk among shoppers of loyalty fatigue – they are doubting the value of cards and programs where real rewards are not what was first offered.
Change the game: front-end loyalty
Instead of making shoppers accrue points that are then converted for cash at some future stage, why not offer cash-based rewards earlier, from the first purchase?
This approach is called front-ending loyalty. It brings a reward to the front in an effort to engage shoppers in additional purchases sooner.
It’s an approach that can encourage those who do not shop with you to purchase something else right away, to get the value of the cash discount offered.
Regular shoppers can spend the cash discount right away or come back within any time limit you set.
I started trialling this front-end loyalty strategy in February 2013 in several retail businesses. I did it using the Discount Vouchers facilities in the Tower POS software.
Building the basket
From the first day, in my own shop, I saw shoppers changing behaviour.
One customer came in to purchase a specific item. When I handed him the receipt I point out the voucher offering $2.00 of his next purchase. He was not a regular and so spent the $2.00, and more, right away on another item. He received another voucher and so purchased a third item. In all, he spent three times as much as the original purchase – all because of the Discount Vouchers he received.
Around 33% of all vouchers redeemed are used the day they are received. This shows customers building the basket – adding to their purchase that day as a result of the voucher. This makes each visit more valuable to us.
Bringing shoppers back
33% of redeemed vouchers are used within seven days and the remaining 33% are redeemed up to four weeks after issue, bringing shoppers back.
There is real evidence now from hundreds of retailers supporting these claims.
Here’s another real story: A few months ago, a customer came in and used a voucher she had picked up a couple of weeks earlier. She was happy to get $5.00 off a $65.00 item she wanted. This purchase resulted in another voucher so she bought another item for $29.95.
This customer said her friends had been recently talking about VIP cards and how they were useless. She then told them about us.
Changing how shoppers interact.
In another instance a customer was considering a $250.00 item but decided they could not justify the expense. They purchased some smaller items, spending $25.00.
On receiving a $5.00 voucher they turned around, immediately, and bought the $250.00 item.
We asked what happened. The answer was I don’t know. I needed permission I guess and the $5.00 did it.
This is a true story and there are many more like it in hundreds of retail businesses.
The key about discount vouchers is they change shopper behaviour, usually immediately and valuable for the business.
Indeed, discount vouchers are a game changer for many retail businesses, large an small, city and country.
We love hearing the stories of success from your customers.
You control the business rules
Like any good loyalty program, you need good levers with which to drive shopper engagement and to deliver the benefits to justify the investment.
The Discount Vouchers facilities have this.
You control the amount of each sale you are prepared to give away on the voucher.
You control the products the voucher can be used for.
You control how long the voucher is live for. I suggest 28 days but I have some retailers setting this at 90 days.
Helping your business
With most retail businesses running a loyalty program using a points based approach and only targeting long-term customers, adoption of this front-end loyalty approach can provide you with a genuine point of difference.
It is easily managed through the Tower Systems software and is backed by excellent management reports. This makes implementation and management easier than the old approach.
I’m confident this fresh approach to loyalty is a game changer for any retail business. The control you have enables you to easily manage the cost and the value you gain from the program.
This really is a new approach to bringing shoppers back sooner and getting them to spend more with you.
IMPORTANT FOOTNOTE: Beware of those who claim year on year growth or numbers of people in their loyalty program. What is needed is analysis of a series of metrics on a same store basis year on year, metrics that assess carefully what is in the sample basket. For example, including lottery products in a purchase value basket does not make sense – it creates a false result of little value.
Contact the author at mark@towersystems.com.au.
To find out more about how your business can compete a fresh approach to loyalty, talk with an expert at Tower Systems. They can share more stories. Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
TOWER SYSTEMS SUPPORTS SMALL BUSINESS PET RETAILERS
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We are grateful for the opportunity to work with other pet shop suppliers in encouraging and guiding a stronger and more successful independent pet retail channel.
Here is the supplier support board at the JF conference this week. We are in good company.
AT THE JUST FOR PETS CONFERENCE IN ALICE SPRINGS
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We are grateful for the experience of being in Alice Springs this week and participating in the Just For Pets national conference as a platinum sponsor.
From the business sessions to the trade show to our free training workshops to the networking, we are having a blast making friends, catching up with plenty of customers and planning for a stronger future together, especially in the area of supplier integration.
Trade shows and conferences like these offer us excellent opportunities to get closer to customers to help them get more from their software relationship with us.
VISUAL DECK CHANGES REPORTING FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS
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The Retailer Visual Deck released by Tower Systems to its small business retailer customers earlier this year is receiving kudos from retailers when they see it for the first time. Retailers used to old school reports love the visual look and feel of the data, they love the beauty expressed in the data because they can quickly grasp what is being shown.
Cloud based, this new business intelligence platform is available on a month to month or annual basis. Called the Visual Deck, It is visual because, well, your business data is presented in a visual way. It is a deck because it is a platform off of which you can see far and wide.
The Visual Deck can be accessed from any internet connected device, this platform provides you with a fresh view of your business performance data. Visually reporting on revenue, gross profit, transaction count, items per sale, units sold, average transaction value, by month, week, day and day of week – easily allowing you to compare trading periods.
INTRODUCING FISHING AND TACKLE SHOP POS SOFTWARE
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Introducing the Tower Systems Fishing and Tackle Shop Software, ideal for small business retailers in the fishing space – a new video shot in -house in our studio last week:
TOY SHOP SOFTWARE FOR INDEPENDENT TOY RETAILERS
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Introducing the Tower Systems Toy Shop Software, ideal for small business retailers in the toy space -a new video shot in -house in our studio last week:
SUNDAY RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: COMPUTER USE POLICY FOR RETAIL EMPLOYEES
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Here is advice you can use to ensure computers in your retail business are used for their intended purpose:
- The computers in this business are business tools, they are important to the running of the business. Their security is vital to the safe running of the business.
- Do not use any computer for any form of personal use without permission. This means:
- No playing games.
- No looking at porn.
- No Facebook.
- No browsing websites unless they are websites used regularly by this business for running the business.
- No connecting your phone to the computer.
- Do not open emails including business emails unless you have permission.
- Do not click on any link in any email unless you are 100% certain that the email is from a trusted source and you have permission to access email.
- Do not clear the browser cache.
- Never permit anyone to use a computer in the business unless you have permission.
- Never give anyone a computer password from the business.
- Never write down any business password you are entrusted with.
- Never connect a USB stick with the computer unless you have permission.
- If you do something wrong own up to it immediately.
HOW ONE SMALL BUSINESS RETAILER HAS USED OUR POS SOFTWARE TO INCREASE REVENUE BY 114%
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Retailers want, need, year on year revenue growth. Here is a story of how one small business independent retailer followed our advice, used the smart loyalty facilities in our software and for one product category increased revenue by 114%. Elsewhere in the business benefits flowed too, rich benefits, bottom line benefits.
For within our POS software is a suite of smart loyalty tools that ensure you get shoppers spending more each visit. That is what this retailer has achieved. In this one department of plush items, they achieved $9,459.14 (ex GST) in revenue in April. That is up 114% on April 2015. Here is one line from the management report comparing April 2016 with April 2015. But beyond this one line, across four pages, this business is reporting excellent year on year growth – on good GP items, not low margin agency lines … and it is doing it on the back of smart loyalty facilities that are unique to the Tower Systems software.
This is what matters in a small and independent retail business, good year on year growth for high margin product. This unit sales and revenue year on year comparison is vital as it is the truth of this retail business, raw data on which they can rely to measure success and guide next steps.
Our role, beyond providing excellent POS software, is to provide training and support for small business retailers to help them get the best possible value from the software and to understand the data on which we report.
OUR PET SHOP SOFTWARE TO STAR AT THE JUST FOR PETS CONFERENCE
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We are thrilled to have been invited to play a major role at the Just For Pets conference in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, this coming week.
This is our second year at the JFP annual conference. We are looking forward to catching up with customers and making new friends. The three day program is packed with terrific events.
Just For Pets is a marketing group for independent pet retailers. We serve individual businesses as well as the group nationally.
FREE POS SOFTWARE TRAINING: HOW TO CUT THEFT IN YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS
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Next week, we run another of our popular Howe to cut theft in your retail business workshops. Run many times over many years, these free live workshops help engaged retailers to protect against theft, especially employee theft. Retailers using our POS software who encounter employee theft, especially expensive employee theft, have not undertaken this free and easily accessed training.
Our commitment to our small business retail customers is that we provide regular access to free live training workshops. This session is another of these free weekly opportunities.
HELPING PET RETAILERS MAKE THE MOST FROM HABIT BASED SHOPPING
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Habit based shopping is vital to independent pet shops – people purchasing pet food and other consumable items used on a daily and weekly basis by pet lovers.
In our software we have tools and opportunities for better serving pet retailers so they can better serve the habit based retail opportunity.
Here is a new video we shot just last week on this topic:
Mailing the POS software customer newsletter
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Here at Tower Systems we think too many POS software companies have distanced themselves from their customers.
We stay close.
Not only do we offer easy communication via email, online, by voice and face to face, we have a snail mail newsletter that offers tips and advice – delivered the old fashioned way so the information can be shared with all users of the software in the business.
The image shows one of the pages of our May newsletter put i the mail this week.
Communicating with customers by mail demonstrates our care of service for those not keen for electronic communications.
HELPING TELL THE STORY OF AUSTRALIAN SMALL BUSINESS NEWSAGENTS
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Tower Systems founder Mark Fletcher was invited to contribute a chapter to A Companion to the Australian Media, a comprehensive guide to media in Australia including a history of media – including Australian newsagents.
The large book was published over a year ago and has received acclaim as an excellent guide to media in Australia.
It was an honour to represent small business newsagents on this project. This work continues years of service to the Australian newsagency channel serving on panels, committees and at supplier conferences in support of better outcomes for small business newsagents.
Serving more than 1,700 newsagents, Tower Systems is one of the largest suppliers in the newsagency channel. Our 35+ years in business make us one of the longest serving. What is even more staggering is the growth we are achieving in the channel this year as more newsagents switch to Tower.
While there are some who talk down the small business newsagency channel in Australia, we see opportunity in change and upside for those embracing the opportunity.
HELPING SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS MAKE POS SOFTWARE HELP DESK CALLS
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Calling a help desk, any help desk can be confronting and challenging for anyone. It can be even more so for small business retailers who may not be experienced computer users. To help our 3,500+ small business retail customers using our POS software to get the most from our help desk, we developed and published this practical advice. We shared this with them as part of our regular weekly customer service communication:
Calling any help desk can be intimidating. To help ensure you get the best possible experience, here is our advice on how to prepare for and make a call to our POS software help desk. This advice should work for jus about any help desk.
We are it here to show what we now understand to be another example of the Tower Systems difference, the Tower AdvantageTM.
Here is our POS software help desk advice:
BEFORE THE CALL
Know for certain what your query is about. Know the error message, what you were doing before it and whether anything different was done this time compared to last time you did this and it worked.
Being clear in describing a problem or stating a question is the most important step in getting the response you want.
Check to ensure you don’t have the answer already or cannot access the answer through the knowledge base.
MAKING THE CALL
Be ready with your business name (and account number if appropriate.
Explain the problem or ask your question.
Stay on point, be calm and focus on your query.
Follow the advice provided. Do not type ahead or act without the full advice. This can see you make mistakes without the full picture.
If you are not sure about what you have been told ask for the advice to be repeated.
If written advice, an advice sheet or a knowledge base article, is offered, take that as it will provide step by step advice that is peer-reviewed rather than one person’s opinion on what to do.
If we cannot answer the call right away, please tell our receptionist who answers the call how urgent it is – we will get back to you according to the urgency you allocate.
CALL ETIQUETTE.
Please don’t serve customers, stay focused on the call.
Don’t swear.
Listen.
Take notes.
ESCALATE.
If, for any reason, you are unhappy with the call, escalate the matter out of the help desk. Tower Systems has an escalation process to serve your needs. This is detailed in our weekly email.
BEING FIRST WITH ELECTRONIC INVOICES BENEFITS TOWER POS SOFTWARE RETAILERS
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We are thrilled to again be first with a major supplier to many of our customers, delivering to them excellent time savings, enabling them to compete more effectively. This is important as retailers that share a retail channel are competitors with each other – any advantage has to be exploited.
Today’s announcement is the result of hard work by plenty in our team.
CREATING NEW TRAINING VIDEOS FOR OUR POS SOFTWARE CUSTOMERS
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We have enhanced our video training facilities and resources in advance of the next steps we will take in developing additional video resources for our small business POS software customers and other parts of our business.
Using our purpose created in-house studio, professional camera and sound equipment and, Dean, our in-house producer / director we are all set for some exciting developments in the video space this year and beyond. This is a new chapter for us in creating additional video content.
We already has more than two hundred videos in our easily accessed online library for customer use. This is an extraordinary and differentiating resource for our customers.
The training videos are embedded in our knowledge base and other online platforms accessible to our customers.
It also shows prospective customers the Tower difference at a practical an easily accessible level.
Our video library is something we enjoy showing to sales prospects we it gives them something to compare with from any possible competitor.
MEETING RETAIL SUPPLIERS IN HONG KONG
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We were in Hong Kong last week at the International Gift and Homewares Fair, meeting suppliers to retailers we serve in Australia, working on ideas and back end technology to make doing business easier.
Meetings like those last week on behalf of our customers is another way Tower Systems differentiates the service it provides its customers. We work for them outside their businesses and with their suppliers in order to help then drive business efficiency.
We are grateful to the suppliers we have met with, for their time and their insights. Understanding the other side of the manufacturer / wholesalers – retailer relationship can help us bring efficiencies and other benefits to the retailers we serve. Indeed, what we learnt last week from some suppliers has been genuinely enlightening. There were several wow! moments that will benefit our customers and through that benefit us.
We are excited!
SUNDAY RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: CELEBRATE THE BIRTHDAY OF YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS
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Business birthdays are important – for you and for your customers, especially in a locally owned small retail business.
Embrace the opportunity of your business birthday for a celebration. But be sure to not make it all about making more money. Take time to embrace the achievement and love it.
Here are practical tips for celebrating the birthday of your business:
- Setup a photo board and invite customer engagement. Let’s say your business is six years old: ask customers to bring a photo showing them at six years of age. Their stories become part of your story.
- Setup a noticeboard. Let’s say your business is twenty years old. Headline the board with: To celebrate our twenty years in business, join us and list twenty things you love about this town.
- Recognise local heroes. Host an after drinks night in your shop and take a moment to acknowledge and thank local heroes. The number you acknowledge should be the number of years you have been in business.
- Thank previous owners. Create a history board of previous owners. Where they are now. Their stories. Show the rich long history of your business from before you owned it.
- Hand out a flyer listing X hidden gems of your region (where X is the number of hears you have been in business). The flyer is your birthday gift to your customers.
- Have cake. Everyone loves cake. If for no other reason than to get to eat cake have a birthday cake. Make it special. Have a big cake or lots of cup cakes. Set and date and time for the celebration.
- Party favor bags. Give every customer shopping on your birthday a bag of treats and favors you have chosen to celebrate your big day.
- The Happy Birthday discount. Offer a big discount to any customer who comes in on the day (or through the week if you wish) and sings, at full voice, Happy Birthday.
- Say thank you. In your front window, create a stunning and personal display saying thank you to the town. Do it visually, creatively and with a full heart.
- Half price birthdays. On the day itself, offer birthday cards at half price. While you are giving away margin and will bring forward what might otherwise have been full margin sales, you could get people buying cards from you who have not done so in a while.
- Be thankful. On Facebook leading up to your birthday share what you are thankful for from and through your business. Be sure to write with a voice of gratefulness and celebration.
- Dress the shop for a party. For at least the week of the birthday dress the shop as a themed party, maybe a kids party. Get everyone involved. Have fun and bring your customers in on the fun.
- Maybe a birthday party celebration sale. One night, after the shop has closed, put on some wine, cheese and nibbles inviting people to join you for some party games, prizes and deals.
A key aspect of these ideas is to remind people that your business is stable, can be trusted, is locally connected and knows how to have fun.
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