The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

ArchiveSeptember 2016

Lay-By facilities help small business retailers leverage special event sales

September 13, 2016
1 Min read
L

IMG_2549 (1)We are grateful for the opportunity of participating is a special collector event last weekend at a business using our POS software.

While many elements of our POS software helped make the event run smoothly, it was our Lay-Bys facilities that shone through with professional management of many large Lay-By transactions.

Lay-Bys are important to small business retailers as they enable them to capture sales they might otherwise lose. For them to work, though, they need to be professionally managed.

Our software professionally manages the Lay-By from sale to tules to deposit to payments to collection to safe storage.

On a day like this special event, Lay-By was important to help the retailer achieve sales they might otherwise have missed. Our software helps drive consistency for the retailer and build confidence for the shopper.

We love spending time in retail and seeing first hand how retailers use our POS software.

Read onRead later

POS software business intelligence platform shines for small business retailers

September 12, 2016
2 Min read
P

The Visual Deck business intelligence platform from retailers using the Tower Systems small business POS software has received more kudos from business mentors, advisors and accountants seeing the BI platform for the first time at Xerocon South, the Xero users conference in Brisbane last week.

The reaction was terrific when they saw the easy access to business performance comparison data in  visual way, from our cloud based application.

They loved that it was accessible from anywhere including by them in their businesses where they support small business.

They loved the fast year on year comparison.

They loved the KPI focus of the app.

IMG_2504

We are proud of what we have delivered in the Visual Deck, that we are offering our customers a platform they can use to see the performance of their business, visually, as our experience is this will guide better business decisions. We are also proud of the elegance of the software.

The syncing between the in-store POS software and the Visual Deck is in the background, non intrusive.

The Visual Deck is particularly useful for retailers who are not in a business often.

Like all good software, the Visual Deck continues to evolve.

Retail business performance, seen differently.

The Visual Deck is a platform through which you can see the performance of your business, visually. Graphs replace reports, making trends obvious and a path ahead clearer to follow. Graphs that change with time and through which you can dive deeper into what is happening in your business.

The Visual Deck is only available for Tower Systems customers.

Read onRead later

Small business retail management advice: how to recover from a ransomware attack

September 11, 2016
2 Min read
S

The fastest way for a small business to recover from a ransomware or crypto lock attack is to have immediate access to full backup  of data and software from immediately prior to the installation of the malware that led to the attack.

A smart cloud based backup service is the very best protection. It is also the most cost effective.

While many small business retailers prefer the cheaper alternative of manually backing up each day, invariably these backups are either not done every day or they can be faulty.

Some business owners use free cloud backup services but as is the case with anything in life, you get what you pay for.

The Tower Systems smart cloud backup service costs $2 a day and can be stopped at any time. It is fast, continuous, local and off site in a secure server farm.

How Does Tower Backup Work?
The software performs an incremental backup every fifteen minutes. An incremental backup is a backup of files that have changed or are new since the last backup.

These incremental backups are catalogued on your NAS device. They are then collated to create your full system backup. This process allows access to backups from a particular point of time – even at the file level. Because backups are stored on the NAS device you have immediate access in-store as well as being sent to the Tower Systems Data Storage Centre in the cloud where a secure additional offsite copy of your data is kept.

How Does This Differ From My Daily Backup?
Retailer Backup ONLY backs up your Retailer Data leaving your other business data, accounting data, important documents and emails at risk. Tower Backup backs up your entire main PC, meaning all your business data is safe and secure. A copy of your business backup is also securely sent via the Internet to our secure data storage centre, giving you a safe off-site copy for protection.

Once Tower Backup is implemented you will no longer need to perform your daily backup. You or your staff will no longer need to wait for the daily backup to complete. The saving could be in excess of $150 per month if your backup is taking 15 minutes or more to complete.

Read onRead later

Tower Systems invites users to suggest training topics

September 10, 2016
1 Min read
T

As we prepare for the next semester of our free online training workshops we are inviting our customers to suggest topics they would like covered. Each time we do this we discover topics of interest – usually in the business operational space where software interfaces with business management.

We are proud to be resourced sufficiently and to have sufficient interest in our weekly online training workshops for us to continue with these.

It is hard work running the sessions, handling the follow up, providing the infrastructure and doing this week in week out. The work is worth it as it provides a valuable point of difference for us.

Years on, our free online training is resource from the company. We love the customer interaction every week.

Read onRead later

Work and play at Xerocon South in Brisbane for our POS software

September 9, 2016
1 Min read
W

IMG_2492As Friday afternoon heads to a close, it has been another busy day for us at Xerocon South, the trade show and conference for Xero cloud based accounting users in the Asia Pacific region.

Another thing to love about the Xerocon experience is the places for relaxation on the trade show floor.

There is something special and fun about talking business while playing on a swing or a seesaw.

The play spaces remind people that good software helps you save time that you can use for more fun times. That is what our POS software does and out integration with Xero does.

This continues to be a terrific trade show. We are loving connecting with accountants and bookkeepers.

Read onRead later

Tower Systems POS software featured in XU magazine for Xero users

September 9, 2016
1 Min read
T

IMG_2466We are thrilled with the covering of Tower Systems and our POS software across several pages of XU magazine, the magazine sought after by Xero accounting software users.

The latest issue of XU magazine, released at the Xerocon conference in Brisbane this week, is packed with practical business advice and support for small business owners, accountants and bookkeepers. It is a must read for anyone using Xero or connected with the Xero community.

We appreciate the opportunity to be part of this respected publication.

Using our POS software, small business retailers are able to save rostered hours in their businesses, be smarter in selling and marketing and be more informed in business decisions. These benefits are enhanced through the Xero link.

The latest article in XU magazine explains the benefits and presents Tower Systems as the professional software company it is.

Read onRead later

What being at Xerocon South means for our POS software co

September 9, 2016
1 Min read
W

FullSizeRender-1Being at Xerocon South is proving to be a wonderful experience. Spending all day talking with accountants and bookkeepers who help small business retailers run more successful businesses.

The discussions are detailed about small business challenges and opportunities, specific to specific niche retail channels that we serve such as toy shops, jewllers, garden centres and pet stores.

Talking business, talking Xero and talking smart cloud based software – we are loving it, loving the detail, loving the learning and loving the optimism.

This is an exciting and motivating event, especially for those of us serving the small business retail space.

What this event mean for us is ne connections, with accountants and bookkeepers – people like us who serve small businesses to help them run more successful businesses. This shared goal brings is close together.

We are the only vertical market POS software company here, enabling is top delve deep into our specialisation with accountants to help them be more specialist with their clients.

We took the photo early this morning before the doors opened at 8am. We love the green look.

Read onRead later

Day 1 for Tower Systems POS software at Xerocon in Brisbane

September 9, 2016
1 Min read
D

We are thrilled to be participating in Xerocon in Brisbane this week. As a parter of Xero, we are among a small group of approved connected POS software companies here at the conference.

Yesterday we met with plenty of accountants, bookkeepers and integrators who stopped by our stand. It was the busiest day at a trade show for us this year.

We are showing off our POS software that offers a SAAS model, cloud based through to desktop models for specialist retailers in a range of small business channels including newsagents, jewellers, got shops, bike shops, produce stores, toy shops, garden centres, pet shops and more.

FullSizeRender 2

The first day of xerocon yesterday was terrific. We are excited for what today will bring.

Read onRead later

Meet the Tower Systems sales team

September 8, 2016
1 Min read
M

Here is a video we have just shot in-house introducing the Tower Systems sales team. Each has worked through the ranks of the company from the help desk to installations to sales. They all have retail experiences in their blood and appreciate the importance of small businesses in Australia.

Read onRead later

Helping small business retailers understand the importance of accurate business data

September 7, 2016
3 Min read
H

Tower Systems has been running an intensive engagement program for small business retailers keen to clean up their business data. This service is part of our POS software help desk service yet it goes beyond the traditional help desk work.

The service is focused on how the software us used. But not your usual how.  This is about decisions that are made in a business that can affect the quality of the data cultivated by the software. Like any tool, software can be used poorly.

The engagement from Tower Systems guides better use of the software with an outcome of better data. Here is one of the communication items we have shared with customers to help drive a better outcome:

This advice has been written for use in businesses where the business data has been found to be useless, faulty and / or of little value.

There is no doubt: poor business data = poor business decisions.

If you ever hope to sell your retail business, accurate business data is vital, it will determine the price you achieve for your business.

Don’t be one of those business owners who only cares about accurate business data when you decide to sell as that could be too late.

Here is all you need to do to ensure you have accurate business data.

  1. Ensure you have a good department and category structure. This helps ensure the reports are useful. By good we suggest no more than fifteen departments and no more than fifteen categories within each department.
  2. Arrive all stock into your POS software. The best way to do this is to receive and import into your software electronic invoices from suppliers. This is done in Invoice Arrivals.

The slower way is to manually enter invoices into your software item by item. This is done in Invoice Arrivals.

If you created an order using the software and this order subsequently arrives, you can receive the order – to save time.

  1. Scan all stock you sell at the point of sale. Resist excuses like items are too small or too big or it takes too long or it is impractical. All these excuses can be countered.
  2. Scan all stock you return to suppliers. Use the Returns facility.
  3. Scan all stock you write off. Use the Write-off Stock facility.

Very simple, right?

Accurate business data is up to you. Not your software company, not your suppliers.

Accurate business data is 100% up to you.

Once you have accurate data, track business performance. Use the accurate data to see trends in your business, to guide better quality business decisions.

It is easy to create accurate business data. The operational and financial benefits are extraordinary.

How Tower Systems can help. We have articles in our knowledge base on everything discussed here. We also have training videos that show you what to do. We host weekly online training workshops, accessible from anywhere, where you can ask questions on any topic. Plus, supported customers have access to free one on one training.

Read onRead later

Helping newsagents navigate change for a brighter future

September 6, 2016
1 Min read
H

In his downtime from Tower Systems, CEO Mark Fletcher writes the Australian Newsagency Blog to encourage newsagents to embrace change and transform their businesses into retail relevant to today and beyond. Heroes a new video where mark explains some of what the book is about.

This work also helps inform Tower on retail trends as all retail businesses are transforming as a result of many factors agitating for change.

Read onRead later

Small business retail advice: what’s next after Father’s Day?

September 4, 2016
1 Min read
S

With Father’s Day being an important retail season in many small business retailers, we ask this timely and important question: What comes after Father’s Day?

This is a question small business retailers should ask along with: What do you have planned for the business from today until Christmas really kicks in? Do you have a plan?

We think retailers need a plan. You should have had a plan a couple of months ago when planning for coming out of a major season for this period before the next major season starts.

Knowing what’s next is vital in retail where the everyday on which you rely is not as strong as it was years ago.

Now more than ever shop floor engagement and out of store marketing are vital to attract new shoppers and we cannot rely on major seasons only to do this for if we do we become like old-style gift shops and they are closing fast.

So: What comes after Father’s Day?

Read onRead later

Small business retail management advice: adjust the seat for a more comfortable drive

September 4, 2016
1 Min read
S

Using POS software is like driving a car. You have many options you can select and tweak to personalise the experience.

When you get in a car for the first time you make all the necessary adjustments to personalise the experience for you, to ensure your experience is safe and appropriate to your needs.

Do the same with your software. Never use it out of the box. Take time to ensure the settings are what you want, that they are appropriate to your needs.

Every so often, check the settings, ensure they continue to serve your needs.

Over time, new settings can give you greater personalisation. Embrace these and enjoy more flexibility in how the software serves you and your business.

Tower Systems offers a settings review service where our help desk will work with small business retailers to review settings and ensure the personalisation in the settings is appropriate for what you explain as your needs.

Even the smallest change can enhance your experience with POS software.  Try it.

Read onRead later

POS software helps make Father’s Day great for retailers

September 3, 2016
1 Min read
P

IMG_2313 (1)Tower Systems is thrilled to be helping retailers around Australia leverage the Father’;s Day opportunity with outpost mode enabling easy selling by retailers away from their usual retail location.

The photo shows one large outpost where our software plays a key role helping the newsagency / gift shop leverage the most from the opportunity.

Using outpost mode, retailers using our smart POS software are able to transact away from the business yet maintain total control over inventory, customers and all other key business data.

In addition to providing excellent outpost facilities in its POS software, Tower Systems backs this up with personal outpost assistance, user training and even new casual employee training so they know how to use the software with certainty.

The total outpost package from Tower Systems helps small business specialty retailers to leverage the most from the outpost opportunity.

Father’s Day is an excellent example of the value of outpost for retailers. The data we cultivate helps retailers to plan for more successful outposts.

This is another example of the Tower AdvantageTM for our small business retail customers.

Read onRead later

Helping small business retailers engage in targeted marketing

September 2, 2016
1 Min read
H

Next week we are hosting a free workshop on targeted marketing for retailers using our specialty retail POS software. This free training is part of our weekly free live training workshop program, training that people can access from anywhere.

Click here for more details on this training and to book.

We are proud to maintain our commitment to training, first established years ago. It is hard work deliver on the marketing pitch. Here at Tower systems we deliver. Plus, we are transparent about it with sessions listed publicly and numbers showing too – so you know it is real.

Small business retailers want certainty from their POS software company. We are committed to providing certainty of access to terrific software backed by accessible and friendly support.

If you are in specialty retail and want to engage in targeted marketing, this free workshop could be ideal for you.

Read onRead later

Expanding the POS software help desk

September 2, 2016
1 Min read
E

We are thrilled to have signed a new team member to join our national help desk. James will be on board in a few weeks to commence intensive training prior to taking calls solo.

This new role will help us serve our growing customer base and ensure service levels are good.

James comes to us with good retail experience. It helps to walk in the shoes of the customer.

Read onRead later

Shopify POS software interface live and helping small business retailers online

September 2, 2016
2 Min read
S

The direct and deep interface between the Tower Systems POS software and Shopify is working brilliantly, transacting saves, managing freight, managing replenishment and providing certainty for a retail store with an online website powered by Shopify.

Thanks to meetings with Shopify experts at the Shoptalk conference two months ago in Las vegas, Tower Systems has delivered an elegant integration that enables physical store retailers to engage online using Shopify quickly and easily.

Our own Shopify experience has helped us deliver a better outcome for our customers as we speak from our own real world experience. This is a key Tower Systems difference as we are users of our POS software too. Not too many POS software companies can say that.

Our Shopify integration is another professional integration from our development team, leveraging our experience in retail and tech to create a valuable whole of business solution through which a retailer can discover new shoppers and leverage above average revenue for their type of business.

Beyond the tech itself we are able to guide and assist retailers to understand opportunities, to use the full power of the internet to help people discover the business who might otherwise not have known it existed.

Read onRead later

Xero ranked #1 in cloud accounting solutions

September 1, 2016
2 Min read
X

Xero goes from strength to strength with excellent recognition by Merchant Maverick.

Reviewer Katherine Miller agrees that Xero truly is beautiful accounting software.

“With clean, generally intuitive interfaces, Xero is an excellent solution for many small businesses’ accounting needs, offering a wealth of features while providing more simplicity and automatic invoicing options than most locally installed programs,” Katherine says.

With more than 1,400 features and updates shipped in the last 12 months, Xero leads the pack when it comes to innovation. Katherine says these updates, which are generally developed by user request, put Xero at the forefront.

“Xero was an early entrant in the rapidly growing field of cloud-based accounting, and the company’s developers work hard to stay ahead of the curve with product updates every 3-6 weeks,” Katherine says.

Here at Tower Systems we love Xero not only because of the smart integration with our POS software but also because of the product itself. We are users so we have first-hand knowledge of the software and its capabilities. It is terrific in its roles and valuable to a business as its needs evolve.

Our Xero interface and small business POS software will be on show at Xerocon in the next ten days in Brisbane. We are excited for the opportunity to show how our partnership with Xero can help small business retailers save time, save money, cut mistakes and nurture better business decisions.

Read onRead later
The POS Software Blog

Categories

Categories

Categories

Recent Comments

Monthly Archives