The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

ArchiveDecember 2016

Should small business retailers rent or buy POS software?

December 12, 2016
2 Min read
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How small business retailers acquire the Tower Systems POS software is up to them. Our approach is flexible, leaving the decision entirely to our customers to choose what is absolutely best for their business.

You can purchase the Tower software for your business and own it forever without further cost.

You can also lease the Tower software through almost any finance company and pay it off over 3, 4 or 5 years.

You can also rent the Tower software on a 30 day cycle with the ability to quit the rental at any time.

Each option is different and each can be appropriate in certain circumstances. We share all the information so our customers can make an informed decision themselves or with their accountant or other business adviser.

The choice of how best to acquire the software is 100% yours. We can provide advice but are happy for you to make the decision that best serves your needs.

How you acquire the software, purchase or rental, training and installation services are billed separately as they are required regardless of how you acquire the software. Installation ensures the software is properly installed and setup. It shields you from technology. Training ensures you and your team know how to properly use the software for the business to get the best outcomes.

Regardless of how you acquire access to our software – rental, lease or purchase – our software is our software. No facilities are restricted via the mechanism of access. This makes the acquisition approach purely financial rather than operational or functional.

Our Tower Systems account managers can provide further advice and assistance to help customers make informed choices as to the best approach for their business. They are not incentivised in any way to guide customers to one decision over another.

Tower Systems offers software for the following niche small business retail channels: gift shops, jewellers,  bike shops, toy shops, fishing/outdoors businesses, garden centres/nurseries, pet shops, produce stores, firearms businesses and newsagents.

We are a full service and personal POS software company. To demonstrate this, direct access to our account management team is easy: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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Small business retail marketing advice on helping customers

December 11, 2016
2 Min read
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The single most important point of difference any local retail business has over a big business or online competitor is local knowledge and context.

Leveraging local knowledge and context as they relate to products in the business is easy through POS software. For example, using our software, retailers can include on receipts details of care for and use of products sold.

This knowledge can add significant value to a purchase as it can be specific to the area.

We see retailers doing this all the time, in ways that make customers happy as they can get more out of the products purchased than might be the case had they not been given the useful information.

  1. A garden centre can add care information tuned to local conditions.
  2. A bike shop can share local bike track information.
  3. A toy shop can share information about family play groups.
  4. A pet shop can share information on local dog walking groups.
  5. A fishing store can share information about sports only the locals know.

These are just some examples of personalised local information can be shared on receipts.

Retailers can take it even further and include information that is absolutely product specific.

This is an excellent way to promote the personal focus of the business.

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Helping our POS software customers cut the cost of text messages

December 9, 2016
1 Min read
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Through our POS software plenty of customers send text messages to their customers as part of best-practice customer service.

To facilitate lower operating costs, one of our text message partners has shared a terrific offer to make texts lower cost for our customers.

We are grateful for the opportunity to pass this on, to share 100% of the savings with our customers.

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More accountants join our POS software Xero list of Xero accountants

December 8, 2016
1 Min read
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Xero skilled accountants are loving our free service of listing them on our POS software website as Xero accountants.

This service is another way Tower Systems is helping small business focussed accountants with Xero skills to connect with potential clients looking for help with managing the accounting requirements for their software.

We are grateful of the opportunity for differentiation.

We are grateful to have the resources to be of service to small business retailers and accountants who serve them.

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Advice for small business retailers on using Facebook to promote your business

December 6, 2016
3 Min read
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We are called upon at our POS software company to help our small business retailer customers in areas far removed from our POS software. One such area is how to use Facebook to market your business. We appreciate opportunities to share what we know from our direct experience for businesses we own.

Here is a snapshot of some advice our customers tell us they have found useful abut facebook posts:

If sales are your goal, the key is to work out how to pursue this without your post sounding like an ad for ads are quickly ignored by people on social media as they are on their for entertainment and not to consume advertising.

Here are tips for writing the ideal post. Keep them close and refer to them for your next few posts. Soon, the process will become second-nature:

  1. Be certain of your voice. When you write a post you are not writing as you personally. You are writing to the person you are targeting. Your ‘voice’ needs to be relevant to them. Think of their language and what they like.
  2. Choose the best photo. On social media a picture really is worth 1,000 words. The best picture features a product, not a display but a product, a hero product. Make the product look interesting and memorable. It could be a photo of how a product is being used or a photo of a product suggesting movement – like a bear climbing a ladder or two Pop! Vinyls facing off.
  3. Be brief. You have a few seconds to get attention. Yes, seconds.
    1. No essays.
    2. No rambling.
    3. Two sentences. Yes, that is all you need.
    4. Short sentences. Ten words or less.
  4. Have an opinion. Let people know what you, the you writing the post, think. For example, in a post about Batman and Superman, name your In a post about State of Origin, show your colours.
  5. Set a time deadline. A social media post has a short life. The time you spend on it needs to reflect the short life. When you start out, spend no more than five minutes on a post. Once you are settled in what you are doing, that should fall back to two minutes.
  6. Hashtag with thought. On Instagram especially hashtags are vital. Choose the right hashtags and you will attract new eyeballs.
  7. Have fun. If your posts are funny and provide entertainment you will attract followers and shares and grow your audience.

Tower Systems is a full service POS software company, helping small business retailers way beyond what is often done by POS software companies. We embrace this point of difference.

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POS software knowledge base continues to evolve

December 5, 2016
1 Min read
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Every week we add and revise content at our POS software knowledge base. This work is on-going as we expand the range of self-serve resources available to our growing customer base.

We let our customers know about changes inner weekly email. Here are some of the changes delivered in the last few days.

  • Retailer 2.7.2 Update Notes
  • New PC / Windows Configuration – Operating System Configuration
  • Stocktaking In Retailer 2.6.1 Onwards
  • Performing A Full Store Stocktake In Retailer 2.6.1 Onwards
  • Performing A Spot Stocktake In Retailer 2.6.1 Onwards
  • Performing A Custom Stocktake In Retailer 2.6.1 Onwards

This list is not complete by any means as we do not want to give too much away here for competitive reasons.

We take care with our knowledge base as it is the one location for all user-facing knowledge about our software. It drives consistency in help desk advice and ensures all of our customers have access to common advice and guidance.

We can tell from usage stats the topics that are of most value and this information guides further enhancement.

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Another way Tower Systems helps small business retailers

December 4, 2016
1 Min read
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On our website we offer free and open access to marketing collateral small business retailers can use to promote their businesses to the local community. This is another example of service beyond our POS software company.

We are proud to help small business retailers more successfully compete in their local community. Here is a screen shot of the free marketing tools page of our website.

Screen Shot 2016-11-19 at 9.13.49 AM

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Small business retailers love our new POS software

December 3, 2016
1 Min read
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The latest version of ur small business POS software is gaining a terrific reaction from our customers.  We are getting calls, emails and messages from customers grateful for the update and that we have introduced enhancements they have suggested.

Here are some of the feedback notes we have received:

  1. I love this update. Thank you Tower Systems.
  2. Thank you for including my suggestion. I know it was a bit weird but I know it will save time if people use it.
  3. I appreciate that you let me choose who to install the update. This is one of the reasons I switched to you guys.
  4. I like that you tell me exactly what is in the update in advance. There is nothing worse than find out out something has changed after the new software has been installed.

Our process of determining the content of software updates is transparent and inclusive. From online forums to calls to emails to face to face user meetings around the country we talk with our customers as we develop each software update.

We are grateful to our customers for their engagement in the crafting of each software update.

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At Slush 2016 in Helsinki, Finland

December 1, 2016
2 Min read
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Slush is an extraordinary business conference. There is nothing like it on the calendar, anywhere. Here in Helsinki, assembled for Slush, are 17,000+ entrepreneurs, business managers, inventors and financiers talking about the future.

I am thrilled to be part of such an extraordinary event, for the networking opportunities, for the learning and for the inspiration.

How companies like ours do business has changed. Change is the new normal. And I am not talking about basic software update change. No, this is real change at the core. Slush is all about this, leaps occurring across industries thanks to new technologies and new business paradigms.

It is a privilege to be at Slush this year as part of a small Australian contingent.

To show how different Slush is to other business conferences, here is part of the kick off from Wednesday morning:

This is not the place for us to be specific about take-aways from Slush. However, they are many and we are only at the end of day two – we participated in the pre opening events yesterday.

Launching new products this year as we have done, we understand, in a small way, the challenge of the start-up and have an appreciation for many issues involved.

Slush is providing us opportunities to explore these and related topics further.

Here are some photos from day one of the main conference.

IMG_1543 IMG_1506 IMG_1517 IMG_1528 IMG_1544 IMG_1548

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