ArchiveJune 2017

A good Point of Sale system pays for itself every day by helping retailers increase customer spend per visit, bring customers back more regularly, reduce the cost of slow or dead stock, reduce mistakes and make better business decisions.

Australian POS software company Tower Systems is grateful for the opportunity to help more than 3,500 independent small business retailers leverage more benefits from being part of the group.

Consistent stock files, electronic invoices, easier business-to-business comparison and more targeted business development assistance are just some of the benefits you can expect from a more consistent solution.

But being independent businesses we understand you need a computer system over which you have absolute control and security within your business.

That is what the Tower Systems solution offers – locally run software for your type of business in your business over which you have control yet that can be run in a manner that helps others you work with help you.

Tower Systems has a strategy for helping individual businesses as well as businesses that trade as part of a group.

From the sales counter to the back office to online, Tower Systems has comprehensive solutions to work with and for a business in a broad variety of ways. these solutions are available for a variety of retail businesses channels, with software designed specifically for the businesses in these channels.

We have software for: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops,  toy shops, fishing/outdoors, garden centres/nurseries, newsagents, produce stores and firearms retailers.

The annual stock take can consume a small business, taking time and resources away from more productive activities.

Tower Systems has a range of time-efficient and accuracy-guiding stock take options in its software. These options can be leveraged to make the annual stock take faster. They can also be leveraged to eliminate the annual stock take altogether.

Yes, small retail businesses can avoid the annual stock take.  This can be done in a way that meets the requirements of the ATO, that ensures the business fulfils its data tracking and record keeping obligations.

All through June, and last month in May, Tower Systems has offered and is offering access to many live stock take training workshops. As sessions fill we add more, at flexible times. Plus, we supplement these with the offer of free one on one training for business owners who cannot make it for any of our scheduled times.

Our small business retail stock take training covers all forms of stock takes and includes advice on how to eliminate the annual stock take if you would like to achieve that.

This free training and personal assistance with stock takes in another Tower Advantage^TM.

Retail is changing at a rapid rate. Changes in-store and online are making 2017 an important year.

We have see these changes first-hand at international retail conferences this year. We play with the changes in our own shops where we use our POS software and our website technology to find new customers and drive a higher average spend.

Come to one of our FREE workshops near you and find out more about how you can equip your retail business to confront the changes in retail, transact online and compete with big businesses, including Amazon.

Here are the dates for our free POS software / website workshops. Click on the city name to book your place:

1. Coffs Harbour. June 19. 10am. Novotel.
2. Tamworth. June 20. 10am. Leagues Club.
3. Newcastle. June 21. 10am. Mercure.
4. Dubbo. June 22. 10am. Quest.
5. Wagga Wagga. June 23. 10am. International Hotel.

We will share insights on how small business retailers around the world are using website connected POS software to win online sales.

We will explain how to get to the top of Google search results.

We will demonstrate the connection between social media posts (Facebook, Twitter etc) in-store sales and online sales.

There will be no hard sell. Our goal is to share practical information to help you better plan for the future of your regional retail business.

Anyone is welcome including people on whom you rely for advice, such as accountants and mentors.

If you have sales queries prior to these events please talk with us: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

I hope to see you at one of these workshops. I am keen to share with you what I have seen and learnt in this rapidly changing space.

There will be plenty of time for questions on any topic connected with retail.

We have software for: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops,  toy shops, fishing/outdoors, garden centres/nurseries, newsagents, produce stores and firearms retailers.

Online LayBy made easy.

newsXpress Southland is a card, gift and collectibles shop in the sprawling Westfield Southland shopping centre in south east Melbourne. It is our own business. We run this as a testing groups for our small business POS software.

With rent increasing faster than foot traffic to the 300+ store shopping centre, the manager of the business needed to connect with shoppers outside.

Online was the obvious choice but time was limited. The goal was to find a solution that enabled the business to get online without any additional management or accounting time involved.

Xero partner Tower Systems provided an integrated Point of Sale solution for in-store and well as online. This seamless link, coupled with complete xero integration, provided the time-saving solution the business was looking for.

“Online revenue is fantastic”, commented the manager of the store. “There is a direct bottom line benefit for the business as there is no additional labour cost and no capital expenditure.”

“We could not have done this without the xero link as that enabled us to effectively open a second outlet without what in the past was additional accounting or bookkeeping cost.”

As the business has become more familiar with the Tower Systems and xero solutions it has evolved the online offering to be more comp0etitive against big retailers in the online space.  This has seen click and collect and online LayBy launched.

It is with online LayBy where the business has benefited from the xero integration in that the shopper is able to pay over time, interest free, and the retailer is paid immediately. There is no additional accounting or bookkeeping work involved as the data flows from the website to the POS to xero without being touched by human hands.

A shopper adds items to their shopping cart, they select online LayBy, provide basic instant credit check data and fine the application approved or otherwise in seconds. The retailer is paid less a small handling fee with the finance company taking full responsibility for collecting payment.

With click and collect, the payment is handled online. This works best as to commits the shopper and turns the in-store visit to an easy collection. Experience has shown this is what shoppers prefer rather than having to worry about payment in-store. It also means one person can purchased while another can collect, with appropriate secure authority.

Doing this, flowing data from shopper through to xero in this way eliminates mistakes that can be made when data is re-keyed. It also saves considerable time and this is a tangible business benefit.

“Control and transparency of data at each step in the line is key for our business because like any small business every cent of margin is important” commented the manager. “The solution needed to be easy and neat for us and for our customers. Xero was a key part of achieving this.”

In addition to the xero integration, Tower Systems POS software integrates with Shopify, magento and WooCommerce – the three leading e-commerce platforms in the world. The web development team at Tower has enhanced these to offer a multi-store solution whereby independent retailers can trade under a single branded website rather than needing their own website.

“The xero integration is the back-office piece where real labour costs are reduced”, commented Gavin Williams, Tower Systems COO. “We only sell to independent small business retailers in selected retail niches such as bike shops, jewellers and garden centres. Having the xero integration is vital as they are all competing with big business and every saving, no matter how small, is loved.”

Tower Systems is an Australian based POS software company currently serving in excess of 3,500 small and independent business retailers. The company can be explored at www.towersystems.com.au.