It’s a bold claim that the Tower Systems newsagency software is the best software for Australian newsagents in 2026. Let’s get into the case we have for holding this opinion.
AI has fundamentally changed how a modern newsagency runs.
Newsagency software without embedded AI tools is not modern.
Newsagents using Tower Systems are leveraging AI built into their POS software to transform their businesses, in profitability and, just as important, in how enjoyable the business is to run. Hours of paperwork gone. Ordering decisions based on your evidence. Dead stock found and moved. More time on the shop floor with customers, less time in the back office.
Retailer AI, built in since 2022
Retailer AI is a set of AI tools built directly into the Tower Systems software. Development started in-house in 2022 and new tools have been added every year since. This is not a chatbot stuck on the side. The AI is inside the daily workflow of the shop.
Practical examples of what it does:
- Reads supplier PDF invoices and turns them into ready-to-import electronic invoices, saving hours after every delivery.
- Watches inventory and sales, prepares a replenishment order and puts it up for approval.
- Produces plain-English insights on any report, so the numbers are read for you.
- Runs a shop-floor insights dashboard so counter staff can use quiet time well.
- Generates product names and descriptions written for meaning and search, not copied from supplier catalogues.
- Compares local prices to reveal margin and competitive opportunities.
- Writes publish-ready blog posts for products in the POS.
- Answers questions about the business through embedded chat, in trials since August 2026.
And much more is coming this year.
The tools use Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude and ChatGPT. Retailers do not need to write prompts. Retailers control and pay AI usage through their own AI account, with no mark-up.
The results are measurable. Retailers using Retailer AI report saving five to ten hours a week. One Victorian newsagency identified more than $10,000 in dead stock through Retailer AI, then acted on it. Saved hours become profit, or they become the Saturday afternoon an owner finally takes off. Both count.
Built for newsagencies, not adapted for them
Tower Systems is specialty retail POS software with a newsagency heritage. The company is based in Hawthorn and has served Australian and New Zealand newsagents for decades. It knows the trade because it operates in it.
Newsagents keep voting with their feet: 31 new newsagent customers so far this year. That is an awesome number to add to an already leading community of newsagent customers.
The trade knowledge shows up in the detail. Magazine arrivals and returns run through XchangeIT automatically. Lottery integrates with The Lott and Lotterywest. Home delivery covers routes and billing. Subagents are managed properly. Magazines put aside for customers are tracked. Greeting card invoices from the major suppliers come in electronically. This is core software, built over decades of serving the trade.
One platform, every part of the shop
A modern newsagency is rarely a newsagency today. Most carry gifts, cards, stationery, collectibles and often apparel. Tower Systems supports every one of those departments in the same system, including colour, size and style tracking for apparel, landed cost pricing, supplier stock file imports and integrated ecommerce that keeps in-store and online inventory in sync.
You get a single view of the whole business.
Australian support, from people who know the trade
Tower Systems support is provided by Australian and New Zealand staff. It is not outsourced. The help desk runs Monday to Friday 7am to 6pm Melbourne time, and Saturday 7:30am to 3pm. There is a 24/7 chatbot trained only on Tower software that resolves most queries on its own, a full online knowledge base, and a private customer Facebook group.
Training is included. One-on-one sessions, live webinars, a video library and written guides are all part of the arrangement.
Simple, honest pricing
Tower Systems uses a straightforward monthly rental model. There are four plans. All plans include GST, no transaction fees, no turnover limits, unlimited products and unlimited customers. AI tools are included on the Advanced and Ultimate plans.
Nobody clips your transactions. Support comes from Hawthorn, not an offshore call centre. And you are never locked into a payments or hardware ecosystem chosen for someone else’s benefit.
Why it matters
A newsagency runs on tight margins and thin time. The right software saves time on invoicing, protects margin on ordering, keeps magazines and lottery running cleanly, and helps grow the gift and collectibles side of the shop. With AI now doing real work inside the platform, the gap between running a newsagency on Tower Systems and running one on anything else is the widest it has been.
See it live. Book a demo or call 1300 662 957 and talk with someone who knows newsagency retail.
Recent Comments