The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryAntique shop software

With buy now pay later facing so many problems, LayBy is back in vogue

June 16, 2022
2 Min read
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Buy now pay later businesses are having a rough ride. They face challenges due to the ease with which people can get credit, their break fees, the cost to retailers of offering the payment method and the entry of new competitors into the space – like banks and Apple.

It feels like the glory days of buy now pay later as a traffic driver for retail are over.

In our Tower Systems POS software we have good LayBy tools, which any retailer can offer and manage easily. We developed these many years ago and have maintained them. Today, we have some retailers handling thousands of LayBys every year. We bring structure and support to offering LayBys in any local business.

Here is a 6-minute video we shot about this yesterday morning.

Using the LayBy tools in the Tower Systems POS software, small business retailers can offer professional management of LayBys including:

  • Structured terms and conditions.
  • Collecting a deposit every time.
  • Managing payments.
  • Handling the adjustment of what is in a LayBy.
  • Managing the collection of the LayBy.
  • Understanding the total LayBy situation of a business.
  • Knowing the location of a LayBy.
  • Feeding LayBy data through to any connected accounting software.
  • Giving even casual employees a structured process through which they can be certain with LayBys.

Best of all, the LayBy facilities in the tower Systems POS software help a retail business to bring structure, certainty, to the LayBy offer in a business and this leads to good business, efficient business, profitable LayBy business.

We make LayBy easy but certain, a differentiator on which local retailers can rely to win business and provide a service local shoppers love.

For too many retailers, offering LayBy can be a grind, problematic to manage. Using our LayBy tools we offer structure. many retail businesses in our POS software community find this useful to LayBy being a more enjoyable part of their businesses. We like this. One of our goals is to help small business retailers enjoy their business more.

With the advent of BNPL, LayBy can be a small business win, a true differentiator, and Tower Systems helps achieve this.

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POS software for antique shops, made and supported in Australia

May 24, 2022
3 Min read
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Tower Systems is grateful to offer locally made and supported POS software for antique shops.

There is so much specialisation in this software, so much in the way of facilities that antique shop owners and operators will find helpful, useful. here’s a bit of a Q&A we did for antique retailers …

We sell products on behalf of others. Can the software track this? Yes, the software can report on sales by those you carry antiques for in the business, enabling you to easily calculate your commission.

We carry items on consignment, can the software manage this? Yes, you can track consignment items and report on sales.

We rent access to part of our shop to people who display antiques here, can we charge for this through the software? Yes.

We do not barcode products, can we easily sell items without a barcode? Yes, you decide the level of tracking and reporting you require and that determines the best approach to recording sales.

Can we use the software to print barcodes for products if I want? Yes.

We sell very small items, does the software support barcode labels for these? Yes, we offer a fine butterfly label that you could use on a ring or fine bracelet.

Does the software track the purchase and sale of second-hand goods? Yes.

Can we produce a valuation certificate from the software? Yes. This software is also used by jewellers, who do valuations.

We repair antiques, can the software help in tracking this? Yes, the software has a repairs management facility built in, which tracks components and labour for you.

Can we market to members collector groups or clubs? Yes. You can tag customers as belonging to a club and target market to club members.

Can we track sales to club members to rebate the club as a fundraising opportunity? Yes.

Can you pass on product provenance or care information? Yes, you can load files, images, documents or PDFs for products (information sheets, advice, notices) and have them automatically included in emailed receipts.

Can we do this by text or email? Either, we support both.

Can we look-up historical servicing records for a specific customer? Yes.

Can the software track special or one-off orders for customers? Yes, from the moment the order is placed.

Does the software track product serial numbers? Yes. You have a couple of different ways you can do this.

We sell items by colour, size and style, can the software do this? Yes.

Can we integrate the software with our suppliers? Yes. We have many customers importing stock files and invoices. If you want to provide a supplier a data feed of sales of their product, our software can do this too.

Does the software connect with our website? We partner with Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce and offer direct links to these.

Can we email receipts? Yes.

Can we track where our customers come from? Yes.

Do we have to pay for software on additional computers in our business? No.

Does the software handle LayBys? Yes.

Can we connect with our EFTPOS terminal? Yes. We have a direct link to Tyro and through Linkly we connect to all major banks.

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Made in Australia: POS software for antique shops

December 15, 2021
2 Min read
M

Antique shops have some unique needs, often complex needs. It is rare there is perfect fit software for every situation.

Here at Tower Systems we have evolved a version of our Antique business software to serve antique dealers and retailers, to serve as many of their needs as we can in software priced at $185.00 a month.

We made a video recently in which we look and discuss some of the facilities in our Antique business software. We’d be grateful to provide a more comprehensive look at the software, a personal demonstration guided by what it is that you are looking for to serve your business.

Antique businesses are unique and special businesses. Here are some of the ways our POS software for antique dealers helps leverage that uniqueness:

  1. Rare visit loyalty.  The customer visit cycle in antique shops is infrequent. Our loyalty tools nurture shoppers to provide more value each visit.
  2. Pre-orders. Easily manage selling products before you have them in-stock. You might be asked to source a piece. These tools help you lock that in.
  3. Valuations. provide a professionally presented valuation certificate.
  4. Second-hand goods. Track details into a digital register for easy data management and record keeping.
  5. Leverage buyer and seller interests. Through easy to leverage database management you can connect people through their special interests.
  6. Buy Now Pay Later and LayBy. Through our software you can have both.
  7. Repairs management. Track labour and parts for each repair, from the moment of the request. Advise the customer when the repair is complete.
  8. Group marketing and support. Leverage groups and clubs with offers and pricing. It’s easy to serve multiple special interests.
  9. Product care. Product care knowledge can be differentiating. Sharing this in a systematic and consistent way can separate your business.
  10. Serial number tracking. If products have serial numbers, track them.
  11. Anniversary marketing. Collectors love their antiques. Remembering purchase anniversaries can help maintain a connection with collectors.

Our Australian made and supported antique shop software does much more than this. Be sure to see it for yourself, live and obligation free, to see if it could serve you and your business.

While our Antique business software will not serve every need, a personal demonstration is the best way to see if it serves your needs. We’d love to arrange this demonstration for you: 1300 662 957 or sales@towersystems.com.au.

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POS software made for Australian Antique businesses

November 9, 2021
3 Min read
P

Tower Systems makes POS software for specialty retail settings. Our POS software for Antique shops has evolved from work in other specialty settings. It has been tuned to the needs we have seen in Antique businesses.

Antique businesses are unique and special businesses. Here are some of the ways our POS software for antique dealers helps leverage that uniqueness:

  1. Rare visit loyalty.  The customer visit cycle in antique shops is infrequent. Our loyalty tools nurture shoppers to provide more value each visit.
  2. Pre-orders. Easily manage selling products before you have them in-stock. You might be asked to source a piece. These tools help you lock that in.
  3. Valuations. provide a professionally presented valuation certificate.
  4. Second-hand goods. Track details into a digital register for easy data management and record keeping.
  5. Leverage buyer and seller interests. Through easy to leverage database management you can connect people through their special interests.
  6. Buy Now Pay Later and LayBy. Through our software you can have both.
  7. Repairs management. Track labour and parts for each repair, from the moment of the request. Advise the customer when the repair is complete.
  8. Group marketing and support. Leverage groups and clubs with offers and pricing. It’s easy to serve multiple special interests.
  9. Product care. Product care knowledge can be differentiating. Sharing this in a systematic and consistent way can separate your business.
  10. Serial number tracking. If products have serial numbers, track them.
  11. Anniversary marketing. Collectors love their antiques. Remembering purchase anniversaries can help maintain a connection with collectors.

Our Australian made and supported antique shop software does much more than this. Be sure to see it for yourself, live and obligation free, to see if it could serve you and your business. Or, watch this video in which we demonstrate some of the features.

Here are answers to some of the questions we have been asked about our Antique Shop Software over the years

When you are ready, we’d love to show you our Antique Shop Software and through that show you answers to other questions you have.

We sell products on behalf of others. Can the software track this? Yes, the software can report on sales by those you carry antiques for in the business, enabling you to easily calculate your commission.

We carry items on consignment, can the software manage this? Yes, you can track consignment items and report on sales.

We rent access to part of our shop to people who display antiques here, can we charge for this through the software? Yes.

We do not barcode products, can we easily sell items without a barcode? Yes, you decide the level of tracking and reporting you require and that determines the best approach to recording sales.

Can we use the software to print barcodes for products if I want? Yes.

We sell very small items, does the software support barcode labels for these? Yes, we offer a fine butterfly label that you could use on a ring or fine bracelet.

Does the software track the purchase and sale of second-hand goods? Yes.

Can we produce a valuation certificate from the software? Yes. This software is also used by jewellers, who do valuations.

We’d love to show you more of this software if you think it could serve needs in your business.

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A Covid lockdown To-Do list for local small business retailers

July 24, 2021
4 Min read
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Here in Melbourne we are in our fifth Covid lockdown. As well as owning our POS software company and working with local small business retailers every day, I also own three retail businesses and several online businesses.

This Covid lockdown To-Do list for local small business retailers is practical advice you can action without cost, to make the most of the lockdown opportunity.

Whether your shop is closed or open but with less traffic, now is an ideal time to work on your business.

  1. List what’s not sold. Run a report listing all inventory in the business that has not sold at all this year. This list gives you a starting point for action. We did this last week for one customer and identified $15,000 worth of dead stock, stock the owner to that point was not focussed on.
  2. Act on what’s not sold. Dead stock is dead weight. If you have long since paid for it, cents in the dollar for it is better than nothing.
  3. Look at what’s been selling with what. Often the items in the same basket are not seen by retailers as items you can put together. This list, which you should be able to get from your POS software, can guide shop floor placement changes.
  4. Front to back clean. Literally, start at the front of the shop and work your want to the back. Clean every single product. We often find that the act of holding every product leads to decisions about some products, decisions we might otherwise not have made. We have just done this at one of our own Westfield shops and the decisions we made along the way have been liberating.
  5. Work on your roster. Look at what usually sells by day of week and by time. Your POS software should be able to help with this. Take time to review your roster to ensure it is set appropriately. Labour is usually the top or second highest cost in a retail business outside of inventory.
  6. Reset the front third of the store. Look carefully at that front third of your store. Make bold changes simply by moving things, so that when shoppers return they see things they’ve not noticed before.
  7. Prepare social media content that leverages you. Using your phone, film short videos of you or a team member talking about products. Prepare these to load over time on Facebook, Instagram and more. Have fun.
  8. If you have a website for the business, write blog posts as they are absolutely the single best thing you can do to attract traffic to the website. A blog post should be single topic, pitch a consistent keyword at least five times and be over 350 words. We have a lot of experience with this and note, again, this is the single most effective online marketing for a website. The only investment is your time – don’t outsource this.
  9. Learn something new. Ask your POS software company for the best report in the software to reveal what you are unlikely to know about your business. Run that report. Read it. Make a list of things you could do. Act on it.
  10. Be a shopfitter. Shopfitters are expensive. Look at an area of your shop that you want to change that you would usually hire a shoplifter to handle. Think through how you can do it yourself. I know many retailers who have done this and vowed to not use shopfitters for such changes in the future.
  11. If you are online, undertake a data driven review of your website. Look at your traffic and the traffic of your competitors. Review your site and theirs. Look for opportunities to attract more shoppers to your site based on the data. Whoever developed your website should be able to collate this data for you.
  12. Personally: refresh. If you can take a break from business, even for an hour a day, read fiction, listen to music you love, go for a walk outside. These nourishing things can help reset mood and that could help you discover new opportunities for your business.

We are a local Aussie POS software company serving 3,500+ local small business retailers with POS software and beautiful Shopify websites. Beyond this, we also offer retail business management advice and help to our customers every day.

Thanks for reading. have an awesome rest of your weekend …

Mark Fletcher | mark@towersystems.com.au.

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