We visited the Amazon Go store in Seattle twice this year. Here are some of our take-aways:
Amazon Go store visit insights
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We’re at IRCE in Chicago, talking best-practice web connected POS software
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We are grateful for the opportunity to attend the IRCE conference in Chicago again this year. We are mixing with best-practice retailers as well as other tech companies serving retailers. While our focus in small business retail, we benefit from insights from all sectors.
Overseas conferences provide us excellent learning opportunities and provide access to data and other assets we leverage for our small business retailer community.
With Australia geographically far away from the world, being here at this event and the other events we get to each year we are able to learn on behalf of our customers. This gives us a competitive advantage.
It is a thrill to learn how advanced we are in several areas of our web connected POS software solutions. Connecting stores and groups of stores as we do for online sales with inventory transparency is inspiring others.
Oxipay POS software integration helps small business retailers win more sales
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Oxipay works just like AfterPay. It is a buy now pay later offer. Interest free. Hassle free. Easy for you. easy for the customer. You are paid right away. You carry no obligation if the shopper does not pay off the debt.
Oxipay is integrated with our POS software. We were the first in the world to do this.
Your customer can pay over eight weekly payments. Here is how it works on a $160.00 purchase: they pay $20.00 on purchase and seven payments of $20.00 each. You are paid right away for the full purchase price, into your bank account.
What you pitch in-store is $20 today and 7 payments of $20.00 interest free. People can see this as achievable whereas they could baulk at a $160.00 purchase. This option to pay small weekly amounts is loved by Oxipay shoppers -= this brings them back to Oxipay shops.
Oxipay is integrated with the latest release of Retailer. We were the first POS software company in the world to to do this. Our software treats Oxipay as another payment method.
The shopper is already registered for Oxipay prior to the transaction or they can quickly sign up in-store. They can do this on their phone. It is easy.
The beauty of Oxipay is that it can reduce your LayBy commitment. This can save you space. It can also save you the cost of dealing with a situation where a customer cancels a LayBy prior to collection. In fact, Oxipay is loved by shoppers for the LayBy alternative it offers them too given the structure for payments.
We use Oxipay in our own shops and on consumer websites. Oxipay is currently being used for 14% of transactions on one site that does over $500,000 in sales in a year. This site has an average transaction value of $75.00.
The way to make the most of Oxipay is for you to ensure all staff are trained to pitch it to shoppers considering items they may not have the ready cash for today. They may be able to handle fortnightly payments and this could see you win business today that otherwise might have gone elsewhere.
New, free, events tools help small business retailers grow their businesses
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The events facilities released in the latest Tower Systems POS software update, Retailer version 2.7.4, are proving to be popular. They are comprehensive, of use to any retail business that wants to invite shoppers back into their businesses.
Events was expensive for us to develop. The software is broad in scope, comprehensive, and valuable to us and to our customers. We have made these facilities available to supported users at no cost. We have done this because we see them as a valuable core facility in good POS software.
Think of the Events facilities as marketing tools for growing revenue and making your business more valuable. You can market to people based on birthdays or anniversaries, when they last bought something, or other criteria appropriate to your business.
Comprehensive in scope and created following extensive customer consultation, the Events facilities add extraordinary value to your investment in the Tower Systems software.
For your own free training delivered with context to your business, please email bookings@towersystems.com.au. Every Tower Systems customer has access to unlimited one on one training, at no cost.
We also have excellent knowledge base advice on Events. Type events into the search bar and you will find them. Our knowledge base, with up to date advice, is accessible to our customers 24/7.
Events is helping retailers in a range of retail channels to grow their businesses, to bring shoppers back and to make the experience more complete, more whole of business. It is a shining light of new feels in software too help retailers grow.
To get access to Events, please email support@towersystems.com.au asking us to turn it on. There is no cost for supported customers.
How webstore connected POS software helps retailers in a group and independent retailers win more sales.
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As well as offering POS software designed for your specific type of business, Tower Systems provides websites seamlessly connected to the shop floor, giving you a single management view.
We develop websites for our customers, in Magento, Shopify or WooCommerce.
Our websites are POS software connected, offering 24/7 selling with payments through PayPal, Oxipay (interest free buy now pay later) and credit cards.
Our websites leverage online purchases as well as click and collect. They also drive basket depth with up-sell options and handling coupons for special deals.
If you are in a banner group or a marketing group, we can provide a single website to represent all stores in the group. We do this today for one group, through five websites we created – each easily found through Google thanks to our SEO work.
Each store in a banner or marketing group gets their own page, which they can easily promote. For a single business, the POS connected website promotes their business.
We know from experience that:
- In some businesses, around 75% of key in-store purchases have an online search component. POS connected websites are important for winning online sales and even more important for driving in-store purchases.
- 45% of purchases in many categories are when retail shops are closed.
- 10% of purchases are click and collect in higher-end product categories.
- 14% of purchases are done with buy now pay later financing.
- Shoppers like certainty that a store will have in stock they want to purchase – stock on hand by item can be viewable for each store.
We can network stores from a banner or marketing group into a single website. Thereby leveraging the power of the group of independently owned small businesses to be stronger and more useful than a big business competitor. This is how small businesses can win online.
Let us show you how together we can do this, how we can bring single stores online as well as whole groups online … through webstore connected POS software.
Not only do we create the website and the POS software, we ensure they can be found. This is key as a website that cannot be easily found through Google is a waste of money.
We would love to show individuals privately or members of your group, if you are in a group, the POS software connected websites we have created. We would take you behind the curtain, showing not only the tech. but explaining the business approach, outlining what we have done to create successful online businesses.
Fulfilment can be a challenge. We can help here too thanks to our integration work with Australia Post, Sendle and others. We can help you reduce friction with fulfilment and see you benefit from incremental online business.
Online is about a race to the cash. By this we mean that an online shopper is more likely to be ready to purchase. The first business to take their cash wins. This is where POS integrated websites can win. We can show you how.
The latest release of our POS software introduces a web dashboard to help in-store online sales fulfilment. This, coupled with inventory integration, accurate stock on hand data, professional image handling and smart SEO work helps you create and run an efficient, integrated physical and online business.
Whether you run a single store or operate as part of a marketing or banner group, Tower Systems has a track record of success you can leverage for your success. Let us show you how.
How to contact us.
Website: www.towersystems.com.au.
Sales email address: sales@towersystems.com.au.
National sales phone line: 1300 662 957.
CEO: Mark Fletcher. mark@towersystems.com.au 0418 321 338.
COO: Gavin Williams. gavin@towersystems.com.au 0418 554 759.
Tower Systems helps retailers offer over the counter buy now pay later
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Free POS software train ing for small business retailers
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Tower Systems has announced details of its free live online group training programs through to the end of June. All sessions are available to any Tower customer. Access is free. each session has plenty of time for questions on any topic. Bookings can be made through our POS software training portal.
Meeting Name: Stocktaking for EOFY
Date: Wednesday 23rd May
Time: 2pm
Description: Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
Meeting Name: Stocktaking for EOFY
Date: Wednesday 30th May
Time: 11am
Description: Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
Meeting Name: Getting Ready for EOFY
Date: Wednesday 30th May
Time: 2pm
Description: Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
JUNE
Meeting Name: Stocktaking for EOFY
Date: Wednesday 6th June
Time: 2pm
Description: Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
Meeting Name: Getting Ready for EOFY
Date: Wednesday 13th June
Time: 2pm
Description: Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
Meeting Name: Stocktaking for EOFY
Date: Wednesday 20th June
Time: 2pm
Description: Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
Meeting Name: Getting Ready for EOFY
Date: Wednesday 27th June
Time: 2pm
Description: Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
To participate in an online meeting all you need access to is a computer with a broadband internet connection and a phone to receive a call so you can hear the audio. Each session runs for approximately 45-60 minutes depending on questions.
Accessible free training is key for small business retailers as it allows them to continue to get more from their investment in POS software. Tower has been running these workshops and its free one on one training programs for years. Consistency is important to us and to our customers.
We are grateful to our small business retailers for their support of our training and of the use of our software.
What makes for the best POS software for small business retail?
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It is not our place to say our software is the best POS software for small business retailers. We could not know, just as any other POS software company could not know if their software is the best.
In fact, not one could know if a POS software package is the best unless they have tried all others. And, no one has.
Our role is to create the best software we can, for each of the specialty retail marketplaces we serve.
Thanks to serving 3,500 small businesses we have a big community on which to draw to be able to do what we do. their insights guide us as we continue to evolve our software. What our software offers in terms of functionality and experience is a testament to our user community.
But it is not just about the POS software. It is about the support and the business management assistance provided by retail experts in the POS software company as being able to leverage the software for valuable outcomes is a key here.
It is about relationships too, working with suppliers and other patties to integrate with the retail businesses, seamlessly, through the software, for speed, accuracy and genuine business value. In fact, a good supplier relationship can add real bottom line benefits to small business retailers. Leveraging this through technology is efficient and valuable.
We take it further than this. We are retailers too, owning and operating several physicals and a bunch of consumer-facing websites. We do this for the experience, k so we can play and experiment, and provide our customers with a deeper and more valuable experience.
We think these things, the user community, years on business, marketplace specialisation, supplier integration, and being retailers ourselves provide a complete and valuable experience. Were think it is a valuable suite of experiences like this that make then Tower Systems POS software relationship valuable for our customers.
We love what we do here at Tower systems. We love our software and the service of small business retailers. we only sell to small businesses, this keeps us focussed and in the moment with these most important of businesses in any economy.
What we learned visiting the Amazon Go store in Seattle
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We are grateful to have visited the ground-breaking Amazon Go store in Seattle twice this year. This is an extraordinary shop, built by an extraordinary business.
- No sales counter.
- No cash or credit cards processed in-store.
- Choose what you want, and leave.
In this video we explain what we saw and try for context for small business retailers.
Proudly local POS software for small business retailers
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Tower Systems one sells its POS software to independent small business retailers. This is one of our strengths. We are proud to be local and small business focussed.
POS software connected websites help small business retailers leverage high street and online
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Tower Systems specialises in developing and supporting POS software for specialty retailers in selected retail channels as well as developing and supporting POS software connected websites for these businesses.
We with with these retailers: gifts, jewellers, bikes, toys, fishing/outdoors, garden centres, pet shops, produce, firearms, adult shops and newsagents.
Our Magento websites are best practice, bringing the latest e-commerce facilities to high street retail, enabling these retailers to connect with shoppers anywhere in the world.
The benefits of a POS software connected website are considerable:
- Accurate stock on hand data for the website.
- Time saved in managing inventory and sales data.
- Fewer mistakes thanks to the elimination of double handling of business data.
- Easy management of inventory data with only one entry point of data – the POS software – feeding the website automatically, efficiently and accurately.
- Easy tagging on and off of what you sell online.
- Fast photo upload.
- Whole of business management.
- Easy management of click and collect.
Managing the physical and online outlets through a linked and integrated platform is good business. It is also good for the customer.
Thanks to a skilled web development team and a skilled POS software team, Tower Systems is able to offer a whole of business solution from within the one company, not using any external resources. We bring to the table focus, consistency and a track record of success in POS software as well as retail business websites.
Working with small business retailers across a variety of channels has exposed us to experiences that have been invaluable in developing our skill set.
Working on developing websites for our own retail businesses makes this personal for us. We can take you deep into our own experiences of POS software integrated websites, showing not only the how but also the why and when. Thanks to our own personal experience we can provide context and this is a differentiating factor for us.
We can talk about going from start-up to half a million dollars in online sales in a year: the impact on the high street, the back end processes necessary for fulfilment, the financial side as well as how we got the level of exposure necessary to drive the sales we achieved.
If you want to grow online sales, talk with us. We can talk about web development as well as business management and marketing necessary to achieve this. We start with a business to business discussion as getting that right is vital to the tech delivering the benefits you want.
You will find us open about the experience. We take education seriously and will happily share what we know.
Tower Systems shares insights from Magento Imagine 2018 conference in Las Vegas
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We are grateful here at Tower Systems for the partnership we share with Magento, the e-commerce platform businesses prefer when bringing transactions and services online. We were at the Magento Imagine 2018 conference in Las Vegas. Our Magento integration with our POS software is world class, ideal for small business retailers. Here is a short video with some of the many insights we gained.
We love POS software integrated Tyro for our small business retailer customers
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Our Tower Systems POS software has been integrated with the Tyro broadband EFTPOS for years. we love Tyro and our customers love Tyro. Their solution is excellent and they are a dream to deal with.
In a recent note to our customers, we shared why we love Tyro:
- 🎯 Reliable Systems: 99.9% uptime with 3G backup, dual live data centres.
- 💸 Faster Than Cash: Sub 1.6 second transactions to keep queues short.
- 👍 Easy Setup: Quick & simple set-up: plug-in, activate & go.
- 💱 Seamless POS Integration
- 🏦 Keep Your Current Bank: Tyro can deposit your EFTPOS takings into any Australian bank. We can even open a fee-free bank account for you.
- 🔒 Secure Transactions: Proprietary security.
- 🏝️ Local Support: 24/7 100% Aussie customer support.
- 🌈 No Lock In Contracts: No lock in contract: we believe in our products.
- 📝 Instant Reporting: Real-time reporting and stress free reconciliation.
As an independent bank, far outside the major banks, Tyro is small business focussed. We really like this. we like the small business focus. Our customers are all small businesses, we only sell to small businesses. Hence our attention to and preference for small business focussed companies.
The integration in our POS software with Tyro is easy to setup and solid to operate. It delivers excellent operational benefits for retailers and for their customers. It is a perfect solution for small business retailers.
Another crucial factor here is the speed of addressing issues as issues do arise from time to time with EFTPOS. Getting fast answers to questions and support to resolve challenges is key with any EFTPOS relationship. Tyro is brilliant here. Their help is easy to access, professional and small business focussed.
In our experience working with big banks and Tyro in our own retail shops, which we have run for many years, is tyro is a dream to work with. we use Tyro in our own shop for the vet reasons we have outlined above.
So, our POS software integrated Tyro broadband EFGPOS is a solid preference from Tower Systems for all the reasons we have outlined here and detailed in the list shared above.
Small business matters to us here at Tower Systems.
New t-shirts for POS software team pitch small business support
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We are proud to note that our team members have new t-shirts that pitch small business as a valuable and active part of the economy. Here is a sneak peek…
Tower Systems at Magento Imagine 2018 in Las Vegas
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The Magento Imagine conference is a must attend conference for Magento partners. Magento is the premier e-commerce platform in the world.
At the conference this year we expanded our knowledge, networked with valuable colleagues and learnt how best practice retailers leverage Magento to facilitate in-store and online growth.
The time away was also an opportunity to fine-tune our web and desktop development plans and leverage the already considerable success we are having with multi-store POS software connected Magento websites.
The story about baked by Melissa was especially inspiring.
Free marketing assistance for local fishing and outdoors shops
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We released fresh marketing collateral for local fishing and outdoors businesses to use to reach their customers. Here is an example from our in-house creative team, which demonstrates that we are not your average POS software company:
Xero POS software link helps small business retailers
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Tower Systems offers a direct integration between the xero cloud based accounting application and its smart POS software.
Using our xero link, retailers can be sure they will:
- Save time.
- Cut mistakes.
- Uncover theft more easily.
- Reduce overstocking.
- Make better quality business decisions, sooner.
We know this because we see it every day, in retail businesses we own ourselves.
The Tower Systems POS software Xero link helps small business retailers cut costs. It does this in a range of practical ways that small business retailers can leverage without having to spend more money on software or professional services.
Thanks to the Xero POS software link retailers are able to eliminate bookkeeping work and have accounting data flow through accurately from the POS software where data originates to Xero where it is accessed for key business accounting functions.
Developed with careful oversight of CPA qualified accounting experience as well as current small business management accounting experience plus insights from experienced bookkeepers, this link is a true cost saver because of the accounting steps it eliminates and the mistakes it avoids. Both of these have costs to any small business. Eliminating them is a bottom line cost benefit for any business.
Setting up the Xero link is easy. You map the data flow from invoice entry through to the chart of accounts managed by Xero. Once this is done, supplier invoices, sales, credits, LayBys and other everyday business transactions flow from the POS software to Xero.
This makes business accounting easier, more certain, less expensive and more useful to the business.
Your BAS is easier. Your P&L and Balance Sheet are more up to date. This is a big win for any small business retailer.
Tower Systems uses the Xero POS software link itself for retail businesses it owns in the gift and homewares spaces. By using our software, especially the Xero link we are able to draw on broad practical experience when providing advice to our retail business owner customers. It means that our help desk advice is based on us walking in your shores more than is usual for a POS software company.
Tower Systems is keen to help small business retailers cut costs. We know the more we can do this the more our customers will appreciate the practical benefits a relationship between our businesses can deliver. With our software support being optional we know that our customers can switch any time. The best way for us to keep them is for us to deliver practical benefits at each touch point.
Inspiration for small business retailers from our POS software company
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Here at Tower Systems we help small business retailers in ways beyond what is traditional for POS software companies. One such way is through inspiration.
Our inspiration initiative is all about eloping retailers see what they may be missing. This could be in their data, in their sore or elsewhere.
As skilled retailers, we bring real world experience in many different retail situations to the table to help our Tower Systems POS software customers who engage with our inspiration initiative to find new joy from their businesses.
The joy could be from a new approach to business, new insights, now opportunities uncovered or better understanding. It can be different for different businesses. It can be big or small. Quick or slow. Each inspiration is different for each business … and we love it.
We are grateful to our customers for engaging with us on this, for trusting us to be part of these inspiring opportunities where we learn plenty about retail each time and where we can share what we know, too, to benefit those whom we serve.
Beyond POS software, Tower Systems is grateful for the trust shown in us to serve in this practical and valuable way in small business retail. We take the opportunity seriously and engagingly.
- In one case recently we helped a retailer find $20,000 they had invested from which they were not receiving any return.
- In another situation we helped a retailer discover a business cost they had no idea about and which they could quickly rein in.
- In another we helped a retailer see that the bad news they saw was hiding some good news, which they leveraged to build a better business.
- In another we helped a retailer with shop floor placement such that they increased the average shopper spend.
These are each practical things we have done working with everyday small business retailers. Real things, in-store things, things retailers can action right away without spending any more money.
And from each of these things came inspiration for more change in each business, to the broader benefit of the business and those it serves.
We are proud that Tower Systems is not your average POS software company.
The loyalty offer that helps small business retailers compete against big business – in our Aussie POS software
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Tower Systems pioneered the pitch of discount vouchers in small business retail. Now, many years on, more and more retailers are singing the praises of this unique and loved small business POS software loyalty offer.
Discount vouchers change shopper behaviour. They are a unique loyalty offer that older how shoppers see a business and how they engage in-store.
What sets Tower Systems apart, beyond the strong algorithm behind the vouchers, is the way we support small business retailers in deploying the voucher tactic in-store. We offer business trade training, so the context is understood at the owner level through to the sales counter level.
Being retailers ourselves and using the vouchers in different retail businesses we can speak from experience and retailers love this. Beyond the vouchers themselves, which are unique, our business engagement and knowledge is unique in software company circles.
Discount vouchers can be called anything you want, too. We have customers in the high end jewellery space calling them a Personal Thank You Gift and finding wonderful shopper engagement.
We are confident that Tower Systems’ Discount Voucher facilities can help you:
- Get customers spending more in a visit.
- Bring existing customers back sooner.
- Attract new shoppers to your business.
- Drive impulse purchases at the sales counter.
One of our own retail businesses reported growth of 10% in the three months to June 30, 2015. Much of the success comes down to smart use of Discount Vouchers.
Discount Vouchers don’t need a card – they print on sales receipts and offer an amount customers can spend right away. Our experience and the experience of hundreds of our customers is that Discount Vouchers drive faster and deeper engagement with the business – making a shopping visit more valuable right away.
- You name the voucher anything you like and can change this at any time.
- You set the rules on how the value of the voucher is calculated.
- You set the rules on what the voucher can be redeemed for.
- You set the rules on expiry dates.
See the software live. Contact us for an obligation free demonstration: Email: sales@towersystems.com.au. Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
Why our POS software might not be right for your retail business
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Here at Tower Systems we will tell you if we think our POS software is not right for your business.
Seriously.
We have been in business too long and have too good of a reputation to risk it by selling a business software that is not ideal for their needs.
Our sales team are not under any pressure to reach a sales quota. This takes away the usual pressure on sales people to get a sale at all costs.
Here are some of the reasons why we might say our software is not right for your business:
- Your retail business is not in one of the retail channels for which we have specialty software.
- You want changes that do not fit with our vision for the software.
- You have business processes you are not prepared to change that we think are not a good fit with the software.
- The price you are prepared to pay does not res the software and services we offer.
We don’t like saying no. However, being transparent is important to us, and to prospective customers.
When we do say no we do so with an explanation, usually in writing, so there is not doubt. This can lead to a discussion about why we have said no and even changes in a business so the no becomes a yes. This process works well as it encourages a business discussion from which we learn and our prospective customer takes a look back at their business.
More than a software company, we are a retail business focussed business. Being retailers ourselves we understand the complexity of retail today. This personal experience enables us to take a retailer-focussed approach in how we navigate a situation where we do not think our software is a good fit for a prospect.
Some of our most engaged customers are businesses where we felt we were not a good fit. The process we have has worked well in ensuring everyone goes into a relationship with their eyes and ears open and we often see this benefiting both businesses.
See the software live. Contact us for an obligation free demonstration: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
POS software for fishing shops – made in Australia for Australian businesses
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Helping small business retailers manage a more efficient end of shift
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The end of shift process in any retail business is when the day comes together, when the numbers are revealed and and errors resolved.
This week, today in fact, we are offering retailers who use our POS software a free training workshop in end of shift processes and, in particular, the end of shift reports – in which wonderful and valuable in formation can be found.
Understanding the End Of Shift Reports
Why is the End of Shift important? How do I check my settings are correct? What do the reports mean? What parts of the report do I need to use for my accounting….
This training is accessible at no cot whatsoever to any of our customers. People can book online, through our free training portal.
The training is live, interaction and allows for plenty of time for questions.
This free training is another way our POS software customers can learn, for free.
Why we think our POS software is better than VEND
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We are asked from time to time how our software compares with VEND, the POS software from New Zealand. To answer this question we asked people who have switched from VEND to our Tower Systems POS software. Here, we have assembled the most common reasons people give any our POS software is better than VEND:
- Fit for purpose. Our POS software is fine-tuned, tailored, for selected speciality retail marketplaces.
- Not trying to be for everyone. Generic POS software is generic. The Tower POS software is for selected specific marketplaces.
- Human contact is easier. call us and a human who knows our software answers and talks with you.
- Enhancement. The Tower software is regularly enhanced, based on direct user suggestions.
- Transparency on changes. All changes are detailed in advance of being made available to users.
- Control over changes. Users control when they switch to a new version.
- On site training. Personal. In-store. At a time to suit.
- Unlimited one on one training. Long after on-stire installation Tower customers can book more free training, personalised to the business.
- User meetings. Around the country. Meet the leadership team. Influence our direction.
- No on going fees. If you want to keep using the software but not pay for support and u0dates you can.
- Leadership team access. The leadership team at Tower is accessible, every day.
- Cloud or not. The Tower Systems POS software can run locally as well as in the cloud. You choose what is right for you business. Having the option is appreciated by many customers.
- Rent or buy. Tower Systems offers customers the option to choose the method of acquisition that best suits their circumstances. Just by appearing options the company demonstrates its flexibility.
At a functional level the Tower Systems POS software is different, unique and valuable. see it for yourself, in your business, at a time that suits you. If we think the software is not a good fit for your business we will say so.
See the software live. Contact us for an obligation free demonstration: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
Small business advice: how to serve local, authentically
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Being local matters in small business. Here are ways for any local retail business to be more locally engaged.
- Be visable locally: at community events, cafes, restaurants and markets.
- Buy locally. It sends the wrong message if you pitch shop local yet you purchase stationery online and have it delivered or if you buy your pet food online and have it delivered. Source locally as much as possible and be obvious about it.
- Facilitate local connections. Have a local community noticeboard in-store.
- Provide local receipts. Use your receipts to share local information. This could be local advice relating to what you sell or other local insights that add value to the relationship with your business.
- Talk local. Where you source locally, show it with products. Note that local can be a flexible term. For example, you may have a product sourced from Australia that some would consider local if the alternative is an imported product.
- Give locally. Five local charities priority with your time and money ahead of non-local charities.
- Hire locally. When you place a notice looking for a new team member, note preference given to local candidates.
- Share local knowledge. If you sell provides the use of which would benefit from local knowledge, have that served automatically by your POS software on shopper receipts.
- Share local on your Facebook page. Talk about local activities on your business Facebook, show your local connection.
- Explain why local matters. When you pitch on your Facebook page or noticeboard your support for a charity, explain that it is through local community support that you are able to help the local community.
- Offer a locals only discount.
- Be proud of local. Express this, often.
- Be seen local, shopping, walking, drinking.
- Talk local. Pick up on and use the lingo.
Too often small business retailers call for people to support local businesses. It can be more valuable if you show what local looks and feels like, so people in the community understand the benefit for them from supporting you.
To Tower Systems, local is small business. We only sell our software to small businesses because we believe in the importance of small business in any economy. Small businesses are our local community.
Small business advice: how to leverage social media without being controlled by the beast
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Social media is vital for every retail business. It is as important as opening the front door of the shop. However, its value is determined by the content you publish, by your call out to people.
we call it a beast because it can feel like you have never satisfied it. This is because so much social media content is disposable. You only have to watch how people engage with social media to see this.
Engaging with any social media platform is like feeding a beast that is forever hungry. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, they are all hungry beasts. They can feel overwhelming, intimidating and frustrating. Too often, small business retailers give up … and when they do that they turn their back on opportunities for their businesses to be discovered.
The best way to be successful with social media is to have a plan to be efficient about how you engage.
Here is everyday advice to help you efficiently engage with social media. While the example used is Facebook, it is useful for any social media platform.
- Post regularly, but try and do all the posts for a week at once, in advance, scheduling them for publication on dates and at times you set. This is important as people who setup multiple posts at once tend to cut the time spent doing the posts.
- Keep text on posts to two sentences.
- If you are not sure what to write, think would I include this in a radio ad, on a flyer or yell it from the front of the shop.
- Give something of yourself in your posts. Your voice is important.
- Share knowledge and insights that reveal your expertise and add value of the interaction of followers of your Facebook page.
- Post with a theme in mind for a week, for example post with context to a new season, school holidays or some other timing connected to your business.
- Include a photo, photos or a video with posts. Photos should have real people in real situations. This personalises your business.
- Photos do not need to be a whole product. A close up of a small part of a product could look more interesting.
- Do not try and sell.
- Repeat your best posts. Facebook content is disposable, people scroll past quickly. Give your best content a chance to be seen by re-posting, judiciously.
- Do not hire someone to post for you as your voice is what matters most.
They key goal of a retail business Facebook page is increase recognition and recollection of the business. Think about this as you write each post. Make sure the post progresses on this goal.
This business management advice is another example of how Tower Systems helps its small business customers beyond our POS software.
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