The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryFishing software

Beware POS software comparison websites as they are unlikely to have compared the software they pitch to you

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There are websites that claim to be software comparison websites. They claim to have done the work for you, comparing software. They offer to suggest several vetted software companies for your consideration.

In our experience it is unlikely the comparison websites will have compared the software they pitch to you.

It’s our opinion that software comparison websites are purely an ad platform for the businesses that pay to have their software pitched as worthy of consideration by prospective customers.

There is no comparison. We say this based on our own first-hand experience. Our software was not looked or assessed. They wanted money from us per lead. That was it. This makes the comparison website an ad platform plain and simple.

Online they pitch as offering a service, something of value, to the software shopper. The reality is the comparison website businesses offer a commercial service to the software companies – the software companies are their customer.

We dug deeper, presenting as a business looking for software. Sure, they pitched us to three software companies. There was little in the way of filtering. Knowing what we know from when we assessed them as a software business, they charge 3 businesses $100 each for the leads. That’s an easy $300 made for having a slick website that looks like they have done the assessment fork for you when they have not.

Our advice, based on our experience is do not use a comparison website to consider software.

It’s worse than this though and here’s why …

Having considered a comparison website, trying them for a couple of weeks and then saying no thanks, they started paying Google for our business name as an ad keyword. You search for us and their ad comes up. They then contacted us and said he you should do business with us because we have leads for you. These are leads they got by paying Google money to run ads when people type Tower Systems into Google.

Our company lists first in the natural results. The software comparison company and several other similar companies come up ahead us, with ads.

Software comparison website ads claim to offer quotes from leading companies, trusted companies, the most reliable companies. How can they make these claims when they have not themselves assessed the companies? They cannot.

One company claims we compare all the big brands and more. No, they do not.

One company claims that by using them they can provide access to 20-40% saving. No, they cannot as they do not negotiate on price.

One company claims that they let you compare the best-suited products. No, they do not. They don’t look at the software. They have no experience to make an assessment as to what is best.

The only service the comparison website businesses offer from our experience and research is to advertise on Google and provide their partner software companies with leads if a query falls into an area directly or vaguely covered by the software company.

Buyer beware. Comparison websites we have looked at do not compare. They act as a front for ad dollars, being paid for leads they give to partner software companies, that may not offer the best software in their field.

Retail business advice: If you are considering new POS software for your business

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Here is some advice for your consideration if you are thinking about new POS software for your retail business.

For any demonstration of potential POS software, come to the demonstration fully prepared.

  • Make a list of what you want to see. Remember, you are in charge.
  • Have the right people there from your business. The decision makes. Those most knowledgable. Anyone who will have a say in the decision you make.
  • Make sure you are not interrupted. We know retail can be busy. If it works better for you, we can schedule the demonstration outside trading hours.
  • Please speak up during the demonstration if anything said does not make sense.
  • Ask questions. Keep asking questions. Ask questions until you have no more questions.
  • Ask for another demonstration for any follow-ups.

Ask for the demonstration to be recorded and for a copy to be provided . We will happily do this for you here at Tower Systems.

Once you have had a demonstration, if you have questions or are not sure of anything, ask for another demonstration. Take your time. be sure. Look at the software as much as you want.

This is an important decision, a big decision, one you want and need to get right.

Remember, you are in control. The moment you no longer feel in control of the decision or its timing is the moment you need to pause.

Take your time.

Choosing POS software and a POS software company for your business is an important decision. It can have a significant impact on business performance and your enjoyment, and the enjoyment of others, of the business.

The right POS software is a valuable tool for any retail business. The right POS software company is a valuable partner for any business. We understand these things.

Thank you for considering Tower Systems, we sincerely appreciate it.

We won’t pressure you. Nor, will we offer an inflated price so we can discount.

You are welcome to see our software as much as you want as you evaluate it and us.

Let us know your timing needs and we will do our best to respect these.

Thank you for considering Tower Systems.

How to choose the right POS Systems for your retail business

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Choosing the right POS System for your retail business takes time. There is no short cut, no easy way to do it. Take your time and get it right.

Choosing the right POS System for your business is 100% up to you. It’s your business. You will use this tool every day. it needs to feel comfortable and be genuinely useful., Relying on someonee not in the business to tell you what is right could lead to a wrong choice being made.

Choosing the right POS System for your business needs to be based on your experience not only with the software but with the people who work for the business that makes the software. That’s right, buy from them, buy direct as they are the folks responsible for supporting and enhancing this software on which you will rely.

Choosing the right POS System for your business starts first with your needs. Any system you look at that does not serve your needs may not be a good solution for your business. This really is your decision. You have to choose what is right for your business and for you. Take your time. be sure of your needs. test, test and test – until you feel comfortable.

Choosing the right POS System for your business is also about understanding the cost of the system. The cost can be in the software costs, support costs, training costs and transactional costs. Weigh them all up to see if they are right for you and your needs.

There are plenty of POS Systems out there claiming to be the best. here at Tower Systems we know that only you can know what is best for your business, because it really does start with you, what you need, what you want. We rely on you knowing these things and being focussed on them as you consider POS Systems to work in serving your needs. We would be grateful to show you what our POS System can do. However, in terms of decision making, that is 100% your choice. We will not pressure you or push … we will answer all your questions and let you play as much as you like, so you can assess whether our POS System fits as comfortably as you hope for.

Choosing the right POS System for your business is an important decision. Take your time. It’s a long-term relationship worth getting right.

POS software for fishing and outdoor businesses

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A couple of weeks ago we shot a short video in which a couple of us talked about our POS software for fishing and outdoor retailers. The goal of the video is to touch on some of the specialty facilities in our software for this locally vital retail channel.

Here’s the video we made …

Local fishing outdoors businesses, often called bait and tackle businesses and also called fishing and camping businesses … they are all important for the folks who love the outdoors, who love fishing and who love cam ping.

These businesses have specialty management needs as they serve the specialty needs of their customers. That is where our locally made POS software fits. It serves these specialty needs.

Using our Fishing shop POS software, local fishing and outdoor shops can serve local with confidence. By this, we mean they can share local knowledge and information during the sales process without any extra work. Our software helps them do this with accuracy and confidence, adding value to each transaction and thereby showing the difference their shop provides.

Our specialty Fishing shop POS software offers many benefits including:

  1. Club pricing: Helps you attract community group members. This can be an appeal for out of town fishing groups to visit.
  2. Catalogues: Setup and manage date-based specials and offers. This is ideal for season and event type offers.
  3. Repairs: Easily track & manage repairs & communicate with customers – even if you do not do the repairs yourself.
  4. BOGO: Increase sales with buy this and get that bundling.
  5. Customised product labels: Include store name and contact details.
  6. Sell by weight: Including fractions. Ideal for bait.
  7. Colour / size / style: Track what you sell at a helpful granular level.
  8. Genuinely informative receipts: Include information they’ll appreciate.
  9. Pre-orders: Pre-sell stock and be ahead of the game.
  10. Special orders: Easily manage special customer orders.
  11. Awesome loyalty: Guide one-time and regular shoppers to spend more.
  12. Seasonal reordering: Easily reorder inventory based on seasonal sales.

We are grateful to business owners and staff in the fishing and outdoors retail channel who guide our POS software development. Their advice helps us make more useful POS software. Their advice helps us provide more finely tuned customer service.

What we offer is specialty POS software for this specialty retail channel. It continues to evolve, along with the evolution of the retail channel itself.

Beyond the POS software, here is how Tower Systems helps small business retailers

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Good POS software is key in any retail business. A good POS software company is even more important is it is the people in the POS software company who help bring the POS software to life for any retail business. Their training, advice and support can make or break the POS software experience.

So, thinking about beyond the POS software, here are some of the ways Tower Systems serves its small business retailer community:

  • We are local. Local matters in local communities. The Tower Systems software is locally developed to local needs. This facilitates the local narrative of small business retail in local communities.
  • Our POS software training is personal, for your business. We think people learn better from personal training.
  • Unlimited free training. Long after you install the software, ask for free top-up training and all we will organise it.
  • Help beyond the software. With tracking and dealing with theft, engaging =with suppliers and more. Our business management experience is there to help when you want.
  • New customer care. All new customers have a separate specialist team with which they connect, to ease settling-in. They are intuitive, offering help often ahead of when you are in key need, helping you to be prepared.
  • Customers guide our software enhancement. We offer a transparent, democratic, process for guiding software update content.
  • Pet shop business specific.This software is developed for your type of business.
  • In the cloud or in-store. You choose where the software runs.
  • Rent or buy. While most rent our software, you choose how to acquire and fund the software.
  • We help with business performance analysis and theft checks, services where we take a deep dive into your data and provide confidential insights.
  • Easy contact when you need / want. Every customer has the direct contact details for our leadership team for easy and safe escalation of any query.
  • No pressure. You buy when you are ready.
  • Retail group engagement. Groups and members of groups have opportunities for group level customisation website sales and more.
  • It’s personal. Retail is personal. This is why we prefer to train you in your shop. Yes, we said this above. We say it again as it is a differentiator.

Tower Systems is a personally engages POS software company. We don’t hide behind walls. Our customers know us by name, from the first contact because, like in retail, it is personal.

POS software training for people buying a retail business with existing POS software

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When you buy a retail business that has POS software already running in the business you will often rely on the existing owner of the business to train you in how to use the POS software

Sometimes, the existing owner of the retail business is too busy with working in the business and the final days prior to the sale  to properly train you prior to exiting the retail business.

Most existing business owners have not been trained themselves in how to professionally and thoroughly train someone in how to use POS software. This is a specialist need. It takes specialist skills.

All this leads to the new owner of a retail business coming into the retail business under trained, under skilled and inadequately prepared too drive the tool that sits at the heart of business success or failure, the POS software.

You don’t know what you don’t know. This sounds cliché, but it is true.

Imagine a situation where a problem has occurred because of the incorrect use of the software, a problem costing money, which you do not discover for weeks or months. The cost could be considerable.

Professional POS software training for anyone buying a business already using POS software is a perfect way to avoid mistakes and to know what to watch out for from others using the software.

Professional POS software training by your POS software company is a perfect way for people buying a retail business with existing POS software to reduce the cost of employee theft.

In one case last year, the new owner of a retail business already using POS software could have saved $50,000 had they been trained by the POSsoftware co., and not by the outgoing owner of the retail business.

In another case, the new owner of a retail business already using POS software was under charging for a raft of products. A simple check could have been undertaken but the new owner had not been trained in how to do this.

There is no substitute for professional training in the use of POS software, by the software company representatives.

This is why Tower Systems offers a complete new owner POS software training solution for retailers buying a business in which our POS software is already in use. This help we provide as we would deliver to a new owner, to help them get the best outcomes possible form the software already in use in the business.

How our POS software company is helping local retailers rebound from Covid impacted 2020

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Tower Systems is not your everyday POS software company. Our help goes beyond what is usually traditional. As retailers for many years ourselves our help has a practical bent, a useful connection that seeks to deliver tangible benefits small business retailers like and want.

During 2020 and the months of Covid impact, we developed a suite of practical assistances for local retailers to help them bounce back once their local communities came back to active life. Through our Point of Sale software we delivered facilities that local retailers leverage to better connect locally, supporting locally made and helping to refresh their local credentials.

Most important is the facilities embedded in our Point of Sale software that enable a local retail business to appreciate local shoppers. Our approach to loyalty, for example is practice, easily understood and engaging. It is something that local retailers are having success with as they emerge from Covid times. Indeed, plenty of our retailers tell us that our fresh approach to loyalty has been keen at delivering faster bounce-back.

In more practical ways, however, our Point of Sale software company helps local retailers with free software options, discounted training, lower cost website engagement and more through our small business Covid support package that remains available to the retailers in our 3,500+ small business retailer community.

Probably the most valued Covid support is our free business insights package. This is where we take local business data, analyse it at depth and share insights we can see in the data, insights often not noticed by those in the business on a day to day basis. We have seen businesses embrace opportunities revealed, leveraging them to benefits beyond that those in the business had imagined and delivering new traffic and revenue results that are exciting and encouraging.

Our approach to Point of Sale software is unique, practical and outcome-focussed. We sincerely seek to serve the needs of your small business retailers and all who rely on their business for income, shelter and professional fulfilment. Point of Sale software can be a force for good beyond the tech and this is where we love what we do. Our help, guidance and our software can combine to deliver wonderful outcomes. We are grateful to serve in this way.

Zippay merchant POS software connection helps small business retail

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The thousands of small business retailers using the POS software from Tower Systems have access to Zippay merchant facilities embedded in the POS software. Using these the retailers are able to offer access to the Zip buy now pay later facilities across the counter.

Using the Zippay merchant facilities in the Tower POS software, retailers able able to enjoy a commercially valuable alternative to LayBy. It is better for them and better for their customers. indeed, customers love Zip.

Thanks to a thoughtful and compliant integration, Zippay merchant facilities in the Tower Systems software are proven, valuable and commercially enjoyable in retail businesses of many different types. Tower Systems did the integration early in with Zip, bringing the Zip opportunity to life for the first time in many retail niches.

Using the Zippay merchant facilities, retailers have reporting and other tools for the accurate and prper management of their businesses.

Give your customers the power to pay later, interest free and watch your sales grow. Tower Systems and Zip have teamed up two years ago to provide a seamless, interest free payment solution for your customer, allowing your business to benefit from:

  • Increased sales volume
  • Increased average order values
  • Increased customer repurchases
  • Now, with a seamless integration with Tower Systems, you can accept Zip payments as soon as you are accredited. Simply enter your credentials.

Get started!

Our Zippay merchant facilities are robust, best practice, useful and enjoyable act the counter and in the back offer. They are true total solution for a business wanting to bring to life a buy now pay later option.

Tower Systems is grateful to the folks at Zip for their engagement and encouragement. It’s a partnership relationship that we value and have learned from.

The Zippay merchant facilities integrated with our POS software bring to life opportunities thanks to the way Zip promotes their retail business partners. The Zip community is strong and growing. Zip shoppers love their service and this can help small business retailers to find shoppers they may otherwise not have found. It’s an example of a valuable mutual relationship.

Tower Systems is grateful to offer Zip as part of a quite of integration solutions with its POS software. This suite of integrations is growing in 2021, which is terrific news. More soon…

Using POS software to make 2021 the year of shop local

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In 2020, out of necessity, many Aussies rediscovered the value of shopping local.

2021 is our opportunity as local retailers to build off that, to make this the year shopping local is the preference, the year shopping local comes into its own.

We say our opportunity since we are retailers too. In addition to owning the Tower Systems POS software company, we own and run six retail businesses.

We have experienced first-hand the new love of shopping local.

In our POS software you can easily leverage local in ways that can guide deeper baskets and encourage shoppers back sooner.

We have built into our POS software these opportunities and more, to help you shine lights on what makes your business more appealing in today’s circumstances.

You can easily identify and tag locally sourced products.

You can easily share local knowledge and insights.

You can easily ‘make’ your own local products to differentiate from others.

You can easily support and leverage local community group members.

You can easily take your local pitch to the world through a Shopify website.

Our POS software is a start. Our local retail business experience can help you make the most of the POS software opportunities.

May your 2021 be healthyhappy and filled with profitable.

We are a POS software company 100% focussed on serving local small business retailers. Our software is developed to serve niche specialty retailers in selected retail channels. It is make to be fit for purpose for each of these retail channels.

Our specialty approach sets us apart from many other POS software companies. In each of our marketplace specific products you will find facilities, connections and tools that connect us with each in a deep, meaningful and commercially valuable way. This is what being specialty POS softwares is all about.

On top of marketplace specific facilities in our POS software there is our local focus, our local tools and opportunities through with our retail business partners are able to leverage shop local, buy local and support local opportunities.

Beyond the traditional POS software we go deeper into business opportunities, providing platforms from which local businesses can leverage their differentiators to shoppers, to get them spending more and to bring them back more often.

This is smart retail POS software in 2021 … a complete solution backed by training and support to bring shoppers in and guide their connection for the long term.

Comprehensive approach to POS software onboarding helps small business retailers

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Aussie POS software company Tower Systems offers a structured, comprehensive approach to POS software onboarding.

Onboarding is the process of bringing on new POS software customers. It involves software installation, setup, tuning and training.

The Tower Systems onboarding approach is whole, complete and solely focussed on helping each small business retailer to achieve their goals for use of the POS software.

Onboarding is the process of installation, training and advice related to getting our new customers up and running with the Tower Systems POS software in your business.

With many new customers joining our POS software community each month, it makes sense that we have a structured process through which we deliver personal and consistent service in pursuit of you happily using our software.

Onboarding includes software installation and training experts at Tower working with you to help you achieve this goal of you happily using our software. It also includes a scheduling expert to be with you at each step of the way.

Our approach to POS software onboarding includes a team of transition experts who will help once the software is setup and the training done. These folks help you transition from high contact training to everyday help desk support access.

As an off-the-shelf software product, the Tower Systems POS software is what it is. By this we mean, it is not bespoke, not written specifically for you. However, there are many options in the software where selections can be made that determine how the software works for you. This is another reason structured onboarding matters.

The pathway we follow to guide you to be live is based on years of experience with thousands of small business retailers like you.

We follow a pathway that works. We understand some of what we suggest may frustrate, especially if you are moving from other software. Please be patient. We are grateful for your joining our community.

While our approach is structured for each specialty retail channel, it is also flexible to ensure we have time to address queries unique to each business. We understand the importance of personal service and seek to deliver a personal and appreciated experience to our customers each time.

The Tower Systems approach to onboarding of new POS software customers is comprehensive, mature and loved by customers.  It continues to evolve, too.

January 2021 will be unlike any recent January for Aussie small business retailers

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January will not be normal for local Aussie retailers.

January has traditionally played out in different ways for small business retailers in different parts of Australia.

In some parts of the country, retail is usually so slow that many shops close for several weeks. In other parts of the country, towns swell with tourists and trading hours are extended.

What has been consistent about January for small business retail in Australia is that it has been prdictable.

I don’t think January 2021 will play out in a predictable way.

People are not travelling overseas. But, they are motivated to travel, to shake off 2020 and to start 2021 with new memories, from more local travel.

With plenty of annual leave not taken in 2020, I suspect more will start 2021 taking leave.

Businesses will start 2021 earlier than usual, working on new approaches to business, including on-going working from home for some, which will open opportunities locally.

Places that have not seen many tourists over the years are likely to see some. Tourist destinations will fill early, encouraging people to look elsewhere.

In short, the usual January slowdown we have been used to in small business retail in most parts of Australia is less likely in 2021, in my view.

Locals staying local will be looking to embrace optimism about 2021. Local retailers can lean into this, nurture optimism and offer opportunities for engagement with the local community. In our shops we can make January fun and feed into the desire for a good start to the year.

Be ready. Make sure the shop is fresh, that you have new product and that ou provide an entertaining retail experience. Think about your hours. Find ways to leverage the changed situation.

I mention this today so you can plan. January will be different. How it plays for you depends on you.

Supporting shop local with pet soap gift from our POS software co

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Two weeks ago, we posted 1,000 gift packs featuring pet soap handmade in Australia. each pack was carefully assembled y us and posted to a thoughtfully collated database of small Aussie specialty retail businesses.

ww bought the handmade, ethically made, soap direct from the maker, in support of their local Aussie small business and to provide a connection for our message that we are a local Aussie business supporting local Aussie businesses.

It is a campaign that we planned several months out. Choosing the right soap was important, as were the words on the locally printed card that we included with each gift pack of soap.

We shared the story about being local, that we liked to support local and that we loved connecting with retail businesses that, too, loved supporting local.

This soap gift pack campaign is our way of practically showing what local can look like.

Interestingly, we sent the free pet soap to businesses outside the pet retail channel. It’s soap pet lovers will use and that is what matters most here.

What local looks like can vary by retail channel. In our POS software, we help small business retailers to pitch local, connect with local and demonstrate support for local in myriad ways. Within our POS software retailers have levers they can pullet pitch local without being overt or shouty with there shop local pitch. For us, in our software, when it comes to supporting local, we help retailers with a show, don’t tell approach. They love it. They love that they have ways they can show their local connectivity without being noisy about it.

Tower Systems is proud to serve more than 3,500 small business retailers across multiple retail channels. We are connected with each of the retail channels in different ways and support each with nuanced software, which is tailored for them.

It’s what we do … develop and support POS software for local specialty retail businesses, serving needs unique to their retail channel.

We are grateful for the opportunity to ourselves support shopping local in the execution of a marketing campaign that has at its core a shop local message.

Next time you look for pet soap, look for a locally made product. Your pet will love you for it.

Scale integrated POS software helps local retailers sell by weight easily and accurately

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The federal government tested and approved POS software scale integration from Tower Systems is used by feed shops, produce businesses, pet shops, butchers, garden centres and more. Indeed, any retailer selling products that are weighed and sold by weight can love the scale integration solution from Tower Systems.

This is smart software, enabling easy selling of items by weight.

The POS software scale integration by Tower Systems was completed years ago and has been reviewed regularly since to ensure it meets current standards.

The POS software scale integration from Tower Systems makes sense for these businesses. It’s smart for the business, smart for the customer and smart for the suppliers of products to the business. Data accuracy is key these days and scale integration facilitates data accuracy.

We have plenty of local independent retail business using our POS software scale integration tools to sell easily, accurately and seamlessly, through their scale integrated POS software.

The authorised and government approved integration of scales with the Tower Systems POS software enables us to deliver a beautiful solution to small business and independent retailers in many situations.

Our Tower Systems POS software talks with the scales, reducing the opportunity for data entry mistakes, making the sales process faster and delivering business outcomes that enable small business retailers to benefit.

Any retail business selling products by weight can rely on our scales integration for fast and accurate selling at the counter or anywhere in this business.

We work with our POS software customers to deliver a solution tailored through settings and other opportunities to serve the needs of the business. Our experience over the years from our extensive work on POS software scale integration has enabled us to provide a flexible and valued solution to our customers in this area.

Using the POS software scale integration, retailers can benefit from accurate stock on hand data, easier sales counter work flow, better business decisions and more. The benefits are considerable. The business can also be seen as more professional through scale integration with POS software.

Tower Systems serves more than 3,500 small business retailers in Australia and New Zealand. We are grateful everyday to our customers for their support.

Shopify POS software solution for small business retailers

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Aussie POS software company Tower Systems is grateful to offer a Shopify POS software solution for small business retailers.

As a Shopify partner, the Tower Systems Shopify POS software solution it seamless between the in-store POS snd the online store, with one central dataset for inventory as well as for managing sales – in-store and online.

It’s a complete solution, a proven solution in stores across many different retail niches.

Developed in Australia and delivered first years ago and enhanced regularly since, the Shopify POS software solution is robust and first for purpose for gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, toy shops, newsagents, games shops, pet shops, garden centres and plenty more. This is a robust solution for a range of vertical market businesses.

The Shopify POS software solution from Tower Systems works beautifully both at the sales counter as well as  through the online shopper experience. Tower Systems is grateful to own retail businesses with strong online sales where this Shopify POS software solution has been tested by the business itself.

By walking in the shoes of our retailers we have been able to fine-tune the Shopify POS software solution to ensure it genuinely is a solution. We bring together both sides – the POS software side and all it manages for the retail business and the Shopify side, through beautiful websites that we develop to capture online sales. By building both for our small business retail customers we are able to deliver a wholistic Shopify POS software solution.

As one of the world’s most popular eCommerce platform, Shopify is the perfect tool for selling online. With a customisable template that can be edited with ease, and a powerful backend allowing monitoring of store data, Shopify is optimal for the growth of your business.

Through the Tower Systems Shopify POS software solution link, your business can sell online with very little additional effort. The website becomes a reflection of your physical store, allowing online sales with no change in everyday trading.

We are grateful too be able to help small business retailers transact online in a seamless and data safe way, with one data set, one place to manage critical business data. This ihas been brought about through our Shopify POS software solution, something that is Australian made, for Australian businesses.

Serial number tracking in POS software helps small business retailers better serve customers

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The POS software from Tower Systems offers serial number tracking of products sold. This is a powerful point of difference for the POS software as serial number tracking is not common in software.

Using the Tower Systems POS software, retailers can record the serial numbers of all items arriving in-store that have unique serial numbers. These can be tracked at the point of sale. They can also be tracked for warranty, servicing, valuation and insurance purposes. Stores can also record serial numbers only when they sell – when they record, at arrival or sale, is up to them.

The serial number tracking facilities in the POS software become valuable in almost any retail situation in which they are used.

Thera are some retail sectors where suppliers require the tracking of product serial numbers at the point of sale. There are some regulatory situations where tracking serial numbers is key. Doing this through the POS software brings certainty and consistency to retail businesses.

Tower Systems is proud to offer serial number tracking in its POS software. We are grateful to the many suppliers and retailers who have guided us on this over the years, keeping us on top of the needs of all stakeholders in this serial number tracking space.

Serial number tracking in our POS software has been available for many years. Sure, it has been enhanced over time as needs have evolved, but we first started offering it in software we sold close to 20 years ago. Of course, the software we sell today is completely different, made for today, for today’s needs.

Using the serial number tracking tools in our POS software, retailers can also maintain good records that are useful for themselves in their own management of their businesses.

From the moment stock arrives in the business we manage serial numbers, recording each serial number. alternatively, you can enter the serial number of the item when it is sold – the retail business decides on the appropriate time for them to manage the recording of a serial number. This is a local management decision they can make.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve more than 3,500 small business retailers across several niche retail channels – with specialty POS software offering facilities like serial number tracking covered here.

The best POS software receipt in small business retail

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We reckon the receipt produced by our POS software is the best receipt you will find for small business retail. Are we biased? For sure. This is our creation, our baby.

The receipt produced by our POS software is  detailed, flexible, easily changed, encouraging, educational, factual, promotional, product supporting and loyalty engaging.

This is a receipt designed to help small business welcome shoppers back sooner.

So much of what is on the receipt is under the control of retailers. So much can be changed, easily.

Product use can care instructions can be included.

A loyalty encourager can also be included, the details of which are 100% under the control of the retailer and can be dynamically determined based on what has been purchased, when and by whom.

This is a smart receipt, a powerful receipt, a receipt designed to help small business retailers to grow their businesses.

This is a receipt for 2020 and beyond in so many ways, beyond what you can see.

There is much more to this receipt than you can see in this image, too. Our POS software offers plenty of tricks and opportunities beyond what is in this blog post.

Here at Tower Systems we are grateful for the encouragement and guidance from our retailer community to evolve the receipt beyond the traditional into something that is of genuine value in many different retail settings.

Retailers using our POS software have teremndous control over receipts, when they print, the detail included and so much more.  Our customers really are in control of the receipts their software prints.

The receipts our POS software produces can go beyond paper, too. There are electronic versions customers can leverage, but more on that another time. Suffice to say, we are innovators of all sorts of receipts, in many formats.

In addition to meeting statutory requirements, the receipts produced by the POS software from Tower Systems are a valuable and appreciated piece of marketing power in a retail business, showing off key differentiators in the business that themselves held;p to drive repeat business. We love that we have been able to do this.

Tower Systems serves more than 3,750 small business retailers across a range of retail channels. Our 40 years in the POS software development and support business have seen us move through generational changes and the old retail receipt is one example of this.

An early look at Christmas 2020 in local small business retail in Australia

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We are grateful to the many retailers who have shared recent year on year comparative sales data. This has enabled us to a deep dive into shopper traffic, basket depth and product category performance. We have done this to get an early look into what Christmas 2020 in local small business retail might look like.

The headline is that Christmas 2020 looks good in local small business retail.

Local high street retailers are doing considerably better than shopping mall retail. Suburban, regional and rural high street retail businesses, for which we have comprehensive sales data, are doing very well. They are experiencing solid double-digit year-on-year growth. For the dataset of 60+ businesses in our latest analysis, the average year on year revenue growth is 22%.

What is interesting is that the spike in revenue growth is not matched in a spike in shopper traffic. Rather, the revenue spike has come from shoppers buying more in each visit, driving better shopper efficiency. We are seeing average sale value increase by between 10% and 25%.

The dataset includes business across all states and territories except for the Northern Territory. The results are universal. There appears to be no difference between Victoria, which was in lockdown for some of the weeks under analysis and other states that were not in lockdown.

In terms of Christmas specifically, data indicate excellent year on year growth in Christmas card sales. The same is true for Christmas decorations, Christmas-themed home decor and gift wrap. Year on year growth is, again, 20% and more.

Locally made products are doing particularly well. Shoppers continue to engage with supply chain questions. A common question relates to sourcing from China.

Also of note is excellent growth in sales of calendars and diaries. The diaries growth encourages an optimistic outlook on 2021. Smart retailers are pitching it as that and having some fun with putting 2020 in the past.

Back in March, in the early days of Covid in Australia, jigsaws were hot. They sold out fast. Some expected the surge to fade over time. The latest sales data for October and even into the first two weeks of November suggest otherwise. Yes, jigsaw sales remain strong. half of the stores in the latest dataset sell jigsaws and every one of them is reporting year on year growth. The average of that growth is 150%. Key is breadth of range of supply.

In addition to the jigsaw growth, crafts, art, maker kits and similar are all showing strong results.

Comfort gifts are especially strong. Core in this category is plush. Plush is often dismissed as being tired or ho hum. We have seen sales in the plush space up as much as 50% off a strong base. In one local high street retail business in one recent week, for example, they did $1,850.00 in everyday plush, more than double their usual sales. Range, again, is key this this success.

Not reflected in the POS software collected data is anecdotal evidence that people are spending more this Christmas. Many retailers spoke to this. They spoke of shoppers saying they were spending more on loved ones as well as buying gifts for some they would not usually buy for.

There is the wonder as to the role of government stimulus funding on the sales results. While retailers think is is a factor, they do not see it as the key factor. If time does reveal it as a key factor, local small business retailers will respond accordingly. They are an agile bunch.

Considering the sales data and the and the anecdotal comments, Christmas 2020 looks strong. Plenty of retailers are already talking up the first quarter of 2021.

What if the most important stream of revenue for your business was cut off overnight?

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Hundreds of Australian businesses yesterday discovered that China was blocking their exporting of products to that country. According to news reports, Australian wine, copper, barley, coal, sugar, timber and lobster are set to be banned from Friday.

This is dreadful news for the businesses, those who work for them and the communities that rely on them for income and purchases. The ramifications across Australia could be extraordinary.

Hearing the news of the move by China, I wondered – what would happen to your business if a key income stream was cut off overnight?

Would your business survive? Do you have a plan B? Can you move quickly enough to recover? Were you too exposed to and too reliant on the key revenue stream?

These are questions you can discuss with clarity with hindsight. Better still, they are questions you can discuss in advance.

I raise the questions today because considering them before you face the challenges being faced right now by Australian exporters of wine, copper, barley, coal, sugar, timber and lobster gives you the opportunity today to be less reliant on a single revenue stream.

I get that this can read as a ho-hum topic, something not worth worrying about today. However, I bet there are wine makers, sugar farmers and fishermen who several days ago would have thought the topic ho-hum too.

What if the most important revenue stream to your business was cut off overnight, without notice?

Actions I think anyone reading this could consider include:

  1. Assess income to understand the income category streams on which the business most relies and take immediate steps to broaden these.
  2. Assess income sources. In retail especially most income comes from a shop or physical presence. Broaden this, rely on more than the physical presence.
  3. Assess the importance of suppliers by looking at percentage of revenue attached to each and taking steps to broaden these.
  4. Look at your business finances and consider the impact if any supporting finance arrangement was removed overnight.
  5. Workshop with key people as to what it would mean if any supplier was cut off from you or if any product category or brand was overnight stripped from your business. Those participating in this need to challenge each other.

In terms of the situation that has emerged in China this week, we need to look at our reliance on product from China, especially is we rely on people connected with wine, copper, barley, coal, sugar, timber and lobster. For example, if we have customers who work in wine businesses that export to China. How will they feel purchasing product from us that are sourced from China when China has struck so hard at the core of their income source?

What has happened in China is a reason for us to take stock, look more carefully at our businesses, and ensure that we are better structured to trade through unexpected decisions by others.

A personal story: Decades ago, my software company developed software for radiology practices, managing patient accounts and reports on x-rays. I wrote a word processor to make it easier and faster for radiologists to write report. It was a hit, gaining terrific early sales. A year and a half in, an international x-ray film supplier offered radiology practices free software from the US if they contracted to buy their film for 5 years. Our sales stopped overnight. I decided then that my company would never rely on a single customer or a single channel for the majority of business. It’s why we are now in 12 specialty retail channels, why we only sell to sell business retailers and why we will not borrow to fund the business.

How Tower Systems helps small business retailers sell online with Shopify connected POS software

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More small business and local retailers are selling online with beautiful websites created by the web development team at Tower Systems, working in close consultation with the POS software development team at the company.

In 2021, having a website, a beautiful website, for online sales is like having a fax machine or a photocopier was all those years ago in retail.

Through a consultative process, the web specialists at Tower help small business retailers using its POS software to discover how they can genuinely differentiate online to attract new shoppers, especially shoppers who are not local, shoppers who may otherwise not know the business exists.

By researching current search engine data as to what people are searching for, Tower Systems has been able to help small business retailers pivot online while using the existing business for labour and other overheads.

While the temptation is for represent to represent their existing physical retail business online, the most success is had by retailers who treat their website as a start-up, a new business. This is where the comprehensive keyword research by Tower can help unlock commercially valuable opportunities.

One small business retailer in Numurkah Victoria created a beautiful baby website, helping that business to expand their baby gifts and products offering and through this to find many shoppers interstate, adding genuine bottom line value. Today, the website for that retail business is one of the best you will see in that category.

All website development is done in Australia by the Tower Systems web team. They have delivered many websites for retailers. They have also delivered five websites through which members of a group sell collectively, to reach an even bigger audience.

While Tower Systems partners with the Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce e-commerce platforms, it is the Shopify platform that is most widely used for small business retailers.

The Tower web experts can offer guidance on shipping, methods of payment, marketing, pricing, product category structure, photos and more. They guide retailers from beginning to going live.

By connecting their website seamlessly to the Tower POS software, small business retailers are able to manage inventory and data efficiently and accurately.

We are grateful for all the retailers engaging with our web strategy and for their pursuit of sales growth through a diverse mix of retail opportunities.

VEND POS software search problems speak to a key challenge for cloud POS software

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VEND POS software reported customer, product and sales related search problems on their product status page over the last 24 hours, impacting retail businesses using their POS software. The situation is a reminder of a challenge for cloud based POS software. If the platform is down or experiencing an issue, all customers on the cloud based POS software platform experience the issue.

Here is the information from the VEND cloud POS software website about the recent issues:

While our Tower Systems POS Software can be run in the cloud and is used in the cloud by a bunch of our retailer customers, the majority of our small business retailer customers choose the in-house desktop hosted option, running in their business, 100% under their control. This approach contains any problem to their business in most situations.

While, for many, the benefit of centrally managed cloud hosted POS software is appealing, the risk of network wide outage is challenging. The cost of not being able to search customers or inventory or some sales could be detrimental to a business.

VEND reported another problem to its network a month ago, on Facebook:

It is important that small business retailers weigh up the risks to their businesses when considering cloud hosted POS or desktop POS. We serve either. VEND is a cloud based solution and that’s why the outage reported by them is one that it drawing attention today.

We wish the folks at VEND all the best to resolve the issue in a timely and complete manner. No software company wants to see another software company dealing with tech challenges that are impacting customer businesses, especially the businesses that may be vulnerable or businesses just recently coming out of Covid lockdown.

When we read of the VEND cloud POS tech challenges and the outages being experienced today with customer and stock searches and some sales searches, we took this as a reminder to look at our processes, our checks and balances, our platforms and the redundancy we offer our customers. It is a reminder to all of us to ensure that we actively help our customers run stable businesses using our tech with the least possible downtime.

Operating in a purely cloud hosted environment does put a business at risk, it makes them dependent on their provider to have processes and redundancies in place to serve their needs. This is critical in service of stable and interruption free trading.

If a retailer asks our opinion – cloud hosted POS or in-house desktop hosted POS, we share that we have ourselves run shops with our POS 100% in the cloud and we have run shops with our POS software 100% in-store, on the desktop. For a whole bunch of reasons, today we choose in-house. We like the control it provides and that we are not reliant on the internet and the infrastructure of others to keep the POS software accessible to us.

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