The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryGarden centre software

Tower Systems offers small business retailers help with the Petya malware attack

T

We published to our small business POS software customers today reminder advice on the best steps to follow to protect the business against impact from malware. This is especially relevant today because of the overnight Petya attack in the UK and elsewhere, including in Australia.

Being early with consistent professional advice helps our small business customers protect their businesses.

Here is best practice advice on which any computer user can rely:

MALWARE WARNING.
A new malware attack on computers is sweeping the world. It has hit the UK government, big businesses (shutting down the Cadbury factory in Tasmania) and small businesses. Please protect your business. Here is our advice.

  1. Tell all who use your computers to not open any emails that look suspicious in any way.
  2. Do not click on any links unless you are 100% sure.
  3. Do not open attachments unless you are 100% sure.
  4. Make sure you have the latest Windows update running on every computer.
  5. Never connect a computer to your network unless you are sure it is clean.
  6. Advise all employees of these requirements.

The easiest way to recover is if you use a professional cloud backup.

Why retailers love the loyalty software in the small business POS software from Tower Systems

W

Shopper loyalty software needs to drive sales. If it does not do this then it fails the business and is of questionable value.

The only stat that matters in any assessment of loyalty facilities in any POS software is the incremental business delivered by using the loyalty facilities.

This is where the loyalty software facilities from Tower Systems come into their own. Offering a broad range of loyalty solutions, small business retailers can choose the approach that works best for them, included a blend of multiple approaches.

Most retail businesses using our specialist retail software love its points-based loyalty program that looks and feels as professional as the supermarkets’ programs. However, our software’s Discount Voucher facilities deliver even better results.

Discount vouchers are a very different approach to loyalty. They offer immediate rewards. They help shoppers spend more this visit. This is vital in businesses that see shoppers once, in tourist and similar locations. They genuinely change shopper behaviour in that visit to the business.

One of our own retail businesses reported growth of 10% in the three months. 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.

  1. You name the voucher anything you like and can change this at any time.
  2. You set the rules on how the value of the voucher is calculated.
  3. You set the rules on what the voucher can be redeemed for.
  4. You set the rules on expiry dates.

Male shoppers are more likely to spend the voucher immediately and many customers use the voucher to purchase items more expensive than the items in the initial purchase made. Customers see the voucher as cash, often commenting that they like the direct approach better than a points-based system. They like the transparency and simplicity.

In our own retail experience, which sees us competing against major retailers in a Westfield shopping centre, several shoppers have stated they prefer Discount Vouchers over the rewards programs of our competitors.

We are confident that Tower Systems’ Discount Voucher facilities can help you:

  1. Get customers spending more in a visit.
  2. Bring existing customers back sooner.
  3. Attract new shoppers to your business.
  4. Drive impulse purchases at the sales counter.

Here is a video from us about Discount Vouchers:

Security warning for small business retailers

S

2017 has seen an extraordinary spike in attacks on computers and on websites. Our ability to help will depend on the care you have taken. Our advice is that you use a cloud backup service, like the Tower Backup service we offer. It works in the background, backing up without you having to do a backup. If your business is attacked, getting back to a clean and safe place is easy. Any reputable backup service should be able to offer similar to you.

Please do not put this off. Get protection for your business and your business data. You don’t want to be the person who does this after you have been attacked.

At the very least, backup every day, onto a USB stick for that day. While this is an old-school approach, it is better than nothing at all.

But let’s be clear, cloud backup is our recommendation. Our service provides you with a local backup and an offsite backup, in the cloud. This gives you two backups, excellent protection. We monitor the backups to ensure they are working. If we find an issue, we proactively call you. This is rare from a cloud backup service provider.

Here at Tower Systems we take data security seriously. We provide best-pracie advice. Our customers are welcome to use our service or another, our recommendation, however, is that they do something – to be protected.

Too often small business retailers think about data security after they have been affected. Hence this advice here and in our weekly emails and elsewhere in our touch points with customers.

More accountants join the Tower Systems POS software Xero list

M

We are thrilled to welcome more Xero skilled accountants and bookkeepers to our list of professional resources, listed on our website. This is another service for our small business retail friends. We are grateful to our customers for their feedback on the usefulness of this service. What you can see below is only a fraction of the list.

Regional small business POS software user meetings demonstrate customer care

R

We are grateful to our customers and prospective customers who attended regional face to face small business POS software training and user meetings in New South Wales this week.

As we criss-crossed the north of New South Wales by plane and car we covered plenty of ground and met with plenty of small business people, from different specialty retail sectors.

Every encounter in our sessions and after in private Q&A added to our knowledge of small business retail and provided us an opportunity to preach Tower.

100% committed to only selling to small business retailers, we demonstrated through the sessions a commitment to transparency, welcoming customers and prospects to one session in each town. It was terrific hearing the blend of questions and sharing solutions that are well covered in our software today.

It is hard work putting together regional in-person user meetings like these. And expensive. These are reasons most POS software companies do not do it. That we do run these sessions is a genuine differentiator for Tower Systems. Plus, for those unable to attend, we host weekly online workshops, without fail.

Next week, we hit top far north Queensland with four sessions. We are looking forward to learning more and sharing more with small business retailers from a range of channels.

Inviting garden centres and nurseries to consider the Tower Systems software

I

Tower Systems is a well established software company serving garden centres and nurseries with competent and speciality garden centre management software.

We are well established in this space with loved software that is regularly enhances to serve the specialty needs of garden centre and nursery retailers.

Developed in close consultation with retail business owners and their managers, our garden centre software takes a service-first approach to delivering genuinely useful solutions to these specialty retail businesses.

Using our Garden Centre / Nursery Software you can easily:

  1. Sell products easily, with accuracy and capturing data vital to guiding business decisions.
  2. Handle customer special orders.
  3. Offer Gift Cards. we can also help with professional production of gift cards.
  4. Sell products as hampers / packs / bundles.
  5. Sell products by weight.
  6. Offer LayBys.
  7. As you re-pot plants, easily increase the retail value.
  8. Print product labels for plants outdoors.
  9. Run Sale Catalogues – based on a date range.
  10. Offer traffic-driving shopper loyalty –  $$$ off the next purchase based on rules you set. Successful loyalty offer for independent retailers.
  11. Automatically include local plant care information on receipts.
  12. Offer the more traditional points-based shopper loyalty.
  13. Import electronic invoices and stock files from suppliers.
  14. Reorder based on accurate data – reducing the cost of dead stock.
  15. Handle BOGO: handling Buy One get One Free offers.
  16. Offer MultiBuy – like a coffee card, free product over time … ideal for encouraging habit based shoppers
  17. Save time with the Xero accounting interface – cut bookkeeping costs.
  18. Link to Magento and Shopify – connect to your website.
  19. Save time & cut mistakes with EFTPOS integration.
  20. Save time on stock takes.
  21. Print professional receipts with your logo.
  22. Track product serial numbers.
  23. Age check for items with a minimum age requirement such as chemicals if you sell them
  24. Use up-sell prompts for staff.

Click and collect helps small business retailers win more online sales

C

Tower Systems has been offering click and collect for its various developed online websites for months. It is a ripper of a success, both in terms of sales and attracting new shopper traffic.

Our POS software connected website solutions in magento, Shopify and WooCommerce deliver valuable new traffic solutions. Click and collect is one of several enhancements key to this.

Click and collect is where people shop online and visit a physical store to pick up the goods purchased. It is a major focus of big business retailers like David Jones, Myer, Officeworks, Coles and others. Offering it shows online shoppers how current you are in your online approach. It builds trust.

Customers like that they can shop online at any time, pay online, and be certain that what they purchased is set aside for them to collect at any time.

It is shop online at any time that matters in that the majority of transactions are done outside usual shopping hours. This gives click and collect businesses an advantage – they can win the sale and bank the revenue while their nearby competitors are closed.

Another benefit of click and collect is that it introduces new shoppers to a business. Two thirds of click and collect shoppers surveyed visit the shop from where they collected the goods for the first time. Half purchased other items while in the store. Close to half came back for more purchases, having discovered what the store sells.

Around a quarter of click and collect shoppers use interest-free online LayBy… meaning they buy now, pay later and get the goods right away. The retailer is paid right away less a tiny processing fee that is not much more than the usual credit card fee.

Click and collect is not a massive game changer. Rather, it is a small step in a series of steps that make up a successful comprehensive online strategy.

A comprehensive online strategy is key to competing with other online businesses as well as with other high street businesses.

The way we help our small business retail customers leverage click and collect is through offering access to absolutely current stock on hand data for sought after brands. Having this, updated every 5 minutes 24/7 is what shoppers want when shopping online. It is hard to achieve – this is a reason many small and independent retailers and retail groups have not done it.

Online is big and growing. You only have to look at data from any of the online giants to understand this.

Tower Systems is thrilled to offer leadership on this.

Tower Systems brings POS software / webstore workshop to regional Australia

T

Launching today, small business POS software company is bringing training, insights and inspiration to small business retailers in regional Australia through a series of thoughtful and interactive live workshops in towns and cities in New South Wales and Queensland.

Each session is free and each will be attended by senior folk from ur business, sharing the latest insights from Australia and overseas.

  1. Coffs Harbour. June 19. 10am. Novotel.
  2. Tamworth. June 20. 10am. Leagues Club.
  3. Newcastle. June 21. 10am. Mercure.
  4. Dubbo. June 22. 10am. Quest.
  5. Wagga Wagga. June 23. 10am. International Hotel.
  6. Cairns. June 26. 2pm. Novotel.
  7. Townsville. June 27. 10am. Mercure.
  8. Mackay. June 28. 10am. Mackay Grande Suites.
  9. Rockhampton. June 29. 10am. Quest.
  10. Gold Coast. July 5. 2pm. Sofitel.

Come and see how small business retailers around the world are using website connected POS software to win online sales.

We will explain how to get to the top of Google search results. In fact, we will show it with live search.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We have software for: gift shopsjewellersbike shops, pet shops,  toy shopsfishing/outdoorsgarden centres/nurseries, newsagentsproduce stores and firearms retailers.

Free POS software & e-commerce workshop for regional QLD small business retailers.

F

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

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

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

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

  1. Cairns. June 26. 2pm. Novotel.
  2. Townsville. June 27. 10am. Mercure.
  3. Mackay. June 28. 10am. Mackay Grande Suites.
  4. Rockhampton. June 29. 10am. Quest.

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

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

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

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

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

If you have sales queries prior to these events please talk with your local account manager: QLD: Justin Randall. 0434 365 789.

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

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

We have software for: gift shopsjewellersbike shops, pet shops,  toy shopsfishing/outdoorsgarden centres/nurseries, newsagentsproduce stores and firearms retailers.

Employee theft remains the biggest concern of small business retailers.

E

Employee theft in small retail businesses remains the biggest single concern among small business retailers and the biggest single cost to retail businesses.

We say this based on evidence of interaction with 3,500+ small business retailers in our user community and from working with plenty of retailers outside our user community, helping them to deal with the hurt and cost of discovering theft by retailers.

We have tried many approached to getting the attention of small business retailers on the issue of theft. One of the most successful means of engagement has been this cheeky video from us. It gets attention.

We have used it through YouTube as well as other platforms. It works a treat, gaining thousands of views.

Australian developed POS software for Australian specialty retailers

A

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We have software for: gift shopsjewellersbike shops, pet shops,  toy shopsfishing/outdoorsgarden centres/nurseries, newsagentsproduce stores and firearms retailers.

Helping small business retailers manage efficient and accurate stock takes

H

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

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

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

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

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

This free training and personal assistance with stock takes in another Tower AdvantageTM.

Free POS software & e-commerce workshop for regional NSW small business retailers.

F

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We have software for: gift shopsjewellersbike shops, pet shops,  toy shopsfishing/outdoorsgarden centres/nurseries, newsagentsproduce stores and firearms retailers.

Small business retail management advice: be generous with your loyalty offer

S

Too often small and independent retail businesses create and run shopper loyalty programs that mimic their big business competitors. They ignore that the big business loyalty programs do not have rewarding shopper loyalty as a core focus.

Big business loyalty programs are primarily about the needs and profitability of the big business running them. Too often, they do not offer a real reward for loyalty.

Our advice for small business retailers is to be generous with your loyalty program.

Offer generous rewards for loyalty. Run a loyalty program shoppers love, a program that brings shoppers back again and again.

It is called a loyalty program after all. Show your customers you appreciate their loyalty.

Being stingy will cause frustration and anger among customers, it could have them talking negatively about the business. This is not good for business.

When we look at loyalty programs that have failed to deliver good results in a small or independent retail business, the most common cause we find is that the loyalty reward is not sufficiently a reward.

This is why we encourage retailers to be generous in loyalty reward settings.

The best way to reflect generosity is through transparency of value. By this we mean making it clear what a reward is worth. This is why a dollar amount is more valuable than points. People understand dollars. It is unlikely the will easily understand the ‘value’ of points.

While the Tower Systems software offers multiple loyalty programs and options, our recommended approach is discount vouchers. It is easy to setup, easily understood by shoppers and genuine in the reward.

Showing $$ value on receipts in the form of a voucher that can be spent presents immediate in-store opportunities as well as after the visit opportunities. Our research indicates an average redemption of 20% of all vouchers issued and a total net cost to the business of around 1% of turnover for, usually, a 8% to 10% bump in sales.

For more advice and assistance on the best-practice approach to shopper loyalty, please talk with the team at Tower Systems.

Australian based web development team developing retail business websites

A

Tower Systems is proud to offer access to its Melbourne based web development team for the development of websites for retail businesses.

Our service is comprehensive and engaging, with retailer to web developer access.

We do not use an overseas development business to do the work for us. All of the work is done by us in ou own office.

This is a point of difference.

Overseas web developers are much cheaper. However, there is a reason for this … it is often evident in the websites they deliver.

Our local web development team has delivered many sites already – free standing as well as POS software integrated websites. We have a wonderful portfolio to share, to demonstrate the technical and design skill sets we have in-house in our Australian software company.

Australian retail businesses benefit from Australian developed websites.

WARNING: There are companies that look like Australian web development companies that actually have all the development work done offshore. Ask to meet with or talk with the tech team, ensure they are local, ensure you can easily contact them.

Sourcing a local develop0er is important if you consider your business to be local.

How our POS software Xero link helps us win online sales for our own retail business

H

 

Online LayBy made easy.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Amazing free POS software training for small business retailers for June

A

We are grateful for the support from our customers for our free online POS software training. Here is the June schedule. All free. All available to any of our customers. We do so many sessions because of all our customers. Even with this list we are sure to add more closer to the time.

  1. Getting Ready for EOFY Thursday 1st June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  2. Stocktaking for EOFY Wednesday 7th June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
  3. Getting Ready for EOFY Thursday 8th June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  4. Getting Ready for EOFY Wednesday 14th June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  5. Stocktaking for EOFY Thursday 15th June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
  6. Stocktaking for EOFY Wednesday 21st June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
  7. Getting Ready for EOFY Thursday 22nd June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  8. Getting Ready for EOFY Wednesday 28th June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  9. Stocktaking for EOFY Thursday 29th June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.

Tower Systems helps small business retailers fine Xero skilled accountants

T

As a side benefit of our work providing a beautiful small business POS software Xero link, we continue to expand our list of Xero skilled accountants. Retailers and accountants love this free service we provide. It speaks to the mutual respect and support of all of us in the growing worldwide Xero community have for each other.

In our opinion, based on years of experience with several accounting software packages for small retail businesses, xero is the best.

Our POS software xero integration is a joy to use … yes, we use it ourselves for our own retail businesses. This is the opinion of our in-house CPA.

Small business retailers love transparent POS software beta release program

S

We are well into the beta release of a new version of our small business POS software for specialty retail channels.

The beta release program we follow is structured and transparent with customers able to nominate to be part of the program.

Here is the invitation email we sent a few weeks ago seeking beta release participants.

We are committed to regularly changing our beta customer team. They play an important role in determining if a new release of software is ready for our 3,500+ small business retail users.

The latest beta release if travelling well. We have terrific feedback that is guiding tweaking the latest release as we step closer to wide commercial release.

The POS Software Blog

Categories

Categories

Categories

Recent Comments

Monthly Archives