The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Categorygift shop software

Helping small business retailers easily add a surcharge of credit card transactions through POS software

September 17, 2019
2 Min read
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With tight margins, tough competition, higher labour costs and higher tenancy costs, it is no wonder more retailers are charging a fee for some, maybe all, card use by customers.

Some cards, the premium cards, are especially expensive for retailers to take. These cards typically offer their customers benefits, which are paid for through higher fees for the participating retailers.

More and more retailers are applying a surcharge automatically to each card paid transaction to help defray the costs of taking the cards.

Retailers using the POS software from  Tower Systems have the tools in their software today to auto charge a surcharge for card use.

Our view as a software company is to serve the needs of our customers. They asked us some time  ago  for the auto surcharge facility and we delivered – giving our customers the flexibility to charge if they wished. There is no pressure from us, no requirement, no mandate. Rather, we have delivered through the software tools that make charging a credit card surcharge through the POS software easy.

We are grateful to our customers for their guidance as the the flexibility needed to serve their credit card surcharge needs, to ensure that the POS software levies the charge how and when they want, in a way that does not disrupt or challenge the sales counter experience.

Setting up any surcharge in the POS software, as opposed too on asn EFTPOS terminal, allows the sale total, including the surcharge, to appear on your Retailer receipts as well as your EFTPOS merchant copies. This is a better outcome for the business as well as for the shoppers.

Tower Systems customers have flexibility and ease of implementation, to enable them to use this in a way that minimises the risk or challenge for any retail business. It offers transparency, tracking and management oversight to enable a business to assess the use of and income from the surcharge and to also determine the positive or negative impact of the credit card surcharge on the broader business.

Credit card surcharges by retailers are common as they look at the costs in their businesses. By charging customers based on a cost of a specific service they can guide customers to make other decisions, which may cost less.

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Free web connected POS software workshops to help small business retailers sell online

September 16, 2019
2 Min read
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A free workshop for small business retailers: How to find new customers by selling online direct from POS software for your specific type of business using Shopify and Magento.

Join us for a free workshop where we will explore Shopify and Magento direct connected POS software for specialty retailers: jewellers, garden centres, produce, toy, firearms, fishing, outdoors, newsagents, pet, gift, book, bike and adult.

At the interactive and engaging workshops we will focus on new online insights for 2020 and beyond that are relevant to indie small business retailers.

  1. Hear from current case studies what other indie retailers are doing.
  2. Find out how to use online to drive in-store shopping.
  3. Learn how click and collect actually works.
  4. Find out about the different buy now pay later options for online sales.
  5. See how stock data including images flow easily from the POS to online.

Each workshop will be live and interactive and relevant to your type of business. It could save you thousands in web developer fees. This will not be a sales pitch. We will share what we know having done this work ourselves for the retail businesses we own in the homewares, pop culture, collectible, plush, gift and games segments of retail.

We live everyday the challenges of pricing, marketing, shipping and more and we will share out learnings.

We will cover hot topics including: SEO, shipping options, free shipping, the role of social in online sales, returns, bundles, branding and a plan b for your web strategy.

Click on your preferred city below to book. Each workshop (except for online) will be in an easy to get to capital city location.

  1. Sydney. Sept. 30. 10am.
  2. Adelaide. October 1. 10am.
  3. Perth. October 2. 10:30am.
  4. Hobart. October 3. 11am.
  5. Melbourne. October 4. 10am.
  6. Auckland. October 7. 10am.
  7. Brisbane. October 8. 10am.
  8. Canberra. October 9. 10am.
  9. Online. October 10. 10am. AEST.
  10. Online. October 10. 2pm. AEST.
  11. Wellington. October 14. 10am.
  12. Christchurch. Oct. 15. 10am.

We are local. Tower Systems serves 3,500+ specialty businesses – with POS software and websites. We make what we sell. We use it ourselves too, in our own retail and online businesses.

With these workshops and all we do, goal is to help you enjoy a more successful and valuable business.

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Gift shop POS software benefits helps gift shop businesses compete

September 11, 2019
3 Min read
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The Tower Systems gift shop POS software is packed with awesome benefits for gust shop owners. Here are some of the benefits gift shop owners can tap into using the Tower System gift shop software:

  1. Get one-time-only shoppers spending more thanks to an easy to pitch loyalty system embedded in the software.
  2. Leverage you. If you believe your knowledge is a differentiator, offer it through structured opportunities in the software.
  3. Encourage customer happiness by serving product care info. on receipts.
  4. Easily handle special customer orders. Bring product in for a specific customer and have them notified automatically by email or text when the goods are in and ready.
  5. Easily sell online with a direct to Shopify / Magento or WooCommerce link from your POS software – including image flow.
  6. Go cashless if that is your goal – we make it easy and affordable.
  7. Save time with electronic invoices from suppliers.
  8. Use tags to get a fresh perspective, side-view, on stock performance.
  9. Bundle items together to make price comparisons harder and thereby increase sales.
  10. Business differentiating loyalty. Stand out from the crowd. Have customers coming back to youfor this.
  11. Trade and club pricing profiles. Set pricing rules based on customer type.
  12. Make money from pre-orders – Easily pre-sell a delivery so that when the stock arrives you can manage distribution and billing efficiently.
  13. Differentiate with informative receipts. These can include product care, use and safety information based on what customers buy.
  14. Track who sold what.
  15. Say goodbye to LayBy – with integrated buy now pay later options.
  16. Market to customers based on past purchases.
  17. Save timeby importing electronic invoices.
  18. Sell more with a direct connect to buy now pay later services.
  19. Cut mistakes with integrated EFTPOS.
  20. Cut accounting and bookkeeping fees with integration to Xero and others.
  21. Gift shop business specific. This software is developed for your type of business.
  22. In the cloud or in-store. You choose where the software runs.
  23. Rent or buy. You choose how to acquire and fund the software.
  24. We help with business performance analysis and theft checks, services where we take a deep dive into your data and provide confidential insights.
  25. Every customer has the direct contact details for our leadership team for easy and safe escalation of any query.
  26. No pressure. You buy when you are ready.
  27. Retail group engagement. Groups and members of groups have opportunities for group level customisation website sales and more.
  28. 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.
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Secret tools help small business retailers cut the cost of employee theft

September 7, 2019
2 Min read
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The cost of employee theft in small business retail is considerable.  It is one of those costs to business that is not known until a business actually looks at the data. Most small business owners, however, do not look at the data until they are forced too. Often, by then, it is too late to recover all of what has been taken from the business.

Retailers can cut the cost of employee theft. Smart POS software makes this easier to achieve.

In the Tower Systems POS software there are secret tools that help small business retailers detect employee theft. detection is the first step to cutting the cost of theft. Knowledge is power as they say. The secret tools cannot be found by any9one unless they know the path and have access to the secret kay.l This information is only provided to business owners – if they want to know, if they want to cut the cost of employee theft.

Using POS software to cut the cost of employee theft in a retail business is, in our view, smart. It saves money, saves time and encourages the business onto a path of greater prosperity.

Tower Systems advises, encourages and guides small business retailers on cutting the cost of theft. We do this using the secret tools embedded deep within our software. We also doo it through our work with the police,  crown prosecutors, private investigators and other who9 are also working to help cut the cost of employee theft in retail businesses, especially in small business retail.

This is critical for businesses for too often we see them come to a realisation abut theft only after the money is long gone.

People can be clever and smart as to how they go abut stealing from a retail business. The secret tools in our POS software help  small business retailers to see the theft early in the cycle, before the damage is too great and in a way that enables the business owner to think about appropriate next steps to get the evidence necessary for police engagement. This is critical.

Small business retailers can cut the cost of employee theft. Tower Systems can help with this. We have people in our company skilled and experienced to help small business retailers achieve this.

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Xero connected POS software for small business retailers saves time, costs costs and helps businesses grow

September 5, 2019
2 Min read
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The Xero connects POS software from Tower Systems is helloing indie and small business retailers ro run more efficient,  enjoyable and successful retail businesses.

Thanks to the seamless integration from the Tower Systems POS software with the Xero cloud based accounting solution, small business retailers have a solution through which they can expect to achieve reduced bookkeeping costs, lower accounting costs, easier access to business performance projections, reduced data entry errors and an overall better outlook for the retail business.

Having partnered with Xero for the POS software integration for years, Tower Systems delivers to small business retailers a proven and valuable solution through which retailers have access to their P&L and balance sheet from data sales, invoice and other data flow from the POS software.

This is smart for the business and financially positive from the outset thanks to the elimination of accounting costs.

Tower Systems is a partner of Xero, listed by the company on its website. We go further, though. We use Xero ourselves, for retail businesses we own and operate, walking daily in the shoes of our customers integration POS software with Xero and overseen by our own in house CPA. This is a unique position for a POS software company – being a retailer too and using our POS software and its Xero integration for valuable advantage.

Our Xero POS software integration is one of many approved integrations provided by the software to serve the needs of retailers. Other integrations include:

  1. Tyro broadband EFTPOS, which is fast, efficient and secure.
  2. Links to all major banks through PC-EFTPOS. This includes, NAB, ANZ and CBA.
  3. Magento e-commerce. Magento is an excellent platform for website sales for small to medium businesses.
  4. Shopify e-commerce. Shopify is an excellent entry-level solution for small to medium businesses.
  5. FlyBys in New Zealand.
  6. Transactor loyalty in New Zealand.
  7. Scale integration for selling by weight.
  8. Touch networks for vending event tickets, phone recharge, fishing licences and more.

These integrations, like the Xero POS software integration, deliver time saving, cost saving and other benefits to the small business retailers with whom we happily partner.

Our goal is to help small business retailers run more successful and enjoyable businesses.

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Free POS software e-commerce workshops for small business retailers

September 3, 2019
2 Min read
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How to find new customers by selling online direct from POS software for your specific type of business using Shopify and Magento.

Join us for a free workshop where we will explore Shopify and Magento direct connected POS software for specialty retailers: jewellers, garden centres, produce, toy, firearms, fishing, outdoors, newsagents, pet, gift, book, bike and adult. We will focus on new online insights for 2020 and beyond

  1. Hear from current case studies what other indie retailers are doing.
  2. Find out how to use online to drive in-store shopping.
  3. Learn how click and collect actually works.
  4. Find out about the different buy now pay later options for online sales.
  5. See how stock data including images flow easily from the POS to online.

This workshop will be live and interactive and about your type of business. It could save you thousands in web developer fees. This will not be a sales pitch.

We will cover hot topics including: SEO, shipping options, free shipping, the role of social in online sales, returns, bundles, branding and a plan b for your web strategy.

Click on your preferred city below to book. Each workshop (except for online) will be in an easy to get to capital city location.

  1. Sydney. Sept. 30. 10am.
  2. Adelaide. October 1. 10am.
  3. Perth. October 2. 10:30am.
  4. Hobart. October 3. 11am.
  5. Melbourne. October 4. 10am.
  6. Auckland. October 7. 10am.
  7. Brisbane. October 8. 10am.
  8. Canberra. October 9. 10am.
  9. Online. October 10. 10am. AEST.
  10. Online. October 10. 2pm. AEST.
  11. Wellington. October 14. 10am.
  12. Christchurch. Oct. 15. 10am.

We are local. Tower Systems serves 3,500+ specialty businesses – with POS software and websites. We make what we sell. We use it ourselves too, in our own retail and online businesses. If you think we could help you, please call 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.

Our goal is to help you enjoy a more successful and valuable business.

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Tower Systems helps protect small business retailers with cloud backup service

August 30, 2019
2 Min read
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POS software company Tower Systems provides its small business retailer community with access to a secure cloud backup service.

This service provides on-location and secure off-location backups of data, giving retailers double protection in the event of an attack or major hardware crash that necessitates access to backed up data.

The benefits are clear:

  1. Time saved thanks to no more end of day backup.
  2. Fast restore in the event of a cyber attack or system  crash.
  3. Incremental backups meaning the ability to restore back to prior some event occurred.
  4. Peace of mind.
  5. No need to remember to backup.
  6. Double backups = more protection.
  7. Security of off site backups.

The best way to any business, especially any small business, to be prepared for an attack, beyond firewall and other force-field protection is to have easy and fast access to up to date backup data, of whole of systems backup data.

The Tower Systems cloud backup service is safe, secure, offsite and on site and updated regularly as each day transacts.

Our cloud backup service for small business retailers has professional redundancy built in. We will not provide details here as to do so could compromise the security.

There have been instances recently where after a crypto lock attack on a client we have had them up and running, fully restored, within the hour.

This is what professional backup looks like. It is insurance for getting over the attack quickly and professionally. Without a hefty price tag.

We monitor the backups. for no additional cost to customers This is bonus coverage beyond the notifications on your local computer about backup status.

The peace of mind is valuable and appreciated by small business retailers and people who work in small business retail and have been responsible for undertaking the daily backups. It frees them to focus on other requirements, other parts of their business.

Cloud back is, in our view, the only safe backup for small business retailers. It is what we recommend. It is what we use ourselves in our own retail businesses.

Tower Systems is proud to offer this service to its small business retailer POS software community.

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ATO warns small businesses on sales suppression software

August 29, 2019
2 Min read
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The ABC has reported the ATO is clamping down on small businesses using sales suppression software to minimise tax.

Ms Jenkins said the ATO was also cracking down on the use of sales suppression software that disguised the transactions within a company’s records.

“There is some really sophisticated software out there that is helping people avoid paying the right amount of tax.

“But whether it is cashless payments or whether it is the use of platforms or apps, it means there is really a trace of your transactions.

“We use merchant data and other sources of information to identify where things just don’t look right. Then we go and have a chat to them and say, ‘Hey, can you explain?’

In the mid 1990s there was sales suppression scam operating in the newsagency channel. I became aware of it because my newsagency software company lost businesses because we refused to offer such a facility.

There was a software program into which the retailer could enter a code and then an amount of cash they wanted to take out of the business unreported. A second set of records was maintained for the ATO and another records for the business owner.

I know because the software was demonstrated to me several times, by someone who had worked for the software company that created the software. They had approached me. I did some more checking with newsagents and discovered the facility in the software was being used.

The matter was reported to the ATO. At their then Box Hill office in Victoria they assembled a task force including representatives from the ATO, Federal Police, Federal Attorney General office. Victorian State Revenue and Victorian Attorney General office. Several of us with knowledge were brought in for a demonstration of the software. There were several follow up meetings with the ATO in Sydney.

Eventually, my software company stopped losing sales due to us not having the tax avoidance facility in our software.

Any retailer deliberately and systematically underreporting their income to avoid tax deserves what they get from the ATO and from any suppliers they impact through their actions.

  1. We refuse to help any retailer avoid tax.
  2. We will not code for tax avoidance in o0ur software.
  3. We will report it if we see it.
  4. Retailers and taxpayers need to be able to trust POS software.
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5 ways to use our POS software to increase sales

August 23, 2019
2 Min read
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Here are five ways you can use our small business focused, specialty retail business POS software to increase sales. We can help you implement each of these:

  1. Discount vouchers. A voucher on receipts offer customers $$ off a purchase. The pitch is easy. Differentiate your business from old-school loyalty. Usually, 20% of vouchers are redeemed. Guys redeem immediately, girls a week or so later. Get shoppers back sooner and spending more.
  2. Multi-buy. Easily offer a deal for the purchase of more than one of an item. This approach is used effectively in big businesses like Officeworks and Bunnings. Setup is easy. Tracking the results is a dream.
  3. Buy now pay later. Zip Pay, Zip Money, Humm and others integrated in our software offer easy and fast settling buy now pay laterplatforms where you carry no financial risk. This is better for your business than LayBy.
  4. Show off your value-add. Include product care information and local area knowledge related to what you sell on receipts. Share your knowledge to differentiate your business.
  5. Easily sell online. Connect your business to a beautiful Shopify website and sell way beyond your local area. We can develop the site for you on a fixed price basis and link it to your POS software to save time and money.

This advice is part of regular advice we provide our customers in a customer service email ent weekly. For each advice point we have specific implementation guidance that we share to make it easier and more consistent to achieve what we pitch.

This is all part of the Tower Systems service, part of what we do beyond the software itself to help our customers achieve more from and with our POS software.

We think they type of service is a differentiator for us. It is a way we demonstrate deliverables for our customers that are not common from POS software companies. We are grateful to our community for the opportunity to share these and other business beneficial ideas.

Of course, we have more than these 5 ways to use our POS software to increase sales, many more. These ideas are a start, a simple demonstration. We help our customers way beyond these five.

Come join us…

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POS software lead referral program for bookkeepers and accountants

August 21, 2019
3 Min read
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Our lead referral program is for bookkeepers and accountants who invest time and knowledge to help introduce us to prospective POS software customers.  To express interest please email sales@towersystems.com.au. To find out more: Click here for an information document from us.

  1. We link direct to Xero.
  2. We link through a partner to MYOB and Quicken.
  3. We link to Tyro for fast, safe cost effective EFTPOS as well as the big banks.
  4. For buy now pay later, we link to Oxipay (Hmmm) and ZipPay ZipMoney.
  5. We integrate with Shopify, Magento and Woo for easy e-commerce.
  6. We also develop websites for retailers at our Hawthorn, VIC, head office, websites finely tuned to the needs of local retailers..

Our POS software is purpose built with versions for garden centres, jewellers, bike  shops, toy shops, firearms businesses, fishing and outdoors shops, gift shops, newsagents, farm supply, rural and stockfeed businesses, adult shops and newsagents. We dive deep into the needs of each retail channel.

We are keen to work with bookkeepers and others who also specialise in their service of specific retail channel retailers. We’d love to get sales leads from you. To engage please email sales@towersystems.com.au. This is also the entry point for any queries.  Click here to access an information document.

ABOUT US.
Tower Systems is a vertical market POS software company. That is, we sell software designed for specific retail channels. The home page of our website lists all the retail channels in which we serve at any time.

While we may sell/rent/lease our software to businesses outside the retail channels listed, it is rare and only when approved by the leadership team of the company.

We currently serve in excess of 3,000 small business retailers primarily in Australia and New Zealand.

We actively promote our software through direct mail, social media marketing, search engine ads, trade shows and, recently, on radio and TV.

WE ARE RETAILERS TOO.
We own and run three unique retail shops, offering us hands-on retail experience where we can test and refine our software. This has been particularly useful in workflow management where we have tuned our software for efficiency in counter-based retail.

Owning and running retail businesses enables us to provide a unique and valuable level of practical, retailer-focussed, advice to our customers.

ACCOUNTING LINKS AND SERVICES.
We have a full time CPA in the business as our CFO.

Our software is directly integrated with Xero. We are a Xero partner.

Our software also links with MYOB and Quicken through a third party product.

Our customers, through our help desk, have access to comp0lete support in the use of our software as well as practical advice on the correct linking of our software with accounting software. We help our customers achieve and maintain a seamless link.

Thank you for considering working with Tower Systems to empower small business retailers to run more efficient and successful businesses.

To find out more about our POS software and support for specialty retailers, please call our sales team on 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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Bankable benefits for small business retailers from Tower Systems POS software

August 20, 2019
2 Min read
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The tangible, bankable benefits of partnering with Tower Systems, beyond the software.

Not all POS software companies are the same.

  1. We are local. Local matters in local communities. Tower Systems is Australian owned, developed and supported. Call us and a human answers the phone.
  2. We listen to your needs and engage in conversation with you.
  3. Our training is personal, in your business. We think people learn better from face to face training.
  4. Customers guide our software enhancement. We offer a transparent, democratic, process for guiding software update content.
  5. In the cloud or in-store. You choose where the software runs.
  6. Rent or buy. You choose how to acquire and fund the software.
  7. Retail channel specific. This software is developed for your type of business.
  8. We help with business performance analysis and theft checks, services where we take a deep dive into your data and provide confidential insights.
  9. Every customer has the direct contact details for our leadership team for easy and safe escalation of any query.
  10. No pressure. You buy when you are ready.
  11. Unlimited free training. Long after you install the software, ask for free top-up training and all we will organise it.
  12. Retail group engagement.  Groups and members of groups have opportunities for group level customisation website sales and more.
  13. New customer care. All new customers have a separate specialist team with which they connect, to ease settling-in.
  14. 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 not an average POS software company. We are a small business, indie business, focussed POS software company developing software in Australia and New Zealand for Australian and New Zealand based specialty retailers.

Thank you for considering us.

Serving over 3,000 small business retail customers, Tower Systems is engaged locally, across  multiple specialty retail channels, delivering solutions retailers want and need to differentiate their businesses. We help indie retailers specialise, locally. This matters because it helps local businesses thrive locally.

Shopping local is key to the fabric of any local community.

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Small business retail advice: preparing your shop for sale

August 6, 2019
2 Min read
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Selling a retail business is like selling a house, you need to prepare it so that it looks appealing to prospective purchasers. Selling a newsagency is more challenging because of assumptions out there and changes in what a newsagency is can could be.

Here at Tower Systems we are often asked for retail advice beyond our POS software. Preparing a retail shop for sale is one example of advice we are asked for.  We have developed a package of information to help small business retailers as they navigate this. What we share in this blog post today is some of the information we have put together.

Tower Systems POS software customers have access to this and more business management advice and insights.

  1. Make it look and feel appealing. While there are people who will look for a challenge (opportunity). Most buyers will want two see a retail business they understand and feel they can run.
  2. Eliminate dead stock. It looks bad on the shelves and looks bad on the books. Purchasers should not pay full wholesale for inventory more than six months old as your poor buying or management is not their obligation.
  3. Streamline operations. Make the business look easy to run by ensuring it is easy to run for you. The easier it looks to run the more interesting to people who don’t understand the business.
  4. Maximise profit. What anyone will pay will depend on actual profitability of the business.
  5. Be happy. Owners who talk their business down will find it harder to sell the business. You never know who is shopping your shop and the broader interest they may have.
  6. Keep your social media presence up to date. Today, many people check out a business online prior to looking at it in-store. Maintain up to date Facebook, Instagram and elsewhere.
  7. Get your paperwork in order. Early on, get business documents together:
    1. Premises lease.
    2. Equipment lease.
    3. Employee records.
    4. Product forward orders.
    5. Franchise documents.
    6. Supplier agreements.
    7. Details of any forward orders.
    8. Any other documents relating to the operation of the business including manuals for any equipment items.
  8. Choose a broker for your circumstances.

Success at selling your retail business depends on the work you do to prepare it for sale. Focus months, even a years, out can make for an easier and better sale.

Get it right and you can expect to make more than you might have thought possible.

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Retailers: sync images from your POS software to your website easily, seamlessly and without human intervention

August 2, 2019
2 Min read
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Small business retailers using the Tower Systems POS software can easily, quickly, safely and accurately sync product images from their PSO software to their Shopify, Magento, WooCommerce or other POS software site easily, quickly and accurately thanks to smart image management in the Tower Systems POS software.

Syncing images without the need for human intervention saves time. It also cuts mistakes, streamlines workflow and provides a better e-commerce as well as in0-store management outcome.

This is good for business.

Tower Systems has offered this POS software website image sync for ages, as part of its core e-commerce interface benefits.

As retailers with multiple websites and active in-store use of POS software in businesses it owns, Tower Systems is delivering solutions it itself wants for more efficient, accurate and successful e-commerce trading. This personal experience is a key factor in why Tower Systems is able to differentiate its offer over other POS software companies in this and other areas.

With the POS software the keeper of the images – multiple per product and any size that is appropriate to what you sell – connecting to the website is easy and seamless. Each new image loaded for a product is synced to the website based on rules established and managed in-store. This enables the software to behave in accordance with the wishes of the business.

Tower already partners with Shopify, Magento and WordPress – WooCommerce. The interface for each with the Tower software is direct and not through a third party. This is also key in the service of accurate, seamless and safe product image transfer.

Tower Systems is able to demonstrate these facilities live to any retailer contemplating the Tower software or website development services.

Image syncing between POS software and a website is critical for any small business that wants to sell online as it reduces the workload involved in managing images. Too often, small business retailers are asked to manually cut and paste and do other work on images. The Tower software makes the process easier, more certain and more enjoyable in that getting to the opportunity its to sell online is faster.

Any POS software that cannot facilitate the automatic and easy flow of images to a Shopify, Magento or WooCommerce website could be considered to be inappropriate for a business that prides efficiency and accuracy.

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POS software from Tower Systems helps small business retailers cut theft

July 31, 2019
2 Min read
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The Age newspaper last week reported on a surge in theft.

A study of over 9000 Australian and New Zealand retailers has revealed the cost of theft in-store has now reached a “crisis point” for companies as shoplifters have become more brazen in recent years.

While the report focusses on shoplifting, in my experience working eityh retailers, employee theft has a higher cost. This paragraph is telling…

The majority of respondents were large fashion, grocery and department retailers with 300 or more stores. For the 2018 financial year, those companies estimated crime-related losses of $3.37 billion, or 0.92 per cent of the region’s total retail revenue for the year.

The average cost of theft in small to medium business is 3% and more. This, considering the .92% noted above indicates the focus of the report is narrow. But then the report goes on to say employee theft was 22% of overall theft.

Maybe the disconnect is because the report pulled data from medium to large businesses whereas all data I have seen over the years has been from small businesses, single store businesses. In those, in my experience, employee theft costs around 70% of the total cost of theft.

Regardless of this latest report, theft is retail is a high cost for which retailers, customers and others in the supply chain pay.

Read the report. It’s got useful information for any retailer.

Our POS software company helps small business retailers cut the cost of theft. We have proven facilities in the software that achieve this. Better still, we back these facilities with experts who can make a real and positive difference in theft outcomes for small business retailers.

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Get a video recording of your live POS software demonstration and questions

July 23, 2019
2 Min read
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In a demonstration of a commitment to customer service and transparency, Tower Systems is leveraging secure, smart and mobile technology to offer anyone a free video of the live and interactive demonstration of the Tower POS software.

This is an offer for any retail business owner, their consultant or their accountant. It is risk free, putting the needs of the customer at the centre.

Thanks to smart online meeting technology, we can bring together retail business partners, their accountant and others for an online, live and interactive demonstration of our POS software. Better still, we offer you a video recording of the demo every question you ask, and our answers.

While we welcome live in-store demonstrations, with work scheduled today and distance, online live demonstrations are more popular. Here at Tower Systems we have invested in technology to deliver a quality online demonstration where there software is shown live, all questions are answered and open discussion is encouraged.

Our demonstrations are 100% customer driven. This is why a video of the demonstration is good as it reflects the personalised nature of what has been covered, the questions that are business specific that have been answered. The approach demonstrates the realness of the approach taken by Tower Systems in serving customers.

If you have ever wanted to recall, for certain, answers given or promises made in a sales situation, we make it easy because, to us, transparency matters.

The demonstration video offer from Tower Systems its another way the company backs itself, its promises and its personal service. It demonstrates a point of difference that small business owners love because … retail is personal … after all.

We offer locally developed and highly tuned software for specialty retail businesses including garden centres, produce / farm supply businesses, jewellers, bike retailers, pet stores, toy shops, gift shops, homewares shops, fishing and outdoor businesses, newsagents and adult shops.

To find out more about our POS software and support for specialty retailers please call our sales team on 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Tower Systems is an Australian POS software company serving 3,500+ specialty retailers in Australia and New Zealand.

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Portable POS software helps retailers sell from anywhere including the back of a truck!

July 18, 2019
3 Min read
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Retailer Roam is an innovative add-on to the awesome POS software from Tower Systems. It brings to a portable, device-independent, platform, access to POS software for retailers who want to sell Fromm anywhere.

This is perfect for retailers who sell at markets, on the road, in pop-up shops, out the front of their shop or in any other temporary and on the run location.

Retailer Roam is portable retail for small business retailers.

It is smart, powerful, flexible and able to run offline. It is safe, too, delivering a flexible and safe solution to indie retailers chasing business away from their shops.

We are thrilled to bring Retailer Roam to the world, to empower small business retailers with a tool that 100% helps them compete more efficiently and flexibly.

This is new software for a new type of retail. It has been developed with retailers.

Retailer Roam is a tablet app-based POS extension to the Tower Systems Retailer POS software.  The app runs on Apple iPad and Android based tablets.  It can run connected over WiFi or any other network. It can also run disconnected, synching when connected again

Retailer Roam is designed to help retailers better manage buy times without the need to install considerable hardware as well as to transact business away from the counter, from an outpost or from a vehicle some distance from the shop.

As the name suggests Retailer Roam enables the business to roam to transact sales.

You can sell for cash or credit card, to an account or through a LayBy. Selling is through a screen designed specifically for Retailer Roam and the types of devices on which it would be run.

Retailer Roam utilises the Tower Systems developed and proprietary secure TALINK platform to synchronise with Retailer store level data. That is, stock in your Retailer software can be sold through Retailer Roam.

Sell online and offline.

Yes, connect for easy EFTPOS processing.

Retailer Roam is set to change how, when and where retailers sell.

WHAT DEVICES OR HARDWARE DO I NEED TO RUN RETAILER ROAM?

IPAD
Our preference is for a regular size iPad running minimum iOS 10.

ANDROID TABLET
Roam was developed and tested using Android 6.0 (API 23). So, if you are running an operating system ahead of Android 6, you’re good to go. We anticipate that Roam could work in earlier versions (either 5, or 4.1). However, we may need to setup for this.

RECEIPT PRINTERS
We recommend and support Epson IP receipt printers. Our preference is the Epson TM82 Ethernet receipt printer. A full list of supported printers is available from Tower Systems. You can share an existing printer between multiple Roam Terminals or even share a supported printer with a Retailer fixed POS if operating in store. A Receipt Printer is not mandatory to operate Roam as receipts can be emailed.

BARCODE SCANNERS
Any direct Bluetooth scanner, i.e. a scanner the communicates directly with the terminal and not via a base, should work. We support and recommend the Socket range of scanners.

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Get a free video of your POS software demo – a terrific move for transparency for small business retailers

July 15, 2019
2 Min read
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POS software company Tower Systems has launched an innovative and valuable opportunity for ay retailer considering its POS software.

A free video of your POS software demonstration.

Using cool cloud based technology and backing this with local infrastructure, Tower Systems is delivering to small business retailers certainty, commitment and trust in truth. We think this matters. It demonstrates that we take our pre-sales approach seriously.

Let us demonstrate our POS software to you in a live, interactive one-on-one online demonstration and we will offer you a video recording of the demo every question you ask, and our answers.

This offer is one to any sales prospect, any in their business and any who advise them.

This is a wonderful development for small business retailers. It gives them the ability to revisit a demonstration, check their memory, be sure of what they were told and be confident that buying POS software from Tower Systems is backed by a truth, transparency and trust on which they can build a long-term relationship with the company.

If you have ever wanted to recall, for certain, answers given or promises made in a sales situation, we make it easy because, to us, transparency matters.

This is a really big deal, something that differentiates the Tower Systems approach to business and to attracting users of our POS software.

We are tired of hearing stories of sales people from various businesses who do not tell the truth, stories of promises made during a sales pitch that never eventuate. Tower Systems wants to see that changes. Change starts with truth, it is built on trust, which its shared with transparency.

We offer locally developed and highly tuned software for specialty retail businesses including garden centres, produce / farm supply businesses, jewellers, bike retailers, pet stores, toy shops, gift shops, homewares shops, fishing and outdoor businesses, newsagents and adult shops.

To find out more about our POS softwareand support for specialty retailers please call our sales team on 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Tower Systems is an Australian POS software company serving 3,500+ specialty retailers in Australia and New Zealand.

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New financial year business management tips for small business retailers

July 8, 2019
2 Min read
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Last week, we shared advice with our POS software customers on steps they could take for a brighter and healthier 2019/2020 financial year…

Here is a list of things you could suggest for the new financial year.

  1. Change your passwords. Share them sparingly.
  2. Review your department and categories. Ensure they accurately reflect your business and how you want performance reported.
  3. Review system useto determine if fraud is an issue. Our help desk team can help business owners (and only business owners) with this.
  4. if you are not using Discount Vouchers, consider it as it continues to be the easiest and most effective revenue and return visit building tool we have see.
  5. Review your opening hours / rosterbased on a revenue by time assessment.
  6. Take a look at workflow at the counter. Look at steps you can take to streamline the experience. More efficient sales will help drive sales revenue.
  7. Set aside every invoice that you currently enter manually. Email a copy to us at support@towersystems.com.au along with supplier contact details. We will reach out to them for you, encouraging them to provide you with an electronic invoice, which will save time and improve data accuracy.
  8. Consider cloud based backupfor faster, safer, backups.
  9. If you have a website, consider an SEO campaignto lift its profile. If your website is more than two years old, consider a refresh or replacement.

We hope that the 2019/20 financial year is wonderful for you and your business. We are keen to help achieve this with and for you. That starts with your engagement.

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POS software Xero interface saves time and money for small business retailers

July 4, 2019
2 Min read
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The direct Xero interface in the POS software from Tower Systems helps indie and small business retailers save time and money, every day, easily, consistently, with surety appreciated by accountants and business owners.

Tower Systems has been integrated with Xero for many years, delivering a time saving and accuracy focussed solution to small business retailers. We are a Xero partner and have actively participated in the awesome Xerocon conference events several times as well as having been featured in the Xero users magazine.

We are grateful to the uplifting of the Xero community, for their support and endorsement though active use of our POS software Xero interface.

Through our direct POS software Xero interface, purchase, sales, credits and other business critical data flows direct to the accounting software, ensuring accurate record keeping without the need fort double handling of data. This improves accuracy. It saves time. It helps businesses make better quality business decisions.

This is what a good, safe,. stable and endorsed POS software / Xero like works like … it serves the needs of small business retailers and helps them with business efficiency and accuracy.

This is an advantage from Tower Systems. Something that delivers good outcomes to our business partners, the small business retailer community who rely on our software, the thousands we serve every day with awesome software and awesome software support.

Our Xero like has been developed by us. It is supported by us. It is direct. This saves time and ensures better data accuracy. Indeed, we use it ourselves for shops that we own and run. yes, we walk in the shoes of our customers every day. This is important in that we can speak from first hand experience when helloing 0ur customers, advising them, training them and guiding their experiences with our software and with Xero.

Having skilled in-house accountants helps us to provide access to a level; of expertise and experience small business accountants appreciate and benefit from. We help way beyond the software, we help by bring professional accounting expertise to the table to make our POS software Xero link genuinely valuable.

This is another Tower Advantage.

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Portable POS software for on the road businesses

July 3, 2019
2 Min read
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Tower Systems offers small business retailers easy access to a genuinely portable POS software solution that is cloud based and enables a business to transact anywhere, any time, taking and and card, easily, safely and quickly.

This new solution, called Retailer Roam, is innovative, fresh and 100% focussed on helping small business retailers go where you want to go, as the song says. It is all about helping retailers get to their customers, where their customers want.

Being cloud based, this portable POS software solution enables retailers to easily sell at markets, fairs, collectives, from the truck or car, at events, on the road side at pop-up retail and even from their own shop if they need another register lane opened quickly without costly and time-consuming infrastructure.

Retailer Roam is next generation POS software. Fast. Flexible. Cloud based. Easy to use. Elegant. Portable. deigned by and for retailers.

It is next gen POS software for next gen retailers.

We are grateful to bring this to small business retailers in Australia and New Zealand, grateful to land it as a beautiful piece of software tech and an elegant business solution.

This is Aussie POS software innovation, benefiting all retailers in the small business world, especially in the specialty retail channels in which Tower Systems serves.

As you would expect from well designed portable POS software, Retailer Roam works beautifully while not accessible to the internet. yes, you can keep going business. It syncs in the background and easily.

Remember, this software also allows you to sell 24/7 online too, through Shopify, magenta or Woo Commerce websites that link back to the business Retailer POS software.

All bases are covered, all needs are met with the technically strong and flexible cloud based POS software solutions from Tower Systems.

It is easy for a small local business to decide today to participate in a pop-up market and know that they have the tech that can handle this, make it easy, safe, fast and accurate for trading and capturing what they sell, when and to whom. And, to be able to top this from just about any device based the capital cost manageable, usually from within existing resources.

Retailer Roam is another part of the total Tower Systems POS software solution.

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Small business retail POS software loyalty 2.0

July 1, 2019
3 Min read
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How small business retailers can use unique shopper loyalty facilities to easily get shoppers back sooner and spending more.

Here, we share advice we recently provided to our customers. I share it with you today as it demonstrates how we communicate with our customers, beyond the traditional software company support pitch. Here is the email in full:

We write to share with you insights on how to use Discount Vouchers in a smart way for your business.

Discount vouchers have been in our software for more than six years. They are one of several valuable shopper loyalty tools designed to drive revenue and return shopper visits.

Yet, discount vouchers are the most misunderstood.

Setup is easy. It takes a few minutes. Change is easy, with changes taking effect immediately. Management its easy thanks tp three awesome reports. Pitch is easysince you can call them whatever you like, what is appropriate to your business.

The mistake most retailers make is overthinking. Stop that! Set Discount Vouchers up and see how your customers respond. Adjust accordingly.

In our experience, on average, only 20% of vouchers handed out are redeemed. Those offered with the least rules achieve the best commercial outcome for the retailer.

Remember, the $$$ opportunity on the discount voucher is a good reason to review pricing, to factor in the cost of voucher redemption.

So…

  1. Choose what you want to call them: Discount Voucher; Bonus Bucks; Thank You Gift; Come Back Again Gift; Appreciation Voucher; Pass It On $$$.
  2. Set your settings. Know they can change as you learn more.
  3. We suggest a 28 day expiry.
  4. Have the voucher value show as $$.
  5. Let vouchers be redeemed for as many different products as possible.
  6. Go!

ADVICE ON PROMOTING DISCOUNT VOUCHERS.

Every time a voucher prints, present it to the customer by placing it on the counter facing them with your finger next to the amount and say, while maintaining eye contact, hey you have a voucher here for $x.xx that you can use in store in the next 28 days. Well done.

Make sure that everyone working at the counter knows that the success of vouchers depends on their pitch.

Now, if they complain about the low voucher value have a response like hey it’s appreciation that almost no other business around here will show you.

Guys are more likely to spend the voucher right away.

Girls are more like to collect vouchers and put them together, which we recommend you allow.

What you want to see when you have out a voucher is for them to lift their hear and turn to look back into the shop, thinking of what they could buy.

GOOD LUCK!

PS. Click here to access and print advice that I have previously published to 240 newsXpress stores. This is a retail marketing group I own.

————-

To find out more about our awesome POS software and support fir indie specialty retailers, please call our sales team on 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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How our POS software co. helps small business retailers bring shoppers back more often

June 28, 2019
3 Min read
H

In our POS software we have a range of shopper loyalty facilities, including discount vouchers. Today, we share information recently try shared with our customers as part of our free education opportunities…

How to use Discount Vouchers in a smart way for your business.

Discount vouchers have been in our software for more than six years. They are one of several valuable shopper loyalty tools designed to drive revenue and return shopper visits.

Yet, discount vouchers are the most misunderstood.

Setup is easy. It takes a few minutes. Change is easy, with changes taking effect immediately. Management its easy thanks tp three awesome reports. Pitch is easysince you can call them whatever you like, what is appropriate to your business.

The mistake most retailers make is overthinking. Stop that! Set Discount Vouchers up and see how your customers respond. Adjust accordingly.

In our experience, on average, only 20% of vouchers handed out are redeemed. Those offered with the least rules achieve the best commercial outcome for the retailer.

Remember, the $$$ opportunity on the discount voucher is a good reason to review pricing, to factor in the cost of voucher redemption.

So…

  1. Choose what you want to call them: Discount Voucher; Bonus Bucks; Thank You Gift; Come Back Again Gift; Appreciation Voucher; Pass It On $$$.
  2. Set your settings. Know they can change as you learn more.
  3. We suggest a 28 day expiry.
  4. Have the voucher value show as $$.
  5. Let vouchers be redeemed for as many different products as possible.
  6. Go!

ADVICE ON PROMOTING DISCOUNT VOUCHERS.

Every time a voucher prints, present it to the customer by placing it on the counter facing them with your finger next to the amount and say, while maintaining eye contact, hey you have a voucher here for $x.xx that you can use in store in the next 28 days. Well done.

Make sure that everyone working at the counter knows that the success of vouchers depends on their pitch.

Now, if they complain about the low voucher value have a response like hey it’s appreciation that almost no other business around here will show you.

Guys are more likely to spend the voucher right away.

Girls are more like to collect vouchers and put them together, which we recommend you allow.

What you want to see when you have out a voucher is for them to lift their hear and turn to look back into the shop, thinking of what they could buy.

GOOD LUCK!

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Small business retail advice on how to choose POS software

June 25, 2019
4 Min read
S

The POS software you choose for your indie small retail business is an important decision. Get it right and the business could prosper and become considerably more valuable. Get it wrong and it could cost you plenty.

In thinking about the software you want, think about your business. Here are some headline level thoughts and suggestions.

  1. If you see your business as specialist in nature, the software you choose should be specialist.
  2. If part of your business pitch is to shop local, choosing locally made and supported software supports your pitch. Local software is software made and supported in Australia.
  3. If you want to be known as the local specialist, you need software that helps you do this consistently and effectively.
  4. If you do repairs or maintenance of any sort, you need software that can handle this.
  5. If you sell items bundled such as a rod, reel and line pack, you need software that can handle this.
  6. If you are in a tourist area and sell to people once, or once a year, you need software with loyalty facilities to maximise their rare visits to your shop.
  7. If you sell products by weight, you need software that can do this.

Think about these things and think about what you want in software in your business to help you stand out.

There are many generic and cheap point of sale systems in the marketplace. Price does matter. You would know that in your business. Think about the shopper who wants a full kit but says they want the cheapest. Think about your advice to them. If you say price does matter and that you get what you pay for, the same is true with retail business software.

A small higher price today for the right software could save many times the gap between it and cheap generic software.

So, work out what you want. This must come first, ahead of any budget.

Given that you can lease or even rent software, the capital cost is best assessed as a weekly cost on the business. This makes comparing systems easier. Once you work out the weekly cost and tote up what you get for this in terms of support serves and software functionality you can reasonable compare the different systems.

If you are not sure whether a software package will serve your needs, don’t choose it. You are better off saying no than fighting with the software and the supplier to get it working exactly as you want. However, it is likely that you will need to change some business processes to suit the software you do ultimately choose.

Be flexible. Once you have chosen software, follow the advice provided by the software company and the expert they send to your business to train you. If they suggest changes to your business processes, embrace them. While changing what you do can be frustrating, software designed specifically independent specialty retail businesses is specialist in nature and it does what it does based on years of development and feedback from many customers.

Be disciplined. Software is like a machine. It needs the right fuel. For software, that fuel is data. Ensure everyone in your business is disciplined in how the software is used. From the moment stock comes into the business to when it is sold. Track it. This will help you make better business decisions.

Be engaged. Your software company will want a two-way relationship If you have suggestions, share them Play a role in the continued evolution of the software. This helps you and other businesses in your channel.

Save time. The right software will help you eliminate manual processes. Embrace these opportunities as much as possible. Time saved is time you can invest in yourself or in the business. Seek time saving opportunities out.

Be realistic. Any new software will be a challenge. Know that you will have some rough days learning the new things. Accept these by focussing on the main goal of enjoyment and efficiency once you know the software well.

The software you choose reflects your business. Take your time. Be certain about what you want. Invest well and the right software will easily pay for itself.

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