POS software made and supported locally for local small business retailers
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Have you got stock hiding in boxes in your retail shop? It’s time to put it to work or let it go
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Have you got piles of stock tucked away in boxes, gathering dust in your garage or under shop tables? If so, you’re not alone. But if you’re serious about making a profit, you need to get that stock out on display where customers can see it.
It seems obvious to write, but some retailers still don’t understand this basic principle of business: stock that’s hidden away isn’t going to sell. If you’ve got stock sitting in boxes because you don’t have room to display it, it’s time to re-evaluate your purchasing decisions.
Think about it this way: every dollar you spend on stock is money you could be using to pay bills or invest in your business. So, before you buy any more stock, ask yourself:
Do I really need this stock?
Do I have room to display it?
Can I realistically sell it within a reasonable timeframe?
Is having this stock in my shop going to be valuable for the business?
If the answer to any of those questions is no, then don’t buy it.
Some retailers buy stock to impress sales reps or make their shops look busy. Others buy stock to make themselves feel better about their businesses. Some retailers buy stock because they are lonely. These are all the wrong reasons to buy stock.
There are even some sales reps who know they’re selling stock to businesses that don’t need it. Shame on them for putting their own financial gains ahead of the well-being of their customers.
If you don’t know the value of the stock in your business, it’s likely you have too much stock. A good but very basic rule of thumb or starting point of s=consideration at least is that stock should not be more than 20% of your total annual revenue from those products.
If you have boxes of stock that you haven’t opened in six months or more, you have too much stock. And if your back room, garage, or under-display table space is filled with boxes, you’ve got a big problem.
The best way to deal with an overstock of inventory is to stop buying new stock and focus on selling down what you already have. Don’t get emotional about it – just make a plan and stick to it.
If you don’t address the issue of overstocking, it will eventually overwhelm you and your business. Don’t let that happen. Take control of your inventory and watch your profits grow.
Yes, we’re a POS software company. We own and run shops, which is very rare for any of our competitors. Our daily experience in retail helps us better serve our customers in the software we make and the support we provide.
Advice most POS software can’t or won’t provide
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Since we own and run shops in which our Tower Systems POS software is used and in which we live the retailer experience personally, we have a perspective that is close to our customers than most POS software companies. It also gets us working with other retailers. It’s that personal contact that prompted us to share this advice and stock holding and, in particular, being over stocked, with our customers:
Stock in boxes in the back room, in a garage or under tables in the shop will not sell unless it is displayed.
While this will be obvious to most, there are some retailers who don’t get it.
If you do have stock in boxes and no room to display it, consider pausing spending to give you time to convert those purchases to cash.
The alternative is that you do nothing, and your ability to pay bills is impacted.
It’s your business. You choose when to spend and when to not spend.
Some retailers buy friendship through their purchasing. Others like to look busy with a shop bursting with stock. Others buy to feel better about themselves. Spending for any of these wrong is not helpful to the business, not helpful top you.
There are sales reps who would know they are selling stock to a business that does not need it. Shame on them. Shame on them putting their own financial rewards ahead of the evidence of an overstocked and financially stressed business. Sales people doing this are no friend of the business owner.
If you don’t know the current value of the stock in your business, it’s likely you have too much stock.
So, what’s the value of your current stock on hand?
If the value of your non circulation product (magazines and newspapers) stock right now is more than 20% of the total revenue you will make from it in a year, you probably have too much stock. The actual percentage will vary by product category.
There will be some who say the 20% figure is inaccurate and unhelpful. I have tested it in a few businesses and it is a reasonable first step guide.
So, what’s the value of your current stock on hand? Start there. Then look at your non circulation product revenue for the last year. The numbers will support what you currently see in your shop.
If you have boxes of stock that you’ve not opened for six months or more, you have too much stock. If your back room, garage and or under display table space is filled with boxes you have a problem.
The best way to address being overstocked is to stop buying and sell down what you have, and to do so without emotion.
The alternative is that you do not address the issue and the issue swamps you and your business.
It’s black and white – in your numbers and in your business.
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This is one example of the practical way in which our POS software company engaged with retailers.
Are you paying too much for your POS software?
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A first for local specialty Aussie retailers: self-checkout POS software
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Tower Systems has developed a self-checkout POS software specifically for local small business specialty retailers. This software allows small businesses to offer self-checkout to their customers in a way that is beneficial to their business. It is available now for retailers in Australia and New Zealand.
With Tower’s self-checkout POS software, customers can scan their items, make a payment, and receive a receipt. They can also scan their items, save the sale, and then complete the sale at the main counter if they prefer.
The self-checkout POS terminal honors all special prices, catalog prices, and other settings configured by the retailer. It also offers the same loyalty program benefits that customers can access at the sales counter.
The software is available for a low monthly rental fee that can be canceled at any time. This rental fee is per location, so you can run multiple self-checkout terminals for the same price.
Integrated EFTPOS is required for the software. Tower will initially offer integrations with Tyro and Linkly Cloud (the major banks).
When you first use Tower Systems’ self-checkout POS software, you will go through a setup process that includes uploading your own startup and sale close images. You have complete control over these images.
Tower Systems sells self-checkout computer and stand options separately. You can also purchase the computer hardware from elsewhere.
Why Use Self-Checkout in Local Small Business Retail?
- To easily handle sales during busy times of the day for customers who don’t need counter service.
- To open up another service lane during busy times of the year without hiring additional staff.
- To project an image of a modern and forward-thinking business.
Tower Systems is grateful to its teams of software developers, hardware specialists and retail experts who have worked together to bring this opportunity of self-checkout POS software to life for local small business retailers.
The innovation delivered in this solution is considerable as it is build on a fresh software platform that utilises the latest tech available for in-store retail settings.
Tower Systems is a specialty retail POS software solutions provider delivering solutions across sixteen different retail challenge including jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, sewing shops, farm supply businesses, landscaping businesses, pool maintenance business, newsagents, pet shops and bike shops.
Now for a Q&A on self-checkout.
Is there a camera? What we have created is self-checkout POS software. It’s not integrated with a camera. We have left the choice of a camera up to each retailer to consider.
Could I run this in a pop-up shop? Yes, you could. All that is needed that the self-checkout is network connected to the main software.
Could I run self-checkout and nothing else? No, you need the base Tower software to manage the back end.
Is there anything that I might want as a retailer that the self-checkout software does not do? It does not do customer quotes or invoicing to a customer.
What if I want to use it for a couple of months of the year only? Easy. Rent it for those months and suspect rental, and costs, for the rest.
Can I test it to see if it suits? Rental is so cheap it’s costs little to try.
Can I run this on a regular computer? Yes.
The POS screen appears to be in portrait more. Is that all you offer? No, you can run it in landscape as well.
Am I able to report on sales only through the self-checkout terminal? Yes.
Can I suspend a sale and finish it at my traditional sales counter? Yes, a staff member can suspend the sale so it can be completed at the counter.
Afternote: true to form, a small former competitor has commented they did this first, years ago and cite evidence of others.
The thing is, in our specialty retail marketplaces, what we have delivered is a first and we are proud of that.
How much is Square POS software to POS software from Tower Systems?
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Okay, we are Tower Systems. It’s important you know that when reading this article, so you know we are comparing the price of our POS software with Square POS.
We have sought to be objective.
We are not doing a deep dive comparing software function with software function. This comparison is high level – even at this level the differences are considerable.
The big pitch by Square POS is that it is free, and while technically this is true, it is a questionable claim given how they get paid – through a clip on EFTPOS. At the moment, from what we can tell, the clip is 1.16% of transaction value. but the rate does vary, so check.
We think that an average gift shop using our Tower Systems POS software and a good everyday rate from a bank or payments platform will saver between $3,000 and $5,000 with Tower Systems compared to Square POS.
We think Tower Systems is cheaper than Square POS. If our calculations are wrong please let us know and we will correct.
The Tower Systems POS software comes with loyalty software includes. Square POS is currently quoting $49 a month for loyalty facilities with their software.
That makes Square POS more expensive than the free offer people tend to see.
Tower Systems offers 7 day a week support, 24 hours a day. Our understanding from the Square POS website is that their coverage is not as extensive.
Square POS is from overseas while the Tower Systems POS software is Australian made and supported.
The Tower Systems POS software supports for no extra cost Shopify integration, Xero integration, selling by fractions, scale integration and comprehensive management reporting
There are people differences. Any retailer considering the Tower systems POS software can speak with a human and discuss their needs. They are welcome to an obligation-free demonstration to see if the software is a good fit for them before investing any time.
The Tower Systems POS software has been made for specialty retailers, small business retailers, indie retailers. It is loaded with specialty functionality.
Tower is not chasing high volume sales. we are not chasing big retailers.
Square POS , on the other hand, is chasing volume, mass, they want numbers and because of this we thing their focus is more general, serving more common needs rather than specialty retail needs.
We think we compare well on price and functionality. What we can’t match is the Square POS advertising budget. We rely on word of mouth, for which we are sincerely grateful. We have o thousands of awesome customers, which makes us happy.
Retail business advice: make every day your pay day
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This is advice we first shared many years ago. We have updated it, updated it more, and updated it again this morning.
We think this is the best advice we could give any local small business retailer as it focuses you on what matters most – nurturing daily value from your business.
Everything you do today has to about making money today because what you make today may matter more than what you make when you sell your business.
Let’s get into it:
Retail business advice: make every day your pay day.
It starts with the mindset of every day being your pay day. Every decision needs to be considered in this context.
Here are some suggestions for making every day your pay day:
- Make your shop happy, appealing. Play good music. Smile. be happy to be there. Greet shoppers. Offer free samples. Be engaged.
- Make sure your sales counter maximises the opportunity. Keep it efficient. Pitch products that are easily understood and easily bought on impulse.
- Charge more every time you can. Where you can, charge more. Even and extra 1% or 2% can make a difference. In our experience, price is often not the factor retailers think it is. So, look at your prices for opportunities to increate margin.
- Get people buying more each visit. Look at what you have where and make sure that key traffic lines have impulse purchase opportunities along the way.
- Stock what sells. Use your data. Make sure you don’t run out of good selling items. 75% of retailers miss revenue by not having items shoppers want when they want them. Buying stock based on evidence is more valuable than buying based on emotion.
- Be cleverly frugal. When you are considering spending money, think about the value for the business from the spend. Think about the return you could get and the speed of the return. Have some checks and balances in spending decisions to slow them down.
- Seek out new customers. New customers are the future lifeblood of any retail business. Attract them with smart and entertaining social media posts, a window display that plays outside what people expect from your shop.
- Run with the leanest roster possible. Just about every retail business we review has capacity to lower labour costs. Trimming the roster can come at a cost for the owners – putting in more hours.
- Bring people back sooner with a thoughtfully calibrated loyalty offer that funds itself, and drives value. Every retail business needs a core action designed to bring people back. A timed loyalty offer, which expires, is a good way to do this.
- Have your best people working the floor, helping customers spend more. Today, retail is not about may I help you. Rather, it is about engaging with the products and subtly showing them off, like theatre.
- Have at least one stunning display that attract people from outside the shop, a display people talk about.
- Buy as best you can. Take settlement discounts where possible. Pick up supplier offers. never pass on your better buying to customers, unless it suits for some event you are running. Oh, and with this advice about buying – only do it for items you know you will sell for buying product at a discount and having it on the shelves too long is too much of a cost for the business.
- De-clutter. Sometimes the best way to be able to see your business and what it can do is for you to have less to look at. This means getting rid of dead stock, dead fixtures, dead corners of the shop. Always be trimming, cleaning and looking.
- Change. Every day in your shop change something. Get known as the shop that is never the same. This can be a reason to visit for some shoppers. If you run a business that rarely changes, you give people a reason to walk on by. So, every day, make a change or two. Encourage your team members to suggest changes. By moving a small stand from one part of the business to another could get it noticed and boost sales.
- Stop all busy work. It is easy in a local small business retail to get caught up in doing things. Often, things can be what you do to be busy. Being busy is only good if it is profitable, productive. Declutter your schedule.
Be responsible for the profitability of your business. Don’t blame your suppliers, your landlord, your employees or some other external factor … it all comes down to you – the decisions you make and the actions you take.
By making every day your payday you bring focus on what matters today and what will matter when you’d decide to sell your business.
Doing all this relies on your measuring the performance of your business. The Tower Systems POS software helps with this. It is easy.
My name is Mark Fletcher. I am the owner of Tower Systems. I also own retail shops and several online businesses. Every day here at Tower Systems we live what we say, in our software company and in our shops. We make mistakes, and learn from them. It’s some of those mistakes that got us thinking about this, about the approach of making every day your payday.
While our core mission is to grow the customer base for Tower Systems, we know that key to achieving this helping retailers. Plenty of the help we provide is not software related.
In sharing this advice we demonstrate a care for local small business retail and a transparency as to the advice and help we provide.
Do good in the community with charity boxed Christmas cards
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Christmas all about connecting with others, and what better way than through a charity boxed Christmas card.
At www.myornaments.com.au we offer charity boxed Christmas cards. This is a website we built, connected to a shop we run. That’s right, we are a POS software company that runs shops and online businesses. We do this to walk in the shoes of our customers.
If you’re looking for a way to make your Christmas greetings extra special, consider buying charity boxed Christmas cards as each box purchased supports a local Aussie charity, enhancing the good delivered through your purchase and sending of the cards.
The charity boxed Christmas cards support many charities and they’re often printed right here in Australia, so you can feel good about supporting your local community.
At MyOrnaments, we have a wide selection of charity boxed Christmas cards to choose from, with many different packs available. We also offer a variety of designs and price points, so you’re sure to find the perfect cards for your loved ones.
Whether you’re sending cards to clients, staff, or community members, charity boxed Christmas cards are a great way to show your appreciation and support. And with so many different charities to choose from, you can find a card that benefits a cause that’s close to your heart.
What we are doing with charity boxed Christmas cards at our www.myornaments.com.au website is another example of how Tower Systems plays outside what is usual for a POS software company. By using the software and websites we make ourselves we are thankful to have a user perspective on our software and services. This changes what we do and how we do it.
You can’t buy the insights of someone using your software. We have learnt so much by being our own customer, not only selling charity boxed Christmas cards at www.myornaments.com.au but with so many other things we do in businesses we run that use our POS software.
Managing inventory, connecting to the POS, calculating freight and handling special price point offers is part of what Tower Systems has created at the MyOrnaments shop and part of what brings the charity boxed Christmas card 0ffer to life. We are proud to have this website as part of our calling card mix of websites we have developed, to show the comprehensive nature of what we offer.
Now, think about buying charity boxed Christmas cards for your customers, friends, neighbours and others this Christmas and spreading not only greetings but the feeling of doing good in the community. That’s a wonderful Christmas spirit.
Tower Systems first with Linkly Cloud POS software integration
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We are grateful for the opportunity and proud to deliver a world first – a POS software integration with Linkly Cloud.
That’s right, we have retailers live with our Tower Systems POS software connected to Linkly Cloud for EFTPOS transactions.
Tower Systems makes POS software for specialty retailers in a range of local specialty retail channels.
Linkly is all about Making every payment seamless.
Together, we have delivered a solution that helps retailers save time, cut mistakes and more easily compete with big business.
Local retailers keen for a seamless payee its integration and needing a POS solution that is capable, functional, enhanced and reliable – the Tower Systems Linkly Cloud partnership is worth considering.
Tower Systems integrated EFTPOS, connects your Retailer Point of Sale with your EFTPOS terminal, making it the fastest and easiest way to sell.
Tower Systems is not prescriptive to its retail business customers as to what payment gateway must be used. We let our retailers choose what is right for them. There is no financial penalty flowing from their choice either. Payments is their choice. We focus on making money from our software.
Being the first in the world to deliver this solution sees us helping those who will come after us. We’ve made it easier for them. We love being the innovators and appreciate the opportunities this affords us along the way.
Our purpose is to empower local retailers to thrive.
Almost everyone working at Tower Systems has experience working in local indie retail. All of our customers get a say in software enhancements.
We know the more we help local retailers thrive the more they will help us thrive.
We know that our software can make a difference in businesses for which it is made, and that our training and support can help businesses thrive.
Our software is made for specialty retailers, retailers in a range of channels like jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, newsagents, pet shops, music shops, sewing shops, clothing shops, pool maintenance shops, garden landscape businesses, produce businesses, stockfeed businesses and fishing and outdoor shops.
If you are looking for a secure, fast and time-saving payments integration, Linlkly Cloud connected to the Tower Systems POS software is worth considering.
Good gift shop software backed by retail experienced support can help a gift shop business succeed
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Choosing software for your gift shop could be among the most important decisions you will ever make for your gift shop business.
It’s not about the price of the gift shop software. rather, it is about the value, what you get from using the gift shop software.
More expensive software might do more, way more, and deliver a better financial return than you get from cheaper gift shop software or even free software.
Our advice for local small business retail gift shop owners in the form of questions to ask when considering new POS software for their gift shop, and, indeed, every business decision:
- Will it make money for the business?
- Will it save time?
- Will it make the business more valuable?
- Will it make you happier?
Here at Tower Systems we make software for Aussie local gift shops, software that helps you make more money, save time, make the business worth more and make you happier.
More important, we back our gift shop software with training by experienced retailers and support from experienced retailers. Our retail experience and experience with gift shops helps local gift shops maximise the value they harvest from using our gift shop software.
We are grateful to already serve more than 3,000 local retailers. We’d love to serve you. Call us on 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.
From sales to special orders to pre-orders, from Xero integration to digital receipt integration, from loyalty that works to easy shopper postcode tracking, from smart ways to pitch shop local to featuring locally made products … our gift shop software is made for gift retailers, made to help you thrive.
Yes, for sure, good gift shop software backed by retail experienced support can help a gift shop business succeed. This is our goal here at Tower Systems. We love seeing local independent gift shops succeed for when this happens, the owners benefit, those who work in the business benefit, those who supply the business benefit and the local community benefits. we understand this and do our very best to help everyone maximise the opportunity of the gift shop software.
This is a Tower Systems difference, a commitment, something we work on because we live, breathe and understand local independent retail.
We are not your average software company. We are local people ourselves, serving local retailers. This provides a level of understanding that is differentiating, something on which gift shop owners can rely.
Choosing software for your gift shop could be among the most important decisions you will ever make for your gift shop business. Here at Tower Systems we understand and respect this.
Christmas marketing tips for local small business retailers
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It’s November 1. The countdown to Christmas is well and truly under way. The next 8 weeks are probably the most important weeks of trade for most retailers.
Here are some free tips to help you make the most of the opportunities, to help you separate your business from the Christmas noise.
Over the next 8 weeks most retailers will pound hard Christmas products, sales and opportunities. Many will be loud, screeching for people to look at them. In local retail businesses it’s hard to compete with the noise of national retailers.
The best advice we think we can give local retailers is to have fun, enjoy yourselves, help customers enjoy themselves.
In your social media posts, focus on having fun and sharing joyful stories.
In your window, be local, shine a light on local talents from kids to retirees. have your shop software people want to visit to see their friends and neighbours and themselves reflected.
In your shop be sure to keep it light, relaxed and fun.
We could give you a list of things to do. Not this year. This year we think you’ll get more value from a relaxed and fun-focussed Christmas season. let the others do the heavy lifting with Christmas noise. In your shop let people relax and catch their breath.
Being calm and relaxing will separate your shop, get it known for being this place rather than the shrill and bustle of Christmas retail elsewhere.
Make it easy, too. People often talk about how hard Christmas is. Be the business that makes it easy. The ways to do this are have bundled gifts ready to go, pre-bagged or wrapped, with some card selections that are relevant, offer easy payment options including buy now pay later, free wrapping, better shop floor help, guide buying advice or tips on perfect gifts no one else will think of. Consider making Christmas easy as being a key part of your messaging.
You could also help your shoppers help others. Setup a whiteboard or sheets of butcher’s paper, yes keep it simple. Get customers to write gift suggestions under different age/gender groups. For example: Girls 18 – 25, Boys 55+. Encourage your customers to help each other.
Stand out this Christmas by being different, calm, relaxed, fun. Shoppers will notice this, and appreciate what you have done.
Have an awesome run up to Christmas!
Tower Systems is grateful to welcome Wild Cards & Gifts shops
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We are thrilled to have welcomed a bunch of locally owned Wild Card & Gift shops to our Tower Systems POS software community in recent weeks.
Serving so many Wild Card & Gift businesses enables us to help them individually and as a group, to thrive in their local communities and beyond.
Wild shops are lovely by folks seeking our cards and gifts for loved-ones. Our software will help them fine tune their businesses as they evolve serving locally and beyond. Our gift shop software has terrific tools for serving businesses like Wild Card & Gift businesses.
Here are some of the benefits people in businesses like yours tell us they love:
- Say goodbye to LayBy With our buy now pay later options.
- Customers will love your product use and care instructions on receipts.
- Make more money offering special orders that you can easily track from the counter and notify shoppers by email or text when the goods arrive.
- Get one-time-only shoppers spending more with an awesome and differentiating loyalty facility.
- Sell online easily, direct from your POS software.
- Bring customers back with reminders on dates important to them.
- Save money on bookkeeping by integrating with accounting software.
- Make more money from the one time only shoppers.
- Save time, load electronic invoices from suppliers.
Here is what we think really matters about what we do and what we offer Australian gift shops like yours:
- This awesome gift shop software is developed in Australia.
- It has been designed specifically for gift shops.
- Our customer service team is Australian based. If you call, email, text, Facebook message or visit us, a human, with a real name, responds.
- Our software is regularly enhanced, based on user suggestions.
- You have access to unlimited one-on-one training.
- We offer business growth training, providing business context for cool things you can do with the software.
- Easy access to a fantastic knowledge base – like a searchable manual.
- Easily link with your website to sell online.
- Easily link to Xero – save time, cut mistakes and cut accounting costs.
In serving Wild Card & Gift shops we are grateful for the opportunity to help them as we also help other local gift shops to serve their local communities. Retail is personal aft5er all, and local, and this is where we thrive.
Top reasons local retailers benefit from a website connected to POS software for their business
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Not all gift shop POS software is the same and why that can make a difference to a local indie gift shop
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There are plenty of gift shop POS systems on the market. They tend to spruce the same things: ease of use, helping you to grow your business, easy online sales etc. etc.
We know the pitch.
We are a local Aussie based POS software company that develops and supports POS software for gift shops.
We are different in that we only provide support to and support local retailers, small business retailers, independent retailers.
We’re stop interested in selling to big retailers, big franchises, groups with 50 or 100 shops. We understand the importance of local retail and are committed to helping local retailers, like local gift shops, to more successfully compete.
We pack our gift shop POS software with facilities made for local retailers, to help them run more efficient and valuable businesses, to stand out and to attract more shoppers.
One example of our difference are the loyalty facilities in our software. Sure, we do the points thing. But big retailers do those. Surely as a local retailer you want to stand out, to be seen to be different. In our gift shop software you have tools that allow you to be different, loyalty tools through which you can promote your business differently to your big competitors. Our loyalty tools are designed to nurture local shopper stickiness.
Another example of how our gift shop POS system helps local gift shops is the ease with which you can share local knowledge, differentiating knowledge. This is all abut selling you and your expertise. We have seen it work a treat at helping retailers more meaningfully connect with local retailers.
A third way our POS software for gift shops helps local indie gift shops is by helping you to encourage your suppliers to follow practices that save time in your business. We have helped many suppliers provide retailers with electronic invoices that reduce mistakes in the shop and save huge time.
We are an engaged POS software company serving only local small business retailers in selected retail channels. Our difference is this focussed and local connection. We’re like you and this makes us closer to you.
You can count on Tower Systems.
$0 transaction fee POS software
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Savvy retailers are price comparing POS software and gaining a better understanding of the cost of ownership of the software as the cost of ownership includes monthly rental cost as well as fees imposed on transactions and costs associated with any required payments platform.
Here at Tower Systems you can choose the payments platform you prefer, for no cost.
Our POS software connects with Tyro, Linkly, Linkly Cloud, MX51, CentrePay, SmartPay, Quest and others. These are integrations, saving time, cutting mistakes and offering seamless engagement.
There is no payments charge when you use our POS software. Tower Systems has a $0.00 transaction fee cost.
There is no payments platform requirement when you use our POS software.
This is why the total cost of ownership of the Tower Systems POS software is less than plenty of comparable products.
If you are looking for POS software for your business, do your homework, check out pricing, all the pricing, compare and decide what is functionally and financially right for your business.
When you compare our POS software to others, ask the question about payments fee or transaction fee or any percentage surcharge on transactions.
We think software companies should make money from software and not from each transaction a retailer makes in their business.
We also think that transaction fees and payment fees are like a tax, an awful tax, and impost on your business for making sales. It’s why we have taken the approach we have and why we are so transparent about it.
We don’t have the marketing funds to match the POS software companies that do charge a transaction fee. We rely on word of mount and other grass roots marketing. we’re doing okay, too, for which we are sincerely grateful.
Now, to be very clear, Tower Systems does not charge any fee whatsoever for transactions or payments. Nothing fee for debit cards. No fee for credit cards. Tower Systems has no fee whatsoever for any form of payments put through its POS software.
Ultimately, the best POS software for your business will depend on your specific needs and budget. Be sure to compare the features and pricing of different POS systems before making a decision.
How our POS software integrated international barcode lookup saves retailers time and improves new product data
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It’s all shown in this short video:
Helping retailers quickly and easily load product images to their online store
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The free web app we created for retailers to facilitate fast and easy loading of product photos to our POS software and feeding these to Shopify, magenta, Woo and Big Commerce websites is being loved by our customers.
Using this free tool our customers open their phone, take a photo, check that it looks okay and click to share it. The back end software does the rest, including removing the background of the image if you like.
This is another time saving tool created by Tower Systems to help local retailers more easily get new products online.
The photo management and upload app is 100% our tech, designed to serve our 3,000+ local retail customers. we created it once we understood the frustration of retailers at how long it took to take photos, remove the background and upload them to the software. Removing plan ty of steps and making it a 2 or 3 click quick process is helping local retailers get more products online in a time efficient way.
Small business retail advice: trust your data
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Alternative for Vend and Lightspeed POS software customers concerned about Lightspeed payments
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More retailers using Vend POS and Lightspeed POS have told us of concerns at being told by Lightspeed to switch to the Lightspeed Payments platform or face what reads like a penalty charge from the company for continuing with a current, non-Lightspeed, payments solution.
As recent Lightspeed earnings reports have revealed, growing Lightspeed Payments revenue has become a key commercial activity for the Lightspeed business. This pitches them as like a road a tolling business, making a clip from each transaction processed by retailers using their Lightspeed POS software or their Vend POS software.
It’s like they see revenue from a clip of retail sales in the shops of their customers is more important to them than the revenue they get from the actual rental of their software.
Here at Tower Systems, our view is that as a software company it is important that we make most of our money from our software, and not off the back of hard work by retailers using our software. Making money off our software itself keeps us focussed on the evolution of the software, it keeps the software at the core of what we do.
The more businesses using our software, the more money we make, the more money we have available to invest in enhancing the software.
If you think about the Lightspeed model, they make more money when your transaction volume increases. Does this mean bigger businesses, with higher turnover, are more important to them as a company? We don’t know.
What we do know is that here at Tower Systems every single customer is valued and treated the same because we are not tracking sales volume.
We don’t care what EFTPOS or payments platform you use. Our POS software integrates seamlessly with all major Australian banks, so you can process payments quickly and easily without any extra keying or keystrokes.
We also don’t charge any penalties or fees based on your payments platform choice. We believe that retailers should be free to choose the best payments platform for their business, without being penalized for doing so.
Unlike Lightspeed, Tower Systems offers a flexible, no-contract rental plan. You can rent our software for as long or as short as you need, with no lock-in period.
We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible support. Our team of experts is available 24/7 to help you with any questions or problems you may have.
If you are a Lightspeed POS or vend POS customer and are looking for an alternative to Lightspeed Payments, consider Tower Systems. We would be happy to discuss your needs and see how we can help you.
There’s more to us:
- Comprehensive reporting tools to track your sales and inventory
- Customisable features to fit your specific needs
- Robust security measures to protect your data
- 24/7 customer support
If you’re a Vend POS or Lightspeed POS customer and happy with their products and service, terrific, please stay with them. What matters most is that you are using software you love from a company that appreciates you.
Helping local small business retailers save time and improve efficiency
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Labour costs are under the spotlight in businesses around the world. The obsession with AI is, in part, because it reduces reliance on labour. In San Francisco 3 autonomous (driverless) car companies now operate taxis. We saw them when there on business just a week ago. 7-Eleven in Australia is trialling just walk out type tech. several shops where registered shoppers can walk in, take items off the shelf, and walk out. WH Smith now has self-checkout terminals in most of its Aussie c-store businesses.
We are working on several fronts for you in related areas.
- Our ChatGPT AI integration is saving time on writing product descriptions and has been since January this year. Retailers are loving it – the time saving and the improvement in product descriptions.
- Our free version of Retailer Roam makes it easy and fast to photograph products using your phone or tablet, load these into Retailer and sync with your website. In seconds you can take and load images of products via your phone, or tablet.
- We are trialling our new Retailer Self-checkout facility using a new shopper-friendly portrait checkout screen. It’s an easy for shoppers to self check out, a labour saver in some settings.
- Qjump, our new mobile customer-accessible true self-checkout facility is in trial. Think the new 7-Eleven app but for local indie small businesses without the weirdness of capturing shopper images and the high tech implementation cost.
- Our new EasyEDI platform offering easy access to time-saving electronic invoices is in early trial with a supplier who, until now, has not offered these.
We are working on more innovations in our small business focussed Retailer POS software to help improve your efficiency. Time saving is a key focus, as is data accuracy.
It’s in these areas of work that we genuinely differentiate for our local small business retailer customers.
We are grateful for the support of our customers. Thank you. We hope you have an awesome lead into the Christmas retail season.
Oh, one more thing … Google has released a core update, which will impact website rankings. We shared advice by email with our customers about this in the last week of August. Let’s know by email if you’s like a copy. sales@towersystems.com.au
Gift shop software
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How do I find the best POS system for my business?
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Don’t rush it. Take your time. Make decisions when you are ready.
Many POS software companies and sales people will want you to rush. Some will apply financial pressure. Others will say it’s easy, start today, be selling today … and they will often say this without understanding your business needs.
Take your time. Make decisions when you are ready.
The goal has to be to choose the POS software that best serves your needs. So, start there, with your needs. Think about them, what matters most to you, what’s not negotiable. Start there and cast aside any software company that is not interested in starting with your needs.
Some will offer a free trial, some will even push hard at this. That’s lazy selling. They want you to use their software to see if it is suitable, and knowing that some customers will stick because of concerns that it could be hard to switch software. We think free trials are a crock.
Some will offer you free software. There is no such thing. Software developers don’t work for free, nor dog help desk people, the accounts office in the software company, the sales team. Since they don’t work for free, the company has to make money so, no, there is no such thing as truly free software.
All the sales claims can make it challenging.
Take your time. Make decisions when you are ready. Start with your needs.
If this sound like hard work, it is. Good software can make you a lot of money, it can save businesses. Spending time getting this decision right could be worth a ton of money to your business. But the work has to come from you, not the sales person.
The best POS system for your retail business is the one that covers the most of your needs at a price you are prepared to pay.
No software company can claim theirs is the best, although plenty do. They can speak to customer numbers, of course, which is fine, but not a measure of best.
Here at Tower Systems. we start with you, and your needs. We want to understand them first. If we think our software is not right for you, we’ll say so.
How do I find the best POS system for my business? Don’t rush it. Take your time. Make decisions when you are ready.
See the gift shop software made in Australia for local independent gift retailers
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The Tower Systems gift shop POS software is made for local indie gift shops. It is 100% small business focussed, local business focussed.
This is important.
Every customer matters to us. Every customer is equal.
In a big software company that serves big retailers with many stores, the local gift shop can be forgotten, lost.
We have learnt so much over the years from local gift retailers, so many business insights that we have been able to encode in our software, to help other local indie gift retailers.
Our 3,000+ local retail business user community is terrific like that.
In our gift shop software you will find facilities designed to help you with all the usual POS software stuff like transact accurately, and to help you with insights designed to help you run a more enjoyable and successful retail business, help you reduce mistakes and help you thrive.
The Tower Systems gift shop software is made for this and much more. Here’s a list of the benefits gift shop owners and staff love using in this gift shop software:
- Get one-time-only shoppers spending more thanks to an easy to pitch loyalty system embedded in the software.
- Leverage you. If you believe your knowledge is a differentiator, offer it through structured opportunities in the software.
- Encourage customer happiness by serving product care info. on receipts.
- 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.
- Easily sell online with a direct to Shopify / Magento or WooCommerce link from your POS software – including image flow.
- Ensure compliance when required with structured age checking.
- Save time with electronic invoices from suppliers.
- Use tags to get a fresh perspective, side-view, on stock performance.
- Bundle items together to make price comparisons harder and thereby increase sales.
- Business differentiating loyalty. Stand out from the crowd. Have customers coming back to you for this.
- Trade and club pricing profiles. Set pricing rules based on customer type.
- Make money from pre-orders – Easily pre-sell a delivery so that when the stock arrives you can manage distribution and billing efficiently.
- Differentiate with informative receipts. These can include product care, use and safety information based on what customers buy.
- Differentiate with bundles. Selling items bundled together makes price comparison hard.
- Track who sold what.
- Say goodbye to LayBy – with integrated buy now pay later options.
- Market to customers based on past purchases.
- Save time by importing electronic invoices.
- Sell more with a direct connect to buy now pay later services.
- Cut mistakes with integrated EFTPOS.
- Cut accounting and bookkeeping fees with integration to Xero and others.
But the heart of it is that this software is made for local indie gift shops. Every customer is equal at Tower Systems.
POS software integrated Slyp digital receipts help small business retailers compete
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The integration of our Tower Systems POS software with the Slyp digital receipt platform is helping local small business retailers demonstrate their engagement with leading tech ology to enhance the shopper experience.
In today’s digital age, shoppers like seeing good tech used to enhance their shopping experience. Shoppers want a seamless, convenient, and tech-savvy shopping experience.
That’s where Tower Systems and Slyp come in. Our two companies have partnered to create a solution that helps local small business retailers deliver on these expectations.
Tower Systems makes, sells and supports POS software for local specialty retail businesses. Our software is used by thousands of businesses to manage their sales, inventory, and customer data and plenty more.
Slyp is a digital receipt platform that allows businesses to send receipts to customers’ mobile devices. Slyp receipts are more than just a digital version of a paper receipt.
The integration of Tower Systems POS software with the Slyp digital receipt platform is a game-changer for local small business retailers in our community. It allows businesses to:
- Deliver a more convenient shopping experience for their customers. Customers can now access their receipts instantly on their mobile devices, without having to dig through their pockets or bags.
- Enhance the customer experience with interactive receipts. Slyp receipts can be used to track spending and more. This gives customers more control over their shopping experience and makes them feel more valued.
- Demonstrate their engagement with leading technology. By using Slyp, businesses can show their customers that they are committed to providing a cutting-edge shopping experience.
Our POS software Slyp integration has been live for some time, under the radar, under beta release. This followed comprehensive live acceptance testing. Through the beta release we enhanced the integration, to reach a point of delivering something we are truly proud of. The POS software Slyp integration is terrific, useful and differentiating for our local small business retailer community.
If you are a local small business retailer, you should consider using Tower Systems POS software with the Slyp digital receipt platform. It is a great way to enhance the shopper experience and stay ahead of the competition.
Gift shop software on show at Reed Gift Fair in Melbourne
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We are grateful to be featuring our Aussie made and supported POS software for gift shops at the Reed Gift Fair in Melbourne.
This awesome trade show started yesterday and already it’s been terrific for us with new customers signing up on the stand. It is terrific meeting these folks face to face and live demonstrating the software to them.
Our stand has been busy, which we love of course.
At the trade show we are showing our Gift Shop POS software as well as our cloud based and truly portable POS solution, Retailer Roam. This product can run anywhere, any time, with or without Net access. Version 2.0 of this product is packed with features retailers are loving
Our gift shop software features:
- Easy and accurate selling.
- Integrated EFTPOS and you choose the bank or EFTPOS partner that suits you.
- Instant access to money making business performance insights.
- Less time spend on setting up new stock thanks to supplier partnerships.
- Less mistakes with reordering thanks to ordering based on past history.
- A deeper average shopping basket thanks to marketing and other tools.
- More frequent shopper visits thanks to loyalty solutions shoppers love and engage with.
We’re a POS software company. We make money renting our POS software to retailers. We’re not relying on you going with any particular payments platform or buying from any particular supplier. This matters because it keeps us focussed on making sure you gain value from our POS software.
Gift shop owners who want to make more money from their businesses can benefit from our business insights and labour saving tools. We know that the more our retail partners make more money using our software the more customers we will attract thanks to word of mouth. We really are all in this together with our gift shop oner customers.
Not all gift shop POS software his the same. Not all POS software companies are the same.
We are grateful for and proud of our differences. Our Tower Systems gift shop POS software is a stand out, a product on which you an rely to run a more successful and enjoyable business, a business that’s easier to run and delivering the benefits you want, and need.
From sales to special orders to pre-orders, from Xero integration to Shopify integration, from loyalty that works to easy shopper postcode tracking, from smart ways to pitch shop local to featuring locally made products … our gift shop software is made for gift retailers, made to help you thrive.
There is no lock-in contract, no requirement for you to pay up front for a year.
- Get rid of manual books at the counter for LayBys, special orders, stock you need to order and more.
- Guide shoppers to spend more with loyalty tools we think you will love.
- Nurture community group member engagement with group pricing.
- Pre-sell hot items – get paid before the stock arrives.
- Leverage your knowledge on receipts and elsewhere. Sell you.
- Reach beyond your four walls with a directly linked Shopify store.
- Eliminate LayBy and get paid sooner with buy now pay later.
- Cut dead stock and re-order based on data facts.
- Cut theft by knowing what is being stolen.
- Make price comparison harder with bundled packs.
- Easily and consistently pitch locally sourced products.
- Bring customers back with reminders on dates important to them.
- Save money on bookkeeping by integrating with Xero.
As a software company, our focus is on locally owned small business retail. We’re not after big retailers with 20 or more shops. It’s in local indie retail where we thrive and where we help our retailer partners thrive.
If you’re at the Reed Gift Fair, drop by and say hi. If you’re not, call is on 1300 662 957 or email us at sales@towersystems.com.au. Or, check out our gift shop software: www.towersystems.com.au/gift.
Here are our answers to some common questions we are asked about our gift shop software:
Are you Australian based? Yes.
Do you make your software? Yes.
How do I contact your help desk? By phone or email. Our help desk is Australian based with one team member working from New Zealand.
When can I contact you for help? Weekdays: 7am through 6PM AEST, Saturdays 7:30am through 3PM AEST. After hours for urgent calls: 24/7.
What if I am unhappy with support? You can escalate to our Chief Operating Officer or our Managing Director – every customer is given their direct numbers and email addresses.
Can I run the software in the cloud? Yes.
Can I run the software on my desktop? Yes.
Can I backup to the cloud? Yes.
How long am I locked in with software rental? There is no lock-in. You can cancel rental at any time and billing stops immediately – once the current month is completed, there is no further charge.
Can I sell gift cards for my business? Yes.
I sometimes sell from a market stall. Can the software do this? Yes, our Retailer RoamTM option manages selling from anywhere.
Does the software handle club member pricing? Yes, this can be a great marketing tool, getting local community group members support the business and fundraising at the same time.
Does the software have a facility for encouraging infrequent shoppers to spend more? Yes, it’s proven to work well at achieving this.
Does the software let me buy in bulk and break up to retail packs? Yes.
Does the software produce WAS / NOW price labels? Yes.
Does the software manage time-based catalogue pricing? Yes.
Can I include product care instructions on the receipt? Yes.
Does the software track where I have stored a box for an item? Yes.
I have similar items from several suppliers. Can I compare suppliers? Yes.
Does the software handle LayBys? Yes.
Can the software manage special orders for customers? Yes.
Can I bundle items together, like into a hamper, and easily sell that? Yes.
My business is seasonal, can I report on last season when planning for the next? Yes.
Can you reach out to customers based on what they previously purchased? Yes.
Does the system handle account customers? Yes.
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