The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
Tower Systems has kicked off the New Financial Year with the launch of fresh POS software user training opportunities for retailers who partner with us.
The free online new training is genuinely new: fresh, new topics … designed to help retailers get more from their Tower Systems relationship.
Our customers can book in for the free training now from our website. We send an email with instructions on how to get online.
The latest Tower Systems Specialised Software for Gift Shops is driving excellent commercial outcomes for small business gift shop retailers. Feedback on more loyalty options, more supplier integrations and more more management tools is fantastic. We are thrilled that our customers are thrilled.
We are especially happy to provide gift shop owners facilities through which they are able to evolve their businesses. This is vital in today;re retail marketplace where change is the order of the day.
We make it easy for gift retailers to tap into our gift shop opportunities through the gift shop portal on our website:
This advice is about the best business approach to undertaking a stocktake. Please refer to other Knowledge base articles on how to actually use the software. All retailers using our POS software have access to our knowledge base.
Please ensure you have the latest version of the Tower Systems Retailer POS software installed prior to undertaking a stocktake.
For the process to be as easy as possible you will need a wireless network – vital for OH&S reasons.
The best way to do a stocktake in your business is by using a laptop (or laptops) or tablet computer with a scanner attached. This enables you to do the stocktake live with no impact on sales and absolute integrity of your stock on hand data.
While using a laptop (or laptops) or tablet computer may seem cumbersome, it is our best practice advice for speed, data integrity and the ability to address data issues you may encounter on the shop floor. It enables you to do management work to ensure completely accurate data.
The alternative is to use a PDE. The challenges with this are the many different PDEs and it is challenging to be expert in all plus the PDE counts at that time and you load the data at a later time – meaning a gap in time in which sales could have been done. While PDE software is available for live to data updates, we have seen this be problematic and so we do not use it.
Given the advances in technology, our best practice recommendation is either a laptop of tablet computer as either offers a better solution than a PDE.
We suggest you setup a Laptop or tablet and use Team Viewer or the like to connect in and count this way. This approach means you do not need to purchase an additional software licence for the laptop. Team Viewer is easy to setup.
For the physical stocktake, we suggest you approach the business aisle by aisle, counting and rearranging stock as you go.
Once you have completed your first full stocktake, our advice is you engage in a rolling stocktake, doing parts of the business, through the year. The Tax Office does not require businesses with full sock control implemented to do a stocktake at the end of the financial year. They will accept data from your system if you manage stock through the year.
This advice seems simple, obvious – yet it is advice that must good POS software companies repeat daily. Here at Tower Systems we take this seriously we offer advice on how to use the software well, how to run a better business with the support of the software
Going beyond what is traditional in POS software support, Tower Systems helps its customers get more. Here are some of the ways retailers can use their POS software well:
This list is just a start on how to use your POS software well. Too many retailers use their software as a glorified cash register and we don’t like that. There are plenty more ways retailers can use their POS software to run more efficient and valuable businesses.
The cloud backup service launched last year by Tower Systems is popular with retailers using our POS software. Backups are seamless, not taking any noticeable time thanks to the smart technology. The result is welcome double protection.
While Tower Systems has supported external and automated backup services for years, this new cloud-based service that offers excellent protection to users of our POS software.
Run on a subscription basis and backing up to the cloud real-time through the day, this is a comprehensive replacement of the old end of shift backup approach for small and independent retailers.
Cloud accounting software company Xero features Tower Systems and its retail management software on the Xero website. This privilege is for software companies which have met compliance requirements set by Xero. Tower Systems achieved this status last year. Since then, we have worked with Xero on communication with small business retailers about the benefits of our Xero integrated POS software solution.
We have plenty of retailers using our software and our automated link to Xero … saving them time and money in the management of their financial records.
We use the Xero live and automated link for our own retail businesses and can speak to the benefits ourselves.
Thank you for helping us switch to your software. I had no idea we could do what we are already doing with your software. For years I thought I had a good software program. The time saving alone pays for itself. Thank you.
We love feedback from retailers who switch to us as it encourages us to work even harder at leveraging our point of difference. This latest retailer to switch provided us with comprehensive insights into the weaknesses of the software they have switched from, insights we can leverage in our communication with other retailers in the channel.
Making good POS software is one thing. Guiding retailers to get the maximum commercial value from the software is something else. This is where Tower Systems excels.
Independent retail businesses often seek local shopper support. This Lismore easily achieved if these businesses themselves act locally and love locally. Here are some of the many act local suggestions we have developed over years of supporting local small and independent retail businesses:
We have many other suggestions to help independent local retailers to better connect with their local community … helping our customers way beyond our software.
Tower Systems serves close to 3,000 retailers using our smart POS software.
Getting a shopper to return to your independent retail business can be difficult, you need to embrace every opportunity possible. This is where POS software company Tower Systems can help – using our smart POS software you can include on the receipt a coupon or voucher for a variety of purposes including marketing, information, direct discounts or other promotional activity.
The voucher based marketing facilities in our software are being actively used in all specialist channels in which we serve.
It could be a simple discount on return, a promotion of a new service, a discount based what is in this purchase or an offer based on a future bulk buy.
The beauty of the voucher serving technology embedded in the Tower software is that it is flexible and available for use in the business without cost. This ensures that the independent retailers using it are not having to share costs with others. The benefits are as considerable as the flexibility of the service.
And how can I use that information in the business?
This is a question that can stump someone working on the help desk as a POS software company as it goes beyond the what and how and delves into the why. The answer to this question is a chink of gold that can be mined using smart POS software.
This is a questions the Tower Systems help desk team members can answer because the understand the why: why the software matters, why the data harvested is valuable, why a business owner wanting to grow the business will want to use the data.
This information is vital in small business as it is information that unlocks the real value of POS software for these small independent business users.
We can help small business owners understand data on reports as they relate to their specific businesses. Context is everything as they say and we know POS software cannot be one size fits all. A datapoint could be used by three different businesses in different ways depending on other metrics and KPIs. This is where our help desk team is smart and engaged.
Beyond the shat and how, our POS software help desk team loves to delve into the why.
Here is another fresh and free training video for employees of retail businesses using our POS software. This video explains how to se.. We have plenty more on this topic at our website including videos, advice sheets and more.
Small business retailers could have thousands of dollars of stock sitting on their shelves taking up space. If stock is not selling, it’s costing you. Once you have identified stock that is not selling you can begin to quit this stock, by putting the stock on clearance and continually reducing pricing until it’s sold out. Even if this means selling it below cost, it will save you money in the long run.
Tip: You can work out how much your shop space is worth by dividing the rent by how many square meters of space you have.
If a product hasn’t sold for six months then it’s costing you money to warehouse it. Quitting the stock will stop the cost from building up further and allow you to replace it with stock that will sell. Here is advice on quitting dead stock using our smart POS software.
NOTE: To effectively use this advice you need accurate stock on hand levels. Poor stock management will mean the results here can’t be used. You need to be able to trust your QOH figure is correct for this advice to be useful.
Finding The Stock
Use the ranked sales report with the following settings to work out what isn’t selling and put that stock on clearance.
Go to Reports > Sales Reports > Ranked Sales Report.
Set your Start date back six months from today and the end date to today’s date. Set the rest of the report settings as below.
When the report runs you will see the following:
Here you can see when the last time an item was sold (if at all) and the last time it was arrived.
Note: Items can show up that have only recently been arrived.
Ignore these items unless they haven’t sold in 4 to 5 months, then you may want to look into them.
The bottom of the report will give you a total cost of stock Inc and Ex GST. Consider this figure the value of dead stock in your store. You need to reduce this as much as possible.
Once you have the report print it out and start working through the list.
Set up a clearance table or bin somewhere in store and put product there with a clearance price. Simply advertise the area as Clearance Stock, Prices as Marked.
Keep discounting the product until it sells. Set a goal to get rid of the stock within say two weeks, if stock is still there after one week, discount further.
Now you can start filling that empty space with stock that is selling well. Use the Ranked Sales Report to show you top selling items and begin to build up those lines.
We keen addicting additional free live training sessions for our POS software customers and they keep filling up. So, guess what, we are adding more.
These sessions are more about leveraging the software in the business than how to do this or that. They contain considerable retail business management and operational advice.
We are thrilled with the support from ur customers and grateful to be in a position to offer this training by our skilled training team.
This is POS software customer service at its best. This is the Tower AdvantageTM
Disaster planning is vital for any retail business. Too often, the need for good disaster planning is realised after a disaster has hit the business. This advice from our POS software company offers business and computer related advice which is designed to mitigate the impact of a disaster on your business.
Insurance Protection
Insurance coverage is vital to helping a retail business overcome any type of disaster. In addition to ensuring that your insurance policy covers all disaster situations of concern to you, including flood, theft, water inundation, fire, earthquake, riot—be sure to carefully read the policy, ensure that your insurance policy / policies cover payouts for the following:
Ensure that the value of stock, fixtures and fittings covered by your policy is an accurate reflection of the real value of these items. Talk with your insurance company about the best approach to track this on an ongoing basis.
Insurance brokers can provide access to assessors who can advise on the appropriate level of insurance for your situation.
Use your Point of Sale system to track all stock movements in and out. The stock on hand in your software should be your coverage.
Ensure that your insurance policy protects for the seasonal nature of your business
Data Protection
Business data is one of the most valuable assets of the business. Like insurance, the value is often not understood until you need what you do not have. Retailers who are serious about protecting their business data in the event of any disaster follow these steps:
Disaster Planning
Here are some general suggestions on planning for a disaster.
Finding stock is easy for those using the Tower Systems POS software. While we have comprehensive training, sometimes it is brief top level training that front line employees need. Here is a new brief video created specifically for the front line. It’s fast and easy to learn and is back by far more training in video, text and line one on one form.
Tower Systems develops software for small and independent businesses in specialist retail channels.
Our jeweller software is just for jewellers, our bike shop software is for bike retailers, our pet shop software is for pet shop retailers, our newsagency software is for newsagents, our garden centre software is for garden centres and our gift shop software is for gift and homewares shops.
Each of our customers has common challenges: BIG business and online business.
We can help you compete with BIG business and online businesses.
Our POS software offers four approaches to loyalty. One, the NEW loyalty, is fresh, unique and loved by shoppers.
We are seeing small and independent retail businesses enjoy double digit growth on the back on our approach.
We back our terrific Aussie software with practical training. We even help you train your employees. Click here to see one two minute video we produced for our customers to share with their employees on our unique Discount Voucher facility (the NEW loyalty). We explain how your employees make make this work for you.
We are not your average software company. We care about independent small businesses. Our software is tailored to the needs of specialist retail channels.
We’re here to help.
Retailers are embracing the FREE POS software training from Tower Systems in End of Financial Year processes. Developed specifically to serve retailers this year in the run up to June 30, this session is an all you need to know approach to stock, business data and other factors that are vital to being prepared for EOFY.
This training is a continuation of the weekly POS software training tower Systems launched years ago, training the company happily and willingly offers to provide our customers with more free learning opportunities through which to love our software and love our company.
When we say this training is free, there is truly no cost. we even pay for the phone call to provide audio access – anywhere in the world. This is another Tower AdvantageTM .
A loyalty program is only as good as the over the counter pitch through which you seek to engage shoppers. Check out this brief video we created to train retail employees on what has to be the easiest to use over the counter shopper loyalty offer.
Tower Systems leads with professional employee training videos which help retail employees leverage more value for the business from our software.
Retailers using the Tower Systems POS software have access to a training library of more than 130 training videos. These videos are professional in production and valuable in the content offered.
The videos can be accessed from any computer, anywhere and at any time.
The video training resources are comprehensive. They are also loved by our customers.
Regularly enhanced, the Tower Systems POS software video training library is a real asset to our business – allowing us to show a point of difference which wins us business.
In addition to POS software training, our library also includes training on business use of the software – covering how to engage on the shop floor. This is an area many POS software companies neglect in their training.
POS software can do more for small business retailers than they may think. Good POS software, like that from Tower Systems, goes deep into the business, away from the sales counter, helping in many ways.
Help with leveraging shopper loyalty.
Tower Systems has begun an education campaign for small business retailers in Australia in selected specialist retail channels outlining how they can benefit from the immediate asset write-off opportunity announced in the federal budget last night.
Retail businesses turning over $2 million a year or less can immediately write off the purchase of our Point of Sale solution.
Our software delivers the productivity benefits the federal government is keen to see small businesses access.
POS software can do more for small business retailers than they may think. Good POS software, like that from Tower Systems, goes deep into the business, away from the sales counter, helping in many ways.
Help with managing employees.
Demonstrating its commitment to innovation, the latest release of POS software from Tower Systems offers a completely new stock take facility.
Completely re-designed from the ground up, this new stocktaking facility works as well with tablets as it does on your traditional desktop.
Packed with new features, this new stock take facility is available for the end of financial year stock take retailers will undertake over the next two months.
Tower Systems is committed to providing its small business retail partners a continuously improving POS software experience through considerable investment in software development.
Preorders are important in several specialist retail businesses. They can help you lock-in shoppers long before product is available. Offering the service is often appreciated, especially by collectors who want to be first with a new product in their area of collection.
Using smart facilities in our POS software, retailers are able to easily manage preorders from payment to order tracking to customer communication.
Our preorder facilities are all about helping retailers grow their businesses and ensuring they do not lose sales.
The more structured your processes around special orders and preorders the more support you will achieve from customers.
Developed with retailers specialising in preorders, the Tower POS software serves this need well.
Software is only as valuable to a business as the contribution it makes. This contribution can be measured in time and money for its from these two that all other benefits flow. Here are ways our point of sale software will help gift shops, jewellers, bike retailers, pet shops and more make more money and free time
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