What a perfect Father’s Day card for a cyclist dad this Father’s Day. Even better, it’s Aussie made just like our software for bike shops and our software for card, gift shops and newsagencies where this awesome Father’s Day card is for sale.
We are grateful to also have this card from Aussie company Henderson Greetings in our own shops, as part of our Father’s Day card range.
Aussie made does matter to Aussie shoppers.
Tower Systems is a proud Aussie POS software company serving local Aussie retailers with specialty retail POS software.
We’re chuffed that our home made YouTube video has reached more than 23,000 full views in under 2 weeks. We are especially grateful because this ad shines a light on local small business retail and the role it plays in serving the local community.
This is what we do through our POS software, help local retailers serve their local community. And we love that role, love that we are able to practically help, through the software, into the community.
It is no secret that turnover is high in the retail industry. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, the average turnover rate for retail employees is more than 70%. This high turnover rate can be costly for businesses, in terms of both time and money. Therefore, it is important for retail businesses to find ways to retain their employees.
One way to retain employees is to provide them with opportunities for growth and development. This could include offering training and development programs, as well as opportunities for promotion. Another way to retain employees is to offer competitive compensation and benefits packages. This could include things like health insurance, paid time off, and retirement savings plans. Finally, creating a positive work environment can also help to retain employees. This means providing things like a flexible work schedule, good working conditions, and a supportive team culture. By taking steps to retain their employees, retail businesses can improve their bottom line.
Here at Tower Systems we help retailers hire and retain employees in a number of ways. In fact, we made a short video about it yesterday:
Thanks to our structured training materials, employees in retail businesses using our software have a pathway of education that can hold them in good stead as they move forward with their career.
Being able to learn like this encourages them to appreciate their employment more, and this facilitates stability within the local small business team.
Retailers looking to staff their stores with the best talent should consider implementing these tips, structuring their business to be less labour reliant and more accurate when it comes to data. And, once you have the right team in place, be sure to use Tower Systems POS software to help manage and retain your employees. Our software is designed to make the retail experience as smooth as possible for both customers and employees alike. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you build a successful team that will keep your customers coming back for more.
See more at our website www.towersystems.com.au or call us for a human to human chat on 1300 662 957.
The POS software you choose for your indie 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. The software you choose needs to serve your needs. Here are some headline level thoughts … 7 steps to choosing the right POS software for your local specialty retail business
If you see your business as specialist in nature, the software you choose should be specialist.
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.
If you want to be known as the local specialist, you need software that helps you do this consistently and effectively.
If you do repairs or maintenance of any sort, you need software that can handle this.
If you sell items bundled such as a rod, reel and line pack, you need software that can handle this.
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.
If you sell products by weight or measure, you need software that can do this, you want software that allows you to sell by fractions.
Think about these things and think about what you want in software in your business to help you stand out. If it does not feel right, say no thanks and look elsewhere.
Here at Tower Systems we will tell a sales prospect if we think our software is not a good fit based on the needs they have explained to us. There is no value to us or the sales prospect in them going with software that is not a good fit.
We have won plenty of customers who made a poor choice before landing with us. We take care to ensure we fit their needs because the last thing we want for them is another poor tech experience.
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.
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.
Supply chain challenges are impacting retailers across many sectors. The challenges are not new, certainly not in the last two years at least. Here in mid 2022, the supply chain challenges are more impactful than before, and local retailers are being hit hard.
In the face of the unknown as to inventory arrival, some retailers ignore revenue opportunities.
In our POS software we have facilities that they local retailers win business and lock-in revenue despite supply chain uncertainty.
From managing inventory to capturing revenue for forward orders to easily shifting from one supplier to another, our POS software provides retailers impacted by supply chain challenges with tools that can provide appreciated flexibility.
With plenty of products impacted by supply chain challenges, customers are happy to wait if there is certainty they will eventually receive the products. This is where our software shines as it manages these special orders, providing the detailer with a structured framework through which to manage the opportunity and the customer the confidence that the retailer has it covered. By systemising the approach, bringing certain structure to it, the retailer can capture revenue early and the customer can be calmed knowing the retailer has their back.
Good POS software helps local retailers navigate often complex situations that are outside their control, offering the local retail business revenue stability that is key to on-going trading.
Through our work across a range of retail channels we are well aware of and across the detail for supply chain challenges. We have helped retailers who acted to stock pile inventory to see them through, managing that inventory across multiple locations. We have also helped retailers work with other retailers to share inventory across multiple businesses.
These are just two ways we have practically helped local retail businesses deal with the latest supply chain challenges impacting local sales.
Offering flexible POS software, we have been able to provide local retailers with pathways though supply chain challenges that are usually only available to bigger businesses. We arebgrateful for a local small business retail community that works together.
Tower Systems is a local Aussie POS software company seeing a range of local specialty retail channels.
Buy now pay later businesses are having a rough ride. They face challenges due to the ease with which people can get credit, their break fees, the cost to retailers of offering the payment method and the entry of new competitors into the space – like banks and Apple.
It feels like the glory days of buy now pay later as a traffic driver for retail are over.
In our Tower Systems POS software we have good LayBy tools, which any retailer can offer and manage easily. We developed these many years ago and have maintained them. Today, we have some retailers handling thousands of LayBys every year. We bring structure and support to offering LayBys in any local business.
Here is a 6-minute video we shot about this yesterday morning.
Using the LayBy tools in the Tower Systems POS software, small business retailers can offer professional management of LayBys including:
Structured terms and conditions.
Collecting a deposit every time.
Managing payments.
Handling the adjustment of what is in a LayBy.
Managing the collection of the LayBy.
Understanding the total LayBy situation of a business.
Knowing the location of a LayBy.
Feeding LayBy data through to any connected accounting software.
Giving even casual employees a structured process through which they can be certain with LayBys.
Best of all, the LayBy facilities in the tower Systems POS software help a retail business to bring structure, certainty, to the LayBy offer in a business and this leads to good business, efficient business, profitable LayBy business.
We make LayBy easy but certain, a differentiator on which local retailers can rely to win business and provide a service local shoppers love.
For too many retailers, offering LayBy can be a grind, problematic to manage. Using our LayBy tools we offer structure. many retail businesses in our POS software community find this useful to LayBy being a more enjoyable part of their businesses. We like this. One of our goals is to help small business retailers enjoy their business more.
With the advent of BNPL, LayBy can be a small business win, a true differentiator, and Tower Systems helps achieve this.
Learning how to use POS software is like learning to surf on so many ways. It’s about knowing when to push off, which wave to catch, how to balance, how to ride it is and when yo feel exalted.
It’s kinda how we approach training, mentorship and support here at Tower Systems for our 3,000+ local retail business POS software customers.
Every local retail business has different waves, different challenges and opportunities. Every local retail business owner and team member has different skills. We know that a one size fits all approach does not work, that there is no corporate approach you can take to implementing POS software. It’s why our approach is personal, fit for each customer business.
We like the surfing analogy because it reflects the unexpected we see in local retail, the need to be flexible, to read the waves and to adjust accordingly. This is what our POS software helps with, and our training guides local retailers on this.
Tower Systems is not your average POS software company.
The price of gift shop software can be confusing. here at Tower Systems, it’s not. Our gift software software costs $159.00 a month.
That includes GST.
It also includes access from as many terminals as you want.
And, there is no additional cost based on transaction volume.
Also, the price is not dependent on you signing up to any specific EFTPOS provider.
Plus you can cancel any time.
Oh, and you pay monthly. There is no need to pay a year in advance to gat the $159.00 a month price.
And, we almost forgot, the $159.00 a month is in Aussie dollars. There is no exchange rate to tangle with to get this months price.
All those factors matter, if you compare the Tower Systems gift software software with some others.
On top of this, we’re an Aussie company providing Aussie supports with context for your type of business, your local conditions. We understand you and serve you, from here in Australia, in Hawthorn VIC, actually.
Come and join 3,000+ local small business retailers, indie retailers, who already use our software.
It costs $159.00 a month to rent (inc. GST). This includes the software, help desk support (Melbourne based), half a day one-on-one setup and training and access to an awesome knowledge base of advice and help.
You can cancel the rental at any time. There is no lock-in contract, no requirement for you to pay up front for a year. Pay as you go, monthly.
There is no requirement that you use a particular EFTPOS service. We mention this as some POS software companies lock you in on a service with a high price.
Find out more at www.towersystems.com.au/gift.
Watch a demonstration: https://youtu.be/0kArDkAKE4E
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.
We’re not your usual software company. See these videos at our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/c/TowerSystemsPOS ) with practical business advice:
Helping local retailers shine: https://youtu.be/QV775KyTsBk
Local really does matter to us. We’re a locally owned company employing local software developers and local help desk people. Most of our competitors are big overseas businesses, like Amazon is to you. So, we do understand the challenges of being local in a competitive world. We’d love to help you.
Attracting new traffic, new shoppers, is vital for local retail businesses. Every new shopper adds value to the business today and into the future.
We are always looking for businesses that do this well, in ways not traditional for that type of business. We found one a few weeks ago in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin – the Avant Cafe & Cycle shop. Here is a new video from us in which we explore what we like about what the folks at Avant are doing, what we learned from them.
They offers are well defined, quality and complimentary, yet able to successfully stand along … and that is key to any business attracting new traffic for specialty products or services – they need to be able to stand alone as that strength enhances the value of the combined offer.
Pursuing new traffic is the single most important business management activity for you and your business.
We suggest pursuing new traffic is a meditation point for any local specialty retailer… new traffic, what it is, what it means and how you can attract it.
When you approach any management or strategic activity in your business, think about what this task or activity will do to attract new shoppers.
It is not enough to do something in your shop for that is only seen by people in your shop. What are you doing to promote this outside your shop? … because that is where new traffic is to be found.
This is not something for your suppliers to do. It is up to you. Only you and your actions can attract new traffic.
Pursuing new traffic is about far more than putting new products in your store. Indeed, stock is only one of several steps that are all connected in pursuing new traffic. However, stock is the start. Stocking new lines never offered in the business are the best first step to take to bring in people who do not shop with you today.
What they are doing at Avant is attracting people who love and appreciate good coffee while at the same time attracting local cyclists and people wanting to purchase bikes or have their bikes serviced. Each of these separate areas does well, and they compliment each other.
It can be a struggle in local small business retail to be noticed. You can feel helpless, under-resourced, too small to be heard. The negative self-talk can have you doing less, being heard less, noticed less.
In truth, local small business retailers have the best voices, the most authentic voices, the most valuable voices for the local community.
The best way for any local retail business to be promoted is through word of mount and word of mouth depends on customer service and value appreciation.
The Tower Systems POS software helps nurture word of mount. Better still, it helps support the value appreciation. It does this by demonstrating value consistently, at shopper touch points, in ways we see them appreciate, and talk positively about to others.
Our local small business retail helps retailers systemise and structure these activities so that the value of the business can be felt and understood in ways that support the growth of the business through the attraction of new shoppers, thanks to word of mount commentary.
Local small business retailers can compete against big, well-funded, businesses.
The key is to be yourself in what you do, what you offer and how you communicate. This is where the Tower Systems POS software helps as it comes from an understanding of the challenges of local small business retail and the value these businesses offer their local communities. Our software, which is only used in indie retail (no big business) offers subtle platforms for sharing the massages core to the business and ways the business can add value that are exclusive, unique.
Imagine the delight a shopper feels when they are given something unexpected, something they can use right away, something that appreciates their business in your shop that day … and that they have been given this without having to sign up for anything, without having to fill in a form, without having to give any personal details. This is a measure of trust between the business and the shopper. It has the shopper more engaged, more trusting and moire keen for the opportunity.
This is one way our POS software helps local small business retailers provide appreciation that is talked about, mentioned, raved about. We have seen this help bring new shoppers to local retail businesses.
This is one of plenty of ways the Tower Systems POS software can help local retailers be seen, be noticed, and flourish.
Tower Systems offers gift shop software for $159.99 a month. This is POS software made for gift shops, local gift shop0s, small businesses, local businesses … software designed to help them thrive.
Made and supported in Australia, this gift shop POS software is purpose built to serve the needs of these local and loved businesses.
Get rid of manual books at the counter for LayBys, special orders, stock you need to order and more.
Cut dead stock and re-order based on data facts.
Cut theft by knowing what is being stolen.
EliminateLayBy and get you paid sooner with buy now pay later.
Make price comparison harder with bundled packs.
Easily and consistently pitch locally sourced products.
Drive community group member engagement with group pricing.
Get one-time-only shoppers spending more with loyalty tools.
Bring customers back with reminders on dates important to them.
Save money on bookkeeping by integrating with Xero.
Leverage your knowledge on receipts and elsewhere. Sell you.
Reach beyond your 4 walls with a direct Shopify link / integration.
here’s more about this awesome gift shop PSO software:
When you are ready, we’d love to show you our Gift Shop Software and through that show you answers to other questions you have.
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.
While we think it’s more than one thing that differentiates our POS software, some of us got together to record this video where we each share our one-thing:
If your local retail business competes with big businesses and online businesses, you are likely copying them and their approach to loyalty. Points are the common approach. The world is obsessed with points, chasing them, collecting and trying to spend them.
But who knows that they are worth?
Each point is not the same whereas each dollar is a dollar everywhere.
The Tower Systems POS software offers a points based loyalty solution embedded in the POS software – for businesses that like to copy big business. The businesses that like to innovate, be different and stand out, however, use the discount vouchers facilities in our POS software. In these facilities there are no points accrued. rather, loyal shoppers accrue dollars. See how:
With hundreds of local small business retailers using the Tower Systems discount vouchers we have good data to speak to when encouraging local retailers to embrace the opportunity.
For years, retailers, especially independent and small business retailers, have been told to follow retail giants and reward loyal shoppers with points that can be redeemed for gifts and discounts.
Dutifully, many small business retailers acted on this – but without a thought-through strategy to achieve the best outcome for the business.
Without a financially rewarding outcome for a business, a loyalty program is worthless.
This is why retailers, in any retail channel and in any retail situation – high street, shopping mall, rural and or regional – need options in terms of shopper loyalty rewards.
While a points based program is useful, it could be that the business will benefit from a different approach.
Good POS software will offer flexibility. This flexibility can add thousands of dollars to the bottom line performance of a retail business each year.
Change the game: front-end loyalty
By using an approach we at Tower call front-ending loyalty, retailers can achieve more from first-time and infrequent shoppers. Front-ending loyalty brings a reward to the front in an effort to engage shoppers in additional purchases sooner.
Too often loyalty has been all about total spend over a year whereas above average spend in just one visit can be morevaluable to a business.
It’s an approach that can encourage those who do not shop with you to purchase something else right away, to get the value of the cash discount offered.
Regular shoppers can spend the cash discount right away or come back within any time limit you set.
We started trialling this front-ending loyalty strategy in February 2013 in several retail businesses. We did it using the Discount Vouchers facilities in the Tower Systems software.
Building the basket
From the first day we saw shoppers changing behaviour.
One chap came in to purchase a specific item. When he was handed the receipt the voucher was pointed out to him – offering $2.00 off his next purchase. He was not a regular and so spent the $2.00, and more, right away on another item. He received another voucher and purchased a third item. In all, he spent three times as much as the original purchase – all because of the Discount Vouchers he received.
Around 33% of all vouchers redeemed are used the day they are received. This shows customers building the basket – adding to their purchase that day as a result of the voucher. This makes each visit more valuable to us.
Bringing shoppers back
Around 33% of redeemed vouchers are used within seven days of issue and the remaining 33% are redeemed up to four weeks after issue.
Here’s another real story: A month after we started trialling this new approach to loyalty, a customer came in and used a voucher she had picked up a couple of weeks earlier. She was happy to get $5.00 off a $45.00 item she wanted. This resulted in another voucher so she bought another item for $29.95.
This customer said she would be back. Two weeks later she was.
You control the business rules covering how vouchers are issued and redeemed. You control your financial exposure at all times.
Like any good loyalty program, you need good levers with which to drive shopper engagement and to deliver the benefits it needs to justify the investment.
The Discount Vouchers facilities in the Tower software have this.
Every day can feel like a grind in local small business retail. A grind competing with big businesses, a grind competing with online businesses. It can wear people down if they let it.
The key is to not let it wear you down.
It starts with loving your business, believing in it, respecting it and making it stronger at the core. That’s what this advice from Tower Systems is about today, making your business stronger at the core, by making the business more competitive.
5 ways to make your local retail business more competitive
Now, before we get into them they will feel easy, even lame. The thing is, these are deliberately everyday things you can do without a budget, just with a small time investment.
These are all things your POS software, like the Tower Systems POS software, can help with if you wish.
1. Offer something unique that your competitors don’t. This could be a unique product, service, or even just a specific focus or niche that you cater to. have a point of different. This matters a lot. Create it, embrace it, leverage it. This point of difference is you, it is your reason, your go to, your 7 second pitch.
2. Make sure your prices are competitive. This doesn’t mean always having the lowest prices, but rather offering a good value for what you’re selling. Value is something you create based on how you bundle items, how you source to differentiate, how you make raw price comparisons hard.
3. Offer excellent customer service. This could be something as simple as providing a great experience in your store, or going above and beyond to help your customers. make it personal, different and valuable. At each contact point provide that extra bit that helps people make better use of what you sell.
4. Use marketing and advertising wisely. Make sure you’re targeting your ideal customer, and using the most effective channels to reach them. When you market, market you, your point of difference – always ahead off price as price based shoppers are not loyal.
5. Stay up to date on industry trends. This will help you anticipate changes and stay ahead of your competitors. It will also help your business be a resource, and that will bring people back.
Being more competitive in local retail is all about you and the core of your business. get this right and worries about competitors out there, real or imagined, will fade away.
Tower Systems through its POS software helps with this and more. We have embedded in our software opportunities for you showing your competitive advantages, giving shoppers lived experiences they will love.
We are grateful to have welcomed more retailers to the Tower Systems POS software community from the MYOB Retail Manager software.
With MYOB making their intentions re the future of Retail Manager clear, retailers, community groups, clubs and others using the software are looking for alternatives, solutions o9n which they can rely into the future.
Tower Systems has helped many businesses and groups move from MYOB Retail Manager to the Tower Systems POS software. We do this in a structured and methodical way, working with our customers to bring across what they trust and helping them setup in a new world with fresh data fresh settings and, best of all, comprehensive training and one-on-one support.
We have many customers in many different retail settings who have made the switch from MYOB Retail Manager before. They can speak to the software as well as our support processes that have helped them land where they are. People switching from MYOB Retail Manager today can rely on the experiences of others. They can also trust the Tower Systems commitment to continual evolution of its POS software in service o0f the needs of specialty retail.
Like any new installation of our POS software, we start the relationship wanting to ensure we understand the needs of a business. This actually starts before prospective customers even sign up with us. We want to make sure we can meet their needs. So, we start a discovery process before anything else. If our software does meet their needs, then it’s full steam ahead with comprehensive training in how to use the software and easy to access customer service for any query customers may have once the training is completed. We make it easy to learn and easy to continue to learn long after the software is being used in a business.
We differ from the old MYOB approach in that we provide all our own training, we are very accessible – through to our leadership team, our software is regularly enhanced, documentation is regularly updated, and, support access is easy and direct … by phone, email in person, text message or through social media. We make it easy for you to reach us when you need us.
If you are using MYOB Retail Manager in your business and you want to consider an alternative, Tower Systems is here for you. We’d love to find out more about your needs: 1 300 662 957 or sales@towersystems.com.au.
Rewarding shopper loyalty in retail businesses has become industrial in scale, which means it is less personal, and more about the retail business than the shopper.
Too many local small business retailers think the best way to compete with big business loyalty offerings is to copy them, which means offering points to shoppers that they can then use somehow in the business.
What are points worth?
That’s the million dollar question. or, maybe, the million point question.
Because … in one shop a point is equal to a dollar, in another, it takes 1,000 points to equal a dollar, while in another it takes 10 points to equal a dollar for selected items in the shop but not everything they have available.
No wonder shoppers are confused as to the actual value of loyalty points. They are confusing.
While our awesome local retail POS software serves a points based loyalty offering, because our POS software customers wanted that, we also have an awesome, and better we think, loyalty solution that is $$$ based, that shoppers understand, and love – we say love because we have seen and heard shoppers say this. Better still, we see shoppers love our $$$ based loyalty solution through their spending patterns.
What we offer in our POS software loyalty solutions is flexibility, transparency and easy engagement.
You can have your Tower Systems POS software loyalty solution live in minutes.
It costs nothing to setup.
What you invest in it is 100% your call.
What shoppers get from it is 100% your call.
It’s a standard part of our POS software – you don’t have to pay us or anyone to participate.
Shoppers don’t need to register, which means more will engage.
This is about driving sales, as that’s key in any retail business.
Sure, likes are nice and follows are great and having plenty of members in a loyalty program makes your chest puff out … b u t what really matters, what matters the most in any shop, in any retail business, is the business you put through your register and it is this business, what you sell and what you make from all that, which pays the bills, pays your people, pays you.
The Tower Systems approach to shopper loyalty through its local retail POS software offers a points based solution. but, better still, is the $$$ based offer that any customer can understand and with which any customer can engage, including those one-time customers you will never see again – those customers can do 2, 3, heck, even 4 transactions in a single visit. That’s what we have seen when retailers turn on our awesome POS software loyalty solutions.
Tower Systems makes POS software for local specialty retailers like jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, pet shops, newsagents, toy shops, sewing shops, homewares shops, gift shops, firearms dealers, adult shops, bookshops, farm supply businesses, mobility scooter businesses and pool maintenance and supply businesses.
It is this specialisation, this service of local small business retail that helps us provide solutions for shoppers who do shop local and who can be loyal, providing wonderful and valuable business to the local high street retail economy.
If your shop sells online and in a physical store, how easy is it for you to report on sales revenue by location of the sale?
How easy is it for you to report in-store sales versus online sales?
We think this should be easy.
Online sales have a different set of costs compared to in-store sales. There are different customer acquisition costs, too, and different fulfilment costs.
By separating out the reporting of sales based on the platform through which sales are transacted, Tower Systems provides retailers using its POS software with insights that could be valuable in better understanding the business, and thereby better taking those next steps in the business.
This level of reporting in the Tower Systems POS software is differentiating for the business, it is helping Tower Systems to win customers, for which we are sincerely grateful.
When we shared our innovative approach with our customers, there was much joy. The enhancements were not sought out by our customers. We did it because we saw the need in our own retail businesses. So when the enhancements were released in an update a while back, customers were surprised. It was like giving them a nugget of gold that made their use of our POS software even more valuable. We are so proud of delivering this and delivering what’s next in this space, and next again.
While our POS software connected Shopify, Magneto and Woo customers can get the online sales data from those platforms, by bringing it together in the POS, which manages data for all sales – in-store as well as online – made sense to us. It’s a time saver for retailers and retail business managers. It is a good decision feeder by placing this data, these insights, in one place.
This is a good POS software move, a value-add, a way the Tower Systems POS software enhanced the user experience and the value they can mine from their use of our POS software.
Maybe you can tell we are excited. Well, that’s because of customer feedback. Yes, it’s been terrific, for which we are even more grateful.
2022 is a good year for local small business retail and we are happy to be part of the story evolving in many main street settings in Australia and New Zealand.
When comparing POS software for your retail business be sure to look at the total cost of ownership.
If there is a fee per transaction, work out what you would be paying for the software based on your current transaction volume level.
One local retailer recently discovered that they would be paying $5,000 a year more for another POS software product compared to going with Tower Systems. This is despite the other company saying they were low cost. Once they added up the software rental cost, the per transaction cost, the EFTPOS cost and the cost for additional support to match what we consider to be basic support, the cost was even greater.
We all have EFTPOS costs so comparing the companies on that net each other off. The real differences were in the per transaction cost – we don’t have one – and the cost for extra support – there, it’s all included.
Taking a moment to more completely research the cost of POS software can reveal significant cost differences.
Another company said their rental was $50 a month less if you sign ups for their payments platform. You had to dig a bit to see the actual costs of that. What we found in that situation was that their payment costs were 33% above market cost, meaning a business that signs up for their payments platform would pay far more to use their POS software than if they went with us, where costs are transparent and fixed.
The retailer being hit with these costs, once they discovered the extent of them, was horrified at what they had been paying.
Here at Tower Systems we are a POS software company. We are not in the business of setting our price based on your transaction volume or how people pay. Indeed, it frustrates us when local retailers discover how much extra they have paid because they signed up to a transaction fee arrangement as most we have spoken to who did this did so without understanding. They thought it was a saving. They tend to feel dudded and this negatively impacts how they see all POS software companies.
All of us in business owe our customers transparency when it comes to pricing. Charging per transaction or charging based on the use of a payments platform is not transparent based on what we can see, or not see as the case may be.
We are grateful to win for retailers to the Tower Systems POS software thanks to our easy to use approach for loading supplier electronic invoices and stock files.
This happened again a couple of days ago when a retailer switched once they saw how easy we made it to load electronic invoices. They were tired of not being able to do this and appreciated that we make it easy.
here;’s the thing though – we have been doing this for years and years.
Saving time for retailers is a key goal. Couple this with data accuracy and it is a no brainer for POS software companies to make loading electronic invoices and stock files easy. we are grateful when. People switch to our POS software for this and are proud to deliver them with even more facilities they can love.
While it doesn’t make sense to us when we see POS software that does not make it easy to load invoices and files, we leverage the opportunities competitor missteps provide.
A couple of us were fortunate to spend time visiting a range of innovative local small business specialty retail in Los Angeles. In this new video, we share some of what we saw.
We are grateful to have a terrific stand at the Reed Gift Fair that starts this coming weekend in Sydney. Situated in the main hall, in the centre of action, we will have fresh new gift shop POS software on show, software available for a monthly fee of $159.00, including GST.
You won’t miss our stand as it features our latest artwork, which includes:
We are so excited to show off this new software, which is packed with features to help local gift shops thrive in-store as well as online.
Gift shops can rent this software for $159.00 a month. Here his what is included in this complete package offer:
Software made for gift shops.
Free half a day one-on-one training and setup advice.
Free training videos. Learn at your own pace.
Free knowledge base / online manual.
Free access to a help desk – based here in Australia.
Cancel at any time.
Why do gift shops need specialty POS software? Why can’t they use basic software? They can. However, the more specialty the software, the more facilities the business has to attract shoppers and leverage what’s special about the business.
The Tower Systems gift shop software is specialty POS software made for gift shops. It has been made to help gift shops leverage what is unique about their businesses. We think this is a reason many hundreds of gift shop retailers have chosen our software.
At the Reed Gift Fair in Sydney we will offer live demonstrations of this software boy our skilled professionals. They will be able to answer questions and help any retailer see whether this software could be right for their business.
We’re not 100% sure as these things can change but our latest check indicated we were the only gift shop software company at the trade show.
Using our gift shop software, local gift retailers can tap into plenty of benefits, including:
Easy and accurate selling.
Less dead stock.
Fewer sales mistakes.
Get rid of manual books at the counter for LayBys, special orders, stock you need to order and more.
Cut theft by knowing what is being stolen.
Eliminate LayBy and get you paid sooner with buy now pay later.
Make price comparison harder with bundled packs.
Easily and consistently pitch locally sourced products.
Drive community group member engagement with group pricing.
Get one-time-only shoppers spending more with loyalty tools.
Bring customers back with reminders on dates important to them.
Save money on bookkeeping by integrating with Xero.
Leverage your knowledge on receipts and elsewhere. Sell you.
Reach beyond your four walls with a directly linked Shopify store.
Our team will do everything possible to help your local gift shop thrive – in the city or country, on the high street or in a mall.
Tower Systems only serves local retailers in selected specialty marketplaces.
Seasons, like Easter, can be challenging for local retailers. It is important, but very personal for many. For others, it’s about delicious hot cross buns and a mountain of chocolate treats. Engaged retailers want to connect, but not intrude.
Through our work with card and gift retailers, and local Aussie newsagents, we respect the opportunity of Easter, to help people connect with family and loved-ones. That’s what we like about these cards, they cover different, thoughtful, approaches to Easter.
We help retailers plan for seasons like Easter by reflecting on what happened last year, and the year before that. History is helpful, and being able to tap into it, even when the dates of a season change, help us learn from it.
We are a local Aussie POS software company that helps local retailers serve their local community: www.towersystems.com.au
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