HOW OUR POS SOFTWARE COMPANY INTERACTS WITH SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL CUSTOMERS
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Sunday retail management advice: basket analysis helps you sell more
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Basket analysis is the analysis of products purchased by transaction – shopping basket. Such analysis typically compares two trading periods overall and by day of week. It also includes this analysis by supplier comparing trading periods and day of week.
Basket analysis shows you the efficiency of product categories (departments). For example, see how many baskets include one category of item and nothing else. You can also see the numbers of times sales are single item sales.
Basket analysis underscores the value to the business of newer categories such as gifts and toys.
Basket analysis at a supplier level is equally insightful, allowing you to compare the basket efficiency and value of suppliers between two tradition periods as well as across each day of the week between two trading periods.
It is at the basket analysis level that you can determine product efficiency. A product is more efficient for you if it is purchased with other items in our view. You can drive this by careful placement on the shop floor, promotion at the sales counter and working with customers on the shop floor to guide their purchases.
It’s an example of how you can use comprehensive business data to drive your in-store actions. For example, knowing what we know about pop vinyls, Saturday is the day we really focus on them with secondary locations to do even better from the Saturday opportunity.
Basket analysis can also help you with rostering. With some category sales requiring more staff time that others, you can consider the product mix sold by day and adjust your roster accordingly. Trimming wages is an important cost saving focus in business.
The goal has to be deeper baskets (more items per transaction) and a greater spread across product categories – but with a focus on higher margin items so that also lift the overall GP performance of the business.
In the Tower Systems software the report to use for this analysis is the Basket Analysis Report. It provides an extraordinary insight into baskets.
How specialist gift and homewares shop software from Tower Systems helps small business gift shops to compete
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Gift shops are unique businesses. They offer a carefully selected range of products, supported with personal service and displayed in a locally appropriate way. Gift shop owners take pride in being different, offering an experience unique compared to department stores and national groups.
It is these local gift shops offering personally selected products for local shoppers on which Tower Systems focuses its services in the gift shop management space.
The Tower gift shop software has been developed specifically for locally owned gift shops. It is specialist software, packed with tools aimed to serve unique needs of these specialist retail businesses.
It is this commitment to specialisation that helps Tower Systems to be in such a strong position with gift shops, serving hundreds of businesses in this specialist retail space. These retailers help us further develop the software to provide even deeper connections with the specialist requirements of gift and homewares businesses.
In addition to providing excellent gift shop software, Tower Systems also provides sound advice to help gift and homewares retailers improve the in-store experience.
One example of gift software management advice is this advice on shop floor product rotation:
- Rotate gifts at least fortnightly. By rotate, we mean major change, so the gift department and every gift display looks completely fresh.
- Each placement / display ought to tell a story. By this, we mean it ought to appeal to the same shopper. There is no point in putting gifts mixed in with gifts for guys.
- Follow a treasure hunt principle: place displays to encourage people further into your shop. Displays themselves should present surprise to shoppers. Do not place gifts in a line on shelves. Be creative with displays that are visually enticing.
- The more targeted each display the better chance it will work.
- On a daily basis, through a structured (rostered) plan, clean gifts and shelves. Dust blocks sales.
- At least weekly, call out a gift on Facebook with a carefully written post about why the gift is useful.
- Be disciplined about quitting gifts that are not working for you. The longer you carry an underperforming item in your business the more its costs you.
- Manage your gift displays to drive traffic, not to leech off existing traffic.
POS software helps small business retailers sell more gifts
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People purchasing gifts want to ensure that the recipient can exchange the gift if it is not quite right.
Retailers using the Tower Systems specialist gift shop POS software have the ability to print a gift exchange receipt detailing the items purchased but not the price paid.
This facility has been in our software for years. It was developed with retailers offering gift exchange services. The receipt printed was recently enhanced to connect with quality gift purchases.
This gift / exchange receipt facility is another point of difference for Tower in several of our retail channels it is am important pert of the Tower AdvantageTM.
Homewares software cuts time for managing Maxwell & Williams inventory
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Years ago Tower Systems developed a good relationship with the folks behind the respected and highly sought after Maxwell and Williams brand. Thanks to this work we offered homewares retailers using our homewares software the ability to import stock files and invoices. Other benefits flow from this work. We help homewares retailer to save time managing their engagement with the Maxwell and Williams brand.
Supporting the respected Maxwell and Williams brand is part of the assistance we provide here at Tower Systems to homewares stores using our software.
Special orders, LayBy, gift packs, seasonal offers, catalogue pricing, movement of stock between stores, serial number tracking and a host of other facilities service the needs of engaged homewares retailers.
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