The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryHomewares shop software

5 ways retailers can use the POS software from Tower Systems to pitch value to shoppers

May 9, 2023
3 Min read
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Plenty is being written about the economy at the moment and it is negatively impacting consumer confidence. There are things you can do with the Tower Systems POS software to show your business offering value to shoppers, and thereby nurturing more value for you.

And here in this post, value means the value shoppers perceive in dealing with your business. You could also use the term savings.

While value can be about price, it is often not as straightforward as that. Something could cost more but it could last longer or you might get more pieces than if you pay a lower price or there may be some other add-on that drives value.

While our POS software offers many ways retailers can pitch value to shoppers, here are 5 ways retailers can use the POS software from Tower Systems to pitch value to shoppers:

  1. Discount vouchers in Retailer are a perfect way to pitch value. A dollar amount discount is better understood than points. You can set the vouchers up in a way so costs are covered by benefits. Show your shoppers what they can save.
  2. Offer to fund raise for local charities, community groups and clubs. They could give their members a card that gets them, say, a 5% discount off purchasing from you while also earning for the charity a 5% donation. The goal here is to bring new shoppers into your business.
  3. Offering a coffee card type discount of, say, buy 9 and get your 10th free for habit-based purchases, like coffee, pet food, cards, magazines, fertilizer etc. can help nurture shopper stickiness to your business.
  4. Bundling products together into something that only your business offers can pitch a value proposition unique to your business.
  5. Volume pricing, where the cost of an item decreases as the quantity purchased increases, can help shoppers save and you sell more.

Your software offers more ways of pitching value to shoppers than these, and it helps you systemise pitching value. Being consistent about this is key to it working for you.

Consider this list of 5 a starting point, a jumping off point for exploring other ways for your business.

Tower Systems offers business management advice like this to all of its POS software customers, taking the POS software help desk experience beyond the technical and onto the shop floor, to help our local small business retailer customers to themselves get more value from their use of our POS software.

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POS software connected Shopify websites for local small business retailers

September 22, 2021
3 Min read
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Tower Systems develops POS software and it develops POS software connected Shopify websites. We develop magento and Woo, too, but it’s in the Shopify space where the needs of most of our local small business retailers are met.

Our portfolio of POS software connected Shopify websites is comprehensive, covering a range of specialty retail situations including jewellers, garden centres, toy shops, firearms dealers, produce businesses, farm supply businesses, gift, homewares, fashion, and more.

We are grateful to our community of local small business retailers for their support, and encouragement.

We are often asked for website advice, how to be successful online. While we have comprehensive advice for our customers, in this public space, Tower Systems is happy to share this list of top things to consider if you want your local retail business to be successful online.

This best of the best advice about taking your retail business online is based on many years of experience.

  1. It’s urgent. Every retail business needs to be online. You have no idea what you are missing. Online should be at least 10% of your revenue now.
  2. Your POS software should manage your inventory, including what you sell online. This saves time and manages consistency.
  3. Start small, focussed. Don’t obsess about getting the whole business on. The sooner you start the sooner you will get experience and this will feed your evolution.
  4. It’s hard work. If you seek and embrace short cuts, they will come at a. cost. Lean into the hard work. get it done.
  5. Shopify is better than WooCommerce. A WooCommerce website usually costs more to maintain. hey, we’ve been doing this for many years and have used both, and Magento. Shopify gives you more control and requires less tech skills.
  6. Don’t overthink shipping. A complex approach to shipping will negatively impact your online sales.
  7. Accept all payment types. Credit card, PayPal, Buy Now Pay later – they all serve a purpose. Make sure you are flexible.
  8. You are your best asset. Your knowledge about your products is your best asset. It is differentiating. Leverage it on your website in the text write and the blog posts you publish. This is what will attract shoppers.
  9. Describe for the search. In a shop, people browse based on what they see. Online, people start browsing by typing in text. Think about this when they describe what they sell.
  10. Own your complexity. If you choose to have a complex offer or a complex approach to selling online, it’s your complexity. Don’t rely on a web developer or a tech person to make it easier for you. Making it easier starts with you making decisions about your business.

If you are interested in our POS software or having us develop a POS software connected Shopify site for you, please email sales@towersystems.com.au or call Tim on 0401 883 917 or Justin on 0434 365 789.

Click here to find out more about our specialty retail POS software. Click here to see our YouTube Channel where you can see up to date demonstrations of our various specialty retail POS software products.

Click here to access our fixed-price standard POS software connected Shopify website quote.

Click here to see the checklist we provide our Shopify customers. It outlines what’s critical about preparing for a Shopify site.

Click here to access our website customer questionnaire. This is designed to help you clarify your needs. A copy of your responses is sent to you.

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Beautiful POS software connected Shopify websites from Tower Systems

July 27, 2020
2 Min read
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We have delivered more beautiful and commercially engaged Shopify websites connected to our POS software for small business retailers. Here are some of the recent new websites launched by our partner retailers:

We have close to fifty new websites currently under development.

Our web development experts are skilled in development using Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce. This is in addition to us developing in native mode using multiple such tech platforms.

From the simple to the complex, the single store to multiple group businesses, we can deliver web based solutions to small business retailers to help them sell online locally, nationally and internationally -in local currency as well as through overseas currency.

Web development here at Tower Systems follows a structured process that is driven by the outcomes sought by the client retail business. We work to serve these needs from the outset, whether it is an information site, an e-commerce site, offering click and collect, delivery or other fulfilment of online orders.

Through consultation, our small business retail clients can imagine their needs and we can help them fulfil these needs and do so on a platform that can evolve as the online experiences of the business evolves. It is an iterative process that works beautifully for small business retailers and their team members.

Click here to access a quick questionnaire that helps you determine your own business needs for a website. Many of our customers have found completing this questionnaire helpful and informative.

To find out more, please speak with one of our experts: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Buying Australian developed and supported POS software for your business and having your business website developed in Australia is good for the Aussie tech sector. The more we all shop local the better.

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With Reed Gift Fair cancelled for 2020, Tower Systems helps retailers and suppliers connect

July 21, 2020
2 Min read
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With Reed Gift Fair being cancelled for 2020 due to the corona, Tower Systems has been helping more gift and homewares suppliers connect with gift and homewares retailers through our POS software for these and other specialty retail channels.

The Reed trade shows have been an important fixture on the calendar of suppliers and retailers for years. They are key vying opportunities as retailers evolve their product ranges. Retailers looked forward to the Reed gift fair shows to find out about new products and to place orders for existing product that has sold through. The Reed gift fairs have been historically critical.

Tower Systems helps gift and homewares suppliers as well as gift and homewares retailers to connect electronically through:

  • Ordering based on sales.
  • Comparing supplier performance easily.
  • Identifying fast and slow moving stock.
  • Understanding category opportunities that could support additional product.
  • Learning about range gaps and using this data for targeted work on expansion.
  • Supplier stock file integration.
  • Supplier image integration.
  • Sales data feed to suppliers for auto replenishment.

These are just some of the opportunities for retailers and suppliers to work together to deal with this 2020 of the Reed gift fairs being cancelled.

What matters most to retailers is that inventory sells through. This is where our POS software shines, it provides the evidence of inventory performance. Good suppliers want this data, they want to help retailers make fact based, data based, decisions. By connecting the two as we can through our gift and homewares POS software we can help small business retailers thrive in this year with our the Reed gift fairs.

Through our allied work of hosting secure Zoom meetings, preparing collateral and other resources, we are able to help retailers make strategic and appreciated moves that can deliver wonderful benefits to suppliers and retailers. This tighter digital connection can eliminate the mistakes of manual connection. This can fuel certainty and other benefits to both businesses.

While the cancellation of the Reed gift fairs is a challenge, using tech retailers and suppliers can bridge this to mutual benefit. Some will be left behind on both side but that is what it is.

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The covid pivot opportunity for specialty retailers that attracts new shoppers

July 16, 2020
2 Min read
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Specialty retailers are specialty for a reason, they go deep into a product category, as you would expect from a specialist.

The challenge for specialty retailers is that their specialisation attracts shoppers interested in and buying for their specialty product category. This is good in the usual world. In this corona world with movement challenged, specialisation can be challenging for local businesses.

This is why we think the covid pivot opportunity for specialty retailers can be helpful. We are not suggesting retailers seek to profit from corona or that they are profiteering. Rather, through a covid pivot, we are encouraging small business retailers to broaden the appeal of their businesses, to make their businesses more attractive beyond the community they currently serve.

A covid pivot could see a business remain the same to shoppers who visit and that it uses the back office infrastructure to serve an online only operation in their covid pivot strategy. This can see the business leverage existing overhead of space, labour and accounting infrastructure to effectively open a new business and through this to find new shoppers.

This type of covid pivot move can make the business more resilient through a time of change or challenge, like corona.

We think a covid pivot is a smart move for specialty retail as it spreads the risk, strengthens the foundations of the business and provides learning opportunities that themselves could help the business further evolve.

Using business data, smart tech and POS software connected websites, a specialty retail business can find, through a covid pivot, new customers, new efficiencies and new energy for forward momentum and this is the core goal … taking those steps ahead.

The whole corona situation is challenging. It would be easy to sit and wallow., and we get that for some that is what they choose. In covid pivot our focus is on pursuing forward momentum and doing this through a data driven and tech implemented pivot for the business for a better back half of 2020 and a solid 2021.

Bottom line: there is good news out there for specialty retailers who are making these opportunities for themselves through a covid pivot. We are sincerely grateful to have seen plenty do this, plenty find new shoppers and plenty learn new skills and categories through to expand what are effectively new start up businesses within their specialty businesses.

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At the Atlanta Gift Fair

January 13, 2018
1 Min read
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Some of our team have been at the Americasmart gift fair in Atlanta this past week looking at new trends in the gift and homewares retail spaces.

It has been a busy few days of networking, learning and making new connections.

We appreciate the opportunity to learn and bring some of this back to our growing customer based on retailers in the gift and homewares spaces.

2018 is looking like a most exciting year.

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Small business retail management tip from the Bra Bar

March 12, 2017
2 Min read
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brabarWe love the advice on HOW TO HAVE A LOVELY DAY written on the out the front of The Bra Bar in Perth.

This sign made a walk in Perth inspiring.

This is a lesson in how to market your business without directly promoting it. The advice could be provided by anyone in almost any situation. It is practical and accessible. The inspiration to have a lovely day is subtly connected to their business, not in your face.

Well done to the folks at The Bra Bar.

We have seen people use boards like this out the front of their shop for a word of the day or a quote or a joke. The Bar Bar sign is different, more personal – we guess as personal as the products they sell. They are speaking to you. That’s how it works for me.

Local retailers could do a sign like this have and wives under headings like:

  1. What we love about out town.
  2. We love our local heroes.
  3. Guess how many babies have been born here this year.
  4. Here’s a local tradition we bet you didn’t know.
  5. The oldest club in our area is…

Think of ideas for telling stories and sharing inspiration without overtly marketing your business. It’s a terrific way to get people on the street and in the mall to stop and notice you.

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Helping small business retailers benefit from offering LayBy services to customers

December 13, 2016
4 Min read
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Offering Lay-by services is essential to small business retailers keen to grow sales of higher value items people are prepared to purchase in advance of any actual need they may have.

We see LayBy working well in jeweller businesses, bike shops, toy shops, fishing and outdoors businesses and more.

Our largest customer does thousands of LayBys each year using our smart POS software. regardless of business size, LayBys are easy to setup and manage. the outcome for the retailer and the customer is good.

LayBy facilities can be established in minutes, offering a structure through which retail employees can confidently and consistently offer LayBy services.

Use the software to capture the sale, record customer details, document your terms and conditions, record the deposit, track payments, chase late payments and finalise the sale. Again, to not attempt to do this manually.

Familiarise yourself with LayBy regulation as set by the ACCC: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/contracts-agreements/lay-by-agreements Also, check the website of your state Consumer Affairs office to familiarise yourself with local requirements. Information there will help you determine your own terms.

Meeting regulatory requirements is vital. For example, if someone cancels a LayBy you must refund their payments less a termination fee. You can set this fee and advise as part of your terms and conditions.

Here is our current advice on key rules and steps to success with Lay-bys.

  1. WHAT TO LAY-BY. Set a minimum item and or purchase value. We’d suggest $80.00.
  2. DATA REQUIRED. Always ensure you are satisfied you know who your customer is. Require proof of ID from a driver’s licence or similar legal ID document.
  3. 20% of the total GST inclusive purchase price.
  4. Only Lay-by to people 18 and over.
  5. Lay-bys should run for between eight and twelve weeks. You could run for longer pre Christmas to get early toy sales.
  6. PAYMENT CYCLE. Require payments to be made weekly or fortnightly.
  7. PAYMENT METHOD. Accept any payment form you choose.
  8. Do not allow someone to take home a single item from a group of items on Lay-by together in one purchase. It’s all or nothing.
  9. Have a LayBy termination policy you are comfortable with. We suggest a 20% termination fee. Alternatively, set a dollar amount to reflect the work. Also, consider setting the LayBy to auto terminate if it extends beyond a period of time you nominate. Note that you could equally choose to have no cancellation given that Lay-by product may not be able to easily re-sold.
  10. Decide what you would consider a breach. This has to be something you stand by. We suggest two missed payments without reasonable excuse or rectification. On breach, cancel and charge the cancellation fee.
  11. We suggest a no-exchange policy.
  12. When a customer Lay-bys, print two dockets – one for them to take immediately and one to be placed with the goods. Have your customer sign both copies, accepting your terms and conditions.
  13. Set aside a clean and secure storage location for Lay-bys in your business where locations are coded for easy finding. Place Lay-by goods into a single clear plastic bag per transaction for clean and safekeeping. Staple to this a copy of the Lay-by docket. Let your customers see you do this so there is no doubt when it comes time to collect the products.
  14. Have one person responsible for Lay-bys to ensure product care, track payments and contact customers.
  15. TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Enter these into your software so they are included on every Lay-by docket. Points 2 through 11 above are a good example of what to include in your terms and conditions.
  16. COMPLETE PAPERWORK. To not over complicate things, rely on your software’s Lay-by docket as your complete paperwork / contract. Get that right and Lay-by management will be easier.

These rules and steps may feel complex. They are necessary for the small number of times something goes wrong and you need to rely on them to help you deal with a situation.

Happy Lay-bys.

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Meeting with gift suppliers at Hong Kong Gift Fair

October 28, 2016
1 Min read
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One of the best ways we help small business retailers using our POS software is by meeting with suppliers to guide their data path so that it best serves the needs of their core customers, small business retailers.

One of the best ways to guide suppliers is at the source. This is why we invest in and attend trade shows around the world.

At the Hong Kong Gift Fair this week we had terrific conversations with suppliers from Australia and their source suppliers. Some of these discussions centred around the quality of business data, to help ensure that our retailers benefit from quality data from the outset.

This work includes ensuring barcodes meet respected international standards. From that flows the discussion about invoice files and that they meet international EDI standards.

Too often software companies do not engage in these topics and the result is poor business data at retail and this leads to poor outcomes for retailers.

Data is king and here at Tower Systems we work with retailers to help them provide access to quality data at all points in their businesses.

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Helping small business retailers to compete with online through POS software

September 27, 2016
5 Min read
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Bricks and mortar retailers are doing it tough in the fight for sales with online businesses. You are often sought out for face to face advice but lose the sale to an online operation when it comes to price comparison.

We have put together advice for small business retailers, independent retailers, to offer guidance on the future direction and management opportunities where competing with online businesses is a challenge. We offer this advice here for free to any retailer to consider, regardless of the POS software they use.

Given the different cost bases for an online business serving a country or the world compared to a retail shop serving a local community, you can’t win on price, not in the long term.

In working with thousands of small business independent retailers in Australia, New Zealand and other countries over many years we have seen some excellent successes and some epic failures.

Success in competing with online competitors begins and ends with making good decisions based on sound facts and structuring the business for success at every possible point.

This is business

For many retail shop owners, the retail shop is part lifestyle, part sport and part business. This can complicate the decisions that need to be made to make the business successful.

Running your retail shop as a business has to come first. Get this right and you can enjoy the sport and have the lifestyle you want. If business does not come first, the other two will usually not follow.

So, competing with online begins with your headspace, it begins with committing to getting the business right and relentlessly pursuing its success.

In practical terms, this means that every business decision is based on careful consideration of sound data. If the data does not support a business decision, you don’t do it. Simple.

Five ways you can compete with online

Here are five ways you can differentiate your business from online, ways that leverage personal, human, contact.

  1. Track every contact. Treat every contact as a customer. Know who they are. Explain that it’s part of your service – to offer advice and keep in touch. This will qualify them as a customer from their very first question. While it may scare some off, better that you do it early before you give away your expert advice.
  2. Give them a gift for listening to you. Every customer who spends time taking in your advice should be given a voucher for them to spend in-store in a purchase above a certain value. This shows that you value their attention. Presented well it can better connect them with you for the longer term.
  3. Subtly share stories about the risks of online shopping. There are documented stories you can find about people being ripped off – what they ordered is not what they received, credit card fraud and the like. Arm your team with these stories … maybe a story about a customer who bought from you following an expensive rip off online.
  4. Reward loyalty with a front-end approach. Ensure that every purchase over, say, $10, comes with a voucher offering a discount off the next purchase. Factor this into your mark-up model. Cash rewards showing on a receipt can be a powerful lure to bringing a shopper back.
  5. Personalise your service. Arm all sales staff with personal business cards. Place follow up calls or emails to shoppers spending over, say, $100. Host networking events in-store. Connect with and support local clubs. Add value through personal contact at every possible opportunity. Structure regular, value-adding, contact with your customer base.

The difference between a bricks and mortar retail shop and a website selling the same products online is that your business, the bricks and mortar business, is real, it can be visited, it’s personal. Everything you say and do needs to reinforce this and build trust based on this.

Be open about price

Don’t be afraid to say that online businesses can sell for less. That’s because they do less and care less. You could do this too but that’s probably not the business you want to run.

Competing on price really comes down to changing the game. This is where a properly structured and consistently run loyalty program offering an amount of cash off the next purchase based on the current purchase can make a difference for you.

Being consistent

Online businesses through the software behind their websites are consistent if nothing else. This is where good retail shop software can help a retail shop compete. It can drive consistency in the bricks and mortar business on pricing, loyalty rewards, customer marketing, buying, pricing and employee performance tracking and motivation.

Good retail shop software is designed specifically for retail shops to leverage the difference retail shops offer over online retailers. When used to the fullest, it can drive sales and bring customers back more often. It can play a key role on competing with online.

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POS software update adds value to small business software

September 23, 2016
2 Min read
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Tower Systems is thrilled to announced the advanced beta release of the latest version of its smart POS software. Developed in-house bbq the Tower Systems retail software development team, this latest release of the Retailer software delivers many enhancements. here are just some of the enhancements:

  1. Enhancements to Special Customer Order Arrivals and Management
  2. Enhancements to Stock Re-ordering processes (Order by Sales and Order Management)
  3. New Improved and expanded Multi-Store ordering and receiving processes
  4. New direct Shopify Integration
  5. New Layby Receipts to match the new POS Receipts
  6. New Layby Notes for collections
  7. New Layby Tourist Refund Scheme compliance
  8. New Customisable Customer Menus
  9. Latest News Corp Route Delivery List Integration
  10. New Bulk Image Import tool for stock
  11. New option to disable receipts for EFTPOS sales
  12. New and more comprehensive ability to manually Edit Customer Loyalty Points
  13. New ability to open Special Customer Order Management screen directly from POS
  14. Enhancements to Linked Items
  15. Enhancements and consistency to Packs (previously Cartons)
  16. Enhancements to Customer Invoice Maintenance Ordering and Re-ordering.

As noted, these are only some of the enhancements to the POS software delivered in the latest update delivered by Tower Systems.

Enhancements are sourced from user suggestions and developed in close consultation with users of the software.

Each update is tested in house, alpha tested in several retail stores and then released to the beta community prior to release to all customers. This process results in stable and enjoyed software.

Tower Systems leftists customers choose when they install any software update. Small business retailers love this.

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Lay-By facilities help small business retailers leverage special event sales

September 13, 2016
1 Min read
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IMG_2549 (1)We are grateful for the opportunity of participating is a special collector event last weekend at a business using our POS software.

While many elements of our POS software helped make the event run smoothly, it was our Lay-Bys facilities that shone through with professional management of many large Lay-By transactions.

Lay-Bys are important to small business retailers as they enable them to capture sales they might otherwise lose. For them to work, though, they need to be professionally managed.

Our software professionally manages the Lay-By from sale to tules to deposit to payments to collection to safe storage.

On a day like this special event, Lay-By was important to help the retailer achieve sales they might otherwise have missed. Our software helps drive consistency for the retailer and build confidence for the shopper.

We love spending time in retail and seeing first hand how retailers use our POS software.

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Melbourne Gift Fair a hit for our POS software

August 13, 2016
2 Min read
M

Wow, Melbourne Gift Fair was a terrific event with plenty of new sales leads being harvested through the five day event. Our sales team is busy now meeting with the prospective new customers from the gift, newsagency and homewares channels, learning about specific business needs and showing how the software can serve these needs.

The fair was a wonderful and intensive experience as over five busy days we got to meet with plenty of engaged retailers to talk business, hear their plans and show off live some of the innovations we have released, which present them with further business growth opportunities.

The Melbourne Gift Fair is excellent like this, for talking business, exploring ideas and advancing relationships. It is a fast-track event as we have been able to progress in a few days with some opportunities that might otherwise have taken weeks to progress.

This is where trade shows really pay off for an engaged POS software company.

We are grateful for the opportunity to see so many people and offer the Tower Systems [pitch, to show business owners we care enough about them to support this event and through it their business channels.

Plans are well advanced on our next gift fair, this time in Sydney.

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Small business retailers value personal and accessible POS software customer service

August 5, 2016
2 Min read
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We are winning good business for our POS software this year from retailers switching from other POS software. While the software is a factor in their decision to switch, customer service is top of mind.

Customers switching love:

  1. Personal service. When they call they talk to a human. And, yes, they can call any of our offices even toll free from NZ. We hear many stories of poor service from other POS software companies where personal contact is discouraged.
  2. Names.  Names matter. Were humanise our contact and support by people on our teams using their names, real names.
  3. Access to leadership. Our leadership team is directly accessible to our customers should they wish to escalate any issue. Too often we hear of other POS software companies sidestepping issues or completely ignoring requests to speak too senior management. We take personal service seriously.
  4. Free training weekly. People love our free and easily accessible live online training workshops.
  5. Free one-on-one training. People love that they can schedule top-up training long after the installation is done.
  6. Transparency on updates. People love that they can suggest changes and watch as other customers vote on their change suggestions.
  7. Extensive help desk coverage. People love our long hours and our weekend coverage.
  8. Response time. People love how quickly we respond to their queries.

These are points of difference we have invested in with infrastructure, people and management focus. We are thrilled to win business from other POS software companies because of these services we provide.

This whole package is part of our Tower AdvantageTM.

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Everyday marketing tips for small business retailers

August 3, 2016
2 Min read
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Here at Tower Systems, through our work with our specialsist retail POS software, we get to see many different retail businesses in in our work and along the way we pick up ideas that work particularly well.

Here is a selection of everyday marketing tips we see working in almost any business. This list was first shared with our customers on the weekend, as part of our weekly email of advice, support and encouragement.

  1. Always have a value-proposition offer just inside the entrance to the business. This should be a double-sided offer, one they see as they enter and as they leave.
  2. Always have an appealing impulse purchase offer at the counter. Change this weekly. Use the opportunity to learn more about what your customers will purchase on impulse.
  3. Always know your top selling item in the store and always place products next to the top selling item thoughtfully, to leverage the eyeballs looking for and at the top selling product.
  4. Run a generous loyalty program where the value is understood. This probably means not using points.
  5. Create stunning window displays people would not expect to see in your type of business.
  6. Offer multi-buy opportunities unlocking savings for people purchasing more than would be usual in a single visit.
  7. Be brief in talking to customers about your products on social media: a single product per post. Two sentences. Short sentences. Make the post appealing beyond you trying to promote your business. Entertain them.
  8. Send customers a card for special occasions, a personal card to reinforce the personal relationship you have with them.
  9. Change the front two metres of your shop weekly, keep it fresh for your customers and your staff.
  10. Unpack and price products on the shop floor and not in the back room or outside of shopper view.

Our goal with this list is to give you ideas you can use right away as well as ideas that will get you thinking of your own ideas.

Go for it. Remember, if you do next week what you did this week you cannot expect any growth. Growth only comes from change.

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Enjoying small business retail

July 30, 2016
1 Min read
E

It is a thrill to see so many independent small retail businesses thriving through the winter of 2016. We are seeing businesses transforming from what has been traditional for their type of operation into fresh offerings that drive the appeal of the business beyond what has been traditional for them.

We love seeing this not only because of the pleasure of observing success but also because of a role we can play in helping to uncover and leverage good news for small business retailers.

Our commitment is to help our customers beyond the software to help them reach beyond the dreams they have for their businesses.

We are grateful every day for the opportunities that come our way.

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Toy shop software helps independent toy retailers leverage lay-by now for Christmas opportunities

July 28, 2016
4 Min read
T

Lay-By is a vitally important service for independent toy retailers in their competition with mass retailers like Target, Big W, K-Mart and Toys R Us.

Independent and small to retailers using the toy shop software from Tower Systems have in the software terrific Lay-By facilities that enable their businesses to run a professional Lay-By service that meets regulatory requirements and that competes head-on in terms of flexibility and functionality.

Now, in the middle of Winter, is the perfect time to ensure Lay-By is properly setup and promoted. This is why Tower Systems has been educating customers, to ensure they are fully prepared for the Lay-By opportunity and to ensure they are pitching the message of Lay-By opportunity to customers and prospective customers.

Here is a taste of the professional advice we have been sharing with customers:

IMPORTANT: Before you begin, familiarise yourself with Lay-By regulation as set by the ACCC: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/contracts-agreements/lay-by-agreements

Also, check the website of your state Consumer Affairs office to familiarise yourself with local requirements. Information there will help you determine your own terms.

Meeting regulatory requirements is vital. For example, if someone cancels a Lay-By you must refund their payments less a termination fee. You can set this fee and advise as part of your terms and conditions.

Our advice on the next page guides you through key rules and steps to success with Lay-bys.

  1. WHAT TO LAY-BY. Set a minimum item and or purchase value. We’d suggest $80.00.
  2. DATA REQUIRED. Always ensure you are satisfied you know who your customer is. Require proof of ID from a driver’s licence or similar legal ID document.
  3. DEPOSIT. 20% of the total GST inclusive purchase price.
  4. AGE. Only Lay-by to people 18 and over.
  5. DURATION. Lay-bys should run for between eight and twelve weeks. You could run for longer pre Christmas to get early toy sales.
  6. PAYMENT CYCLE. Require payments to be made weekly or fortnightly.
  7. PAYMENT METHOD. Accept any payment form you choose.
  8. BREAKUP. Do not allow someone to take home a single item from a group of items on Lay-by together in one purchase. It’s all or nothing.
  9. CANCELLATION. Have a Lay-By termination policy you are comfortable with. We suggest a 20% termination fee. Alternatively, set a dollar amount to reflect the work. Also, consider setting the Lay-By to auto terminate if it extends beyond a period of time you nominate. Note that you could equally choose to have no cancellation given that Lay-by product may not be able to easily re-sold.
  10. BREACH. Decide what you would consider a breach. This has to be something you stand by. We suggest two missed payments without reasonable excuse or rectification. On breach, cancel and charge the cancellation fee.
  11. EXCHANGE. We suggest a no-exchange policy.
  12. DOCKETS. When a customer Lay-bys, print two dockets – one for them to take immediately and one to be placed with the goods. Have your customer sign both copies, accepting your terms and conditions.
  13. STORAGE. Set aside a clean and secure storage location for Lay-bys in your business where locations are coded for easy finding. Place Lay-by goods into a single clear plastic bag per transaction for clean and safekeeping. Staple to this a copy of the Lay-by docket. Let your customers see you do this so there is no doubt when it comes time to collect the products.
  14. MANAGEMENT. Have one person responsible for Lay-bys to ensure product care, track payments and contact customers.
  15. TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Enter these into your software so they are included on every Lay-by docket. Points 2 through 11 above are a good example of what to include in your terms and conditions.
  16. COMPLETE PAPERWORK. To not over complicate things, rely on your software’s Lay-by docket as your complete paperwork / contract. Get that right and Lay-by management will be easier.

These rules and steps may feel complex. They are necessary for the small number of times something goes wrong and you need to rely on them to help you deal with a situation.

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Sunday retail management advice: managing spinners for success

July 24, 2016
3 Min read
S

Retailers have a love-hate relationship with spinners. While some have a rule of no spinners, in many situations they are necessary.

Here is advice designed to help any retailer make the most of the spinner opportunity.

  1. Keep them tidy. Duh! This is very basic advice. But it needs to be said. Daily you should have your spinners checked and tidies. Move products to the front, keep products clean, pose products to show them off, if appropriate to the products.
  2. Keep them full. A half empty spinner will not work as well as a full spinner. This is retail 101.
    1. If you plan to keep a spinner for the long term, order stock regularly to keep it full. We know that a full spinner usually achieves around 20% more sales than a half empty spinner.
    2. If a spinner is a one-shot – get it in, sell it down, take it off the floor – once it starts to look empty, consider taking all stock off and placing it elsewhere in-store. Leaving it on the floor and half empty will hinder sales.
  3. Move your spinners. One a week tweak spinner locations to keep your shop floor story fresh. Have a plan. Don’t move them just to move them. Move them to drive sales – to get the products considered by people who may have missed them so far.
  4. Respect the brand. Never put product on a branded spinner that is not from the brand. Not only would such a move disrespect the brand it makes you look like an unprofessional retailer.
  5. Use thoughtful adjacencies. When placing spinners next to each other, think about the shopper and what they are looking for. This will encourage a shopper attracted to a spinner to consider the products on the spinner next to it.
  6. Avoid orphans. There is nothing sadder than a lonely spinner at the back of a shop. It’s usually half empty and looking tired and sad. It does nothing for the products or the business. Find it some friends or remove the stock and throw the spinner out.
  7. Spinners have a limited life. While a spinner for which you no longer have the original product can be useful for displaying other products, don’t work the poor thing beyond its useful life. Hideously bent wire, cracked and broken pockets, no signage, seriously chipped paint, broken casters … these are all indications that the poor old spinner ought to be tossed out.
  8. Leverage traffic hotspots. This only works with certain products on spinners – locate the spinner next to high traffic generating products such as weekly magazines, newspapers, lotteries etc. The products need to be products shoppers of the destination items will purchase.
  9. Leverage seasons. Around your cluster of cards for Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day etc place spinners with products appropriate to the season.
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