The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
Tower Systems is thrilled to offer its small business retail customers access to the Visual Deck, cloud based software developed in Australia by Tower Systems for local small business retailers using our smart POS software:
Here is practical advice for local small business retailers based on our years of service of such businesses:
Big businesses – Big W, Woolworths, Coles, K-Mart, Target, Officeworks, Staples – all need volume for any move they make, any promotion, any catalogue, any front of store offer.
The operate on seven and fourteen day cycles. Rarely, they will run something for a month.
It is almost unheard of for them to run an offer, promotion or deal longer that two weeks.
It is important to know this as it can help you deal with them competing with you on price, which they will do.
These majors set their own price. Most times they do not tell their supplier. They get the product shipped to their distribution centre and from there they ship to stores for when the catalogue hits or TVC starts. It is rare for a supplier to know any of the details – unless it is tied to a movie release or so other national promotion.
It is important to know these points as we often see retailers complain that the supplier has been complicit in a discount offer. Usually they are not. But even if they are we do not blame them as theirs (the supplier) is a volume business and small business cannot deliver the volume they need to maintain their status with the brand owner.
Here are tips for dealing with a competitor challenging you on price:
Try and not get hijacked by stress about a competitor. Being stressed will not alter the situation. It is what you do that matters. Exercise control. Be a competitor.
We are thrilled with the response to our paperwork campaign supporting operational efficiency in small and independent retail businesses. This is a campaign for existing Tower Systems customers as well as prospective customers.
Launched by Tower Systems as part of a broader training, POS software enhancements and business support package, this focus for 2017 encourages small business retailers to better manage paperwork for the benefit of the business and those served by the business.
Eliminating paperwork is easy when your POS software directly links to the right tools such as web platforms, appointment facilities and accounting software.
Data is king in any business. This is especially true in independent small retail businesses where data is key to being competitive against better resourced businesses. To often in our work with small business retailers we find a lack of discipline around business data, too little respect.
This advice has been written for use in businesses where the business data has been found to be useless, faulty and / or of little value.
There is no doubt: poor business data = poor business decisions.
If you ever hope to sell your retail business, accurate business data is vital, it will determine the price you achieve for your business.
Don’t be one of those business owners who only cares about accurate business data when you decide to sell as that could be too late.
Here is all you need to do to ensure you have accurate business data.
The slower way is to manually enter invoices into your software item by item. This is done in Invoice Arrivals.
If you created an order using the software and this order subsequently arrives, you can receive the order – to save time.
Very simple, right?
Accurate business data is up to you. Not your software company, not your suppliers.
Accurate business data is 100% up to you.
Once you have accurate data, track business performance. Use the accurate data to see trends in your business, to guide better quality business decisions.
It is easy to create accurate business data. The operational and financial benefits are extraordinary.
How Tower Systems can help. We have articles in our knowledge base on everything discussed here. We also have training videos that show you what to do. We host weekly online training workshops, accessible from anywhere, where you can ask questions on any topic. Plus, supported customers have access to free one on one training.
We are proud of our POS software designed and developed in Australia for Australian retail conditions.
Tower Systems is proud to serve Australian retailers with Australia POS software.
January is a perfect time to with POS software in locally owned small business retail and here is why based on our years of working with thousands of small business retailers:
If you are switching to better software, any time is a good time to switch. Doing it now, however, has added benefits. This is where Tower Systems can help.
Gone are the days when retailers needed to do an annual stock take. Now, with smart technology, there are valuable reasons for not waiting, for undertaking custom and spot stock takes throughout the year. Here are out top seven reasons retailers should not wait to do an annual stock take.
There are many other reasons stock takes in bite-size chunks through the year are better for independent small business retail outlets. This list is our top seven based on years of work with thousands of retailers.
Here at Tower Systems we help small business retailers with everyday computer use advice. We have recently mailed to all of our customers this COMPUTE USE POLICY that will, if followed, reduce the opportunity for the user business to be impacted by a ransomware attack.
This advice was emailed and mailed to our customers as a service. We share it here for the broader community of small business retailers who stop by this place.
COMPUTER USE POLICY
Tower Systems. POS software for small business retailers.
We are excited for the release of our cloud based appointment software. Another new product from our talented software development team.
Being Christmas Eve it has been crazy busy in the shops today with last minute shopping.
Since we are a POS software company that owns retail shops we have been personally and practically involved in retail today, behind the counter, using our software serving shoppers with last-minute Christmas purchases. This photo is from our shop at Knox City in Melbourne today before we opened for customers. Thankfully it is the only time of the day the shop was empty.
We are grateful for another busy day in retail and another day of retail experience that inform some choices we make in our software.
As is always the way with the last office day prior to Christmas, help desk calls have stopped as retailers focus on selling.
We are calling it a day and switching all support coverage from now until December 28 at 7am to our after hours numbers. Here are our contact points. This is a copy of the card, which we sent to all customers last month by mail and by email:
Stock takes in retail can be a chore, especially if you do them the old school way. Thanks to smart technology in the Tower Systems POS software our retail partners are able to get stock takes done faster.
The new approach leverages facilities unique to the Tower software. The approach is ideal for a business with stock take needs that vary based on product types, categories, suppliers and other groupings.
The custom stock take facility in the Tower Systems software is simple and elegant. Retail employees love it for its ease of use and that it delivers the outcome in much less time than the way too many other POS software programs go abut the stock take process.
This is another Tower AdvantageTM another time saving and benefit for the small business which which we partner.
Thanks to online and other trade stock takes are needed far more regularly than ever before. This is where the tower Systems approach really shines.
There is the Tower Systems difference, as explained by us.
The types of calls our POS software help desk receives in the week before Christmas changes. This week, calls will all be about quick resolution, the calls will be about the now rather than with an eye to the future.
Retail businesses will be busier this week than any other week of the year in most situations.
To serve the needs that we know will be unique to this week we have our help desk team focussed and our processes tuned to serve our customers, to provide the best possible outcome as quickly as possible.
We understand time is especially short this week. We have structured our approach to ensure we meet the expectations of our customers.
We have a fully staffed help desk. We back them with our escalation team and senior management.
We want this week before Christmas to be happy and valuable for everyone!
Data is as valuable as cash to any retail business yet many do not treat data with respect. Our advice to small business retailers is to get real about data, to get serious about protecting this important asses.
In terms of protecting your business data against disaster, here is our most important advice:
Our Tower Systems small business POS software can be run on a local PC or in the cloud. You can choose the right approach for your business.
With the cloud based option, you can choose to be hosted anywhere you prefer or you can go with our full-service hosted option.
We have plenty of customers in each scenario – running locally, self hosted for multiple locations or hosted by us in a full service model.
With our full service model we can shield you from any requirement to update software. All you worry about is the hardware you have running in your business.
Big It companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing the term cloud. They have done this because they know buzzwords sell. The reality is, your software has to run somewhere. It has to be maintained. Whether it is running on computers in your business or in the cloud, the costs are not that different. The key difference is one approach feels sexier than the other, because of the marketing.
Our retail skilled account managers can talk with you to determine your needs and propose a solution that best serves your needs.
We would be happy to share with you details of customer with businesses similar to yours so you can hear first-hand about their operation and how the Tower solution fits.
Our Tower Systems account managers can provide further advice and assistance to help customers make informed choices as to the best approach for their business. They are not incentivised in any way to guide customers to one decision over another.
Tower Systems offers software for the following niche small business retail channels: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, toy shops, fishing/outdoors businesses, garden centres/nurseries, pet shops, produce stores, firearms businesses and newsagents.
We are a full service and personal POS software company. To demonstrate this, direct access to our account management team is easy: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
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.
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.
We are retailers too. We own and run several shops, as live testing grounds for our software and as training facilities for our staff. here is the front of one of our shops, from Saturday just gone.
How small business retailers acquire the Tower Systems POS software is up to them. Our approach is flexible, leaving the decision entirely to our customers to choose what is absolutely best for their business.
You can purchase the Tower software for your business and own it forever without further cost.
You can also lease the Tower software through almost any finance company and pay it off over 3, 4 or 5 years.
You can also rent the Tower software on a 30 day cycle with the ability to quit the rental at any time.
Each option is different and each can be appropriate in certain circumstances. We share all the information so our customers can make an informed decision themselves or with their accountant or other business adviser.
The choice of how best to acquire the software is 100% yours. We can provide advice but are happy for you to make the decision that best serves your needs.
How you acquire the software, purchase or rental, training and installation services are billed separately as they are required regardless of how you acquire the software. Installation ensures the software is properly installed and setup. It shields you from technology. Training ensures you and your team know how to properly use the software for the business to get the best outcomes.
Regardless of how you acquire access to our software – rental, lease or purchase – our software is our software. No facilities are restricted via the mechanism of access. This makes the acquisition approach purely financial rather than operational or functional.
Our Tower Systems account managers can provide further advice and assistance to help customers make informed choices as to the best approach for their business. They are not incentivised in any way to guide customers to one decision over another.
Tower Systems offers software for the following niche small business retail channels: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, toy shops, fishing/outdoors businesses, garden centres/nurseries, pet shops, produce stores, firearms businesses and newsagents.
We are a full service and personal POS software company. To demonstrate this, direct access to our account management team is easy: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
Through our POS software plenty of customers send text messages to their customers as part of best-practice customer service.
To facilitate lower operating costs, one of our text message partners has shared a terrific offer to make texts lower cost for our customers.
We are grateful for the opportunity to pass this on, to share 100% of the savings with our customers.
We are proud of the professional marketing for the professional immediate rewards loyalty facility in our small business POS software. Check it out:
We are proud to be bringing this new cloud-based solution to the market.
We are called upon at our POS software company to help our small business retailer customers in areas far removed from our POS software. One such area is how to use Facebook to market your business. We appreciate opportunities to share what we know from our direct experience for businesses we own.
Here is a snapshot of some advice our customers tell us they have found useful abut facebook posts:
If sales are your goal, the key is to work out how to pursue this without your post sounding like an ad for ads are quickly ignored by people on social media as they are on their for entertainment and not to consume advertising.
Here are tips for writing the ideal post. Keep them close and refer to them for your next few posts. Soon, the process will become second-nature:
Tower Systems is a full service POS software company, helping small business retailers way beyond what is often done by POS software companies. We embrace this point of difference.
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