The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryLoyalty marketing

How our POS software co. helps small business retailers bring shoppers back more often

June 28, 2019

3 Min read

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In our POS software we have a range of shopper loyalty facilities, including discount vouchers. Today, we share information recently try shared with our customers as part of our free education opportunities…

How to use Discount Vouchers in a smart way for your business.

Discount vouchers have been in our software for more than six years. They are one of several valuable shopper loyalty tools designed to drive revenue and return shopper visits.

Yet, discount vouchers are the most misunderstood.

Setup is easy. It takes a few minutes. Change is easy, with changes taking effect immediately. Management its easy thanks tp three awesome reports. Pitch is easysince you can call them whatever you like, what is appropriate to your business.

The mistake most retailers make is overthinking. Stop that! Set Discount Vouchers up and see how your customers respond. Adjust accordingly.

In our experience, on average, only 20% of vouchers handed out are redeemed. Those offered with the least rules achieve the best commercial outcome for the retailer.

Remember, the $$$ opportunity on the discount voucher is a good reason to review pricing, to factor in the cost of voucher redemption.

So…

Choose what you want to call them: Discount Voucher; Bonus Bucks; Thank You Gift; Come Back Again Gift; Appreciation Voucher; Pass It On $$$.
Set your settings. Know they can change as you learn more.
We suggest a 28 day expiry.
Have the voucher value show as $$.
Let vouchers be redeemed for as many different products as possible.
Go!

ADVICE ON PROMOTING DISCOUNT VOUCHERS.

Every time a voucher prints, present it to the customer by placing it on the counter facing them with your finger next to the amount and say, while maintaining eye contact, hey you have a voucher here for $x.xx that you can use in store in the next 28 days. Well done.

Make sure that everyone working at the counter knows that the success of vouchers depends on their pitch.

Now, if they complain about the low voucher value have a response like hey it’s appreciation that almost no other business around here will show you.

Guys are more likely to spend the voucher right away.

Girls are more like to collect vouchers and put them together, which we recommend you allow.

What you want to see when you have out a voucher is for them to lift their hear and turn to look back into the shop, thinking of what they could buy.

GOOD LUCK!

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How small business retailers can increase shopper loyalty with smart POS software

June 5, 2019

2 Min read

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There was a time when retail loyalty programs focussed on points. Points were the currency that shoppers chased and retailers pushed. The thing is, points soon lost value, points became meaningless … because everyone offered points, all businesses accused them for shoppers who signed up. Points at one place were worth ten cents while at another place you needed a hundred times that to get close to ten cents worth.

Points based loyalty programs today are worth far less than ever before. They are not the traffic driver or differentiator they once were.

Shoppers love the new approaches to loyalty, approaches like BOGO – buy one get one free or half price, or the coffee card type approach but for other items for which this approach has not been usual or the $$$ off approach where shoppers accuse cash value to their ‘account’ for future use in store.

Giving shoppers control, allowing them to shop how and when they want, for what they want, delivers a better outcome to businesses that are genuinely customer focussed.

In the Tower systems POS software we deliver access to a suite of loyalty facilities that drive good outcomes, valuable outcomes, because shoppers appreciate the loyalty facilities and respond accordingly.

Take the BOGO opportunity in the Tower Systems Point of Sale software. Using this, we have seen jewellers, fishing shops, garden centres, gift shops, newsagents and toy shops drive shopper engagement, drive deeper shopping baskets as a result of a simple offer, clearly articulated and easily managed by the POS software.

As an engaged POS software company, we see it as our obligation to serve our customers through providing commercially valuable outcomes. In the loyalty space we shine, we bring to the table terrific software tools and a retail business understanding and experience that combine to deliver measurable outcomes.

We help our small business retailers grow more valuable businesses.

That $$$ off. Through this suite of loyalty marking tools we help small business retailers differentiate themselves, pitch differently to big businesses, to be more nimble and to be be more customer focussed.

Shoppers are loyal to businesses that respect them. Tower Systems helps small business retailers demonstrate respect in ways that shoppers love and in ways that are digestible to and commercially valuable for retailers.

This is good business.

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The smart POS software loyalty solution that helps indie retailers differentiate their businesses

May 29, 2019

1 Min read

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How a fresh approach to shopper loyalty in POS software helps small business retailers win business

February 20, 2019

4 Min read

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This is a personal story about small business retail and the value achievable from a smarter and more customer respectful approach to rewarding loyalty … but in a different way, a way that is counterintuitive in that it front-ends the approach.

Here is our story … we are not your usual POS software company in that we are retailers too, using our software in a range of specialty retail shops.

I want to share with you a true story of what really happened in my own retail business. It is a story of how a small everyday purchase led to something bigger and how this happened as a result of fundamental changes in how the business is run.

While this story is about what happened in my newsagency, it could happen in any type of business. This newsagency, by the way, is not your typical newsagency. Close to 70% of what we sell is non traditional. It is high margin higher price point items that sit at the core of this unique business.

At its core, this is a story about shopper loyalty, especially shopper loyalty in a retail situation where between 25% and 30% of shoppers visiting the business are not local and therefore not likely to engage with the old-school points-based loyalty program.

A customer passing the shop noticed our greeting card range and stepped into make a purchase because of a specific need. They purchased two cards. On their receipt was a voucher for almost $2.00. As they are not usually in the shopping centre they looked around for something in which to spend the $2.00.

This is the key: the customer came in to make a quick destination purchase. The type of business we were did not matter. They were on the way to the car park and happened to pass buy our shop. Point 1: location is in our favour. The stepped in because they saw our greeting cards. Point 2: the floor placement of cards was key in getting them in the shop.

Having made the purchase, the customer then noticed, for the first time, what else we sold – because of the $2.00 discount voucher on their receipt. Point 3: we got them to look around and see what else we sold.

The customer did a 180 degree turn and saw a locked glass cabinet of beautiful collectible bears. This was in the right place at the right time as they had been looking for a gift for a child. Money was not an issue. They wanted something to last a lifetime. They purchased a $500.00 bear.

This purchase would not have been made had they not been given the $2.00 voucher on their receipt. The voucher is what got them to notice what else we sold.

Fast forward several weeks and this customer who said they don’t usually come to the shopping centre was back for another $500.00 purchase. Now, several more weeks later, the customer has another $500.00 order placed.

I can directly trace more than $1,500.00 in sales back to the $2.00 voucher.

The software produced the voucher based on rules I established. The initial staff member serving the customer made a brief professional pitch highlighting the voucher. These are both important factors as they are at the core of a structured consistent approach to what has become the most lucrative loyalty program I have seen in my 30+ years involved in retail as a retailer myself and working with retailers in many different channels.

While most times vouchers are handed out they are not redeemed, they are redeemed enough to make them worthwhile. They are redeemed for good margin product as they get people looking at the shop for the first time and discovering items to purchase they were not in our four walls to consider.

The discount vouchers are disruptive and this is why I love them. People respond in unpredictable ways.

Best of all, the discount vouchers are profitable.

For this story to work in any retail business you need to have the right products, placed strategically in-store. Your employees need to make the right pitch. Plus, you need to be attracting people who don’t know and probably don’t care what shop they are in.

Tower Systems offers not only excellent software but also the business acumen, experience and drive to help you make the most of the opportunities in the software.

From points on a purchase to buy X and get Y FREE to Discount Vouchers, the Tower software offers flexibility in loyalty offerings that enable you to make the pitch right for your business to bring shoppers bag to spend more than might usually be the case.

Mark Fletcher, managing Director. Tower Systems. M: 0418 321 338.

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Our POS software lets you replace the coffee card loyalty approach

July 13, 2018

2 Min read

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The coffee card type of approach to loyalty where you clop or stamp the card wiht each coffee to track when a shopper is due a free coffee is old-school.

Ion seconds and thanks to a quick scan using our POS software small business retailers can easily track who is due what. This is time saving, more accurate, safer and beneficial to customer and shopper.

This is another part of the awesome loyalty facilities in our POS software. It is another way we help small business retailers compete in the tough loyalty stakes.

Another valuable loyalty / up-sell tool is BUY X GET Y.

The “buy x, get y” pitch is a common offer in retail businesses, especially those that sell everyday items such as pet food, magazines, garden mulch and other consumable items.

In the Tower Systems software loyalty facilities you have access to a powerful and configurable BUY X GET Y facility. You can use this to track shopper engagement and ensure proper rewarding of the free product at the right time. This is an excellent tool for driving shopper loyalty without the usual manual overhead of clipping cards or managing other processes. You can also report on the reward at the right time back to the supplier to ensure you are compensated for giving away the free product. Indeed, you have various detailed reporting options.

The BUY X GET Y facility has been developed with retailers in several channels as well as with suppliers to those retailers to ensure it meets the requirements of both business participants.

The total loyalty package in the Tower Systems software is comprehensive, flexible and tuned to offer retailers choice through which they can serve their own situation with confidence and success.

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Small business retailer loves our POS software loyalty options

July 12, 2018

2 Min read

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We love hearing how our POS software customers embrace the awesome retail loyalty facilities in our POS software. In calls and emails customers tell us terrific stories of success they have had and continue to have with the expansive and valuable loyalty tools in our software.

Here is one message we received last week:

Not sure how to tell the entire team what I think and you are still my go to man at Tower.
We started discount vouchers about 2 months ago and your support team has put up with my questions and been very calm and collected with me.
The Vouchers are fantastic and most people lose the bits of paper so % redeemed is poor ( good for me !! ) but people REALLY appreciate this and love the idea. When someone comes in with a bunch of vouchers and gets
$ 10 off they are so pleased !!
Great idea and something that you can definitely ask any stock feed store to phone me about if you want – I think it gives us an edge.

Here is another email:

I have to say I am shocked at how well the discount vouchers have gone. I know I said I was not interested but as soon as someone spent $50 more in the shop because of a $2.00 voucher I was sold. Now I push them every time and they easily pay for themselves. You have made this old man very happy.

The loyalty facilities in our POS software are awesome. This is because they were developed closely with retailers. These are not tech facilities developed in a lap. No, they were developed on the ship floor over time, tried and tested. This is what makes them truly useful.

In our own retail experience, which sees us competing against major retailers in a Westfield shopping centre, several shoppers have stated they prefer Discount Vouchers over the rewards programs of our competitors.

We are confident that Tower Systems’ Discount Voucher facilities can help you:

Get customers spending more in a visit.
Bring existing customers back sooner.
Attract new shoppers to your business.
Drive impulse purchases at the sales counter.

The b beauty is you can call the vouchers what you like. We use the term discount vouchers as it makes sense to most. However, our customers can change the name label in seconds.

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Loyalty software helps small business retailers prove that points are dead

June 1, 2018

2 Min read

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Points based loyalty is old-school and out of date. People don’t understand points because what are they worth?

While we continue to support points-based loyalty in our POS software, we go beyond this with our discount vouchers. Discount vouchers are fresh, engaging and easily understood. They help retailers win more business. They are a best practice loyalty offer for small business retailers.

Discount Vouchers don’t need a card – they print on sales receipts and offer an amount customers can spend right away. Our experience and the experience of hundreds of our customers is that Discount Vouchers drive faster and deeper engagement with the business – making a shopping visit more valuable right away.

We are confident that Tower Systems’ Discount Voucher facilities can help you:

Get customers spending more in a visit.
Bring existing customers back sooner.
Attract new shoppers to your business.
Drive impulse purchases at the sales counter.

People understand money, far more so than points. This is why discount vouchers are more likely to drive better results in retail businesses.

In our own retail experience, which sees us competing against major retailers in a Westfield shopping centre, several shoppers have stated they prefer Discount Vouchers over the rewards programs of our competitor.

The total loyalty package in the Tower Systems software is comprehensive, flexible and tuned to offer retailers choice through which they can serve their own situation with confidence and success.

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Loyalty marketing in small business retail: How Tower Systems helps retailers get shoppers back sooner

May 10, 2018

5 Min read

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All retailers, want shoppers to spend more in each visit and to come back more often.

Yet most retailers are uncomfortable overtly engaging with shoppers to get spend more in a visit or come back sooner.

Years ago, the thought was that a shopper VIP card or points based loyalty program was the way to go. Today, with such programs commonplace, their value is diluted.

There is talk among shoppers of loyalty fatigue – they are doubting the value of cards and programs where real rewards are not what was first offered.

Change the game: front-end loyalty

Instead of making shoppers accrue points that are then converted for cash at some future stage, why not offer cash-based rewards earlier, from the first purchase?

This approach is called front-ending loyalty. It brings a reward to the front in an effort to engage shoppers in additional purchases sooner.

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-end loyalty strategy in February 2013 in several retail businesses. We did it using the Discount Vouchers facilities in the Tower POS software.

Building the basket

From the first day, in my own shop, we saw shoppers changing behaviour.

One customer came in to purchase a specific item. When I handed him the receipt I point out the voucher offering $2.00 of 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 so 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

33% of redeemed vouchers are used within seven days and the remaining 33% are redeemed up to four weeks after issue, bringing shoppers back.

There is real evidence now from hundreds of retailers supporting these claims.

Here’s another real story: A few months ago, 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 $65.00 item she wanted. This purchase resulted in another voucher so she bought another item for $29.95.

This customer said her friends had been recently talking about VIP cards and how they were useless. She then told them about us.

Changing how shoppers interact.

In another instance a customer was considering a $250.00 item but decided they could not justify the expense. They purchased some smaller items, spending $25.00.

On receiving a $5.00 voucher they turned around, immediately, and bought the $250.00 item.

We asked what happened. The answer was I don’t know. I needed permission I guess and the $5.00 did it.

This is a true story and there are many more like it in hundreds of retail businesses.

The key about discount vouchers is they change shopper behaviour, usually immediately and valuable for the business.

Indeed, discount vouchers are a game changer for many retail businesses, large an small, city and country.

We love hearing the stories of success from your customers.

You control the business rules

Like any good loyalty program, you need good levers with which to drive shopper engagement and to deliver the benefits to justify the investment.

The Discount Vouchers facilities have this.

You control the amount of each sale you are prepared to give away on the voucher.

You control the products the voucher can be used for.

You control how long the voucher is live for. I suggest 28 days but I have some retailers setting this at 90 days.

Helping your business

With most retail businesses running a loyalty program using a points based approach and only targeting long-term customers, adoption of this front-end loyalty approach can provide you with a genuine point of difference.

It is easily managed through the Tower Systems software and is backed by excellent management reports. This makes implementation and management easier than the old approach.

I’m confident this fresh approach to loyalty is a game changer for any retail business. The control you have enables you to easily manage the cost and the value you gain from the program.

This really is a new approach to bringing shoppers back sooner and getting them to spend more with you.

The success we have described here continues today, in 2018. Excellent incremental growth, wonderful business rewards, leveraged through shopper rewards.

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The loyalty offer that helps small business retailers compete against big business – in our Aussie POS software

April 19, 2018

2 Min read

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Tower Systems pioneered the pitch of discount vouchers in small business retail. Now, many years on, more and more retailers are singing the praises of this unique and loved small business POS software loyalty offer.

Discount vouchers change shopper behaviour. They are a unique loyalty offer that older how shoppers see a business and how they engage in-store.

What sets Tower Systems apart, beyond the strong algorithm behind the vouchers, is the way we support small business retailers in deploying the voucher tactic in-store. We offer business trade training, so the context is understood at the owner level through to the sales counter level.

Being retailers ourselves and using the vouchers in different retail businesses we can speak from experience and retailers love this. Beyond the vouchers themselves, which are unique, our business engagement and knowledge is unique in software company circles.

Discount vouchers can be called anything you want, too. We have customers in the high end jewellery space calling them a Personal Thank You Gift and finding wonderful shopper engagement.

We are confident that Tower Systems’ Discount Voucher facilities can help you:

Get customers spending more in a visit.
Bring existing customers back sooner.
Attract new shoppers to your business.
Drive impulse purchases at the sales counter.

One of our own retail businesses reported growth of 10% in the three months to June 30, 2015. Much of the success comes down to smart use of Discount Vouchers.

Discount Vouchers don’t need a card – they print on sales receipts and offer an amount customers can spend right away. Our experience and the experience of hundreds of our customers is that Discount Vouchers drive faster and deeper engagement with the business – making a shopping visit more valuable right away.

You name the voucher anything you like and can change this at any time.
You set the rules on how the value of the voucher is calculated.
You set the rules on what the voucher can be redeemed for.
You set the rules on expiry dates.

See the software live. Contact us for an obligation free demonstration: Email: sales@towersystems.com.au. Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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How discount vouchers help small business retailers compete against big business

July 22, 2017

1 Min read

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When it comes to shopper loyalty, one POS software company helps retailers genuinely differentiate

January 2, 2017

1 Min read

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Tower Systems. POS software for small business retailers.

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Free social media marketing workshops for small business retailers

November 8, 2016

2 Min read

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In addition to owning Tower Systems I am a Director of newsXpress, a proactive marketing group for newsagents who are transforming their businesses. I am hosting a series of free workshops open to anyone offering access to the newsXpress training on how of use social media to find new shoppers for your retail business.

Discover how to attract new shoppers with Facebook.
Learn the most time-efficient way to post to Facebook.
Look behind the scenes at the best newsagent Facebook posts and learn how to use these ideas in your business.
Find out how to reach beyond those who like your page.
See how to thoughtfully target Facebook posts so they reach those you really want to reach.
Find out how to organise photos for the best possible impact.
Join a discussion about what time of day it is best to post.
Find out which posts Facebook users like the least.
We will do posts live for in the workshop, so you can learn first-hand.

This session will be practical, offering ready to use advice suitable for any retail business. If you want to learn about how to use Facebook, Instagram or Twitter in your business this is a good session for you. The session will also cover using your website to find new shoppers. Bookings now available for:

ADELAIDE. November 9 @ 10am. Rydges South Terrace. Book now.
GOLD COAST. November 10 @ 12 noon. Sofitel. Book now.
MELBOURNE. November 15 @ 10am. Hawthorn Arts Centre. Book now.
SYDNEY. November 16 @ 10am. The Lakes Golf Club. Book now.
BRISBANE. Nov. 17 @ 10am. The River View Hotel Kingsford Smith Drive. Book now.

We will add Perth as well. The sessions will be interactive with plenty of time for questions. Spaces are limited as we want to ensure everyone can engage.

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Personalised loyalty cards help local small business retailers compete

October 5, 2016

1 Min read

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Users of our POS software love the loyalty options in the software including the ability to work with beautiful plastic loyalty cards designed in-house by our marketing team for our customers.

Here are some of the cards we have designed for customers – just four of the many different designs from our creative team.

These cards are terrific quality with personalised barcodes. They come in a wallet for customer storage if they wish.

The cards are one option of many from the loyalty suite supported by Tower Systems for its small business retail customers.

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Small business retail management advice: ten reasons to ditch the old-school points based loyalty programs

September 18, 2016

1 Min read

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While the Tower Systems POS software supports points-based loyalty, we have other more advanced and more current loyalty offers. Our new loyalty offers help retailers drive excellent sales results.

Here are some reasons why we think points based loyalty programs are not useful for small business retailers:

Big businesses use points, meaning a small business program does not offer an identifiable post of difference.
Plenty of medium and small businesses offer points based programs.
Points are not a point of difference.
How can a shopper separate your points program from that in another retail business? Try and do this yourself.
Shoppers struggle to understand the value of points.
$$$ in value is better understood than points.
Points are old-school.
Shoppers have loyalty fatigue from the same old points based programs.
Points are more often used as a faux reward rather than real reward.
Points appear as vague whereas a cash benefit is easily understood.

Our advice is to put your customers at the heart of your loyalty program. Once you do this you will quickly see the value of a more customer-focussed loyalty offer and the benefits that could flow for your business.

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Loyalty fatigue forces POS software points-based loyalty programs to change

August 31, 2016

2 Min read

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Shoppers are tired of points-based loyalty programs where the value of points is challenging to understand and where rewards are difficult to access.

Take the retail group where shoppers have to sign up for the program and spend $500 in-store to accuse 500 points that are then converted to a limited life voucher sent to the customer.

This type of program does not make sense when you look at the hopes the customer has to jump through.

Compare it to a competitor offer where a shopper can have a $$ award on their receipt from the first purchase. No sign up. No delay in accessing benefits.

The Tower Systems POS software handles both the scenarios outlined above. Our preference as retail experts is for the latter. We say this based on years of working with independent small business retailers. While the points approach is where loyalty started, it shifted a few years ago and now more retailers prefer the $$ benefit on retail-ts because their customers react so well to it.

The example above where the customer has multiple steps to reach. These steps act as barriers. Shoppers can forget about the goal as they work through the barriers.

Don’t believe us, ask shoppers. Present the two scenarios. Ask which they prefer. We have done this. 5:1 they prefer the $$ off showing on the receipt without sign up. They love it in fact.

The feedback we have from customers is the Tower Systems POS software loyalty offerings are best-practice for retailers and for shoppers, they genuinely add value of retail businesses, costing a fraction of the gross profit achieved from incremental business driven by the program.

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Small business retail advice: be generous with your loyalty program

July 29, 2016

2 Min read

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Too often small and independent retail businesses create and run shopper loyalty programs that mimic their big business competitors. They ignore that the big business loyalty programs do not have rewarding shopper loyalty as a core focus.

Big business loyalty programs are primarily about the needs and profitability of big business.

Our advice for small business retailers is to be generous with your loyalty program. Offer generous rewards for loyalty. Run a loyalty program shoppers love, a program that brings shoppers back again and again.

Being stingy will cause frustration and anger among customers, it could have them talking negatively about the business. This is not good for business.

When we look at loyalty programs that have failed to deliver good results in a small or independent retail business, the most common cause we find is that the loyalty reward is not sufficiently a reward.

This is why we encourage retailers to be generous in loyalty reward settings.

The best way to reflect generosity is through transparency of value. By this we mean making it clear what a reward is worth. This is why a dollar amount is more valuable than points. People understand dollars. It is unlikely the will easily understand the ‘value’ of points.

For more advice and assistance on the best-practice approach to shopper loyalty, please talk with the team at Tower Systems.

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SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL ADVICE: CHOOSE THE LOYALTY OPTION THAT IS RIGHT FOR YOU

June 19, 2016

2 Min read

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The Tower Systems POS software has every possible shopper loyalty requirement covered from points to integrations to instant gratification loyalty to collectible loyalty to multi buy loyalty to supplier driven and funded loyalty.

No matter what loyalty option you could conceive, Tower has, in its community of 3,500+ small business retailers, most likely encountered the need and served it.

Our experience with loyalty is different businesses have different needs. This is why one of our loyalty experts works with you to determine which of the options is right for your business needs.

We help you discover the options in the software that serve your needs.

Our retail management advice today is think about the needs of your business carefully. The most obvious loyalty option, the one most others use, might not be right for you.

Our retail management tip today is: choose the loyalty option that is right for your small business.

Points based loyalty.
Loyalty rewards where the rewards are a voucher.
A cash discount off your next purchase.
Integration with a banner group loyalty program.
FlyBys integration.
A partner program where the shopper gets a reward and their community group gets a reward.
A local community support loyalty offer.
VIP pricing.
VIP pricing coupled with a loyalty rewards offer.

There are plenty more options than these – catered for and serves within the smart Tower Systems POS software.

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POS SOFTWARE SUPPORT FOR MULTI-BUY HELPS RETAILERS DRIVE SALES

June 7, 2016

2 Min read

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One of the most valuable ways a retailer can differentiate from a competitor is to change how items are sold. Through the Tower Systems POS software, retailers have multiple ways of doing this. One successful way is the transactional multi-buy, where a customer can save money by purchasing more of an item in one transaction.

We see the transactional multi-buy approach working well in toy shops, pet shops, newsagencies and gift shops. Retailers in each channel use it differently and with different products. This is a beauty of the facility – it is easy for a local retailer to setup such a campaign and then flip to another. It enables the small business independent retailer to be flexible and constantly change their approach.

Changing your pitch in store around what the shopper purchases is important. It differentiates you from others with the same product. It speaks to your local offer and enables you to own your value proposition.

This is smart for small business retailers. we are proud our software makes it easy to setup and simple to manage and insightful in the post activity reporting.

Any business selling items shoppers will collect or purchase for collectors would benefit significantly from the transactional multi by facilities in the Tower Systems POS software.

We back the facilities with training, in-store management advice and even post event analysis – helming retailers to understand the full value of the campaign they have run.

Making it very easy, all the retail employee need do is scan items. The software applies any appropriate multi-buy discount. You do not even have to scan all the items after each other. yes, the software is smart enough to detect items at any point in the sale and to grow them together. This is vital to streamlined throughput of shoppers at a busy sales counter.

Beyond the software, Tower Systems is grateful for the support of many retailers in the continual enhancement of the software, to enable us to bring valuable in-store marking tools to retailers with whom we partner.

Transactional multi-buy is an important tool for small business and independent retailers. We have excellent case studies we can share to illustrate the value.

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POS SOFTWARE LOYALTY FACILITIES HELP RETAILERS GROW SALES.

May 13, 2016

3 Min read

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Shopper loyalty became a thing around thirty years ago when UK supermarket giant Tesco tracked the results if its basic points based program.

Now, businesses of all sizes use points based programs to try and drive shopper loyalty.

Our view is points based programs are out of date and no longer competitive. Shopper behaviour has changed. Often you see people once and have one shot to drive the most valuable relationship for you. These on-shot customers don’t want to sign up for something or carry a card they will never use. However, they can be guided to spend more with you.

While we offer points based loyalty facilities in our POS software, we offer alternatives some of our customers are finding far more effective:

Discount Vouchers. Through settings you control in your software, a voucher prints on receipts offering customers an amount off their next purchase. We have customers reporting double-digit growth and success attracting shoppers away from major retailers.
Multi Buy. This works like a coffee card. Buy, say, 8 of an item over time and you get your 9^th for free. You control the numbers, timing and how the program works in your business.
Buy X get Y. This works per visit to the story, encouraging shoppers to purchase more in each visit. You have absolute control over the settings.

These three loyalty options as well as connections to external loyalty facilities provide our small business retail customers with options.

Better still, our loyalty facilities continue to evolve. We develop enhancements based on customer requests as well as based on what we see in retail overseas.

We also offer hybrid solutions where people mix our loyalty facilities. For example, we have customers offering discount vouchers and points where regular customers are treated differently to those making a one-off visit to the store.

We’d love to meet and talk about needs in your retail business, to see if our loyalty software and other POS software facilities can help.

We are an Australian software company selling software to selected retail niches like yours.

Please talk with one of our retail experts: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Footnote: the photo is from a shop I visited in Hong Kong two weeks ago. Homeless is a fascinating mix of pop culture, homewares, gifts and quirkiness. I was in Hong Kong for the Gift Fair and to meet with innovative retailers.

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HOW ANY SMALL BUSINESS RETAILER CAN GET SHOPPERS SPENDING MORE AND RETURNING SOONER

May 12, 2016

5 Min read

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The biggest challenges of any retail business are to get shoppers spending more in a visit and returning sooner than might usually be the case. In this article by Tower CEO Mark Fetcher, we explore a simple yet effective tool.

All retailers, want shoppers to spend more in each visit and to come back more often.

Yet most retailers are uncomfortable overtly engaging with shoppers to get spend more in a visit or come back sooner.

Years ago, the thought was that a shopper VIP card or points based loyalty program was the way to go. Today, with such programs commonplace, their value is diluted.

There is talk among shoppers of loyalty fatigue – they are doubting the value of cards and programs where real rewards are not what was first offered.

Change the game: front-end loyalty

Instead of making shoppers accrue points that are then converted for cash at some future stage, why not offer cash-based rewards earlier, from the first purchase?

This approach is called front-ending loyalty. It brings a reward to the front in an effort to engage shoppers in additional purchases sooner.

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.

I started trialling this front-end loyalty strategy in February 2013 in several retail businesses. I did it using the Discount Vouchers facilities in the Tower POS software.

Building the basket

From the first day, in my own shop, I saw shoppers changing behaviour.

One customer came in to purchase a specific item. When I handed him the receipt I point out the voucher offering $2.00 of 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 so 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

33% of redeemed vouchers are used within seven days and the remaining 33% are redeemed up to four weeks after issue, bringing shoppers back.

There is real evidence now from hundreds of retailers supporting these claims.

Here’s another real story: A few months ago, 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 $65.00 item she wanted. This purchase resulted in another voucher so she bought another item for $29.95.

This customer said her friends had been recently talking about VIP cards and how they were useless. She then told them about us.

Changing how shoppers interact.

In another instance a customer was considering a $250.00 item but decided they could not justify the expense. They purchased some smaller items, spending $25.00.

On receiving a $5.00 voucher they turned around, immediately, and bought the $250.00 item.

We asked what happened. The answer was I don’t know. I needed permission I guess and the $5.00 did it.

This is a true story and there are many more like it in hundreds of retail businesses.

The key about discount vouchers is they change shopper behaviour, usually immediately and valuable for the business.

Indeed, discount vouchers are a game changer for many retail businesses, large an small, city and country.

We love hearing the stories of success from your customers.

You control the business rules

Like any good loyalty program, you need good levers with which to drive shopper engagement and to deliver the benefits to justify the investment.

The Discount Vouchers facilities have this.

You control the amount of each sale you are prepared to give away on the voucher.

You control the products the voucher can be used for.

You control how long the voucher is live for. I suggest 28 days but I have some retailers setting this at 90 days.

Helping your business

With most retail businesses running a loyalty program using a points based approach and only targeting long-term customers, adoption of this front-end loyalty approach can provide you with a genuine point of difference.

It is easily managed through the Tower Systems software and is backed by excellent management reports. This makes implementation and management easier than the old approach.

I’m confident this fresh approach to loyalty is a game changer for any retail business. The control you have enables you to easily manage the cost and the value you gain from the program.

This really is a new approach to bringing shoppers back sooner and getting them to spend more with you.

IMPORTANT FOOTNOTE: Beware of those who claim year on year growth or numbers of people in their loyalty program. What is needed is analysis of a series of metrics on a same store basis year on year, metrics that assess carefully what is in the sample basket. For example, including lottery products in a purchase value basket does not make sense – it creates a false result of little value.

Contact the author at mark@towersystems.com.au.

To find out more about how your business can compete a fresh approach to loyalty, talk with an expert at Tower Systems. They can share more stories. Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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WE LOVE POS SOFTWARE SUCCESS STORIES

April 20, 2016

1 Min read

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We love hearing POS software stories, stories from our small business retailer customers on how they are using our Point of Sale software to help their businesses in the service of their customers.

We heard one such success story from the folks at Tourist House recently, at one of our user meetings, on their use of our proprietary discount voucher loyalty software facilities to help their customers save on purchases tourist items from them.

Using the software in four retail locations in four cities, the POS software sits at the heart of the operation. The discount voucher facilities have proved to be terrific in helping with employee and customer engagement.

The stories of engagement have helped us understand from a real world perspective how our software can be used in a range of situations to drive better business outcomes. Every feedback story adds to our knowledge and the narrative of Tower Systems.

We are grateful for customer engagement like this. It puts wind in our sales, a spring in our step.

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HELPING SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS LEVERAGE TYRO BROADBAND EFTPOS

February 8, 2016

1 Min read

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Small business POS software company helps small and independent retailers leverage the opportunity of the Tyro broadband EFTPOS solutions. We do this through a direct integration with our smart POS software as well as through the friendly small business focussed help desk service.

Serving retailers across a range of retail niches, we have experience from many channels and situations from which to draw when helping retailers save time, cut mistakes and benefit from a best-practice EFTPOS integration. This is an integration supported by tower for many years.

While the Tower Systems POS software works with a range of platforms, Tyro is featured by the company thanks to the relationship with the folks at Tyro, a relationship that benefits the Tower Systems small business retailer user community.

We use Tyro ourselves in our own retail businesses. This enables us to support from a basis of personal experience. It sets us apart.

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Massive fail in POS software loyalty offering

December 29, 2015

1 Min read

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A Tower Systems team members was in a retail business recently using POS software solution from another company and experienced a considerable failure of loyalty software. After making the purchase and leaving the store, our team member was called around ten minutes later with the news there was a voucher for them. It turns out this other POS software is slow at producing vouchers, meaning they often are printed minutes after the sale is completed – meaning the opportunity it lost.

Vouchers need to be printed with the sale, instantly, if the business is to leverage the maximum opportunity. This is vital to the success of any loyalty program – pitching to the shopper while they are still able to easily shop. This is what the Tower Systems POS software does – best practice loyalty in our POS software.

Calling a customer after they have left the shop is an epic fail for the POS software and a problem for the retail business.

The experience was a reminder to us that we have not the loyalty offers in our software right in terms of mix, facilities and speed. It also showed us a competitor’s weakness first-hand.

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Small business retailers offer better loyalty value than Woolworths and Coles

December 19, 2015

1 Min read

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We checked in recently with several retailers running our loyalty software facilities and in each case we found these small businesses offering loyalty programs that were between ten and one hundred times more valuable to shoppers than those run by Coles and Woolworths.

We are proud to play a role in these small business retailers offering valuable loyalty programs that focus on real value for customers.

From points to dollars off to multi-buy to rewards for future purchases, the loyalty programs available through the Tower software are considerable. Their flexibility is excellent as if the commercial benefits to our small business retail partners.

We are confident Tower Systems can help you:

Get customers spending more in a visit.
Bring existing customers back sooner.
Attract new shoppers to your business.
Drive impulse purchases at the sales counter.

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Sunday retail management advice: HOW A $2.50 DISCOUNT VOUCHER RESULTED IN PURCHASES OF $1,500 FROM A FIRST TIME SHOPPER

November 29, 2015

4 Min read

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RETAIL LOYALTY INSIGHT: HOW A $2.50 DISCOUNT VOUCHER RESULTED IN PURCHASES OF $1,500 FROM A FIRST TIME SHOPPER

I want to share with you a true story of what happened recently in my own retail business. It is a story of how a small everyday purchase led to something bigger and how this happened as a result of fundamental changes in how the business is run.

To understand the personal nature of this story … Tower Systems owns and operates several retail businesses including a newsagency in a major Westfield shopping centre. We have this business to provide us with a real-world experience in retail where we can experiment with our POS software.

While this story is about what happened in my newsagency, it could happen in any type of business. This newsagency, by the way, is not your typical newsagency. Close to 70% of what we sell is non traditional. It is high margin higher price point items that sit at the core of this unique business.

At its core, this is a story about shopper loyalty, especially shopper loyalty in a retail situation where between 25% and 30% of shoppers visiting the business are not local and therefore not likely to engage with the old-school points-based loyalty program.

A customer passing the shop noticed our greeting card range and stepped into make a purchase because of a specific need. They purchased two cards. On their receipt was a voucher for almost $2.00. As they are not usually in the shopping centre they looked around for something in which to spend the $2.00.

This is the key: the customer came in to make a quick destination purchase. The type of business we were did not matter. They were on the way to the car park and happened to pass buy our shop. Point 1: location is in our favour. The stepped in because they saw our greeting cards. Point 2: the floor placement of cards was key in getting them in the shop.

Having made the purchase, the customer then noticed, for the first time, what else we sold – because of the $2.00 discount voucher on their receipt. Point 3: we got them to look around and see what else we sold.

The customer did a 180 degree turn and saw a locked glass cabinet of beautiful collectible bears. This was in the right place at the right time as they had been looking for a gift for a child. Money was not an issue. They wanted something to last a lifetime. They purchased a $500.00 bear.

This purchase would not have been made had they not been given the $2.00 voucher on their receipt. The voucher is what got them to notice what else we sold.

Fast forward several weeks and this customer who said they don’t usually come to the shopping centre was back for another $500.00 purchase. Now, several more weeks later, the customer has another $500.00 order placed.

I can directly trace more than $1,500.00 in sales back to the $2.00 voucher.

The software produced the voucher based on rules I established. The initial staff member serving the customer made a brief professional pitch highlighting the voucher. These are both important factors as they are at the core of a structured consistent approach to what has become the most lucrative loyalty program I have seen in my 30+ years involved in retail as a retailer myself and working with retailers in many different channels.

While most times vouchers are handed out they are not redeemed, they are redeemed enough to make them worthwhile. They are redeemed for good margin product as they get people looking at the shop for the first time and discovering items to purchase they were not in our four walls to consider.

The discount vouchers are disruptive and this is why I love them. People respond in unpredictable ways.

Best of all, the discount vouchers are profitable.

For this story to work in any retail business you need to have the right products, placed strategically in-store. Your employees need to make the right pitch. Plus, you need to be attracting people who don’t know and probably don’t care what shop they are in.

Tower Systems offers not only excellent software but also the business acumen, experience and drive to help you make the most of the opportunities in the software.

From points on a purchase to buy X and get Y FREE to Discount Vouchers, the Tower software offers flexibility in loyalty offerings that enable you to make the pitch right for your business to bring shoppers bag to spend more than might usually be the case.

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