The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Categorynewsagency software

Newsagency retail benchmark study results

November 26, 2018
4 Min read
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Last week, we published to Aussie newsagents the results of our latest newsagency sales benchmark study. Here they are for you…

CORE CATEGORIES IN TROUBLE. NEW CATEGORIES GROWING.

This newsagency sales benchmark study reflects sales results as tracked in 147 retail newsagency businesses in Australia for the third quarter of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017. Only businesses with accurate data are included.

Each data point is the average, mean, of all data for the data point.

In assessing results at the category level, I have only included data for each category businesses trading in that category.

OVERALL BUSINESS PERFORMANCE METRICS.

  1. Customer traffic. Down 3.5%
  2. Overall sales. Down 3%
  3. Basket depth.No change.
  4. Basket dollar value.Up .5%

CORE PRODUCTS.

  1. Newspapers. Unit sales. Down 11.5%.
  2. Magazines. Unit sales. Down 10.5%.
  3. Greeting cards. Revenue. Down 5%.
  4. Stationery. Revenue. Down 12.5%
  5. Lotteries. Revenue. Down 3%
  6. Tobacco. Revenue. Down 15%.
  7. Agency. Parcels, gift cards, betting account top-up. Down 6%.

SPECIALTY PRODUCTS.

  1. Gifts. Revenue. Up 4%
  2. Toys. Revenue. Up 5%.
  3. Plush. Revenue. Up 7%.
  4. Collectibles. Revenue. Up 5%.
  5. Craft. Revenue. Up 3%.
  6. Coffee. Revenue. Up 17%.

What does this mean?

It was a particularly tough quarter with all traditional, core, categories declining. Also, the gap between businesses at either end of the performance spectrum is wider than ever.

New traffic should be priority #1 in every newsagency business. By this I mean, traffic for products the business is not traditionally known for. This is hard work as it involves the whole of the business: buying, pricing, display, in-store engagement and out of store marketing … all of which needs to be done under the name of the business but in a way that keeps this connection in the background.

I think a crucial data point that would be interesting to gather and discuss internally is…

How many unfamiliar faces did we see today?

Track this as much as possible. Pursuing a goal starts with accurate base line data.

The GP challenge.

At the core of chasing new business is the need to lift the profitability of the business. A key way for doing this is making more from each item you sell. That does not necessarily mean selling everything at the highest possible price., A better approach could be to sell more items with a higher overall average GP.

If you were, for example, to decrease revenue from papers and magazines and increase revenue for gifts, you could see overall business GP grow in that the GP% of gift can be double or more than of cards.

The supplier challenge.

The mix of suppliers to the channel is changing. As a supplier learns what they could make from newsagents, they tend to seek to engage with more newsagents. This is something to be wary of as the point of difference you may have once had an as early adopter can diminish once late bloomers latch on to something.

This is a reason for change in the supply mix. While for sure there will be everyday core lines, the reality is that change for at least a third, especially in gift, is important.

Final words.

It is easy to wallow and roll around in the challenges and negativity. That will not fix anything in your newsagency business. That is 100% ion you. Take a step, no matter how small, every day, toward a brighter future. Do something, anything, that moves you beyond the current trajectory if you are unhappy with the current trajectory. Wallowing, complaining … they are not beneficial steps and usually serve to make things worse.

Own your situation and own your obligation to improve it. Do this and there are many in the channel who will help.

Mark Fletcher.
Email: mark@towersystems.com.au  Website: www.towersystems.com.au  Blog: www.newsagencyblog.com.au
M | 0418 321 338

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POS software for small business retailers

November 24, 2018
2 Min read
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POS software, the right POS software, can be hard for small business retailers to find. While there are many point of sale packages out there in the marketplace, it can be hard to know the right p.o.s. package that is right for your business.

So many say that their software the best software for you. There can be wild claims. Often, wild claims are not backed up by the facts.

No two POS software programs are the same. Making the choice should rake time and care. It should involved a deep dive into the software and what it does, how it works.

If you are in a specialty retail business, we suggest you look thoughtfully and carefully at the needs of the business, to make sure you know what you want and why you want it before you head off and make a decision. A quick decision is not necessarily the best decision as you could be stuck with bad data, bad business practices and frustration all round.

POS software can be complex, which is good you want it doin g the heavy lifting in your business, you want doing things that will genuinely save time and money in the business. This is why we think taking time to make the right decision is critical. It is also why we say not all POS software programs are the same.

POS software for small business retail can include transacting sales at the counter, managing LayBys, handling product catalogues, connecting with suppliers, connecting with your accounting software, managing repairs, managing EFTPOS payments, handling complex freight requirements, telling you what is working and what is not working, making sure business is transacted accurately, mitigating theft, connecting with your online store, selling products by weight … and plenty more.

POS software is powerful, flexible, easy to use and constantly evolving as the needs of retail and the needs of your type of business evolve.

Tower stems serves over 3,000 small business retailers with POS software. This is what we do. We make POS software, what we think is awesome POS software. We sell, rent , lease POS software. We provide support for ur POS software.

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We help small business retailers send targeted marketing emails to drive shopper traffic

November 22, 2018
2 Min read
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Thanks to the Events facilities in our POS software, Tower Systems customers can export email address data to create lists for targeted email marketing and customer service campaigns.

Our small business retail customers can use Events to tag life events, customer purchase activity, repairs and more. This information, with multiple allowed per customer, enables you to be focused in your marketing.

Our customers can use the Events tools to build a marketing database based on what has been transacted through the Retailer POS software.

  1. A jeweller may use Events to track events such as anniversaries, life events for the customer and family members. Jewellers could use Events to reach out to all customers who have purchased an engagement ring in the last year or two years.
  2. A pet store may use Events to track worming details for dogs and therefore have a platform through which to remind customers on a treatment purchase being due.
  3. A bike shop can use Events to remind customers of a service due, The software easily knows who to specifically target for the reminder – this reduces the opportunity for spam..

Once you export the email addresses, you can import them into Mailchimp. Mailchimp is a fantastic tool for sending beautiful emails and tracking recipient engagement.

If you have a website, you can use Mailchimp to automatically email abandoned cart shoppers. These are shoppers who put products in their basket and then leave (abandon them) without completing their purchase. We have seen these abandoned cart emails work with 10% and more of them leading to purchases, which would have otherwise been lost to the business.

A business website without an abandoned cart strategy is missing out.

You can access Mailchimp direct and they can provide you with help on its use. Our focus, as the POS software company, is to provide you with tools for extracting target data for you to use in reading your Mailchimp target list.

We have wonderful, easy to access and read, resources in our POS software self-serve knowledge base to help with the POS software – Mailchimp export.  

All supported causers have access to Events.

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Free POS software training helps small business retailers enjoy their software more

November 21, 2018
2 Min read
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Tower Systems offers the thousands of retailers using its POS software access to free one-on-one training in the use of its POS software.

Our customers can book and take as many of these POS software training sessions as they like.

The training can be on any topic related to the software. We have a catalogue of topics available. We also welcome topic requests from customers, all of which we will deliver.

The training is delivered by a training specialist with terrific retail experience.

We are proud to offer this service and to deliver it with consistency to our customers, to help them get the most possible from the use of our POS software in their business.

Booking the training is easy, hassle free.

This is real, we do it every day – free training for small business retailers using our POS software. Yes, free.

This is a Tower Systems advantage … and advantage for our retail business partners, those who use our POS software.

We are grateful to the support of our small business retailer community that enables us to provide this service and to have been providing this service for years.

The training itself is done over the phone, using a customer computer and their data, providing the customer the ability to learn by doing, to learn how and where they want to. We have found this works well in the small business environment.

Our approach also makes it easy for multiple team members in a business to learn their part, the part of the software that relates to their role. We can some days do training for four or five people in a single business. We are truly grateful for this because we know that the better someone knows the software the more they will get from it and the more they will love it and we are keen for people to achieve a place of love with our software.

Tower Systems is genuinely and acutely focussed on small business retailers in selected specialty marketplaces. We understand the importance of training and the value that can be derived from it for POS software customers.

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Christmas marketing ideas for small business retailers

November 17, 2018
8 Min read
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Tower Systems works with more than 3,500+ small business retailers using its POS software in speciality retail niches including jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, gift shops, newsagents, pet shops, adult shops and more. We offer these ideas as our Christmas gift to you.

  1. Make it easy. People often talk about how hard Christmas is. Be the local business that makes it easy. The ways to do this are with easy Lay-By, free wrapping, better shop floor help, guide buying advice or tips on perfect gifts no one else will think of. Consider making Christmas easy as being a key part of your messaging.
  2. Be thrilled people are in your shop. Your personal smile or greeting is something they may not see in a big business where employees are less invested in each shopper and where the owner is usually thousands of kilometers away.
  3. Make the giving easy. If people purchase items from you to send somewhere else. Offer a one-stop shop. Save them the trip to the post office.
  4. Make the shop less about Christmas. Consider pulling back on the Christmas visual noise. Go for something simple, muted, respecting the season but making a calm statement. Consider declaring the shop a Christmas carol free zone – not because you hate carols but because you want to help customers take a break.
  5. Help people rest and recharge. Create a Christmas shopping rest and recovery zone. Offer free tea, coffee, water and something to eat. Encourage people to take a break in your shop – without any obligation for them to spend money with you.
  6. Let your customers help each other. Setup a whiteboard or sheets of butcher’s paper, yes keep it simple. Get customers to write gift suggestions under different age/gender groups. For example: Girls 18 – 25, Boys 55+. Encourage your customers to help each other through their suggestions.
  7. Make price comparison difficult. If you sell items people are likely to price compare with other businesses, package them so price comparison is not easy. Put items into a hamper as a perfect Boy 8 to 12 bundle for example. Or offer the item with pre packages services if appropriate for an item.
  8. Less is more.  The stack em high watch em fly mantra can be wrong. Indeed, it is often wrong in retail. Shoppers can be store blind because a shop is too full or a display is too busy. Consider creating simpler less cluttered displays and window promotions. Draw attention to what you want people to see by promoting that one thing. Every time someone asks if you have something that you think through should be able to find easily – take it as a challenge for you to address rather than a commentary on a facility of the customer.
  9. Change. Christmas season in your shop should evolve. Major change weekly is vital for people to see what you have that they could buy.
  10. Be socially engaged. On Facebook, Instagram, twitter and elsewhere, be the calm voice, the person people enjoy reading or seeing photos from. Provide entertainment this Christmas rather than the usual retailer shrill of come and shop here!
  11. Be community minded. Choose a local charity or community group to support through Christmas. Consider: a change collection tin at the counter; a themed Christmas window display; promotion on your social media pages; a donation to their work; a collection point for donations from customers.
  12. Facilitate sharing stories. Find space in your shop for customers to share their Christmas stories. It could be a story wall inside or in front of the shop. This initiative encourages storytelling by locals and better connects the business with the community.
  13. Award a prize at a local school. Fund a year-end prize at a local school. Attend a school assembly to award the prize. Work with the school leadership on a prize appropriate to your business.
  14. VIP preview. Host a VIP shopper preview night when you show off your Christmas ranges ahead of being available to the general shoppers. Respect and reward your local shoppers with deals and the opportunity to preview ahead of others.
  15. Leverage Christmas traffic. Encourage the Christmas shopper traffic surge in after Christmas. Give them a reason to come back. A coupon promotion or a discount voucher on receipts could be the enticement to get shoppers back in-store. Note: the Tower POS software produces discount vouchers to rules you establish.
  16. Become a gallery. Work with a school, kindergarten, community group or retirement village to bring in local art for people to come and see through Christmas. A small space commitment can drive traffic from family and friends of those with art on show.
  17. Dress the shop. Fully embrace Christmas. Create a Christmas experience such that shoppers know they have stepped into somewhere special this Christmas. Go for more than some tinsel and a tree. Fully embrace the opportunity.
  18. Make your shop smell like Christmas.
  19. Send cards. Send Christmas cards early in the season to suppliers, key customers and local community groups. This connects you with Christmas. Invite all team members to sign each card.
  20. Host a Christmas party. For shops nearby. You are all in the season together – let your hear down before things get crazy.
  21. Ensure you have gifts targeted at occasions. For example: Kris Kringle, by price point and by recipient. Make it easy for people to know what they could give.
  22. Stocking stuffers. At your counter always have one or two stocking stuffers for impulse purchase.
  23. Offer gift vouchers – for someone to give when they are not sure what to give.
  24. Be local. Ensure you have a selection of locally sourced products available for purchase. Make it clear in-store that these products are sourced locally.
  25. Tell stories. On your Facebook page, talk about what is important to you at Christmas. Personalise the season and deepen the connection with those who could shop with you.
  26. Offer a free gift. Bulk purchase an item to offer those who spend above a set amount. For example, spend $65 and receive XX where XX may have cost $5.00 but could have a perceived value of $20.00.
  27. Keep it fresh. Every week make significant change to your Christmas displays and promotions to keep your offer fresh.
  28. Share Christmas recipes. Each week for, say, four weeks, give customers a family Christmas recipe. This personalises Christmas in your business, creates a talking point and makes shopping with you different to your bigger competitors.
  29. Free wrapping. Sure, many retailers offer this. Make your offer better, more creative and more appreciated.
  30. This is essential in any business. Manage it through your computer system with strict rules.
  31. Work the floor. Increase time on the shop floor. Be present to manage shopper flow and to facilitate purchases.
  32. Christmas is crazy busy I most retail situations. Give yourself and your team members sufficient time to recharge so the smile greeting shoppers is heartfelt.
  33. Keep a secret. If yours is a business selling gifts a partner may purchase for their loved-one, create some mystery with a closed off display for the shopper to see the products.
  34. Free assembly. If you sell items that require assembly. Offer to do this for free.
  35. Free delivery. Offer free Christmas Eve delivery for items purchased for kids for Christmas.
  36. Sell training. Leverage the specialist knowledge you have in your business by selling as gifts places at classes you run sharing your expertise.
  37. Hold back. Don’t go out with everything you have for Christmas all at once. Plan the season to show off what you have as the season unfolds. This allows you multiple launches.
  38. Share a taste. Regardless if your type of business, bake a family recipe of Christmas cake, Christmas pudding or Christmas biscuits and offer tastings to shoppers on select days. This personalises the experience in your shop.
  39. Offer hampers. Package several items together and offer them as a hamper. Time-poor shoppers could appreciate you doing this work for them. We have seen this work in many different retail situations.
  40. Buy X get Y. Encourage people to spend more with a volume based deal. Pitched right, this could get customers purchasing items for several family members in order to get the price offer you have. Use your technology to manage this.

Christmas is the perfect time to plan for next year. It is the time to do everything possible to leverage bonus Christmas traffic to benefit your business through next year.

Tower Systems offers Point of sale / retail management software tailored for your specific type of retail business. Our software can help you leverage Christmas traffic for year-long benefits.

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Renting POS software preserves small business retailer capital for other users

November 13, 2018
2 Min read
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For years, Tower Systems has offered access to its POS software through rental. This easy to establish arrangement offers access to the software on a month by month basis with no capital outlay up front to access the software.

The rental payment option, like our cloud hosted option, is available to all Tower Systems customers in all marketplaces.

Our customers can also convert from rental to purchase or lease at any time. How people pay to access the software is easy, simple and self-managed. This provides our customers with the best options, options that suit their specific circumstances.

In offering rental years ago, Tower Systems provided small business retailers with payment options that suit the cash flow needs of many small business retailers. There is no loan application, no finance approval process, no cumbersome paperwork, no hassle. This is another way the company makes doing business with Tower Systems frictionless, easy.

The paperwork is a dream and there is no minimum lock-in term. Like we said, easy, frictionless.

The Tower Systems POS software for any of the specialty retail marketplaces in which the company operates is available for rental.

Our rental customers have access to exactly the same customer service experiences and touch points as all other customers using our software.

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Best practice newsagency management software helps newsagents transform their businesses

November 11, 2018
3 Min read
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Newsagency businesses today are very different to a few years ago. We are surrounded by change. Innovators are leaning into change.

Here at Tower Systems our software for newsagents has changed, helping leverage opportunities, helping to evolve businesses. This is a key factor in our market share and in net growth in customer numbers through 2018.

Whether you are a retail newsagent or a distribution newsagent, our software can help you run a more efficient and enjoyable business. We can also help you find new customers.

We own and operate newsagency businesses ourselves and have done since 1996. Walking in your shoes, confronting the challenges you confront, helps us create better software. We think this is a reason more newsagents partner with Tower Systems. 1,700+ newsagent customers make our user community strong, the biggest in Australia.

  1. Compliant with industry standards, using our software you can meet criteria for getting onto the no physical returns program with Gotch.
  2. We can help you reduce EFTPOS fees.
  3. Selling online is easy and this can help you sell more even though your nearby population may be small.
  4. First with buy now pay later for shoppers through POS software, over the counter payment options help you win more sales.
  5. Our front-end loyalty facilities help you differentiate your business, drive deeper baskets and bring shoppers back sooner.

Our software can work with you as you evolve your product mix. Whether it is into hospitality, services, produce, repairs, online or more, our software has facilities that help make your business more relevant to today’s shopper.

Integrations can also help you cut operating costs, such as bookkeeping fees. We can help you eliminate double and triple handling. We link direct to Xero, for example.

Switching is not expensive. Our system can be purchased, leased or rented. What we provide is…

  1. The latest Tower Systems newsagency software.
  2. On-site installation and training by a newsagency business expert.
  3. Data conversion, converting as much data as we can access.
  4. Software support for the first three years. Nothing extra to pay.
  5. Software updates for the first three years. Nothing extra to pay.
  6. Unlimited over the phone follow up training for the first three years.
  7. Access to an awesome online knowledge base with articles & advice.
  8. Access to weekly group live online training workshops.
  9. Access to a private Facebook page where you can discuss any topic.

See our latest newsagency software in an obligation-free demonstration. Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Our training is one-on-one, in your business. Our help desk support is personal, based out of Melbourne, and personal too – because we know personal service matters in small business retail.

Our goal is to help you enjoy a more successful and valuable business.

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Advice for small business retailers on POS software connected websites

November 9, 2018
2 Min read
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In our Knowledge Base, we have articles on connecting your Tower Retailer software to Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce. A quick search will soon find these. All of our customers have access to our Knowledge Base.

We urge our small business POS software customers to read the article for the type of e-commerce platform you plan to connect with. Give the article to the people developing your site. Most questions we get from external web developers are answered in the articles.

We’d love to develop your website for you. We have a separate web team in our business who do this work. They are based out of our Melbourne Australia office. They have developed plenty of Retailer connected websites already. We think we offer a service that is beautifully tuned to the needs of local small business retailers and their customers – more so than web developers overseas.

Connecting our Retailer POS softwareto a website is technically easy. However, you are creating a hungry beast that needs to be fed. Here are some of our everyday POS software / webstore tips for getting started and managing the website efficiently:

  1. Get your inventory data right with product names, departments, categories, pricing and images. Retaileris in control of the data, always.
  2. Start with a small range of stock in the website first. Get that right and your prices right before you go further.
  3. Make decisions yourself on website look and feel and design. Expecting someone else to do all this usually leads to disappointment. Attention invested now will result in a website you like and that reflects you.
  4. Use real photos. Stock photos stand out. They look awful.
  5. Know that any website you launch today will need investment to refresh it within eighteen months. Web is a rapidly evolving environment. Not investing to keep up will see you fall behind.
  6. Whoever develops your website – make sure they are local. Offshore development is cheaper today but more expensive in the long run.
  7. Choose a platform that is appropriate. We are yet to see a retail business not satisfied with a Shopify or Magento site. Shopify is ideal for simpler needs and Magento works a treat for more complex and multi-store requirements.

Our focus on web development is absolute and thorough, as is our focus on delivering genuinely valuable small business POS software.

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Added value for POS software customers who take up support

November 8, 2018
3 Min read
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We have recently added more value to POS software support coverage we provide to our customers, making being covered by support more valuable than ever. In this work we have added access to services and facilities for which there used to be a separate, user pays, charge. These charges have been eliminated.

Many of our customers now have lower costs per year.

This is good news. We are thrilled to have been able to deliver this for our customers, to offer them lower operating costs.

Our support pricing process is transparent, all of our customers are treated equal. This is fair for them. It is the only way we do business.

As part of the process of changes, we have stream limed customer access processes for add-on and now free benefits such as Xero, MYOB, Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce. This is self serve, easy and fast. It provides a better and more enjoyable customer service experience.

In our own situation, in terms of data management here, what we do in this area is streamlined, fast and requires less data handling for our customers.

So, in 2018, Tower Systems has increased the value of POS software support coverage, added more real value, eliminated some fees and increased touch point opportunities for small business retailer customers – helping to drive an even better return on investment for our customers.

This is good news, news we are proud and grateful to be in a position to share here. We shared this news weeks ago with our customers.

We think it is important to talk about this here as people get too hear it from us. This is always better than the spin you can get from a competitor who seeks to deflect by talking about us too much.

We are committed to driving value from total cost of ownership, helping our customers to achieve more for a fair price, a price that is transparent and a price they can trust as applying to all. here at Tower Systems we proudly serve all customers as equals.

Talk to one of our experts about an obligation free personal demonstration: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Our training is one-on-one, in your business. Our help desk support is personal, based out of Melbourne, and personal too – because we know personal service matters in small business retail.

Our goal is to help you enjoy a more successful and valuable business.

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How webstore connected POS software helps retailers in a group and independent retailers win more sales

October 19, 2018
3 Min read
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As well as offering POS software designed for your specific type of business, Tower Systems provides websites seamlessly connected to the shop floor, giving you a single management view.

We develop websites for our customers, in Magento, Shopify or WooCommerce.

Our websites are live POS software connected, offering 24/7 selling with payments through PayPal, Oxipay (interest free buy now pay later) and credit cards.

Our websites leverage online purchases as well as click and collect. They also drive basket depth with up-sell options and handling coupons for special deals.

If you are in a banner group or a marketing group, we can provide a single website to represent all stores in the group. We do this today for one group, through five websites we created – each easily found through Google thanks to our SEO work.

Each store in a banner or marketing group gets their own page, which they can easily promote. For a single business, the POS connected website promotes their business.

We know from experience that:

In some businesses, around 75% of key in-store purchases have an online search component. POS connected websites are important for winning online sales and even more important for driving in-store purchases.

45% of purchases in many categories are when retail shops are closed.

10% of purchases are click and collect in higher-end product categories.

14% of purchases are done with buy now pay later financing.

Shoppers like certainty that a store will have in stock they want to purchase – stock on hand by item can be viewable for each store.

We network stores from a banner or marketing group into a single website. Thereby leveraging the power of the group of independently owned small businesses to be stronger and more useful than a big business competitor. This is how small businesses can win online.

Let us show you how together we can do this, how we can bring single stores online as well as whole groups online … through webstore connected POS software.

Not only do we create the website and the POS software, we ensure they can be found. This is key as a website that cannot be easily found through Google is a waste of money.

We would love to show individuals privately or members of your group, if you are in a group, the POS software connected websites we have created. We would take you behind the curtain, showing not only the tech. but explaining the business approach, outlining what we have done to create successful online businesses.

Fulfilment can be a challenge.We can help here too thanks to our integration work with Australia Post, Sendle and others. We can help you reduce friction with fulfilment and see you benefit from incremental online business.

Online is about a race to the cash. By this we mean that an online shopper is more likely to be ready to purchase. The first business to take their cash wins. This is where POS integrated websites can win. We can show you how.

The latest release of our POS software introduces a web dashboard to help in-store online sales fulfilment. This, coupled with inventory integration, accurate stock on hand data, professional image handling and smart SEO work helps you create and run an efficient, integrated physical and online business.

Whether you run a single store or operate as part of a marketing or banner group, Tower Systems has a track record of success you can leverage for your success. Let us show you how.

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Web strategy helps independent retailers in a marketing group leverage online sales

October 15, 2018
2 Min read
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Tower Systems was the first POS software company in Australia to launch a web strategy for locally owned independent retail businesses that are in a marketing group though which these local businesses can benefit from a national online presence.

Delivering valuable sales to local shops from anywhere in the country, the web strategy has proven to be beneficial to helping retailers who otherwise might not have had access to the customer served.

Today, the Tower POS software web strategy for franchises and small business marketing groups has evolved to be broader, more complete and more valuable.

There are currently nine websites operating under the banner of the tower Systems franchise and marketing group web strategy. Each focusses on a different brand. each works at driving online sales for small business retailers. Each features…

  1. Click and collect.
  2. Buy now pay later. Better than LayBy.
  3. Paypal Express.
  4. Credit card payment.
  5. Bundled offers.
  6. Auto freight management.
  7. POS software Integration.
  8. In-store inventory on hand certainty.
  9. Pre-orders.
  10. National footprint leveraged for local shopping.

What we have done, bringing together indie retail businesses under a national website, is unique in that it maintains accurate stock on hand data at the store level, applies sales based on shopper location, permits purchases from multiple stores in a single transaction and provides each store a local mini-site page for locally focussed transactions.

Internationally, the Tower Systems e-commerce strategy launched more than two years ago was regarded as unique in the world. The advances since launch have maintained the position of the company in this area of working with and for independent small business retailers in franchise and marketing groups for the benefit of each sore and the benefit of the overall group.

What Tower delivers through the platform is a proven and valuable solution, especially for rural and regional businesses where foot traffic can be a challenge. The Tower Systems approach attracts new shoppers who do not need to live near the business. It does this efficiently for each participating business.

Tower Systems is leveraging its experience and knowledge in this area to help others, to grow stronger small retail businesses.

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How the POS software help desk works for small business retailers

October 12, 2018
2 Min read
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Let’s take a look inside the POS software help desk and see what happens on any given day. Let’s look at the Tower Systems POS software help desk, from the perspective of a typical help desk team member. Here are the raw stats:

  1. Calls handled: 26.
  2. Calls resolved on the inbound call: 18.
  3. Calls resolved on call back and follow up: 4.
  4. Calls awaiting customer follow up to ensure problem does not continue: 3.
  5. Call awaiting advice from third party (like a web developer or local hardware tech 1.

This is a typically busy day since in between calls there are case notes to write, advice documents to review and assistance to other help desk team members.

Every call to the Tower Systems POS software help desk is tracked and documented with follow up confirmation and advice provided to each customer for each call. This documentation provides clarity and certainty. It demonstrates transparency between our help desk team and our customers. or us, it is part of good customer service.

We use a professional CRM system to track all customer data and ensure timely and complete feedback. In fact, our follow up email includes a customer feedback opportunity on the help desk team contact.

We run the help desk over several shifts across the 7am and 6am AEST operating hours. After hours coverage is handled separately, outside of the usual daily roster. We ensure team members are given appropriate breaks to protect against stress and burnout.

Calls can come into our POS software help desk by phone, email, text message, Facebook message, Tweet and even good old fax. We take calls from all these channels and we respond to each based on the priority of the query. The priority is usually demonstrated through the type of contact that has been made.

If we can’t get to a call when it comes in it is logged and the call returned as soon as possible. Wait times are managed. We don’t want our customers to wait too long. Urgent calls are bumped up and dealt with immediately because we don’t want any system downtime.

Our help desk process is managed by support professionals who oversee the daily traffic management. They are assisted by the leadership team of the company since customer service sits at the core of what we do here at Tower Systems.

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Good POS software for small business retailers

October 10, 2018
3 Min read
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A good Point of Sale system pays for itself every day by helping retailers increase customer spend per visit, bring customers back more regularly, reduce the cost of slow or dead stock, reduce mistakes and make better business decisions.

Following a consistent approach to in-store technology within the group enables retailers to leverage more benefits from being part of the group.

Consistent stock files, electronic invoices, easier business-to-business comparison and more targeted business development assistance are just some of the benefits you can expect from a more consistent solution.

But being independent businesses we understand you need a computer system over which you have absolute control and security.

That is what the Tower Systems solution offers – locally run software in your business over which you have control yet.

Tower Systems has a strategy for helping small business retailers.

Tower Systems is an Australian software company that develops, sells and supports software for selected specialty marketplaces including pet and produce businesses.

We only serve independent retail businesses.

Our mission is to help retailers run more successful businesses. Our definition of successis a business that is making money, where the owners and employees enjoy what they do and where suppliers enjoy transacting.

Good software can play an important role in nurturing business success as it sits at the heart of the business: transacting sales, managing stock, tracking customer activity and shining a light on business opportunities.

What makes us different is how we engage. We go beyond what is traditional software company.

  1. We welcome working with suppliers to create data links that save you and them time, data links that improve data accuracy, data links that feed more accurate business reports.
  2. We provide business insightsbased on data cultivated through the software – to business owners who ask. This is a free service.
  3. Our help desk provides contextfor advice. Rather than the turn it off and turn it onadvice, our help desk team members explain the why, why from a business perspective the advice they are providing matters.
  4. Our software updates contain enhancements suggested and voted on by customers. You can have a direct say in the evolution of the software.
  5. Our communication is in plain English.While we are a company of IT geeks, when talking with customers we keep it simple. We know technology scares people. We don’t want it to scare our customers.
  6. We are accessible.You get to talk with real people all the time, including our leadership team.
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Why we like Tyro broadband EFTPOS for our POS software customers

October 8, 2018
2 Min read
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We were an early adopter of Tyro broadband EFTPOS many years ago. The relationship remains strong today. Here is why we recommend Tyro broadband EFTPOS to small business retailers who use our POS software:

  1. Speed. Tyro transactions are fast.
  2. Keystrokes cut. Tyro is integrated with our POS software. The details of the sale are fed to Tyro. There is no data entry required.
  3. Mistakes reduced. Every keystroke we eliminate is a possible mistake avoided.
  4. Low merchant fees. Tyro has been the first in Australia to bring to market an approach to merchant fees that is smart and technology driven, that cuts fees from what would expect.
  5. Brilliant support. Fast. Friendly. Genuinely helpful. Real resolution.
  6. Excellent reporting. Know what you need to know, easily.
  7. Innovation. Tyro innovates and as a result of this we participate as appropriate at the small business POS software level.
  8. Partnership. We work closely with Tyro, meeting with key people in their company regularly, engaging with them on strategy and related innovation opportunities.
  9. Help. Tyro is a wonderful help to small business retailers.
  10. Business help. Through a range of services, Tyro helps small business retailers. We have encouraged this and genuinely support it.

Compared to big banks in Australia, we see Tyro as a small, fast moving opportunity for small business retailers, helping them compete and be relevant and helping them provide an over the counter EFTPOS solution that is competitively positioned for small business retailers.

We are a small business focussed POS software company serving in excess of 3,700 small business retailers. We have been doing this for decades, constantly evolving what we do and what we offer, to make sure that what we are doing is relevant and valuable. Tyro fits with what we do, with our focus as a company. This fit matters to us.

We are retailers too. We use Tyro in our retail businesses and have done for many years.

Having said all this, we also support direct POS software access to big bang EFTPOS offerings. We do this because we are committed to ensuring that or customers can access the banking solutions they deem appropriate to their own local businesses. That is, we don’t let our opinions get in  the way of what our customers may prefer for their businesses.

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Tower Systems offers best-practice software for newsagents in Australia

October 5, 2018
3 Min read
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1,700+ newsagents use our newsagency software.
We invite you to use it too.

There is no doubt there is strength in numbers. In a newsagency software sense, strength is represented through:

  1. Our customer base ensures we are here and will be here when you need support.
  2. Up to date. Our customers vote on changes they want to the software. Enhancements are regular. Software value improves over time.
  3. Business help. Beyond the software, we help uncover and reduce theft, as well as advice and support streamlining processes.
  4. We own and operate newsagency businesses ourselves. We walk in your shoes every day and this makes a real difference.
  5. We meet all industry and supplier standards in retail and home delivery.
  6. Personal support. Beyond the software, we will help you in any way we can, to the best of our ability.

Call to find out more: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Switching is not expensive. Contact us for details of offers.

  1. The latest Tower Systems newsagency software.
  2. On-site installation and training by a newsagency business expert.
  3. Data conversion, converting as much data as we can access.
  4. Software support for the first three years. Nothing extra to pay.
  5. Software updates for the first three years. Nothing extra to pay.
  6. Unlimited over the phone follow up training for the first three years.
  7. Access to an awesome online knowledge base with articles & advice.
  8. Access to weekly group live online training workshops.
  9. Access to a private Facebook page where you can discuss any topic.

We are well resourced to help you navigate change.

  1. Tower Systems will not leave the newsagency channel.
  2. We will fight for you. Beyond our software, we will help with supplier issues, business strategy and other challenges you confront.
  3. Our software continues to evolve. We release updates regularly. You choose when to load them. Each is thoroughly tested for you.
  4. We own newsagencies. Yes, we walk in your shoes.
  5. No locked-in support fee. Support coverage is optional.
  6. Lower support costs. No mates’ rates for a select few.
  7. Fast support. Most calls are handled when you call.
  8. At any time, you can see how many help desk calls we are working on and how many we have closed that day.
  9. Support escalation. We have an escalation process should you be unhappy with a support call.
  10. Easy management access. The leadership team of Tower Systems is available to you. We take customer service seriously and personally.
  11. Updates when you choose. Updates are not forced on you.
  12. You are listened to. We offer the only transparent, user driven, software enhancement suggestion service.
  13. Free training. Long after you install our software you have access to free personal training to refresh knowledge or cover new facilities.
  14. More integrations. Our direct links to Xero, Magento, Shopify and WooCommerce offer direct link options to help you grow.
  15. Business management insights. We can look at your business performance data and provide a personal analysis of what we see
  16. Owner access. Call Tower owner, Mark Fletcher, on 0418 321 338 or email mark@towersystems.com.au.

Data conversion is included. For the three years you get full support, software updates and access to unlimited one on one training.

Check us out: www.towersystems.com.au

Call to find out more: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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Events facilities enhance the small business POS software experience for retailers

October 2, 2018
2 Min read
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The new events facilities in the Tower Systems POS software expand and enhance the experience for small business retailers.

Using events, retailers using the Tower Systems software can track traditional events connected to shoppers as well as events related to the type of business and type of shopper using the business. Here are some examples of events that can be tracked and leveraged through the software:

  1. Birthdays.
  2. Anniversaries.
  3. Dates items were purchased.
  4. Due dates for services such as bike maintenance, working for pets and more.
  5. Valuation dates for jewellery.
  6. Release dates for licenced products customers love.

The thing is, our events facilities are flexible and powerful, most valuable to retailers in all kinds of situations and for many business circumstances.

We have built a valuable tool here, something retailers can use to grow their businesses.

We had facilities like this in the past. The new events facilities take the opportunity to a new level. Plus we have put it in the software for any type of retailer partnering with us to use. This way, our customers can show us the potential rather than us telling them what to do.

This week we are providing more FREE training for all our POS software customers on events, through a group online live training session we are demonstrating events, explaining how to use it and taking all questions.

This free training, plus our offer of one on one training, plus our wonderful documentation makes the events facilities accessible to any of our customers in any situation. we make it easy for people to access and easy for them to learn.

We think this is what being a good and engaged small business POS software company is all about. We create awesome software, based on customer needs, and back with with training and support on  which our customers can rely and enjoy in their partnership with us.

Tower Systems is grateful to the many small business retailers in our community who provided advice and insights that we leveraged to create the new events facilities in our POS software. Working together like this makes better software for everyone.

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Tower Systems launches newsagency sales benchmark study for Q3 2018

October 1, 2018
2 Min read
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This morning we emailed 1,750+ newsagents using our newsagency software inviting participation in the most comprehensive and consistent retail sales benchmark study for their channel. Here is the notice we sent:

Q3 2018 NEWSAGENCY SALES BENCHMARK STUDY.
I invite you to provide data for the Q3 2018 newsagency sales performance benchmark study. The benchmark provides data against which you can compare your business performance. Click here for my last report.

How to participate.
Please run a Monthly Sales Comparison Report for 01/07/2018 – 30/09/2018 compared to 01/07/2017 – 30/09/2017.
Tick the category box. IMPORTANT.
Tick to exclude home delivery and sub agent data.
DO NOT tick the supplier box.
Preview the report on the screen. Save as a PDF and email this to me at mark@towersystems.com.au.
Read the report yourself and see what it shows you about your business.
I will email the results to all participating newsagents and publish the results on the Australian Newsagency Blog as a service for all newsagents.

My work with this channel goes back to 1981 when I wrote newsagency software to manage newspaper home deliveries. That software evolved into Point of Sale software and has been rewritten as software technology has changed.

I own and run three newsagencies. Over the years I have had three others. I am a 50% shareholder in and CEO of newsXpress, the newsagency marketing group.

Tower Systems serves 1,750+ newsagents with best practice newsagency software, We are thrilled to note that our customer base is growing. Overall, Tower Systems serves in excess of 3,500 small business retailers.

Mark Fletcher
M | 0418 321 338

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What is POS software and why is important in my independent retail business?

September 28, 2018
2 Min read
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POS software, Point of Sale software, is software that turns a computer into a cash register.

But it is much more than that.

Smart POS software for your type of retail business is about much more than being a glorified cash register. The right POS software for your business will help you:

  1. Reduce operating costs.
  2. Sell more.
  3. Bring shoppers back sooner.
  4. Get shoppers spending more in a visit.
  5. Reduce employee theft.
  6. Reduce shopper theft.
  7. Reduce loss from non-performing stock.
  8. Plan better.
  9. Enjoy your business more.

While these may sound like marketing claims, they are real benefits on which you can rely if you choose the right POS software from the right POS software company for your business.

No, we don’t think POS software from Tower Systems is right for every business.

Just a customers assess us and our software to determine if our software and we are right for them, we do the same when considering customers. We want the choice to be right too, we want to do business with customers and businesses that are a good fit.

We take this approach knowing that a good fit works for both parties. We see selling our software as a mutually respectful relationship, one that has to benefit both sides. This is why we take care in partnering with new customers.

If someone does want a glorified cash register for a simple business operation, we will suggest they look elsewhere as there are cheaper simpler systems that serve that need. Our focus is outside of this. Our focus is on retail channel specific POS software that serves very specific needs in retail niches.

This is why we say we are a vertical market POS software company. We deep-dive into the needs of each retail channel in which we serve, working with retailers, suppliers and others to deliver solutions unique to the needs of the retailers in each channel, to be specialist. This is where we can make a real difference beyond basic POS software.

Being specialist matters to independent retailers in their local communities as well as to our own POS software company as we serve specialty retailers with specialty POS software for each of these retail channels.

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Tower Systems participates in newsagency channel strategic planning conference

September 27, 2018
2 Min read
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Tower Systems is the only newsagency software company to participate in the recent ALNA (industry association) hosted newsagency business strategic planning conference.

Meeting with the top newsagency channel industry leaders, our leadership team participated in the conference and associated workshop to help develop strategies for the future of newsagency businesses in Australia.

The conference and workshop were engaging, intense and extremely valuable. We are grateful for the opportunity to represent our newsagency customer community and to work on their behalf.

Here is part of the note from ALNA outlining the plans for the day…

We believe that considering the future of customer behavior, disruption and opportunities for our retailer’s is part of our industry leadership role at ALNA. We would like to invite you to join us to learn about some insights and what we are working on for the industry, and to participate in discussion to help us to provide a focused vision for our future.

ALNA’s aim is to represent the interests of our members with innovative solutions to government, regulatory authorities, industry partners and stakeholders. Our culture of actively exploring and implementing new strategies and professional services to support continuous improvement, growth, and the success of our members and the industry, will help ensure that we remain our members and stakeholders preferred choice for professional advice, support, and educational programs into the future. It forms our core vision of being collectively invested in success.

While we will not share here details from the event, it is fair to say it was an important event focussed on the future of the channel, delivering leadership opportunities to those there based on the data insights confidentially shared and the discussions that flowed from these data insights.

Being in the room positions Tower Systems to provide more help and support to small business newsagents as they navigate challenges and change and as they embrace growth opportunities in some segments of their businesses.

New friendships were made and new opportunities explored as we worked through initiatives designed to make newsagency businesses more relevant.

Our advice to newsagency suppliers who were invited but declined is that next time they should say yes and participate. This is what being a good citizen in a small business channel is all about for a supplier.

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Customer service matters when choosing small business POS software

September 26, 2018
2 Min read
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Customer service is a critical factor when choosing POS software for amy independent or small retail business.

That sounds like a motherhood statement so we can understand if you say Duh!

We agree 100%.  Our focus is on delivering the level of customer service we would expect ourselves. To us, it needs to be personal, professional, human, knowledgable, engaged and relevant.

These are the principles of the POS software customer service here at Tower Systems. This is what we train our help desk and other teams in when we meet to work on what we do and how we do it. We see these pri cripples as being differentiating for us.

In a practical sense, our customers see how we operate through:

  1. A human based phone system. there is no automated phone system requiring you to press a bunch of buttons.
  2. An unmoderated and transparent Facebook page where customers can open discussions with us or other customers on any topic.
  3. Regular face to face regional use meetings where we meet with our customers to listen, learn and train.
  4. Unlimited free training long after the POS software is installed.
  5. Easy 24/7 access to an awesome knowledge base where our customers can learn and provide feedback ion the knowledge shared.
  6. An escalation process. We make mistakes inn our help desk processes. We’re human. We offer a structured process for responding to these, to address them and provide rectification. We seek to learn from mistakes, and not repeat them.
  7. Leadership team access. Contacting anyone from the leadership group within Tower Systems is easy. Our customers have our contact numbers and email addresses. We make sure we are accessible.
  8. Knowing us. When you are in contact with someone at Tower Systems you know their name, their real name. You know the person and can be sure they are the person who will follow up.

When you are looking at POS software companies, see if they are similar. We think these eight, and other, personal touch points that we offer here at Tower Systems are differentiating and empowering for our small business retail customers. We think what we do in providing personal and reliable service to our customers matters as much as the awesome POS software itself.

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Why we think small business retailers should beware POS software onboarding

September 21, 2018
2 Min read
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Onboarding is a term some POS software companies use to describe their process of bringing on new customers.

Onboarding is a corporate term, a big business term, for detached remote setup and installation. It is not personal. It is not small business.

Small business is personal. Most small business rely on providing personal local service.

That is what we do at Tower Systems through our POS software.

We don’t onboard, not in the big business corporate sense. No, we work personally, face to face, in your business. We setup our software in your shop, leveraging installation options to provide you with as much of a tailored solution as we are able. We do this working alongside you.

Not on the phone.

Not by email.

Not via Skype.

Our service is personal, like small business retail is personal.

Of course, if you would rather we did the work remotely we will happily do this. However, this is not our recommendation.

So, here at Tower Systems, no impersonal onboarding, no distance learning. We work with you, in your business, personally and engaged with your Like a conversation. Friendships develop. Understanding of your needs develop. This makes it better for you and for us.

We are confident that the personal in-store approach to setting up your POS software provides you with a better outcome. It is calmer and more engaged. We think you will learn better by our experts working with you in your business. And isn’t learn ing better vital to you and your business? For sure!

Every time we are in a retail business we learn. This is another reason we are keen to install and train on-site, in retail businesses. Working remotely on the phone denies this learning opportunity. It means the outcomes are less appropriate and useful. This is another reason onboarding is not a smart move in our view.

Small business retail is personal. Tower Systems gets that and delivers on the through its personal POS software installation  and training approach.

We are grateful to serve in excess of 3,000 small business retailers today, retailers we have learned from by being in their businesses.

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