CategoryNewsagents

Today, Tower Systems is helping newsagents handle changes flowing from the closure of the Network Services magazine distribution business.

All newsagents covered by the Tower Advantage^TM software support service have access to everything necessary for free. Only the newsagents who opted to not be covered by support have a fee to pay. However, that fee is waived if they take up support.

Tower has made the change easy to navigate, saving many hours that might otherwise have been spend getting the necessary data work done.

No software change is necessary. The fee relates to a data conversion utility written o save man-hours.

On the Tower help desk today and all this week we are triaging calls to ensure the additional work for newsagents is not impacting work for all other retailers.

Today, we launch a new option[1] acquiring newsagency software, a pay as you go model.

The time is right given changes in the channel with newsagents sourcing new products, pursuing new traffic and leveraging higher GP. Thanks to our work with gift, homewares and other specialty retail channels, Tower Systems can help you transform your business.

$220.00 a month is all it costs to access the Tower newsagency software package. The $220 is paid by credit card. Stop paying if you want to stop using the software.

We make this offer now as we think some software companies are considering quitting the newsagency channel. You can see this through their lack of engagement with newsagency specific development, non-attendance at trade shows like the Sydney and Melbourne Gift Fairs and lack of engagement in the structural changes in the channel.

Developing software and backing it with good support for newsagents is expensive. A software company with less than 500 customers will struggle to keep up.

1,755 newsagents use our software – our closest competitor has 600.

We have experience switching from POS Solutions, Computerlink and AccessPOS to Tower.

Pay as you go customers have access to weekly online training workshops, 130+ professional training videos, software updates, our friendly help desk, our after hours support team, our theft check service and our business performance assessment service … for no extra charge.

If you have current hardware, the only up-front cost is for installation and training. This new pricing option saves capital, it eliminates the need for a lease or bank financing.

You will see from the simple agreement that you can turn it off at any time and not pay a cent more. You are in control.

Talk to one of our experts today: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Come and see the software and meet our team at our user meetings – details enclosed.

THE TOWER NEWSAGENCY SOFTWARE

For $220.00 a month you can use our newsagency software covering:

1. Point of Sale, tailored specifically for newsagency business use.
2. Magazine Management, scanned returns, early returns prompting.
3. Stock control including stock take, reordering and supplier links.
4. Customer accounts including Lay-By, book-up and statements.
5. Home delivery including run list management, subscriptions and more.
6. Loyalty including points accrual, discount vouchers and other facilities.
7. Business performance reporting – printed reports you can rely on.
8. XchangeIT support: electronic invoices and returns.
9. Support for supplier EDI files including Sands, Hallmark and more.
10. Theft mitigation. Tools to help you detect and stop theft.

SUPPORT AND TRAINING.

Included in the low monthly fee is access to the extraordinary Tower Advantage^TM service:

1. Live, Australian based, help desk support with newsagency experienced help.
2. After hours support access through an extensive mobile phone network.
3. Software updates as released.
4. Access to more than 130 software training videos.
5. Access to more than 600 Knowledge Base articles with step by step instructions on how to use the software. This is better than a manual.
6. User meetings around the country with free training and management help.
7. Weekly online, live, training workshops.
8. Weekly user support email with tips and advice.

BUSINESS MANAGEMENT HELP.

Tower Systems is there when you need, helping with advice, insights and guidance as much or as little as you want. These services include at no extra cost:

1. Theft Check. A professional, police investigation quality, check of your business data to uncover potential employee fraud.
2. Business check. An analysis of business performance as reflected in your business data – looking for growth and other opportunities for the business, helping you see what you may be missing in your business.

The time is right to make this offer as only Tower Systems has the capacity, commitment and vision to help newsagents leverage best-practice technology in a valuable and unifying way. Let us help you.

NOTE: Here is our response to any competitor who comments that this offer sounds desperate: – it would if it was coming from a company with 500 or fewer customers that is not growing. Tower Systems is strong and growing. We serve 1,755 newsagency businesses. We are making the offer because we have the capacity to and because we have a vision for a bright future.

[1] All existing purchase options remain available for newsagents installing our software.

The leadership team of Tower Systems has been working behind the scenes since late 2015 on changes made public today to newsagents about the imminent closure of a major magazine distributor. Our work and consultation with supplier stakeholders has been around processes to facilitate a smooth transition so that newsagents are not negatively impacted.

We are grateful to the trust shown us by the suppliers to include us in the confidential discussions.

Newsagents using the Tower Systems software can rest assured in the knowledge that we are well briefed, prepared and engaged.

Tower Systems has invited its newsagency software customers to provide sales data for the September quarter to participate in a comprehensive sales benchmark study on behalf of the entire newsagency channel.

This is another small business service from the company – helping newsagents navigate and enjoy change.

It has been a busy two months for small business newsagents as they navigate major IT changes driven by several of their key suppliers.

Tower Systems has been at the forefront of providing assistance by working with suppliers in advance of the release of their changes, ensuring supplier communication reflects the Tower best practice approach for newsagents using our newsagency software.

Back in our offices we have been providing front line support, taking hundreds of calls to ensure newsagents are able to deal with the supplier driven changes simply and with the best possible outcome.

All of this work has been done at no cost as part of our service to this small business channel.

The most complex of changes relate to structural changes in newspaper subscriptions as well as changes as to how data flows to and form newsagents.

Tower Systems has been helping newsagents embrace the Ladbrokes opportunity in-store with support for facilitating a technology solution for selling recharge of Ladbrokes accounts.

While we do not have a commercial relationship with Ladbrokes or Blueshyft, the platform through which the Ladbrokes service is offered, we have been active in helping newsagents embrace the opportunity and undertake appropriate tracking through their Tower newsagency software.

Tower Systems actively supports newsagents across a range of new business growth opportunities.

Tower Systems has invited its newsagency software customers to provide sales data for the June quarter to participate in a comprehensive sales benchmark study on behalf of the entire newsagency channel.

This is another small business service from the company – helping newsagents navigate and enjoy change.

Tower Systems has been helping newsagents using its newsagency software deal with the new bundled over the counter offers from News Corp.

Our support has included an email to all customers, comprehensive freely available advice on our Knowledge Base, one on one phone calls and individual business email engagement.

Thanks to early warning ages ago from News Corp. about the promotion we were able to fully prepare ourselves and our customer base of close to 2,000 newsagents.

This is the Tower Advantage^TM in action.

Tower Systems CEO (and newsagent) Mark Fletcher speaks about the magazine supply rule changes small business newsagents are facing. This video speaks to a passion and support not only for newsagents but all small business retailers:

Tower Systems is funding Newsagency of the Future workshops for more cities. These sessions will explore changes which will affect the newsagency channel in the next few years, new traffic opportunities and changes newsagents can make today to improve their future. They will also spend time on the magazine supply model and open discussion about the proposed magazine supply rule changes.

Each session is free and open to any newsagent. The dates are as follows:

• Adelaide. May 18 @ 11am.
• Melbourne. May 19 @ 11am.
• Sydney. May 20 @ 11am.
• Brisbane. May 21 @ 11am.

Click on the link for each city to book or book by emailing bookings@towersystems.com.au.

There will be more locations and dates added including TAS, WA, Cairns and Newcastle.

Our goal is for you to have practical steps you can take right away and new information to consider in your business planning.

Tower Systems helped develop the most comprehensive response on behalf of small business newsagents to a conference hosted by the ACCC on magazine supply arrangements.

The issue at the core of the conference was a proposed trial of new magazine supply rules which would not provide newsagents with any opportunity to be more competitive than the current arrangements which newsagents say, and we agree, make them uncompetitive against supermarkets.

Only Tower Systems and newsxpress petitioned the ACCC for the conference. It is because of these that the ACCC hosted the historic conference in which more than thirty participated in several states.

Tower Systems updated newsagents with an email about the conference this morning.

Newsagency software company is proud to have lodged a submission to a draft determination of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in relation to a trial of a new model of magazine supply.

Click here to download the Tower Systems submission.

Our submission is made as part of our commitment to help our customers and their colleagues – across a range of retail channels.

Tower Systems is helping newsagents handle a cover price increase scheduled for The Australian Financial Review  and Sun-Herald newspapers commencing April 7, 2015 and April 5, 2015 respectively. Price changes are easy for newsagents using our software.

Tower Systems is in the middle of hosting a series of newsagency supplier forums up the eastern Seaboard of Australia – to provide suppliers with an opportunity to discuss the newsagency channel and to explore how to list the level of engagement.

These free sessions are running well with plenty of supplier engagement among a diverse group of industry suppliers.

This is another way Tower Systems is investing in the newsagency channel.

Two weeks ago Tower Systems became aware of a problem for newsagents using software from another newsagency software company (not Tower) as a result of its handling of price correction advice from a specific magazine distributor.

Our understanding is that it is only users of this other software package (not Tower) affected. The result is newsagents using this other software fail part of the industry data standard compliance criteria which is assessed continuously.

With users of only one software company affected, it appears that software company needs to modify its software to behave as all other newsagency software products do.

On hearing of the problem we went back to the IT standard. We think we can see how our competitor may have not fully embraced the standard and if so this could explain the situation they find themselves in today.

Newsagents are asking questions about responsibility for the problem and how they can claw back failures which they say are no fault of their own. The compliance rules are such that gifting them compliance when they did not comply could create challenges for the suppliers involved.

All this matters for newsagents as compliance is a key factor in lucrative newsagency of the year awards. The compliance failure denies affected stores points and points are the currency of consideration for the awards.

Our approach to industry standards is to encourage suppliers and software companies to all meet at the same time in the same place to discuss and agree on a common goal. Unfortunately others don’t agree with this, they prefer to meet alone with supplier representatives. Their disagreement leads to situations whereby different software companies can have different take aways from these private discussions. This is not good for industry standards.

Update: since we published this post earlier today, another software company has written and published material which appears to be related to this topic, information which is, in our opinion, misleading.