The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryPet shop software

Free POS software & e-commerce workshop for regional NSW small business retailers.

June 6, 2017
2 Min read
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Retail is changing at a rapid rate. Changes in-store and online are making 2017 an important year.

We have see these changes first-hand at international retail conferences this year. We play with the changes in our own shops where we use our POS software and our website technology to find new customers and drive a higher average spend.

Come to one of our FREE workshops near you and find out more about how you can equip your retail business to confront the changes in retail, transact online and compete with big businesses, including Amazon.

Here are the dates for our free POS software / website workshops. Click on the city name to book your place:

  1. Coffs Harbour. June 19. 10am. Novotel.
  2. Tamworth. June 20. 10am. Leagues Club.
  3. Newcastle. June 21. 10am. Mercure.
  4. Dubbo. June 22. 10am. Quest.
  5. Wagga Wagga. June 23. 10am. International Hotel.

We will share insights on how small business retailers around the world are using website connected POS software to win online sales.

We will explain how to get to the top of Google search results.

We will demonstrate the connection between social media posts (Facebook, Twitter etc) in-store sales and online sales.

There will be no hard sell. Our goal is to share practical information to help you better plan for the future of your regional retail business.

Anyone is welcome including people on whom you rely for advice, such as accountants and mentors.

If you have sales queries prior to these events please talk with us: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

I hope to see you at one of these workshops. I am keen to share with you what I have seen and learnt in this rapidly changing space.

There will be plenty of time for questions on any topic connected with retail.

We have software for: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops,  toy shops, fishing/outdoors, garden centres/nurseries, newsagents, produce stores and firearms retailers.

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Small business retail management advice: be generous with your loyalty offer

June 5, 2017
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 the big business running them. Too often, they do not offer a real reward for loyalty.

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.

It is called a loyalty program after all. Show your customers you appreciate their loyalty.

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.

While the Tower Systems software offers multiple loyalty programs and options, our recommended approach is discount vouchers. It is easy to setup, easily understood by shoppers and genuine in the reward.

Showing $$ value on receipts in the form of a voucher that can be spent presents immediate in-store opportunities as well as after the visit opportunities. Our research indicates an average redemption of 20% of all vouchers issued and a total net cost to the business of around 1% of turnover for, usually, a 8% to 10% bump in sales.

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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Australian based web development team developing retail business websites

June 2, 2017
1 Min read
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Tower Systems is proud to offer access to its Melbourne based web development team for the development of websites for retail businesses.

Our service is comprehensive and engaging, with retailer to web developer access.

We do not use an overseas development business to do the work for us. All of the work is done by us in ou own office.

This is a point of difference.

Overseas web developers are much cheaper. However, there is a reason for this … it is often evident in the websites they deliver.

Our local web development team has delivered many sites already – free standing as well as POS software integrated websites. We have a wonderful portfolio to share, to demonstrate the technical and design skill sets we have in-house in our Australian software company.

Australian retail businesses benefit from Australian developed websites.

WARNING: There are companies that look like Australian web development companies that actually have all the development work done offshore. Ask to meet with or talk with the tech team, ensure they are local, ensure you can easily contact them.

Sourcing a local develop0er is important if you consider your business to be local.

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How our POS software Xero link helps us win online sales for our own retail business

June 2, 2017
4 Min read
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Online LayBy made easy.

newsXpress Southland is a card, gift and collectibles shop in the sprawling Westfield Southland shopping centre in south east Melbourne. It is our own business. We run this as a testing groups for our small business POS software.

With rent increasing faster than foot traffic to the 300+ store shopping centre, the manager of the business needed to connect with shoppers outside.

Online was the obvious choice but time was limited. The goal was to find a solution that enabled the business to get online without any additional management or accounting time involved.

Xero partner Tower Systems provided an integrated Point of Sale solution for in-store and well as online. This seamless link, coupled with complete xero integration, provided the time-saving solution the business was looking for.

“Online revenue is fantastic”, commented the manager of the store. “There is a direct bottom line benefit for the business as there is no additional labour cost and no capital expenditure.”

“We could not have done this without the xero link as that enabled us to effectively open a second outlet without what in the past was additional accounting or bookkeeping cost.”

As the business has become more familiar with the Tower Systems and xero solutions it has evolved the online offering to be more comp0etitive against big retailers in the online space.  This has seen click and collect and online LayBy launched.

It is with online LayBy where the business has benefited from the xero integration in that the shopper is able to pay over time, interest free, and the retailer is paid immediately. There is no additional accounting or bookkeeping work involved as the data flows from the website to the POS to xero without being touched by human hands.

A shopper adds items to their shopping cart, they select online LayBy, provide basic instant credit check data and fine the application approved or otherwise in seconds. The retailer is paid less a small handling fee with the finance company taking full responsibility for collecting payment.

With click and collect, the payment is handled online. This works best as to commits the shopper and turns the in-store visit to an easy collection. Experience has shown this is what shoppers prefer rather than having to worry about payment in-store. It also means one person can purchased while another can collect, with appropriate secure authority.

Doing this, flowing data from shopper through to xero in this way eliminates mistakes that can be made when data is re-keyed. It also saves considerable time and this is a tangible business benefit.

“Control and transparency of data at each step in the line is key for our business because like any small business every cent of margin is important” commented the manager. “The solution needed to be easy and neat for us and for our customers. Xero was a key part of achieving this.”

In addition to the xero integration, Tower Systems POS software integrates with Shopify, magento and WooCommerce – the three leading e-commerce platforms in the world. The web development team at Tower has enhanced these to offer a multi-store solution whereby independent retailers can trade under a single branded website rather than needing their own website.

“The xero integration is the back-office piece where real labour costs are reduced”, commented Gavin Williams, Tower Systems COO. “We only sell to independent small business retailers in selected retail niches such as bike shops, jewellers and garden centres. Having the xero integration is vital as they are all competing with big business and every saving, no matter how small, is loved.”

Tower Systems is an Australian based POS software company currently serving in excess of 3,500 small and independent business retailers. The company can be explored at www.towersystems.com.au.

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Amazing free POS software training for small business retailers for June

May 29, 2017
2 Min read
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We are grateful for the support from our customers for our free online POS software training. Here is the June schedule. All free. All available to any of our customers. We do so many sessions because of all our customers. Even with this list we are sure to add more closer to the time.

  1. Getting Ready for EOFY Thursday 1st June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  2. Stocktaking for EOFY Wednesday 7th June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
  3. Getting Ready for EOFY Thursday 8th June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  4. Getting Ready for EOFY Wednesday 14th June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  5. Stocktaking for EOFY Thursday 15th June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
  6. Stocktaking for EOFY Wednesday 21st June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
  7. Getting Ready for EOFY Thursday 22nd June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  8. Getting Ready for EOFY Wednesday 28th June 2:00pm Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
  9. Stocktaking for EOFY Thursday 29th June 2:00pm Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.
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Tower Systems helps small business retailers fine Xero skilled accountants

May 26, 2017
1 Min read
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As a side benefit of our work providing a beautiful small business POS software Xero link, we continue to expand our list of Xero skilled accountants. Retailers and accountants love this free service we provide. It speaks to the mutual respect and support of all of us in the growing worldwide Xero community have for each other.

In our opinion, based on years of experience with several accounting software packages for small retail businesses, xero is the best.

Our POS software xero integration is a joy to use … yes, we use it ourselves for our own retail businesses. This is the opinion of our in-house CPA.

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New Pet shop software features offer independent pet products retailers a competitive advantage

May 26, 2017
1 Min read
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The latest version of the pet shop software rolling out now from Tower Systems is delivering a suite of enhanced solutions.

Working closely with suppliers and small business retailers we have developed new facilities to take our software beyond where it was at last year. This latest evolution is part of our commitment to continual improvement in offering specialty software for specialty pet products businesses.

The new software moves Monday from beta release to full commercial release, meaning it will be available for all in our pet retailer community.

Here’s a video from us that reinforces our commitment to pet retailers through our best practice software. The video is another point of evidence of why we do what we do.

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Small business retailers love transparent POS software beta release program

May 25, 2017
1 Min read
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We are well into the beta release of a new version of our small business POS software for specialty retail channels.

The beta release program we follow is structured and transparent with customers able to nominate to be part of the program.

Here is the invitation email we sent a few weeks ago seeking beta release participants.

We are committed to regularly changing our beta customer team. They play an important role in determining if a new release of software is ready for our 3,500+ small business retail users.

The latest beta release if travelling well. We have terrific feedback that is guiding tweaking the latest release as we step closer to wide commercial release.

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Easy LayBy for online retailers using Tower Systems POS software

May 17, 2017
1 Min read
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LayBy for websites is easy thanks to the Tower Systems web development team and their expert integrations with Oxipay for Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento.

POS software linked websites with the Oxipay facilities enable retail stores to transact online easily and quickly,l offering shoppers interest free payment terms.

Tower Systems is a leader in the Oxipay integrations, delivering fast and seamless solutions between physical and online store experiences.

Check out this from the Oxpipay website:

Buying the things you love has never been easier.

With Oxipay find the items you want instore or online and pay for them in 4 easy payments with no fees and no interest.

Oxipay makes it simple to shop with 100’s of your favourite online stores. Just checkout, select Oxipay and have the items you want today.

Breathe easy with Oxipay.

Add this to the wonderful Tower Systems POS software and bring it online through Shopify, Magento or WooCommerce and you have a best practice solution shoppers and retailers love.

We are thrilled to be playing at the edge of technology development for our retail partners.

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Providing POS software support via Facebook

May 16, 2017
1 Min read
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Our POS software customers are loving the access to our help desk through our private Facebook user forum. They love the easy access, transparency and easy search of past discussions.

We introduced the Facebook support service as another channel through which our customers can engage with our support services. We are grateful for the active embrace by our customers.

On the Facebook page we are happy to answer anything. Where a query needs specific site research we take the matter offline and connect direct with the customer in their business to do this.

We also use the Facebook page to share information, advice and knowledge base article access to keep customers informed abut enhancements to the software and the support resources available to them.

Access to the private Tower Systems user forum on Facebook is available to any of our customers.

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Helping small business retailers deal with the global ransomware attack

May 14, 2017
1 Min read
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We have shared practical advice with our small business POS software customers this weekend to help them protect their businesses from the global ransomware attack that started two days ago.

Our advice is comprehensive and consistent with international best-practice. Our messaging is being repeated to ensure maximum reach in our big user community.

WARNING RE GLOBAL CYBER ATTACK.
The global cyber attack story has been dominating news services over the last 24 hours. The best way to ensure you are not hit is to follow our computer use advice. The fastest way to recover is if you use our Tower Systems cloud backup service. Be careful. Be proactive. Make sure everyone who uses your computers are aware.

We share the advice by email and are supporting it with personal advice through our help desk and business management teams.

Any internet computer is vulnerable. Here at Tower Systems we have been on the front foot with advice for our small business retail customers on steps to take to reduce the opportunity of attack and harm to the business.

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Pet store software for independent small business pet retailers

May 13, 2017
3 Min read
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Independent pet store retailers are loving our pet store software for the valuable ways in which it helps them pitch their businesses against big competitors.

Here are some of the salts the Tower Systems pet store software helps retailers better serve their customers and thereby make a better pitch against the big chains.

  1. Celebrate pet birthdays.
  2. Record pet microchip details.
  3. Offer loyalty rewards based on regular pet food shopping.
  4. Offer immediate reward for infrequent or first time shoppers.
  5. Easily make appointments for grooming and other services.
  6. Handle subscriptions for pet food regular purchases.
  7. Share local pet walk and play area details on receipts.
  8. Provide local pet club members member discounts and help raise funds for local pet clubs.
  9. Share care information on unique and rare pets – share your knowledge and thereby demonstrate the professional care of your business.
  10. Connect with suppliers for electronic invoices to save time and cut mistakes in managing inventory in the shop.
  11. Connect to your website, enabling easy online sales.

These are just some of the ways the pet sore software from tower Systems helps pet retailers to better connect with local pet lovers and customers.

The Tower Systems software is only sold to indie pet retailers, making it a true small business focussed solution, valuable for independent and small pet retail businesses.

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 success is 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 your 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 insights based on data cultivated through the software – to business owners who ask. This is a free service.
  3. Our help desk provides context for advice. Rather than the turn it off and turn it on advice, 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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Faster, easier POS software knowledge base access

May 12, 2017
1 Min read
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Small business retailers are benefiting form the faster and easier access to our POS software knowledge base.

Leveraging dynamic searching techniques and offering natural loan gauge searching the knowledge base offers non-tech retailers easy access to support.

The Tower Systems knowledge base is like a living online manual, expanding regularly, accessible from anywhere including mobile devices.

The latest enhancements are live now and being enjoyed by the 3,500+ Tower Systems customers. They are making a difference based on the feedback we are receiving. This is thrilling as helping retailers enjoy their software the benefits that flow from it is an important part of what we live for here at Tower.

A feature of the knowledge base is the feedback people can leave for each article. This is transparent to all customers, benefiting the wider community.

We are grateful to our customers for their help in evolving the knowledge base resources.

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Beautiful appointment software for anyone who makes appointments

May 11, 2017
2 Min read
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Available as stand-alone as well as integrated with the Tower POS software, the new cloud-based appointment facility enables people to make an appointment with a business from anywhere and at any time.

Developed by Tower Systems in Australia for pet groomers, bike repair businesses, jewellers and other specialty retail and service businesses, the appointments facility is easy to use, low cost and immensely valuable.

Available as a stand alone service or integrated with the Tower POS software, the new appointment software offers retailers the best of both worlds.

The software can also be easily integrated into existing websites for easy direct online appointment access.

Located at www.makemyappointment.com.au  this new facility offers a full suite of appointment facilities including:

  1. Easy appointment making as well as changes – from any device, anywhere.
  2. Text message and/or email notification for customers.
  3. Send reminders of appointments how and when you want.
  4. Schedule staff, rooms and equipment based on the type of appointment being made and staff and resource availability. This helps improve resource management.
  5. Australian developed and supported.
  6. Data located on a secure server in a purpose built data warehouse facility.
  7. Low monthly access cost. Paid 30 days in advance. Easily cancellable.
  8. Tower Systems POS software integrated to make processing payments easy.
  9. Business management back end to see the schedule of appointments by staff member and overall and to efficiently manage resources.

Developed initially for pet groomers, this new appointment facility has been designed to serve a variety of needs including managing appointments for product repairs, professional services and other businesses.

Each business has its own public-facing landing page that can be found through search engines. There is also a website plug-in to enable appointments to be seamlessly made form your website.

Priced at $2 a day, the Tower Systems appointment facility is low cost.

For more information please contact Tower Systems direct.

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Xero POS software combination helps small business retailers save time and cut mistakes

May 4, 2017
2 Min read
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Xero continues to be the accounting system of choice for small business retailers.

Tower Systems is proud to partner with Xero and offer a truly direct integration solution.

Plus, we have a list of Xero skilled accountants we are proud to list.

Thanks to our partnership with Xero we have brought plenty of small business retailers to the world of integrated accounting to our POS software. This cuts keystrokes, saves time and makes managing small retail businesses easier and faster., It improves the quality of business data on which the small business retailers can rely.

Retailers in many channels can use the Xero link to our POS software.

We develop software for: gift shops, jewellers,  bike shops, toy shops, fishing/outdoors businesses, garden centres/nurseries, pet shops, produce stores, firearms businesses and newsagents. We have customers around Australia and New Zealand as well as in several other countries.

Developed for specialty retail channels, the Tower Systems Xero link delivers seamless integration for jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, gift shops, homewares stores, toy shops, garden centres, produce stores, fishing and outdoors business and more.

The Xero POS software link is best-practice and backed by our own in-house CPA who manages our own retailer businesses where we use the Xero link ourselves. Yes, as a POS software company we walk in your shoes.

It is our personal experience with our POS software and with Xero linked to our POS software that provides us with a level of personal experience on which we can rely when we work with our small business retail customers. This takes us beyond what is usual about being a POS software company.

The powerful Tower Advantage Link platform allows Tower Systems’ specialist retail software to connect directly to Xero, one of Australia’s most popular and streamlined accounting services. Linking Retailer to Xero saves you precious time by completing the majority of your day-to-day accounting for you.  We are experts at bringing independent retail businesses and Xero together and pride ourselves on connecting business owners with such an innovative, useful service.

Any retailer looking for a POS software accounting system link should consider the Tower systems POS software Xero accounting link partnership. We have runs on the board.

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Cloud based appointment facility helps small business retailers win more business

May 3, 2017
2 Min read
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The online appointment software facility released by Tower Systems is another tool on which retailers who run businesses requiring appointments can rely to better manage services and grow appointment business.

Developed in-house by the Tower Systems web development team and initially for dog groomers and bike repair service providers, the online appointment facility developed by Tower Systems now serves a inroad mix of specialty retail and services businesses.

The online appointment software is another product from the m ix of cloud based products from Tower Systems designed to equip small business retailers and service providers to be more competitive in a changing and competitive marketplace.

Accessible as a stand alone cloud based service. The Tower Systems appointment facility can be accessed and used immediately. 

Customers can sign up and start right away and then stop at the end of the month if they wish.

There is no software to purchase, no software to install. The appointment facility lives 100% in the cloud, on a secure s river with appropriate redundancy and progressional da a backup.

Offered with the full support of the Tower Systems help desk and development teams, the online appointment facility is another way small business retailers can use technology to drive business efficiency and improve customer service.

Located at www.makemyappointment.com.au this online appointment facility offers a full suite of appointment facilities including:

  1. Easy appointment making as well as changes – from any device, anywhere.
  2. Text message and/or email notification for customers.
  3. Send reminders of appointments how and when you want.
  4. Schedule staff, rooms and equipment based on the type of appointment being made and staff and resource availability. This helps improve resource management.
  5. Australian developed and supported.
  6. Secure. Data located on a secure server in a purpose built data warehouse facility.
  7. Low monthly access cost. Paid 30 days in advance. Easily cancellable.
  8. Tower Systems POS software integrated to make processing payments easy.
  9. Business management back end to see the schedule of appointments by staff member and overall and to efficiently manage resources.

Make My Appointment is a cloud based appointment facility for small businesses. Using this site you can easily offer your customers the ability to make appointments. Track people equipment and rooms through your own management dashboard. Sign up and be live right away. It’s easy.

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Tracking product serial numbers from within POS software helps specialty retailers offer better service

May 2, 2017
2 Min read
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Jewellers, bike retailer, fishing goods retailers, pet store retailers and firearms retailers are some of the specialty retail niche businesses that can benefit from POS software integrated serial number tracking tools.

Tower Systems offers integrated serial number tracking tools within its Australian developed and supported POS software.

Developed initially for jewellers, the serial number tracking facilities have evolved to serve a broader range of specialty retail requirements.

The serial number tracking tools track each serial numbered inventory item. This helps businesses provide better warranty services. This can also be useful should a customer have an insurance claim.

Handled with minimum labour involvement, the serial number tracking tools give businesses the means through which they can provide a higher level of service to customers and suppliers.

Including a product serial number on a receipt is important. While many POS software products can do this as a text message, it is vital the number is recorded against the same and, usually, against customer details. It is essential serial number tacking facilities are integrated with the POS software. This is what Tower Systems offers.

Much thought has gone into providing good serial number tracking tools, mature tools that deeply serve the tracking requirements of the retailer, supplier and customer long after the purchase itself. All of our work in this area has been undertaken in close consultation with customers who use serial number tracking. It is important to us and to them that work in this area is done with close collaboration.

Not many POS software products offer integrated serial number tracking tools. It is a differentiator for small business software company Tower Systems.

Long after the sale we make it easy to find a previous sale that includes a serial number. Searching for a sale by serial number can be handy for items which contain a warranty and you need to retrieve the information about the sale.

  1. From the Point of Sale screen, click on Previous Sales.
  2. Once the Previous Sales screen appears, click on the Serial Number box.
  3. Enter in the serial number that you need to find.
  4. Click on the Search Now button
  5. The list will then display the sale with the specified serial number and a preview of the receipt will appear on the right.

Here at Tower Systems we develop software for: gift shops, jewellers,  bike shops, toy shops, fishing/outdoors businesses, garden centres/nurseries, pet shops, produce stores, firearms businesses and newsagents and we serve customers in Australia, New Zealand and several other countries.

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