The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
As is always the way with the last office day prior to Christmas, help desk calls have stopped as retailers focus on selling.
We are calling it a day and switching all support coverage from now until December 28 at 7am to our after hours numbers. Here are our contact points. This is a copy of the card, which we sent to all customers last month by mail and by email:
Stock takes in retail can be a chore, especially if you do them the old school way. Thanks to smart technology in the Tower Systems POS software our retail partners are able to get stock takes done faster.
The new approach leverages facilities unique to the Tower software. The approach is ideal for a business with stock take needs that vary based on product types, categories, suppliers and other groupings.
The custom stock take facility in the Tower Systems software is simple and elegant. Retail employees love it for its ease of use and that it delivers the outcome in much less time than the way too many other POS software programs go abut the stock take process.
This is another Tower AdvantageTM another time saving and benefit for the small business which which we partner.
Thanks to online and other trade stock takes are needed far more regularly than ever before. This is where the tower Systems approach really shines.
There is the Tower Systems difference, as explained by us.
The types of calls our POS software help desk receives in the week before Christmas changes. This week, calls will all be about quick resolution, the calls will be about the now rather than with an eye to the future.
Retail businesses will be busier this week than any other week of the year in most situations.
To serve the needs that we know will be unique to this week we have our help desk team focussed and our processes tuned to serve our customers, to provide the best possible outcome as quickly as possible.
We understand time is especially short this week. We have structured our approach to ensure we meet the expectations of our customers.
We have a fully staffed help desk. We back them with our escalation team and senior management.
We want this week before Christmas to be happy and valuable for everyone!
Data is as valuable as cash to any retail business yet many do not treat data with respect. Our advice to small business retailers is to get real about data, to get serious about protecting this important asses.
In terms of protecting your business data against disaster, here is our most important advice:
Our Tower Systems small business POS software can be run on a local PC or in the cloud. You can choose the right approach for your business.
With the cloud based option, you can choose to be hosted anywhere you prefer or you can go with our full-service hosted option.
We have plenty of customers in each scenario – running locally, self hosted for multiple locations or hosted by us in a full service model.
With our full service model we can shield you from any requirement to update software. All you worry about is the hardware you have running in your business.
Big It companies have spent hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing the term cloud. They have done this because they know buzzwords sell. The reality is, your software has to run somewhere. It has to be maintained. Whether it is running on computers in your business or in the cloud, the costs are not that different. The key difference is one approach feels sexier than the other, because of the marketing.
Our retail skilled account managers can talk with you to determine your needs and propose a solution that best serves your needs.
We would be happy to share with you details of customer with businesses similar to yours so you can hear first-hand about their operation and how the Tower solution fits.
Our Tower Systems account managers can provide further advice and assistance to help customers make informed choices as to the best approach for their business. They are not incentivised in any way to guide customers to one decision over another.
Tower Systems offers software for the following niche small business retail channels: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, toy shops, fishing/outdoors businesses, garden centres/nurseries, pet shops, produce stores, firearms businesses and newsagents.
We are a full service and personal POS software company. To demonstrate this, direct access to our account management team is easy: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
Offering Lay-by services is essential to small business retailers keen to grow sales of higher value items people are prepared to purchase in advance of any actual need they may have.
We see LayBy working well in jeweller businesses, bike shops, toy shops, fishing and outdoors businesses and more.
Our largest customer does thousands of LayBys each year using our smart POS software. regardless of business size, LayBys are easy to setup and manage. the outcome for the retailer and the customer is good.
LayBy facilities can be established in minutes, offering a structure through which retail employees can confidently and consistently offer LayBy services.
Use the software to capture the sale, record customer details, document your terms and conditions, record the deposit, track payments, chase late payments and finalise the sale. Again, to not attempt to do this manually.
Familiarise yourself with LayBy regulation as set by the ACCC: https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/contracts-agreements/lay-by-agreements Also, check the website of your state Consumer Affairs office to familiarise yourself with local requirements. Information there will help you determine your own terms.
Meeting regulatory requirements is vital. For example, if someone cancels a LayBy you must refund their payments less a termination fee. You can set this fee and advise as part of your terms and conditions.
Here is our current advice on key rules and steps to success with Lay-bys.
These rules and steps may feel complex. They are necessary for the small number of times something goes wrong and you need to rely on them to help you deal with a situation.
Happy Lay-bys.
We are retailers too. We own and run several shops, as live testing grounds for our software and as training facilities for our staff. here is the front of one of our shops, from Saturday just gone.
How small business retailers acquire the Tower Systems POS software is up to them. Our approach is flexible, leaving the decision entirely to our customers to choose what is absolutely best for their business.
You can purchase the Tower software for your business and own it forever without further cost.
You can also lease the Tower software through almost any finance company and pay it off over 3, 4 or 5 years.
You can also rent the Tower software on a 30 day cycle with the ability to quit the rental at any time.
Each option is different and each can be appropriate in certain circumstances. We share all the information so our customers can make an informed decision themselves or with their accountant or other business adviser.
The choice of how best to acquire the software is 100% yours. We can provide advice but are happy for you to make the decision that best serves your needs.
How you acquire the software, purchase or rental, training and installation services are billed separately as they are required regardless of how you acquire the software. Installation ensures the software is properly installed and setup. It shields you from technology. Training ensures you and your team know how to properly use the software for the business to get the best outcomes.
Regardless of how you acquire access to our software – rental, lease or purchase – our software is our software. No facilities are restricted via the mechanism of access. This makes the acquisition approach purely financial rather than operational or functional.
Our Tower Systems account managers can provide further advice and assistance to help customers make informed choices as to the best approach for their business. They are not incentivised in any way to guide customers to one decision over another.
Tower Systems offers software for the following niche small business retail channels: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, toy shops, fishing/outdoors businesses, garden centres/nurseries, pet shops, produce stores, firearms businesses and newsagents.
We are a full service and personal POS software company. To demonstrate this, direct access to our account management team is easy: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
Through our POS software plenty of customers send text messages to their customers as part of best-practice customer service.
To facilitate lower operating costs, one of our text message partners has shared a terrific offer to make texts lower cost for our customers.
We are grateful for the opportunity to pass this on, to share 100% of the savings with our customers.
We are proud of the professional marketing for the professional immediate rewards loyalty facility in our small business POS software. Check it out:
We are proud to be bringing this new cloud-based solution to the market.
We are called upon at our POS software company to help our small business retailer customers in areas far removed from our POS software. One such area is how to use Facebook to market your business. We appreciate opportunities to share what we know from our direct experience for businesses we own.
Here is a snapshot of some advice our customers tell us they have found useful abut facebook posts:
If sales are your goal, the key is to work out how to pursue this without your post sounding like an ad for ads are quickly ignored by people on social media as they are on their for entertainment and not to consume advertising.
Here are tips for writing the ideal post. Keep them close and refer to them for your next few posts. Soon, the process will become second-nature:
Tower Systems is a full service POS software company, helping small business retailers way beyond what is often done by POS software companies. We embrace this point of difference.
Every week we add and revise content at our POS software knowledge base. This work is on-going as we expand the range of self-serve resources available to our growing customer base.
We let our customers know about changes inner weekly email. Here are some of the changes delivered in the last few days.
This list is not complete by any means as we do not want to give too much away here for competitive reasons.
We take care with our knowledge base as it is the one location for all user-facing knowledge about our software. It drives consistency in help desk advice and ensures all of our customers have access to common advice and guidance.
We can tell from usage stats the topics that are of most value and this information guides further enhancement.
On our website we offer free and open access to marketing collateral small business retailers can use to promote their businesses to the local community. This is another example of service beyond our POS software company.
We are proud to help small business retailers more successfully compete in their local community. Here is a screen shot of the free marketing tools page of our website.
Benchmarks are vital in every retail business. They provide the business performance goals to aim for, target of aspiration.
In our work with small business retailers beyond our smart POS software we often help with benchmark suggestions. We offer the as a starting point, to guide.
While the data points are common, the numbers can vary by retail channel.
Here are benchmark data points and the values we have suggested to transforming newsagency business owners – these are hybrid businesses that are part newsagency, part toy shop, part gift shop. See what you think:
BENCHMARK GOALS
I am often asked for benchmark goals newsagents ought to aim for. Here are some benchmarks I have developed in my work with newsXpress and through Tower Systems:
We are sharing these benchmark goals here as a guide for other retailers to contemplate appropriate numbers for the measurement points for their businesses.
Tower Systems is not your average POS software company. We engage beyond the software, to help our small business retail partners to run more successful and enjoyable businesses.
Wow! Thank you! We have the best customers!
We are on cloud nine as a result of extraordinary sales success being achieved by retailers connecting through one of our new e-co0mmerce sites.
Tens of thousands of dollars of business generated for partner small business retailers in a few short weeks. This is cream revenue – on top 0of what these retailers are making even day in their businesses, bonus revenue, unexpected revenue for which they have had to pay nothing to achieve.
Our website has done all the work – found the customers, processed the sales, provided fulfilment guidance and delivered extraordinary customer service.
Here is a comment from one retailer who resisted being part of the Tower Systems created website:
We have just gone live on Monday, this week. It took me ages to get organised and do a stocktake. I had too many other things to do. It was the last thing on my list. Well I REGRET not doing it earlier, please hang back tonight or on the weekend and do a customised stocktake. The stocktake is NOT hard and it only took me a couple of hours and I have lots and lots of stock. But do the stocktake, then contact head office and go live. This week, not next month, not next year, THIS WEEK.
Here are comments from another small business retailer.
I am shocked. You have given us a thousand dollars in extra revenue in just two weeks. You cannot understand how important this is to me and my small business. Thank you form the bottom of my heart. I feel re-energised thanks to you.
And then this from another retailer.
O H M Y G O D!!!! It is like you turned on a tap in the middle of a drought and gave my business water. Thank you thank you thank you.
We love helping small business retailers find new customers. 8ur smart POS software connected to websites we have developed is one of the many good news stories that put wind in our sales. We love what we do here at Tower Systems.
Independent retail businesses can get their business transacting online easily with less effort, greater accuracy and transactional consistency by linking their POS software direct to their e-commerce platform.
Here at Tower Systems we are expert at connecting our POS software to Shopify, magento and other web platforms. We are doing this easily for our customers, to new websites and to existing websites. The results are wonderful.
One customer processed thirty online orders in a few days where they were not online days earlier.
Being able to get online without double entering of stock makes it easy. This is where Tower Systems makes the pathway for a small business to move online easy, fast and accurate.
As retailers ourselves with with websites for our own businesses we have personal experience on which to draw to guide retailers as to the best moves for their businesses. This practical experience helps us provide our customers with retailer-centric solutions rather that a more tech software company solution.
Retail is personal after all. We get that from being retailers ourselves in several different retail categories. This is especially useful in the online space where service is paramount. Good service begins with a seamless and accurate link between the online and high street retail operations.
This is another Tower AdvantageTM.
Tower Systems works with more than 3,500+ small business retailers 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.
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.
We provide you with loyalty facilities that are fresh and small-business focussed, loyalty facilities through which you can pitch a point of difference compared to big business competitors.
One of our retail experts can help: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.
Tower Systems is grateful that more accountants have provided their details for including on our website where we list the details of xero skilled accountants.
Connecting our small business retail customers with Accountants skilled in xero helps our customers and helps the growing bro community.
As Xero users ourselves we understand the value of working with like-minded service providers. Xero is innovative and time-saving. We are thrilled to have made the switch for our own shops and to be accessing the benefits we pitch to our sales prospects.
Using our POS software and the Xero add-on, our customers are able to easily, seamlessly and in the background share data between the POS and Xero, reducing bookkeeping costs, improving data accuracy and feeding more informed business decisions. This is a win for our customers.
Not all POS software companies are approved to partner with Xero. This can lead those not approved to be critical of Xero. Those of us in the room are grateful for the recognition and support of the company as we help retailers to pursue more efficient and successful businesses.
POS Software company Tower Systems is helping small and independent local retailers to promote the support of local retailers through an innovative campaign of collateral created by the company for its retailers.
We are thrilled to be investing our creative resources in support of our retailer partners in this way.
This artwork is part of a series we developed in-house through our amazingly creative marketing team to give our retailers different voices and platforms through which to pitch their shop local credentials.
This is another Tower AdvantageTM.
More free collateral is available on the Tower website.
This is a personal story about small business retail and the value achievable from a smarter and more customer respectful approach to rewarding loyalty … but in a different way, a way that is counterintuitive in that it front-ends the approach.
Here is our story…
I want to share with you a true story of what happened recently in my own retail business. It is a story of how a small everyday purchase led to something bigger and how this happened as a result of fundamental changes in how the business is run.
While this story is about what happened in my newsagency, it could happen in any type of business. This newsagency, by the way, is not your typical newsagency. Close to 70% of what we sell is non traditional. It is high margin higher price point items that sit at the core of this unique business.
At its core, this is a story about shopper loyalty, especially shopper loyalty in a retail situation where between 25% and 30% of shoppers visiting the business are not local and therefore not likely to engage with the old-school points-based loyalty program.
A customer passing the shop noticed our greeting card range and stepped into make a purchase because of a specific need. They purchased two cards. On their receipt was a voucher for almost $2.00. As they are not usually in the shopping centre they looked around for something in which to spend the $2.00.
This is the key: the customer came in to make a quick destination purchase. The type of business we were did not matter. They were on the way to the car park and happened to pass buy our shop. Point 1: location is in our favour. The stepped in because they saw our greeting cards. Point 2: the floor placement of cards was key in getting them in the shop.
Having made the purchase, the customer then noticed, for the first time, what else we sold – because of the $2.00 discount voucher on their receipt. Point 3: we got them to look around and see what else we sold.
The customer did a 180 degree turn and saw a locked glass cabinet of beautiful collectible bears. This was in the right place at the right time as they had been looking for a gift for a child. Money was not an issue. They wanted something to last a lifetime. They purchased a $500.00 bear.
This purchase would not have been made had they not been given the $2.00 voucher on their receipt. The voucher is what got them to notice what else we sold.
Fast forward several weeks and this customer who said they don’t usually come to the shopping centre was back for another $500.00 purchase. Now, several more weeks later, the customer has another $500.00 order placed.
I can directly trace more than $1,500.00 in sales back to the $2.00 voucher.
The software produced the voucher based on rules I established. The initial staff member serving the customer made a brief professional pitch highlighting the voucher. These are both important factors as they are at the core of a structured consistent approach to what has become the most lucrative loyalty program I have seen in my 30+ years involved in retail as a retailer myself and working with retailers in many different channels.
While most times vouchers are handed out they are not redeemed, they are redeemed enough to make them worthwhile. They are redeemed for good margin product as they get people looking at the shop for the first time and discovering items to purchase they were not in our four walls to consider.
The discount vouchers are disruptive and this is why I love them. People respond in unpredictable ways.
Best of all, the discount vouchers are profitable.
For this story to work in any retail business you need to have the right products, placed strategically in-store. Your employees need to make the right pitch. Plus, you need to be attracting people who don’t know and probably don’t care what shop they are in.
Tower Systems offers not only excellent software but also the business acumen, experience and drive to help you make the most of the opportunities in the software.
From points on a purchase to buy X and get Y FREE to Discount Vouchers, the Tower software offers flexibility in loyalty offerings that enable you to make the pitch right for your business to bring shoppers bag to spend more than might usually be the case.
Mark Fletcher, managing Director. Tower Systems. M: 0418 321 338.
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