The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryPet shop software

TOWER SYSTEMS LAUNCHES HP RP9 SLIM POS TERMINAL

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As an authorised partner of respected hardware company, we are thrilled to have been able to show off the HP RP9 all in one POS terminal to prospects at several events recently.

While we have an RP9 exclusively for an event last week, we filmed this short clip showing it in all its glory.

HP RP9 from mark fletcher on Vimeo.

Not all POS software companies selling HP branded hardware are authorised resellers, not all sell new equipment backed by the respected HP warranty. At Tower Systems you ave access to the real thing.

TOWER SYSTEMS AT SHOPTALK 2016 THIS WEEK

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IMG_0036Some from the leadership group of Tower Systems are at the Shoptalk 2016 conference in Las Vegas this week. Shoptalk is a leading-edge conference bringing together 3,000+ retail and technology professionals to explore the future.

Our participation here for the four agenda-filled days is with particular focus on our constituency of small and independent retailers and how tech is evolving in service of their growth.

The event is halfway through and already there are valuable learnings and future-beneficial connections as we focus on continuing to deliver best-practice POS software to our 3,500+ customers.

The photo is from the presentation by Steven Lowy of Westfield – as fascinating insight into their extraordinary innovation.

TOWER SYSTEMS POS SOFTWARE XERO CLOUD BASED ACCOUNTING INTERFACE HELPS SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS CUT ACCOUNTING FEES.

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The Tower Systems POS software xero cloud based accounting link is ideal for small business retailers keen to cut accounting fees – and who doesn’t want to cut accounting fees.

We use the xero cloud based accounting link ourselves in our own retail businesses so we live the benefits every day and can speak to ease of use, ease of setup and the value of strong results for the business from immediate access to up to date accounting data.

Developed to the exacting requirements of Xero cloud based accounting and established on the Xero cloud based accounting website as an approved partner, the Tower Systems POS software Xero cloud based accounting link makes it easy to feed sales data and other data direct from the POS software to xero cloud based accounting for a small business.

Setup is easy.

Use is seamless, in the background.

We have our own cloud based server as the bridge between our software and xero.

Data is accurate.

Speed is brilliant.

Reporting results are valuable.

This is a link small business retailers keen save time and money on external accounting will love. The link saves accounting fees by doing some work your accountant or bookkeeper might otherwise be doing for you. The link from within our POS software feeds data to xero seamlessly and in the background. No keystrokes required. Yes, real time is saved here.

We have accountants who have recommended us to their customers because of the xero link, accountants who themselves wholeheartedly endorse xero. We are grateful for these opportunities.

Xero as a company does not automatically bring on all software companies that connect to them. We are aware of they rejecting at least one POS software company. So, we are thrilled to be a partner and appreciate their engagement with us and their listing of us as a partner on their website.

What we are doing here with the xero link is another part of what we dub the Tower AdvantageTM, yes something we have trademarked because it is unique to us. Indeed, something so unique in our specialty retail channels and niches that we have protected it with a trademark.

CUTTING RED TAPE FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS WHILE SUCCESSIVE GOVERNMENTS FAIL

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While Australian politicians whip themselves into a frenzy during the eight week long election campaign, Tower Systems continues to deliver genuine time-saving Point of Sale software on which small business retailers can rely to save time and cut red tape in their businesses.

Using the Tower POS software, small business independent retailers are able to save time on everyday transactions in their businesses. This time saving is thanks to red-tape cutting facilities in the software, facilities designed to streamline processing, eliminate paperwork, reduce double handling and provide a smoother customer experience in store.

Whereas politicians talk about cutting red tape, here are Tower Systems we are delivering red tape reductions for small business retailers. The time savings delivered cover plenty of areas in small business retail including these.

  1. Lay-By.
  2. Special customer orders.
  3. Customer accounts.
  4. Ordering stock.
  5. EFTPOS processing.
  6. Account sales.
  7. Gift cards.
  8. Stock returns to suppliers.
  9. Stock returns by customers.
  10. GL / Balance sheet integration.
  11. Business performance tracking.
  12. Staff communication.

In each of these areas and more we focus attention on cutting keystrokes, reducing mistake opportunities and processing faster to save time for the business and its customers. What we help our customers save results in tangible benefits for each engaged business. This is a bottom line benefit.

Our savings come from careful analysis of workflow in the business, watching how people use the software and how they engage on both sides of the counter. The result is efficiency, real efficiency and not just the type of promise you get from politicians who talk and do not act.

On a table top function by function comparison, we are proud of how our software compares, of the benefits and efficiencies we deliver in the area of streamlined processing. The differences, time saved, mistakes eliminated and streamlined operation all mean a red tape busting benefit delivered by Tower Systems. This is what we dub the Tower AdvantageTM, yes something we have trademarked because it is unique to us. Indeed, something so unique that we have protected it with a trademark.

So when you hear politicians speak about cutting red tape, think about Tower Systems and the real difference it makes for small business retailers when it comes to cutting red tape for real. We are proud of what we do for our retail partners.

SUNDAY RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: HOW TO MARKET YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS TO RETIREES

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The retiree (or seniors) marketplace can be lucrative for a retail store. They tend to be loyal and engaged in word of mouth marketing about good retail experiences. They can also be flexible about when they shop and this is where a retail business can really leverage the opportunity.

Before you can market any retiree service or benefit you need to develop a plan for handling the opportunity. What products will be offered and at what special prices? The most common approach is to offer a flat discount to retirees, or seniors as they are called in some marketplaces. This discount is usually between 5% and 10%.

Price is important to the seniors marketplace since they either have a fixed income or are living off finite savings. They like businesses which help them save money.

You will also need to decide when the discount or other offer is available. Some businesses make the offer available only on certain days, usually the quietest days of the week. Others offer access to the benefits all the time. Think carefully about the needs of the business before deciding when you will provide access to the benefits – focus on the business outcome you want to achieve.

In terms of accessing the benefit, it is common and fair to ask for some form of proof of eligibility. This could be in the form of a drivers license or a seniors card as is available in some locations. This is a card usually issues by local government. Sometimes, it is issued by residences.

An alternative is to create your own retiree / seniors card for use in promoting the business. These should be professionally designed and produced. Ensure that such a card is respectful and something these customers would proudly carry. Design the card so that it promotes the benefits you offer – so that it is an extension of your marketing program.

Whatever method you use to identify your retiree customers, it has to be simple to use at the counter for processing the appropriate discount.

To market a business to retirees consider these options:

  1. Train employees to offer the discount or other benefits to someone who looks eligible. While this could cause embarrassment, it could also extend the word of mouth around the offer.
  2. Promote to retirement villages in the local area.
  3. Advise local government authorities that you offer a benefit to retirees.
  4. Contact local clubs and organisations likely to connect with retirees.
  5. Promote the benefits in-store and in your business newsletter. You want to spread your offer as far and wide as possible, so that retirees beat a path to your door.
  6. Visit local retirement residences and offer assistance.
  7. Advertise in trailer parks.
  8. Look up clubs the Internet – there are plenty of groups, clubs and forums for older folks travelling around. They share tips about places they like.

The value of the retiree market to your retail store will depend on the value of the offer available to them and how widely you promote this. While some retailers see retirees as a chore others see a business opportunity.

POS SOFTWARE LOYALTY FACILITIES HELP RETAILERS GROW SALES.

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IMG_9511Shopper loyalty became a thing around thirty years ago when UK supermarket giant Tesco tracked the results if its basic points based program.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Change the game: front-end loyalty

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

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

It’s an approach that can encourage those who do not shop with you to purchase something else right away, to get the value of the cash discount offered.

Regular shoppers can spend the cash discount right away or come back within any time limit you set.

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

Building the basket

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

One customer came in to purchase a specific item. When I handed him the receipt I point out the voucher offering $2.00 of his next purchase. He was not a regular and so spent the $2.00, and more, right away on another item. He received another voucher and so purchased a third item. In all, he spent three times as much as the original purchase – all because of the Discount Vouchers he received.

Around 33% of all vouchers redeemed are used the day they are received. This shows customers building the basket – adding to their purchase that day as a result of the voucher. This makes each visit more valuable to us.

Bringing shoppers back

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

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

Here’s another real story: A few months ago, a customer came in and used a voucher she had picked up a couple of weeks earlier. She was happy to get $5.00 off a $65.00 item she wanted. This purchase resulted in another voucher so she bought another item for $29.95.

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

Changing how shoppers interact.

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

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

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

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

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

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

We love hearing the stories of success from your customers.

You control the business rules

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

The Discount Vouchers facilities have this.

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

You control the products the voucher can be used for.

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

Helping your business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TOWER SYSTEMS SUPPORTS SMALL BUSINESS PET RETAILERS

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We are grateful for the opportunity to work with other pet shop suppliers in encouraging and guiding a stronger and more successful independent pet retail channel.

Here is the supplier support board at the JF conference this week. We are in good company.

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AT THE JUST FOR PETS CONFERENCE IN ALICE SPRINGS

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We are grateful for the experience of being in Alice Springs this week and participating in the Just For Pets national conference as a platinum sponsor.

From the business sessions to the trade show to our free training workshops to the networking, we are having a blast making friends, catching up with plenty of customers and planning for a stronger future together, especially in the area of supplier integration.

Trade shows and conferences like these offer us excellent opportunities to get closer to customers to help them get more from their software relationship with us.

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VISUAL DECK CHANGES REPORTING FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

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The Retailer Visual Deck released by Tower Systems to its small business retailer customers earlier this year is receiving kudos from retailers when they see it for the first time. Retailers used to old school reports love the visual look and feel of the data, they love the beauty expressed in the data because they can quickly grasp what is being shown.

Cloud based, this new business intelligence platform is available on a month to month or annual basis. Called the Visual Deck, It is visual because, well, your business data is presented in a visual way. It is a deck because it is a platform off of which you can see far and wide.

The Visual Deck can be accessed from any internet connected device, this platform provides you with a fresh view of your business performance data. Visually reporting on revenue, gross profit, transaction count, items per sale, units sold, average transaction value, by month, week, day and day of week – easily allowing you to compare trading periods.

SUNDAY RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: COMPUTER USE POLICY FOR RETAIL EMPLOYEES

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Here is advice you can use to ensure computers in your retail business are used for their intended purpose:

  1. The computers in this business are business tools, they are important to the running of the business. Their security is vital to the safe running of the business.
  2. Do not use any computer for any form of personal use without permission. This means:
    1. No playing games.
    2. No looking at porn.
    3. No Facebook.
    4. No browsing websites unless they are websites used regularly by this business for running the business.
    5. No connecting your phone to the computer.
  3. Do not open emails including business emails unless you have permission.
  4. Do not click on any link in any email unless you are 100% certain that the email is from a trusted source and you have permission to access email.
  5. Do not clear the browser cache.
  6. Never permit anyone to use a computer in the business unless you have permission.
  7. Never give anyone a computer password from the business.
  8. Never write down any business password you are entrusted with.
  9. Never connect a USB stick with the computer unless you have permission.
  10. If you do something wrong own up to it immediately.

HOW ONE SMALL BUSINESS RETAILER HAS USED OUR POS SOFTWARE TO INCREASE REVENUE BY 114%

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Retailers want, need, year on year revenue growth. Here is a story of how one small business independent retailer followed our advice, used the smart loyalty facilities in our software and for one product category increased revenue by 114%. Elsewhere in the business benefits flowed too, rich benefits, bottom line benefits.

For within our POS software is a suite of smart loyalty tools that ensure you get shoppers spending more each visit. That is what this retailer has achieved. In this one department of plush items, they achieved $9,459.14 (ex GST) in revenue in April. That is up 114% on April 2015. Here is one line from the management report comparing April 2016 with April 2015. But beyond this one line, across four pages, this business is reporting excellent year on year growth – on good GP items, not low margin agency lines … and it is doing it on the back of smart loyalty facilities that are unique to the Tower Systems software.

pluissuccess

This is what matters in a small and independent retail business, good year on year growth for high margin product. This unit sales and revenue year on year comparison is vital as it is the truth of this retail business, raw data on which they can rely to measure success and guide next steps.

Our role, beyond providing excellent POS software, is to provide training and support for small business retailers to help them get the best possible value from the software and to understand the data on which we report.

OUR PET SHOP SOFTWARE TO STAR AT THE JUST FOR PETS CONFERENCE

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We are thrilled to have been invited to play a major role at the Just For Pets conference in Alice Springs, Northern Territory, this coming week.

This is our second year at the JFP annual conference. We are looking forward to catching up with customers and making new friends. The three day program is packed with terrific events.

Just For Pets is a marketing group for independent pet retailers. We serve individual businesses as well as the group nationally.

HELPING PET RETAILERS MAKE THE MOST FROM HABIT BASED SHOPPING

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Habit based shopping is vital to independent pet shops – people purchasing pet food and other consumable items used on a daily and weekly basis by pet lovers.

In our software we have tools and opportunities for better serving pet retailers so they can better serve the habit based retail opportunity.

Here is a new video we shot just last week on this topic:

Mailing the POS software customer newsletter

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Screen Shot 2016-05-05 at 3.28.47 pmHere at Tower Systems we think too many POS software companies have distanced themselves from their customers.

We stay close.

Not only do we offer easy communication via email, online, by voice and face to face, we have a snail mail newsletter that offers tips and advice – delivered the old fashioned way so the information can be shared with all users of the software in the business.

The image shows one of the pages of our May newsletter put i the mail this week.

Communicating with customers by mail demonstrates our care of service for those not keen for electronic communications.

HELPING SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS MAKE POS SOFTWARE HELP DESK CALLS

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Calling a help desk, any help desk can be confronting and challenging for anyone. It can be even more so for small business retailers who may not be experienced computer users. To help our 3,500+ small business retail customers using our POS software to get the most from our help desk, we developed and published this practical advice. We shared this with them as part of our regular weekly customer service communication:

Calling any help desk can be intimidating. To help ensure you get the best possible experience, here is our advice on how to prepare for and make a call to our POS software help desk. This advice should work for jus about any help desk.

We are it here to show what we now understand to be another example of the Tower Systems difference, the Tower AdvantageTM.

Here is our POS software help desk advice:

BEFORE THE CALL

Know for certain what your query is about. Know the error message, what you were doing before it and whether anything different was done this time compared to last time you did this and it worked.

Being clear in describing a problem or stating a question is the most important step in getting the response you want.

Check to ensure you don’t have the answer already or cannot access the answer through the knowledge base.

MAKING THE CALL

Be ready with your business name (and account number if appropriate.

Explain the problem or ask your question.

Stay on point, be calm and focus on your query.

Follow the advice provided. Do not type ahead or act without the full advice. This can see you make mistakes without the full picture.

If you are not sure about what you have been told ask for the advice to be repeated.

If written advice, an advice sheet or a knowledge base article, is offered, take that as it will provide step by step advice that is peer-reviewed rather than one person’s opinion on what to do.

If we cannot answer the call right away, please tell our receptionist who answers the call how urgent it is – we will get back to you according to the urgency you allocate.

CALL ETIQUETTE.

Please don’t serve customers, stay focused on the call.

Don’t swear.

Listen.

Take notes.

ESCALATE.

If, for any reason, you are unhappy with the call, escalate the matter out of the help desk. Tower Systems has an escalation process to serve your needs. This is detailed in our weekly email.

SUNDAY RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: CELEBRATE THE BIRTHDAY OF YOUR RETAIL BUSINESS

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Business birthdays are important – for you and for your customers, especially in a locally owned small retail business.

Embrace the opportunity of your business birthday for a celebration. But be sure to not make it all about making more money. Take time to embrace the achievement and love it.

Here are practical tips for celebrating the birthday of your business:

  1. Setup a photo board and invite customer engagement. Let’s say your business is six years old: ask customers to bring a photo showing them at six years of age. Their stories become part of your story.
  2. Setup a noticeboard. Let’s say your business is twenty years old. Headline the board with: To celebrate our twenty years in business, join us and list twenty things you love about this town.
  3. Recognise local heroes. Host an after drinks night in your shop and take a moment to acknowledge and thank local heroes. The number you acknowledge should be the number of years you have been in business.
  4. Thank previous owners. Create a history board of previous owners. Where they are now. Their stories. Show the rich long history of your business from before you owned it.
  5. Hand out a flyer listing X hidden gems of your region (where X is the number of hears you have been in business). The flyer is your birthday gift to your customers.
  6. Have cake. Everyone loves cake. If for no other reason than to get to eat cake have a birthday cake. Make it special. Have a big cake or lots of cup cakes. Set and date and time for the celebration.
  7. Party favor bags. Give every customer shopping on your birthday a bag of treats and favors you have chosen to celebrate your big day.
  8. The Happy Birthday discount. Offer a big discount to any customer who comes in on the day (or through the week if you wish) and sings, at full voice, Happy Birthday.
  9. Say thank you. In your front window, create a stunning and personal display saying thank you to the town. Do it visually, creatively and with a full heart.
  10. Half price birthdays. On the day itself, offer birthday cards at half price. While you are giving away margin and will bring forward what might otherwise have been full margin sales, you could get people buying cards from you who have not done so in a while.
  11. Be thankful. On Facebook leading up to your birthday share what you are thankful for from and through your business. Be sure to write with a voice of gratefulness and celebration.
  12. Dress the shop for a party. For at least the week of the birthday dress the shop as a themed party, maybe a kids party. Get everyone involved. Have fun and bring your customers in on the fun.
  13. Maybe a birthday party celebration sale. One night, after the shop has closed, put on some wine, cheese and nibbles inviting people to join you for some party games, prizes and deals.

A key aspect of these ideas is to remind people that your business is stable, can be trusted, is locally connected and knows how to have fun.

REINVENTING THE POS SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

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Change is the order of the day for retail as it has been since the first shops opened. What is different in 2016 is that the pace of change has picked up. Indeed, the pace of change today is greater than at any time in the past. Technology is playing a key role in that: online and offline technology is facilitating, pushing and even forcing change.

Staying up to date is a challenge, especially in small and independent retailer businesses where having the time and resources to stay open can be difficult.

Tower Systems tries to insulate its customers from some of the challenges of change by leveraging changes in the software without needing to change hardware infrastructure.

In software updates we bring to the businesses of our customers tools and resources they can use to be more competitive. Tools and facilities through which they can enhance the relevance of their businesses in a changing retail landscape.

We think and work strategically on such technical changes, always thinking about what we can do to help our customers drive their relevance for we know if you customers feel more relevant and are more successful as a result of our software then a need of our business plan is satisfied.

What we do is more than about the software though. Enhancing our POS software is only part of what we do. The even more important aspect of helping our small business retailers compete is how we communicate with them about the enhancements. Our live training workshops, regional user meetings, training videos, advice sheets, personal training and other touch points help our customers learn about and embrace opportunities for change in their retail businesses through what we deliver in our POS software.

In our latest work we have helped retailers redefine the over the counter sales experience, leveraging important touch points, driving value from shopper engagement. For retailers, changes like these are money in the bank.

Our work directly linking with Magento, Shopify, Xero and other respected and widely used platforms is an example of us delivering on our commitment to help our small business retail community to embrace change and leverage change for their commercial success.

BEST PRACTICE SOFTWARE FOR INDEPENDENT PET AND PRODUCE STORES

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Tower Systems is proud to offer specialist software for independent pet and produce stores, software tailored to the needs of pet stores and software tailored to the needs of produce stores, software for independent retailers and not mass or chains.

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.

At a store level, here are some of the benefits pet and produce retailers can expect from using our pet shop software and our produce store software:

  1. Fast, accurate selling.
  2. Easy selling by weight with professional scale integration.
  3. Easy management of customer accounts.
  4. Identifying of shopper and employee theft.
  5. Tracking of stock movement.
  6. Handling of customer loyalty – points and discounts.
  7. Easy reordering based on sales.
  8. Easy handling of multiple price levels for items.
  9. Easy handling of multiple sale pack sizes (or volumes) per product.
  10. Seamless transfer of sales and invoice data to Xero or MYOB.
  11. Easy performance reporting comparing trading periods, supplier performance and other key business performance metrics.
  12. Security over business data.
  13. Security over business settings blocking changes that could compromise the business.
  14. Peace of mind thanks to consistent processes established through the software for managing stock, customers and other aspects of the business.

We have excellent reference sites that can speak to our achievements for their businesses and our living up to the sales pitch of providing easy to use professional software built for purpose in these two specialist retail channels.

PRACTICAL RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE BEYOND TRADITIONAL POS SOFTWARE SUPPORT

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Tower Systems offers help, advice and assistance beyond traditional POS software support and has done for many years.

Our small business retail management advice is fresh and developed from our own hands-on retail experiences and from suggestions from our helpful customers. Each article of advice is jargon-free and accompanied by how-to steps and practice advice any retailer in any situation can read and use.

Here are topics we have published advice for our customers on in recent months.

  1. How to confront feeling overwhelmed in your retail business.
  2. Gift certificates – for selling when you don’t have the gift a customer wants.
  3. How to stop price comparisons with major retailers in your retail business.
  4. How to cut shopper theft in your retail business.
  5. How to protect your business from a ransomware attack.
  6. Don’t be bound by what is usual for your type of retail business.
  7. Make every day your pay day.
  8. Compete by not competing.
  9. Leveraging what sells with what in your retail business.
  10. What manual processes can you eliminate in your business?
  11. 5 Rules Every Small Business Retailer Needs For The Sales Counter.
  12. 5 Ways small business retailers can market for free.
  13. How to cut mistakes in your retail business.
  14. How to be more local in your retail business.
  15. How to find optimism in your retail business.
  16. How to check prices using your Tower software.
  17. How to develop your unique selling proposition and why you need one.
  18. Competing against your most important competitor.
  19. How and when to quit stock in your retail business.
  20. How to transact if your computer system is down.
  21. How to cut employee theft in your retail business.
  22. 30 free marketing ideas for small business retailers this Christmas.

This is a small sample of the advice from us and available to our POS software customers through our searchable and accessible from anywhere Knowledge Base.

SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ADVICE: BE MEMORABLE

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Memorable customer service is the most important point of difference a retail business can have, especially a business which does not make what it sells and therefore could have its products being sold by any other business apple to reach the same pool of shoppers.

We call it memorable customer service because it truly has to be that … memorable. So memorable that it is praised by your customers to others.

Good customer service should be the norm, the lowest hurdle any retail business can jump. Memorable customer service, the level of customer service that makes a shopper talk about the experience to their friends, must be the goal and it is the word of mouth from these customers that is a factor in driving traffic growth.

Memorable customer service is just as vital to Point of Sale software companies as it is for retail businesses. Since we own retail businesses as well as our POS software company we see it, live it and reach for it from both sides.

This is why we work hard to encode the ability to focus on customer service in our Point of Sale software.  That’s right, retailers using our software have touch points they can leverage using software which help deliver the kind of memorable customer service we are talking about here.

Memorable customer service in retail, just as in a software company, is experiences which exceed expectations, it delivers benefits outside of what you expect even from a good business.  In our IT company we compete with big IT companies and small, like us, IT companies. While we want our software to be the point of difference customers notice and talk about positively, it is our customer service which is loved and mentioned to colleagues more.  Realising this was an epiphany for us.

We focus on building stronger, better and more valuable software. But we also surround this, completely, with customer service experiences which are the very best of the best. This gives us, and our customers, the best of both worlds. And we love it ourselves.

Given that most retailers do not have products unique to their businesses, delivering memorable customer service is critical to the business plan.  Small and independent retailers can do this more easily and effectively than big retailers. From the genuine smile to shoppers to product knowledge to that extra information which helps a shopper get more out of the product purchased than they would have had the purchased the product elsewhere. This added value is the key and it can be delivered in almost any situation and with any product from a stapler through to a high-end road bike.

So, beyond our software and as part of our customer service focus, we seek out opportunities to help our customers deliver memorable customer service.  Indeed, this was one topic we covered in the recent face-to-face user meetings we ran in capital cities and major regional centres around Australia.

As a Point of Sale software company, our mission is to deliver constantly improving retail management software backed with memorable customer service and going beyond this with business insights and assistance which helps our retailers themselves deliver exceptional and memorable experiences to their customers.

WHAT MAKES THE TOWER SYSTEMS POS SOFTWARE MAGENTO LINK A BEST PRACTICE SOLUTION FOR RETAILERS

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Not all POS Software Magento links are made equal. Some POS software Magento links are slow, out of date, not direct and / or cumbersome. Some make doing business online and in a bricks and mortar store from the same stock data set cumbersome,

Thanks to relationships developed in the US with the Magento team over years, Tower Systems offers a best-practice solution, one powerful, easy to use and ideal for independent retail businesses.

Linking directly with the Tower POS software it is a breeze to use – as the many e-commerce sites already using it can attest.

A weakness we have seen in some other products is their use of an old version of Magento. By using the latest release, we are able to deliver something far more useful and valuable to small business retailers. Indeed, we can show the difference live through sites we have developed even for our business retail and e-commerce businesses.

This use ourselves of our own software enables us to speak with experience and authority on these things. We are not selling you something thinking how it should work. No, we are selling something we use ourselves for our own retail business, something that meets our own exacting needs, something of which we are most proud.

Using our Magento link it is easy to share data, images and other vital content between your shop and your online store without extra time or technology overhead. The Tower Systems approach is a breeze to implement and manage.

HERE AT TOWER SYSTEMS OUR MISSION IS TO HELP SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

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We were asked recently to explain our mission in a way small business retailers not familiar with technology will understand.

Tower Systems is an Australian POS software company that develops, sells and supports software for selected specialty marketplaces.

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.

  • 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.
  • We provide business insights based on data cultivated through the software – to business owners who ask. This is a free service.
  • 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.
  • Our software updates contain enhancements suggested and voted on by customers. You can have a direct say in the evolution of the software.
  • 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.
  • We are accessible. You get to talk with real people all the time, including our leadership team.

This is what we stand for.

POS SOFTWARE SCALE INTEGRATION HELPS SMALL RETAILERS COMPETE

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IMG_7467The seamless scale integration facilities in the Tower Systems POS software make selling easy in a range of specialty retailers including pet stores, garden centres, jewellers, whole foods stores and confectionery stores. Helping retailers sell by weight helps them drive fast and accurate selling. It can also offer retailers greater flexibility in pricing structure. All of which helps small and independent retailers to compete more successfully and effectively.

The terrific LollyBomb store in the heart of Adelaide is a good example of a smart retailer leveraging the scale facilities in the software to help run a more successful business.

Selling by weight is easy thanks to the facilities in the software that were developed by Tower Systems in close consultation with retailers.

This is another niche service handled by the Tower software, making it a genuinely beneficial tool for niche and special interest small business retailers.

Integrations are important to small business retailers. They can often set POS software companies apart in that not all integrations are approved. take Xero, for example – they do not approve all POS software requests for integration. They have a structured process to follow. This is why being approved is a badge of honour and an important differentiator.

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