CategoryPOS Software

We’re here, and available, serving our local small business retail customers.

There are many ways to promote your local shop in the local community. Some strategies you may want to consider include:

1. Use social media: Use social media platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, to share information about your shop, including new products, special offers, and events. This can help to attract new customers and keep current customers informed about what’s happening at your shop.
2. Participate in local events: Participate in local events, such as festivals, fairs, and community gatherings, to showcase your shop and its products. This can help to raise awareness of your shop and build connections with members of the local community.
3. Partner with other local businesses: Partner with other local businesses, such as restaurants and cafes, to cross-promote each other’s businesses. For example, you could offer a discount to customers who show a receipt from one of the other businesses.
4. Offer special deals and promotions: Offer special deals and promotions, such as discounts or free gifts, to attract new customers and encourage them to visit your shop.
5. Reach out to local media: Contact local media outlets, such as newspapers and radio stations, to let them know about your shop and its products. They may be interested in featuring your business in a story or mentioning it in a news segment.
6. Use your Point of Sale software to auto-serve customers with promotions.
7. Offer dual-benefit transactions where you give a portion of each sale to a local community group. Your Tower Systems POS software can track and manage this for you.
8. Provide use and care advice automatically for products purchased and through this encourage word of mouth thanks to you going above and beyond what is traditional.
9. Be locally aware in your interaction with shoppers in the business: know about local events and support them.
10. Offer a community noticeboard in your shop.
11. Support the local community and it will support you.

By implementing these strategies, you can help to promote your local shop and increase its visibility in the local community.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve thousands of local retail businesses. In our POS software we offer ways you can better connect with and support the local community and this is key to gaining their support in your business.

There are several steps you can take to help reduce employee theft in your shop. Some strategies you may want to consider include:

1. Establish clear policies and procedures: Create clear policies and procedures that outline expectations for employee behavior, including rules around handling money, merchandise, and customer information. Make sure all employees understand and agree to these policies and know what to do if they witness or suspect theft.
2. Implement a system for tracking inventory and sales: Use a system that allows you to track inventory and sales accurately and regularly. This will make it easier to identify any discrepancies or unusual patterns that may indicate theft.
3. Conduct regular audits: Regularly conduct audits of your inventory, sales, and financial records to identify any potential issues or irregularities. This can help you to identify any potential issues early and take action to address them.
4. Use security cameras and other security measures: Install security cameras and other security measures, such as alarms or locked storage areas, to help prevent theft and make it easier to identify any potential thieves.
5. Provide training and support: Provide employees with training and support to help them understand the importance of honesty and integrity in the workplace. This can help to create a positive work environment and reduce the likelihood of employee theft.

By implementing these strategies, you can help to reduce employee theft in your shop and create a more honest and trustworthy workplace.

Tower Systems helps retailers through its local small business retail POS software. This software offers structure for transacting business. It facilitates efficiency and accuracy. It also adds value to the business and to those who work in the business.

Behind the scenes, the tower Systems POS software tracks key data points that can indicate employee theft. this tracking has been used successfully in detecting theft, leaving to charges being laid, leading to expert witness evidence in court.

Employee theft can be debilitating financially and emotionally in any retail business. This is especially true in local small business retail.

We are grateful here at Tower Systems to have the skill and focus to stand with local retailers, to help them reduce the impact of employee theft through smart use of our POS software.

We are grateful to share new of our work in the area of auto inventory fulfilment between product suppliers and local small business retailers.

Thanks to our small business retail POS software, the data it collects and the connectivity between it and supplier IT infrastructure, suppliers are able to auto fulfil based on live sales data. they are able to do this according ton agreed trigger points with retailers.

There is evidence that auto inventory fulfilment increases retail sales, benefiting the connected local retailer and the partner supplier. This truly is a win win.

It all starts with POS software that is tuned to provide the necessary data flow to sit at the bottom of the auto inventory fulfilment relationship.

What is auto inventory fulfilment?

It’s simple really, sales data flows from the local retail business to the partner supplier and once inventory in the story hits a trigger point, the supplier targets fulfilment based on agreed rules and processes.

This works well when a supplier supplies a range of products – allowing for the order needs for items to be grouped together for a more efficient delivery.

The retailer can see the sales data in their POS software as can the supplier in their IT systems. Nothing is shared about products related to any other supplier.

Auto inventory fulfilment can leverage just in time opportunities, reduce inventory investment by the local small business retailer, save space and save time.

It can help the supplier with supply management and manufacturing if they make what they sell.

The keys here are efficiency of space, capital and labour. And, of course, POS software is at the heart of it. Everyone involved benefits -t the local small business retailer using smartphones POS software and their IT connected suppliers.

Auto inventory fulfilment facilitated through POS software is another innovation available to local small business retailers, it is something big retailers have had access to for many years.

Tower Systems is grateful to offer specialised retail POS software for garden centres, sewing shops, music shops, pool maintenance and supply businesses, produce businesses, fishing bait and tackle businesses, firearms dealers, newsagents, pet shops, adult shops, bookshops, jewellers, toy shops and more.

Our customers are local family run businesses across Australia and New Zealand.

As more small business retailers switch POS software from MYOB retail Manager to the POS software form Tower Systems, the knowledge within the team at Tower expands, thereby better serving those retailers who make the switch.

What started years ago as a trickle is now a well-established and proven process.

Retailers who find their POS software needs served by the Tower Systems POS software have, in the onboarding processes at Tower Systems, a structured and certain approach to moving from MYOB Retail Manager to Tower Systems.

From data conversion, to customer training, to specialty retail functionality the Tower Systems POS software sales team can help you check out our MYOB Retail Manager alternative, so that you can determine for yourself whether what Tower Systems offers is right for your business.

It is vital that you choose software that serves your needs. It may be that Tower Systems is not the right fit. A comprehensive demonstration driven by you and your busies needs could help you discover this, it could also prove that the Tower Systems POS software is a good fit.

In talking with MYOB Retail Manager users we are mindful of loyalty to MYOB, their experiences with the product and questions they may have about making a move. Our approach is gentle, structured and focussed solely on the needs of their business.

As a specialty POS software company, our software is fine-tuned to the needs of a range of niche retail channel businesses. This is where we break free from the MYOB Retail Manager experience, where we demonstrate the vertical nature of our software.

From pre sales enquiry to software to training to support, the Tower Systems approach is personal. You know each person you speak with, that they understand retail, our software and the needs of retailers in our small business retail community.

We have been told that Retail Manager by MYOB is approaching end of life – that is, no future development enhancement is planned by MYOB for the Retail Manager planned. If this is the case, the Tower POS software solution is an alternative that we would submit for consideration in any of the specialty retail channels in which we are well established.

For an accounting solution, the Tower software is integrated with Xero. Through anther party we offer a connection to MYOB.

Switching software can be daunting. Our advice is to approach it when you are ready, and move to software you like, that you actively choose. If you choose Tower Systems we will help you as much as we are able.

Find out more at www.towersystems.com.au. or, call 1300 662 957. Or email sales@towersystems.com.au.

We own four retail shops and a number of consumer-facing websites as well as our POS software company,. We engage in retail for the experience, so we can walk in the shoes of our customers, so we can test in a live environment how our software can be of better service.

Along the way, we are able to use data curated buy our POS software to achieve retail wins. Here’s a short video we made last week in which we discuss one specific, and big win, achieved as a result of data in our POS software.

There aren’t many POS software companies that can speak with such practical retail experience.

We’ve not used Epos Now. If you are considering them, please do your own research.

Thanks to smart hooks we have built into our POS software from Tower Systems, we help local small business and indie retailers and their wholesale suppliers work more closely and efficiently together.

Electronic invoices, electronic purchase orders, electronic stock files, electronic real-time sales data to drive auto replenishment are just some of the retailers / supplier connections embedded in our POS software.

The hooks include easy and accurately two-way flow of data, thereby enabling more timely and accurate supply of inventory to retailers and through this a strengthening of the supplier relationships.

Delivering this through a seamless, data-driven, relationship is key to both the retailer and wholesaler businesses. This is where good POS software shines, helping both sides of the commercial relationship to benefit. It sits at the heart of a good commercial relationship and feeds mutual respect.

Our POS software is a proven and stable glue for retailers and wholesalers who appreciate working together.

The connections we offer have been built into our POS software to worldwide data sharing EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) standards. This ensures they serve the needs of larger businesses with more rigid IT infrastructure. This is important where small business retailers need to connect with IT systems in large business suppliers. The Tower systems approach means that small business retailers are not disadvantaged.

Through or work in this area of seamless two-way data flow, we are able to help smaller wholesalers walk the path of better IT connection with small business retailers. There are many case studies we can share showing the success of this work. regardless of internal systems in use in wholesale businesses, we are usually able to help them take the steps necessary to achieve a beneficial connection.

Our work in the area of EDI for retailers in channels such as fishing and tackle stores, produce businesses, bike shops, garden centres, jewellers and newsagencies is well established and consistent.

Tower Systems is committed to helping independent small business retailers to compete effectively and successfully in a rapidly changing retail landscape in-store and online. We do this by providing best practice software backed by friendly, human and local support, helping retailers to compete and to enjoy their businesses.

EDI is key in retail today for retailers and wholesalers who want an efficient apply chain. Tower Systems is ready to help both sides of the EDI relationship.

Tower Systems has launched www.findit.com.au, a free marketplace for local indie retailers, like jewellers, bike shops, toy shops, pet shops, garden centres and newsagents.  Listing products on FindIt is free for Tower Systems customers – and that’s 3,000+ local small business retailers.

The beta release of FindIt commenced two weeks ago, connecting to several retailers, serving products online so shoppers could shop local with businesses that do not have a website.

The goal for FindIt is to help customers looking online for items local retailers sell, to drive traffic to their local shop. This local in-store shopping experience is really the key focus of FindIt – because of our belief that local retailers want to support local businesses, and because they enjoy the shop local experience rather than buying through a keyboard.

The beta release has enabled finessing images, data feeds from different types of businesses and nurturing data consistency in a range of retail settings.

“We have built FindIt because of the growing importance of being online to in-store retail, and because some retailers are challenged with creating and running their own website. This is a no cost / low cost solution to help you be found online”, commented Mark Fletcher, CEO of Tower Systems.

Retailers can choose to sell through FindIt, or just list what they have available in-store. If they do sell through FindIt, there is a fee of 10%. This covers Tower for credit card fees and Afterpay fees once that is live. It also covers us for credit card fraud claims. Retailers choose whether to sell through FindIt or not. Again, to list products and have your shop found is free

The FindIt website is hosted on a large secure and fast server in a remote data (offsite in Australia) centre. The Tower team is also doing the backend SEO work to raise the Google profile.

Customers will land on the website from Google. As the ranking of the site increases, products on FindIt will list in Google results. Customers will be able to add items from multiple retailers to a FindIt basket in a transaction.

The FindIt website confirms the order to the customer and provides the retailer with a recipient created tax invoice. Retailers will be able to go to their FindIt vendor panel to download a picking slip.

Retailers choose the price of what they sell – it can be their web price or their retail price. In the Tower Systems POS software, retailers choose whether a product is listed online.

The image for a product will be the first image loaded for a product. If a retailer has a better image than the first one loaded by another retailer, it would take a manual process to change it, a process not currently in place. The same applies to descriptions.

The tech connects products by barcode. If a retailer generates their own barcode for an item already on FindIt, it will treat that product as a new item.

The price will be the retailer’s price – yes, multiple retailers on FindIt could result in different prices for the same item.

The product description is the key. Our advice on this is to try and think about what someone is likely to type into Google.

Retailers will have the option to be either freight free or charge. If a retailer has product dimensions and have selected to charge freight, the Australia Post plug-in we have will calculate a freight charge. Retailers will also have an option, on their vendor page in FindIt to set a flat freight charge if you wish.

Retailers can connect with FindIt by emailing orders@findit.com.au.

The Tower Systems POS software offers small business retailers access to valuable and financially beneficial integrations that help these retailers to win more business.

Here are some of the integrations we offer. We say some as there are more that are classified, for commercial reasons. There are those who like to copy us so we figure why make it easy for them. Ha!

These are desktop and cloud hosted POS software integrations. For our e-commerce solutions, consumer facing websites, we offer substantially more integrations that go to a new level and deliver substantially more benefits. Our integration strategy for web is comprehensive, deep and flexible, in service off our customers who take their retail businesses online.

Integrations matter to businesses in this time of mass integration. We are on a cross platform world and POS software that integrates offers terrific flexibility to retailers working in spaces where integrations can be beneficial.

Since we develop the POS software we sell, lease and rent, we are in control of what we do and how we do it. We are not relying on another party to do the integration work. This makes us more flexible for and accountable to our customers.

As retailers, too, we experience the value of plenty of these integrations and through this help our customers thrive with the very best.

Delivering integrations to our customers matters as we are in a  position to help them find new customers for their businesses by offering better services seamlessly across more platforms. Flexibility is key today and we are proud to be delivering this through our POS software and the POS software connected websites that we develop0 and deploy.

The more a retail business looks like a traditional shop in any channel, the more it will be judged as a traditional shop, the more it will perform like a traditional shop. There is nothing wrong with this, if it is a conscious choice.

But … retail is changing. How, when and where people shop is changing. In0-store retail needs to change to be relevant and interesting, to attract shoppers.

Through our work at Tower Systems we see awesome and successful retail businesses and less than awesome and not so successful retail businesses. We layers this with our own experience as retailers, too. We use the POS software we make for you in our own shops.

We encourage you to consider not running a traditional shop. We can find no evidence in performance data or in retail history to indicate that a traditional retail model has any upside in the world today.

For sure, what you offer ion your shop today cannot be what you offer in a couple of years if you want your business to be relevant.

The best way to not be considered a traditional shop is to not look like one. Here is some of what this means based on our experience:

1. Keep visual noise to a minimum. This means less posters and signs. Let your products be seen and be the heroes.
2. No old-school posters out the front of the shop or hanging in the shop except in exceptional circumstances.
3. No old-school products stand near the entrance.
4. Make the front third of the shop open with non-permanent fixtures that are flexible and easily moved. These are best if they are everyday items: tables, a couch, boxes and more. The more colour, texture and style the less like a shop your shop will feel and the more relaxed shoppers will be.
5. Floor rugs are effective too, under a table fixture especially.
6. No candy or William old products at the counter. Use the counter for products that are easily purchased on impulse, that play against expectations.
7. A feature wall behind the counter that can be changed easily.
8. Different colours and textures rather than the usual shop-fit look.
9. Different lighting to highlight different part of the business.
10. Less shop-fit made fixtures and more personally made or found items.
11. Product placement such that it encourages people to explore. Embrace treasure hunt retail… where people wander the shop hoping to find treasure.
12. Move tasks, pricing, returns and more to the shop floor. This will reduce shopper theft and increase sales.
13. Have the least amount of staff resources behind the counter as possible. On the shop floor the same people can guide purchases.

Change is critical in retail today. Change beyond what has been traditional, change that helps you attract new shoppers and through them new revenue opportunities.

While we are  an indie retail POS software co. we are retailers and retail experts. We’re here to help our customers through software, and beyond.