The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryPOS Software

Music shop POS software serves unique need of local music shops

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Local music shops have POS software needs beyond what is traditional in plenty of POS software solutions. For example, they provide repairs, undertake regular, programmed, servrvicing of instruments, work with local music clubs, and more.

Local music shops benefit from musing POS software tuned to their music shop needs.

This is what Tower Systems offers in its music shop POS software.

This modern POS software has facilities included (without extra cost) music shop owners and team members tell us is important, like:

  • Easy selling. Instruments can be bulky or small. selling either and all in between is easy.
  • Service / repair management. This includes tracking parts and labour for in-house repairs as well as tracking outside of the business repairs.
  • Easy management of instrument service reminders. You can suggest a customer return for a free tune or some other service.
  • Club / group fundraising / discounting .. encourages engagement. If a community orchestra or music school community trades with you it can benefit your business and their organisation through easy tracking of their purchases.
  • Integrated EFTPOS.
  • Xero integration – cut keystrokes and mistakes.
  • Shopify integration for selling online.
  • Auto serving product care instructions.
  • Easy to setup and run LayBy.
  • Easy use of buy now pay later.
  • Customer special orders.
  • Pre-sell inventory.
  • Rare visit loyalty.  The customer visit cycle for a music shop is often infrequent. Embedded in this software are loyalty tools that nurture these shoppers to provide more value from each visit.

All these facilities and plenty more are included in this software. But, we don’t link to APIC, created and managed by the MusiPOS folks. We have approached them without success several times.

You can rent this software for $145.00 a month, which you can cancel at any time. This includes:

  1. Specialty music shop POS software developed in Australia.
  2. Software updates as we release them.
  3. Unlimited licences for your retail location.
  4. Support – help desk access, unlimited training, updates and more.
  5. User documentation. Access to our searchable knowledge base.

There is also a modest up-front cost to cover personal one-on-one training and software setup – so that you get the most out of the software.

Tower Systems offers local Australian support for this software as well as local training and easy access to up to date user documentation.

Music shops using the software can speak to its usefulness in their business.

How our Aussie made doll shop POS software helps doll shops thrive

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Doll shops are unique and special businesses. Here are some of the ways our POS software for doll shops helps doll shops leverage their uniqueness:

  1. Rare visit loyalty.  Customers visit a doll shop infrequently. This software offers subtle loyalty tools that encourage more value from each visit.
  2. Pre-orders. Easily manage selling products before you have them in-stock. Collectors love these facilities.
  3. Buy Now Pay Later and LayBy. Through our software you can have both.
  4. Repairs management. If you do repairs, track them from the moment they arrive – for repairs done in-house and externally. Track parts and labour and easily advise customers when the repair is complete.
  5. Club / collector marketing and support. Leverage clubs and collectors with offers and pricing. Nurture the love of collecting and showing dolls and connecting to this community, and growing the size of the community.
  6. Special orders. With some dolls made to order or some ordered in for a customer request, managing these types of orders helps the business to manage opportunities and to capture revenue in advance.
  7. Serial number tracking. Yes, plenty of collector dolls have serial numbers. Tracking them from within the software offers a service that doll shops can leverage.
  8. Anniversary marketing. Collectors love their dolls. To many, they are a member of the family. Remembering anniversaries can help a doll shop maintain a connection with their collector customers.

Our Australian made and supported doll shop software does much more than this. Be sure to see it for yourself, live and obligation free, to see if it could serve you and your business.

What’s interesting is that a doll shop owner found us and educated us about how our software could work in their business and other doll shops in Australia. It was a wonderful discovery, for which we are truly grateful.

Our Doll Shop Software costs $155.00 for each 30 days. The $155.00 is for access from as many computers as you have in the business. There is a modest on-boarding fee to cover one-on-one training and setup support and assistance.

We understand the importance and value of local specialty retail like local doll shops …

  • Local matters. Local doll shops make a vital contribution to local communities and families. Our software helps you leverage your localness.
  • You are a key asset. Only your business has you and your people. You can leverage you through facilities in our doll shop software.
  • You can bank on loyalty. Points don’t reward loyalty. What is a point worth anyway? In our software, you have fresh loyalty tools you can bank on.
  • The unseen can reveal opportunities. Data, good data, is evidence on which you can expect to make better business decisions.
  • Not every shopper will walk past your door. A seamless connection between your software and a beautiful website can reach them.

There aren’t many doll shops in Australia. We are grateful to serve them, to help them prosper.

Easy and fast setup POS software for Australian retailers

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Retailers who want to get up and running with good POS software quickly have a solution in Tower Systems.

We help retailers get live with smart POS software quickly in their businesses.

You can sign up today and be transacting today, that to our smooth, fast and professionally supported POS software ramp-up opportunity.

We help retailers across a range of retail channels with awesome POS software. Jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, sewing shops, pet shops, newsagents, gift shops, fishing and outdoors shops, produce businesses, firearms dealers, antique shops, charity shops, bookshops … and more.

The easy POS software setup road is smooth, safe and ready for local small businesses to get live with awesome Aussie made and supported POS software.

Our installation, training and setup professionals are in-house, they work for us, helping you. We don’t use third party companies. We don’t tell you to find someone for yourself to setup the software and train you.

Good POS software companies do do this themselves, working with you, helping you, encouraging you and guiding you to get live with the new POS software as quickly as you want. Yes, you can work at the pace that best serves your needs.

The fast setup and go-live pathway for the Tower Systems POS software helps businesses that need it now, need to be live today, need to be transacting sales right away. All of us here at Tower Systems will do our best to make this happen for you, to satisfy your needs and make what you ant and need a reality in the way you want.

While our POS software is off the shelf, and available to rent for a few dollars a day, it is very flexible. This is why we guide you in terms of systems settings and setup, to help you make sure the software is tuned to meet the needs of your business. Yes, the off the shelf software can work differently in different retail businesses.

If you need good POS software up and running in your shop quickly, talk to the team at Tower Systems and find out if this software serves your business needs. You can see demonstrations of the software at our POS software YouTube channel. You can call our sales team on 1300 662 957. or, you can email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

We won’t chase you or push you or drive you to make a decision. What you decide, when you decide it and what happens from there is 100% up to you. This is how Tower Systems operates. We offer a smooth and certain road towards getting live with our POS software – if that’s the software you choose for your local retail business.

The software itself is comprehensive and tailored for each of the marketplaces in which it serves. But, at its core, this POS software offers access to a range of loved benefits, including:

  1. Say goodbye to LayBy With our buy now pay later options.
  2. Customers will love your product use and care instructions on receipts.
  3. Make more money offering special orders that you can easily track from the counter and notify shoppers by email or text when the goods arrive.
  4. Get one-time-only shoppers spending more with an awesome and differentiating loyalty facility.
  5. Sell online easily, direct from your POS software.
  6. Bring customers back with reminders on dates important to them.
  7. Save money on bookkeeping by integrating with accounting software.
  8. Make more money from the one time only shoppers.
  9. Save time, load electronic invoices from suppliers.
  10. Cut mistakes with integrated EFTPOS.

This is software that handles, easily and if you need:

  1. Selling by touch button, barcode scanning or product code entry.
  2. Selling by fractions.
  3. Selling by weight – this software is government approved for scale integration.
  4. Creating barcodes for items that don’t have a barcode.
  5. Tracking the location of a box for an item.
  6. Tracking products baby serial number if they have them.
  7. Tracking customer details when appropriate and if you want.
  8. Comparing supplier performance.
  9. Seeing what’s not working in the shop.
  10. seeing opportunities for growth in the shop.

There are so many options in this POS software, ways you can make selections in the software to do more, as the business needs. here is a Q&A covering some of these specialty needs.

Can you pass on hazardous good information? Yes, you can load files, images, documents or PDFs for products (information sheets, advice, notices) and have them automatically included in emailed receipts.

We sell on the road, is there a mobile version? Yes, our Retailer RoamTM option is perfect for selling from anywhere.

Does the software work with and easily load supplier provided electronic invoices? Yes, many across a range of specialty retail channels.

Can you manage breaking up bulk product and selling at smaller quantities? Yes, you can receive product in bulk and break it into smaller selling packs.

Can you manage creating your own custom products using multiple products whilst keeping track of qty on hand figures? Yes, you can take a number of items, mix them and then bag up your own product made from them.

Can you set specific pricing for special groups of customers ie trade customers? Yes.

Can you manage quotes? Yes, you can create quotes and then turn them into sales if they proceed.

Can you manage deliveries? Yes, the software has a couple of ways of doing this.

Will the system print picking slips for local deliveries? Yes.

Are the stock labels the system produces weatherproof? Yes, as long as you purchase our weatherproof label stock.

Can you handle repairs and servicing of machinery like mowers etc? Yes, repairs facilities included with the software track repairs, parts used, labour used and advising the customer the item is ready to collect.

Can you reach back out to customers you remind them of previous seasons they purchased in?Yes, you can select customers for marketing past on a range of criteria, including past purchases.

Does the system handle account customers? Yes, you can setup and manage customer accounts.

Does the system produce invoicing and statements? Yes, these can be printed or emailed.

Can I offer a special price to members of a club? Yes.

Can I share local information such as local or seasonal information?  Yes, on receipts.

Can I remind customers about equipment servicing? Yes.

The Tower Systems POS software is mature yet fresh. The visual appeal of the software is loved by many thanks to the design refresh just rolled out. This, along with significant under the hood enhancement, provides access to software that goes much further than you may see in other POS solutions.

The challenge, though, is how do you choose the POS software that is right for your business. Our advice is take your time, do your homework, know your needs before you talk to any software companies. What you need is what you need. It is vital that you know what you will compromise on, and what you will not.

Choosing the right software for your jewellery shop can be easy if you follow some simple steps: be sure of what your business needs; understand the value of this to your business; and, remain focused on the business outcomes important to you.

It is easy for professional software sales people to confuse you along the way.  This can be avoided is you stick to the three simple steps.  Some sales people need to be reminded that this is your choice and that you will choose the system which is right for your business.

While we could write thousands of words on how to go about determining your needs and preparing an appropriate specification document, the reality for many independent jewellery retailers is that this is not appropriate.  Instead, we recommend a single sheet of paper approach. Yes, old-school.  It’s easy and achievable by business people of all skill sets.

So, take out a sheet of paper rule a line down the middle.  On the left hand side, note down the requirements of a computer system which you consider will be unique to your business.  What is it you do which you feel not many other jewellery retailers would require?  Do you put extra emphasis on ease of use? Will your business need comprehensive support? How important is securing your database and business information? Do you operate off a non standard markup policy? Do you handle repairs internally, externally, or both?

Most good Point of Sale systems have common functionality in the traditional areas of selling, printing receipts, handling customer accounts, managing discounting and reporting on sales.  It is in the ‘fringe’ and use of use where you will find differences and these often are differences in businesses as well.

In creating this list of functions and facilities which are unique to your business consider these questions:

  • How computer literate are your people?
  • How do you handle Lay Bys?  Is your approach common?
  • Do you have a loyalty program and if so is it unique  to your business?
  • What needs do you have that you think may be unique?
  • Do you sell by fractions?
  • Do you need a seamless and direct link to selling online?
  • Do you have a need to compare the performance of multiple suppliers in a specific department?
  • Do you wish to compare staff sales results and process commissions accordingly?
  • How do you market to existing customers and would use your software to help?

Next to each of your requirements, and they have to be your requirements and not a cut and paste of the list above, be sure to note the amount of time you spend with current systems and processes.  This could be the amount of time you save by purchasing another system.

There are many other business specific questions and requirements you could consider.  The list above is provided to stimulate your thoughts about the specific needs you have in your jewellery shop.

It may be that your needs are not covered in any existing system.  This is when you need to decide on whether the cost of NOT having access to these needs being covered is worth the considerable saving of going with an off the shelf system.

On the right hand side of the paper, note down what is important to you in the software company from which you purchase your software.  These points ought to be the must haves without which you will knock out a business.  For what it’s worth and based on many years serving small businesses similar to yours, here are my suggestions for this list:

  • They own the software.  That is, you are purchasing from the company which develops the software. There is nothing worse than buying through an agent who does not have easy direct access to the software developers.
  • The software is regularly updated.
  • Training.  The system is provided with training by the company itself.  Too many software companies nowadays contract training out or do not provide training. This provides an opportunity for them to point the finger if there are later support issues.
  • Easy support access. They support your business by investing seriously in their support. 24/7 telephone software support is available.
  • User meetings.  Make sure there are opportunities for you to meet , probably online via Zoom, with the leadership team of the POS software company. Have them show you how the voices of their customers are heard and responded to.
  • Enhancement suggestions.  Make sure that the software company has a mechanism for you making your enhancement suggestions known to them.  This demonstrates that your opinions really do matter.

Once you have this sheet of paper you are almost ready to start looking at software systems.

Take some time to get together copies of all the key documents you use.  You will need to compare these with what any POS system you consider offers.  This includes receipts, orders, reports and especially any spreadsheets you work on to manage the business.

You are almost ready to look at possible systems.  First up, compare the websites of the companies you are considering.  Be sure to assess the ease of navigation of the websites, the professionalism and speed.  These are all indicators of the software the companies sell.

When you are ready, arrange the demonstrations.  Book these for your shop so that the sales people can see your business first hand.  If they offer you a demonstration copy of the software say no as this is a lazy way to sell, leaving you to do all the work.

If you are looking for POS software for your business, take your time, do your research, choose software that serves your needs.

Tower Systems is a full service POS software company. We make what we sell. We support it. Our software is regularly enhanced – and we rely on suggestions from our customers for plenty of enhancements. We are specialist, too. Take a look, for example, at what we offer pet shops in our pet shop software:

  • Save time with electronic invoices from suppliers.
  • Easy special customer orders. Smart tracking and customer notification.
  • Make money from pre-orders – Easily pre-sell before release.
  • Community group pricing. Set pricing rules based on customer type.
  • Easy record keeping: pet microchip tracking.
  • Recall customers based on worming and other needs.
  • Business differentiating loyalty. Stand out from the crowd. Drive sales.
  • Differentiate with bundles. Make price comparison hard.
  • Say goodbye to LayBy – with integrated buy now pay later options.
  • Market to customers based on past purchases.
  • Cut accounting and bookkeeping fees with integration to Xero and others.
  • Easily sell online with a direct to Shopify link from your POS software.

We tell retailers to love their shop as much as their customers love yotheirr pets. Here are 6 ways this pet shop software helps achieve this.

  1. Easy small wins. The one-percenters make a business. This pet shop software is packed with one-percenters, helping you to small wins in efficiency, add-on purchases, smarter buying and more.
  2. Healthier pets. Pet owners will love your reminders about a treatment that is due. They will also love that you treat their pets as a member of the family. You will love that this software makes it easy.
  3. Hands off. Every keyboard click has a cost and could be a mistake. Look at your last Kongs invoice and reflect on the time it took to process. Imagine importing an accurate electronic version in seconds.
  4. Standing out from the crowd. While dog breeds are judged to a set of strict standards, in retail being different matters. When it comes to loyalty, we help you stand out, be noticed and be loved.
  5. You are the difference. When it comes to pet food and other items that make up the bulk of your revenue, standing out from the crowd can be a challenge. The thing is, you and your people are the difference. This software helps you shine a light on that.
  6. Not every shopper will walk past your door. A smart and seamless connection between your software and a beautiful website can help you easily and with low overhead sell to people you will never meet.

This is an example for the pet shop software from Tower Systems. Each marketplace is as fine-tuned and targeted in terms of software function as this.

Tower systems is here to help local specialty retailers achieve more with their POS software, and we can do this with our fast go-live approach, if that is what you want.

What is POS software?

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What is POS software? It is a question for sure, one asked often in retail. Since we live and breathe it at Tower Systems we tend to not over think it, or get stuck on the POS acronym. Today, though, let’s unpack what is POS software for you …

POS stands for Point of Sale, and refers to the system that retail shops use in order to sell their products. But, POS is more than an acronym, it represents the beating heart of a business, the place where all business data is collected, curated and managed. It can be ore to the success or otherwise of a retail business.

POS software is a crucial part of the retail business because it helps automate retail operations and manage retail stock effectively. In retail, time is money and it’s very important for retail businesses to ensure they are getting the best value for their money when it comes to software.

But, don’t think of it as software. Rather, think of POS software as a business tool, something to learn and master, something to make your own, for your purposes of success for the business and those who rely on it.

As retail businesses evolve and / or grow, retail management systems are required in order to expand retail operations and retail staff will be needed to handle customer service duties. Retail management systems help staff customers better by providing information on retail products on receipts and other customer touchpoints.

Retail stock management is a retail best practice that retail professionals should follow because retail stock takes up retail space and it’s important for retail businesses to manage their retail stock effectively so they can avoid being stuck with excess retail product. Retail best practices also recommend that retail businesses have real time data on their retail sales, whether through data entry by retail staff or retail self service systems. This retail data can then be viewed through retail reporting software that retail managers can use to make decisions about how to effectively manage their retail business.

This is what smart POS software offers.

Retail best practice is in tune with technological retail innovation in order to handle the growth in retail customers, in particular online retail customers who are increasing in number every year. Integrating retail best practice and retail technology is a retail marketing strategy that retail businesses can follow to ensure they are offering retail customers the most up to date retail shopping experience possible.

Tower Systems offers innovative and continuously evolving POS software for local specialty retailers.

So, yes, POS refers to Point of Sale. In our world, it refers to software. In reality, it is about helping local retail business owners and others to run efficient, enjoyable and valuable local retail businesses.

POS is better than a cash register, even in the smallest of businesses.

We are grateful to the thousands of retail businesses we have served and continue to serve.

Tower Systems sales queries: sales@towersystems.com.au or 1300 662 957.

Tower Systems support queries: support@towersystems.com.au or 1300 662 911.

Our POS software helps local retailers hire and retain employees

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Finding employees is a challenge for many businesses in 2022. It is especially tough for local retailers.

Our Tower Systems POS software helps local retailers hire and retain employees, and here;’s a short video on how we do this:

Of course, there is more to this than we cover in the short video.

The key, however, is how much people enjoy their job. By providing learning opportunities, structure and certainty, our POS software can help employees in local retail businesses love their jobs more.

The structure offered within the Tower Systems POS software helps retail employees spend less time on mundane tasks and more time nothings that benefit the business, and through this, themselves. It also helps them help customers, and everyone loves that!

Loving your job starts with being good at it and being good at a job in retail starts with having good software to use to enable you to serve the business and its customer well. There is where the 4 points covered in the video play.

Tower Systems offers access to a knowledge base, a live, searchable, online documentation resource. Each article is training, writing in plain English, offering dot point step by step advice on how to do things, and why. It its perfect training for anyone wanting to learn how to use our POS software.

Our POS software is elegant, enjoyable, efficient and of current design. All of this matters as retail employees can be sure they are using something up to date, something relevant, and learning skills that will be transferable either within the retail business or in another retail business where they move.

We back up our training with one on one training opportunities for anyone keen to go further. This training is tailored to specific business needs. We are grateful to have served many of our customers with this personal training.

We also offer group training, which is recorded for people to access wherever and whenever they wish.

We know that the better retail employees understand a business and the tools it uses, the more valuable they feel and value is central to enjoyment … and retention in a business.

These are just some of the ways Tower Systems helps.

Small business retail advice: How a local small retail business can compete with a big business

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When it comes to retail, there are two types of businesses: the big guys and the small shops. The big guys have more resources, which gives them a competitive edge. However, this doesn’t mean that small shops can’t compete with them. In fact, there are several things that small shops can do to level the playing field. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the strategies that small shops can use to compete with big retail businesses.

One of the most important things that small shops can do to compete with big retail businesses is to provide a unique customer experience. Big retail businesses are often focused on volume and efficiency, which can lead to a impersonal customer experience. Small shops, on the other hand, have the opportunity to create a more personal and intimate customer experience. This can be a major differentiating factor for small shops.

A good customer experience flows from structure in the business, workflow structure, which is often guided by POS software. Here at Tower Systems we offer specialty retail business POS software that helps guide workflow, and through this the customer experience … with consistency, certainty and efficiency.

Another way that small shops can compete with big retail businesses is by being more nimble and responsive to customer needs. Big retail businesses often have cumbersome bureaucracy that slows down their ability to respond to customer demand. Small shops, on the other hand, are often able to be more agile and adapt to customer needs more quickly. This can give small shops a significant competitive advantage.

In our POS software, special customer orders are a breeze.

Finally, small shops can also compete with big retail businesses by offering products and services that the big guys don’t. Because they have less resources, big retail businesses often have to be very selective about the products and services they offer. This means that they often don’t offer products and services that cater to niche markets. Small shops, on the other hand, have the opportunity to fill this void and provide products and services that the big guys don’t.

Knowing what sells with what, knowing stock turn, knowing about sell-outs, spotting trends early … these are all ways smart POS software can help local small business retailers stay ahead of bigger businesses.

By using these strategies, small shops can level the playing field and compete with big retail businesses. So if you’re a small shop owner, don’t be discouraged. There are plenty of ways you can compete with the big guys.

Small business retail advice: how to find happiness in owning your retail business

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As a retail business owner, it is important to find ways to be happy and fulfilled in your work. As the leader of the business, how you feel sets the tone for the business. Working on your happiness is important.

While it can be challenging at times, there are many things you can do to create a happy and successful retail business. It starts with planning.

Here are some tips for how to be a happy retail business owner:

1. Find your niche

One of the best ways to be happy as a retail business owner is to find your niche. When you know what kind of products or services you want to sell, it will be much easier to build a successful business. Not only will you be more passionate about your work, but you will also attract customers who are interested in what you have to offer. It’s important your shop is a place you like.

2. Focus on customer service

Another key to happiness as a retail business owner is to focus on providing excellent customer service. When your customers are happy, you will be happy. Make sure you are always friendly and helpful, and go above and beyond to meet your customers’ needs. Good customer service comes from structure, like what we offer in our POS software.

3. Create a positive work environment

Another way to be happy as a retail business owner is to create a positive work environment. This means having a clean and organised store, providing fair wages and benefits to employees, and treating everyone with respect. When you have a positive work environment, it will be easier to attract and retain great employees, which will only improve your business.

4. Have realistic expectations

It is important to have realistic expectations when you are a retail business owner. This means understanding that there will be ups and downs and that you won’t always make a profit. If you can accept that, it will be much easier to handle the challenges that come your way. Setting achievable small goals and tracking progress is a start.

5. Take time for yourself

Don’t forget to take time for yourself. As a retail business owner, it is easy to get caught up in work and forget to take care of yourself. Make sure you schedule some time each week to do things you enjoy, such as reading, going for walks, or spending time with friends and family. When you take care of yourself, you will be better able to take care of your business.

By following these tips, you can find happiness as a retail business owner. When you are happy and fulfilled in your work, it will be much easier to build a successful business. Focus on finding your niche, providing excellent customer service, creating a positive work environment, and taking time for yourself. With these things in mind, you can be well on your way to a happy and successful retail business.

Small business retail advice: how to promote your shop to the local community

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If you own a retail shop, it’s important to let the local community know that you exist! Here are some tips on how to promote your shop to the people who live near you:

Make sure your shop is visible from the street. Put up signs and make sure the storefront is clean and inviting. This may seem obvious. Our advice is, take a moment – go outside your shop, walk along the street and see what others see. Are you noticed? Dopes your shop look inviting? Is it clear what you offer?

Get involved in local events and charity drives. This is a great way to meet potential customers and show them that you’re invested in the community. Being part of the community is a great way to reach the community.

Sponsor a local sports team or another local organisation. This will get your name out there and make people more likely to support your business. Better still, sponsor a team you have a good personal connection with.

Offer discounts or coupons to locals. This is a great way to attract new customers and show people that you appreciate their business. Using our specialty retail POS software you can connect with locals and community groups in a range of ways – raising funds for them, supporting their members, while at the same time benefiting your own business.

Hold events at your shop. This is a great way to get people in the door and show them what you have to offer. make the events fun, enticing and community-focussed. get known as the fun shop where people gather.

By following these tips, you’ll be sure to promote your retail shop to the local community in no time! But … these tips are barely a start. There are so many other ways you can promote your local retail business your local community, including plenty of ways in our Tower Systems POS software that you can do this with easy and for success.

Tower Systems makes specialty retail POS software for local businesses like pet shops, jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, gift shops, music shops, sewing shops, fishing shops, firearms dealers, and more. Local software for local retailers.

How to motivate retail employees in a local small business shop

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One of the most common challenges that small retail business owners face is employee motivation. It can be difficult to keep your team members engaged and enthusiastic, especially if they are dealing with bored customers or challenging tasks. However, motivated employees are essential for a successful business, so it’s important to find ways to keep them inspired. Here are a few tips to help you motivate your employees in a small retail business:

  • Encourage employee input and ownership: Make sure that your employees feel like they are part of the team and that their opinions are valued. Encourage them to take ownership of their work and give them the opportunity to contribute to decision-making.
  • Create a positive work environment: A positive work environment is essential for employee motivation. Make sure that your workplace is clean, comfortable, and organized. Encourage open communication and positive reinforcement.
  • Offer incentives: Offering incentives is a great way to motivate employees. Consider offering rewards for meeting sales goals, completing tasks, or providing excellent customer service.
  • Provide training and development opportunities: Employees who feel like they are learning and growing are more likely to be motivated. Offer training and development opportunities to help your employees reach their full potential.
  • Show appreciation: Showing appreciation is a simple but effective way to motivate employees. Take the time to thank your team members for their hard work and dedication. Let them know that you appreciate their efforts.

Most important, however, is how you motivate yourself. Retail; business owners are the leaders, they set the exam able, the tone and the pace of the business. Motivation can be picked up from watching them, working with them.  So we say the most important advice is to work on motivating yourself, so you can be an encouragement for others.

By following these tips, you can create a motivated and productive team in your small retail business.

Tower Systems can help local small business retailers motivate staff by providing software that encourages efficiency and facilitates day to day enjoyment working in the business. This is software that helps the business provide good customer service, which in itself is motivating.

POS software company transparency

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A few weeks ago we hosted another Zoom meeting for our POS software customers, which we recorded as the majority of customers from your 3,000+ strong community will access the video rather than be with us live. We shared the video and it;’s been a hit. Here now, for others to see, is POS software company transparency in action as we show a brand new software facility, take questions and feedback on it, and engaged in an open Q&A.

The update to which we refer is out, and getting plenty of love, for which we are grateful.

Small business retailers don’t buy software any more, they rent it, for a few dollars a day

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In mid 2019, our POS software company,  Tower Systems moved from the old software sales model to rental.

Today, 3 years on, the move has proven to be a hit with more than 30 newsagents switching to Tower Systems in the last 6 months and many more since mid 2019.

Whereas in the past newsagents would find around $8,000 up front for software, today the cost is $185.00 a month with the newsagent having the option to stop rental at any time. There is no lock-in contract.

This new approach to acquiring modern newsagency software is less of a strain on capital and cash flow in a newsagency business. It also bundles together software support access and software update costs into the single $185.00 a month cost.

Indeed, we made this move for all our POS software, for jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, sewing shops, gift shops, toy shops, pet shops, farm / produce businesses, firearms dealers, and more. Each has access too our specialty POS software for their marketplace under a rental arrangement for a few dollars a day.

With retail businesses now changing hands at a higher cost, the rental model is easy at time of change over as there is no longer a question as to the financial value of the software.

The software offered for rental is the 2022 release of the Tower Systems POS software, the software already in use by more than 3,500 specialty retailers in Australia and New Zealand  newsagents in Australia.

The rental model also provides retailers with access to the Tower Systems proprietary theft check service, the business performance analysis service and low cost ready to use website development services.

The software also provides local retailers with smart tools for engaging with community groups, helping them to deal with the challenge of donation requests in a way that benefits the community groups, shoppers, and the business.

With the goal of helping retailers run more efficient, profitable and valuable retail businesses, the Tower Systems newsagency software packs considerable value for the few dollars a day cost.

The small daily  cost was set in mid 2019 and has not changed since, offering locL retailers certainty when budgeting business tech. overheads.

Tower systems offers a POS software alternative to MYOB Retail Manager

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We are grateful to have switched more MYOB Retail Manager customers to our POS software so far in 2022.

We follow a structured process for retailers making the switch from MYOB Retail Manager, to ensure they are fully trained and as much data is converted as is possible. We are also careful to not pressure people to make the switch. Our pitch is we’re here if you need us.

We respect the place MYOB Retail Manager has played in serving small business retailers. As the alternative to MYOB Retail Manager, Tower Systems seeks to help those retailers lean into opportunities of change.

We are grateful for feedback from small business retailers who have switched from MYOB retail manager to our Tower Systems POS software …

  • We loved that we could start again with our data. We have used MYOB Retail Manager for many years and had not been ideal in our management of the data. The stock was right but the stock on hand was wrong. So switching allowed us to clean the data.
  • Tower were great. They took our MYOB Retail Manager, looked at how we used it and provided advice on how to take that generational leap we needed to shift our business up a notch or two, to make it more viable and competitive.
  • We loved that even though we moved on from MYOB Retail Manager we could keep using MYOB for our account ting software. That was important to us. Tower were great in respecting this.
  • Our data was a mess. We had used MYOB Retail Manager for many years over many different staff. The Tower people helped us get completely clean and accurate data and that has made a huge difference to our business.
  • The personal training was awesome.
  • I like that they didn’t pressure us.

We are grateful for the many former users of MYOB Retail Manager who have joined our user community.

With MYOB Retail Manager at end of life, research options that are out there. Take your time to choose software that serves your needs. If that is Tower Systems, we will do everything we can to make the move stress free for you and your team and commercially valuable for your business.

Welcoming record numbers of POS software customers

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Here at Tower Systems we are grateful for a warm winter welcoming so many new customers using our POS software.

We are grateful for every new customer, and even more so that we have welcomed new customers across a diverse mix of retail business channels: jewellers, sewing shops, garden centres, farm supply businesses, charity shops, community group businesses, toy shops, pet shops, bike shops and pool maintenance businesses.

All of our customer businesses are local and small (in a good way). This is the space in which we are most comfortable. We prefer to be working with those most invested in the business.

Our business is configured for growth from our pre-installation scheduling team to our new customer training team to our post-installation care team to our everyday help desk team. Each of these teams is configured and resourced to help our growing pool of new customers land happily and profitably with our locally made POS software.

2022 is already a bumper year. We are over the moon.

Thank you to every retailer in our community. Your faith and trust in us means the world to all of us here at Tower Systems.

The POS Software Blog

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