The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
We are grateful to have been able to attend Shoptalk 2022 live in Las Vegas last week, along with thousands of retailers and tech experts working with retailers. here is some of what we are prepared to share publicly in terms of insights:
Thanks to seamless integration of the Tower Systems POS software and a beautiful Shopify website created by Tower Systems, sales of the Tooth Fairy Kit by the Royal Australian Mint are through the roof.
With hundreds of units sold in the first weeks of 2022, the results this year are already triple for the whole of 2021 and 2019 by comparison.
The Tooth Fairy Kit is a huge success, and the POS software has played a key role in this success.
By managing the product through the POS software and feeding this to the Shopify site, leveraging keywords and images, it is easy for shoppers to find the Tooth Fairy Kit online.
The ease of finding a destination product is key for online sales. This is where managing the data centrally and accurately plays a role. How the Tower Systems POS software manages the data for the Tooth Fairy Kit is a key factor in the success of the product.
The $25.00 Kit is a perfect gift for any child of the age of losing first teeth. It nurtures imagination and offers fun. It is a wonderful gift from grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles. It is a keepsake gift, a reminder decades later of those early days of mystery and wonder.
The Tower Systems POS software helps achieve the sales through data management and flowing this through to the Shopify website for selling mint coins sources from the Royal Australian Mint.
The 2022 Tooth Fairy Kit is a huge success this year thanks in part to this technology marriage created bay the Tower Systems POS software and web development teams. It is another online sales success story for the company and its service of local small business retailers.
As a POS software company we are product driven as it is the sale of products that funds technology purchases by retailers. We know that the more we help retailers achieve sales success the more they will appreciate what we do and this is good for our business, because it has been good for their business.
Tower Systems developer and sells POS software and beautiful websites for specialty retailers across a range of retail channels, including retailers who sell the Tooth Fairy Kit.
We are grateful to be hosting another POS software customer Zoom meeting shortly.
Every Zoom session with our customers is a treat. We appreciate the feedback and we appreciate the opportunity to share progress.
In a few minutes, we will be sharing more exciting news …
We are grateful to have participated in The Retail Summit in Dubai this week. Here is a video we shot yesterday for our customers on some of the insights.
Here is a video we shot a couple of weeks back in which we discuss opportunities for retailers outside traditional seasons. While shot by us for the 200+ members of the newsXpress marketing group, this video speaks to a key difference our POS software company offers. We talk about retail and one way local retailers can differentiate.
Here’s a video from our CEO, from a month ago in which we explore this:
You can imagine how thrilled we were to discover that the POS software we made for bike shops worked for pool maintenance, pool care and pool supplies businesses. yes, the exact same software worked for them. We were excited when a pool shop maintenance business owner showed us the perfect fit. What a treat!
Here at Tower Systems we are all about making POS software for specialty retail and, frankly, we’d never thought of the pool maintenance / pool care supplies businesses as businesses we could service. We were ignorant, as we soon learnt.
The inventory management, serial number tracking, product care, services tracking, chemical product note management, customer reminder and other tools work well for people in pool supplies and pool maintenance businesses.
Using this software, swimming pool maintenance and care businesses are able to track inventory, track labour, render invoices, create quotes and do much more to have a better handle on the business day to day and to spot trends that can be leveraged into the future.
Within the swimming pool care and maintenance software, you can remember use and care instructions for each product. While this is optional, it offers the business the ability to be more than a seller of products. Selling products with information, intellectual property, can differentiate the business and this is key to return business.
Our swimming pool maintenance and care products software is live and being demonstrated.
Now, here are some questions we have answers to:
Can I use the software on the road? yes.
Can I transact business on the road? yes.
Can I use the software to manage repairs? Yes. You can track jobs, parts and labour. Plus, communication with customers is streamlined.
Can I remind customers about servicing? Yes.
Can I do this by text or email? Either, we support both.
Can I look-up historical servicing records for a specific customer? Yes.
Can I create a quote for a customer and manage this? Yes.
Can I track / manage quotes? Yes.
Can I track using parts from my shop and labour to make other products? Yes.
Can the software track special or one-off orders for customers? Yes, from the moment the order is placed.
Can I manage selling second-hand items? Yes.
Can I group items together to sell in a pack or bundle? Yes, it’s easy to create packs using the software.
Does the software track product serial numbers? Yes. You have a couple of different ways you can do this.
Can I sell some items by colour, size and style? Yes.
Can I sell some items by weight or measure? Yes.
We kinds smile when we see POS software companies use avatars on their website. here at Tower Systems we prefer to be authentic, showing ourselves for it’s us who will serve you. Well, us and and awesome team of software developers, help desk people, trainers and back office admin people.
Here’s a video we made recently where we speak to this authenticity.
We urge small business retailers to take care when selecting an individual or business to undertake Shopify web development. Inside the Shopify web developer ecosystem there are people who take the money, do the bare minimum and run – failing the retail businesses that paid them.
How do you spot a Shopify web developer who is not likely to serve the needs of your retail business? Here is our advice …
Look at their quote. Is it professionally laid out? Is it well written? Is it understandable? Is it complete? If it is none or only some of these things they may not be the developer for you for if they take this approach representing themselves what approach will they take representing you?! we say … be particularly concerned about text based quotes.
Look for understanding. In their words there should be indicators that they understand your needs and that they want to understand your needs. The website is all about you and your business after all.
Speak to them. We have seen shonky web developers void this at all costs. Speak to them. Talk with them. Engage in conversation. You are looking for someone you can trust your business with. Speak to them.
Look at them. Ask for a Zoom meeting, so you can meet face to face. Ask them to show you sample Shopify sites in this meeting and to explain why each is a good sample site for you to consider./ Sometimes we see web developers avoid Zoom meetings so they can hide behind typed words. face to face c an be revealing.
Say you don’t understand. Tell them you don’t understand some or all of their pitch. Test their patience. See if they meet you at a tech jargon level that you are comfortable with. Challenge them. test them. It is vital they use words and terms you understand. They haver to meet you, not you them.
Be in control. You are the customer. You choose the web developer you go with. decide whether you accept their quote and their terms. You do these things when it suits you. Do not succumb to pressure as anyone pressuring you on timing may be serving their needs and not yours.
Website development right now is like the 1800s gold rush – fast, unregulated with a lot of people being negatively impacted along the way and only a few finding gold.
Take your time. Be sure of what matters to you. Choose the business you want to work with, they business you think can hell you achieve what you want.
Know that you get what you pay for. by that we mean … some web developers under quote as a business model either because they will cut corners or because they know they can charge extra for what they did not know at the start. Again, take your time, be sure of your needs, and remember the carpenter adage: measure twice, cut once. Time spent before you make a decision on your Shopify web developer could ensure that the outcome is better for you and your business.
here at Tower Systems, we develop Shopify websites for retailers using our POS software.
There is POS software and then there is the right POS software for your business. The difference between POS software and the right POS software can be huge.
It’s not about price.
Even though plenty of companies what you think it is about price.
They want you think it is about price because they compete on price.
Competing on price is easy, and lazy, as any retailer knows.
People who buy based on price are not loyal.
Any, loyalty matters when it comes to POS software.
Because,
… you want your POS software company to invest in their software, the software you are using.
… you want them to serve you, and not spending their time chasing more and more people who want to pay the least possible.
… you want more from the software for your business, more than a quick dopamine hit on price.
It’s not about price because that’s the least of the cost of POS software.
The best POS software saves you time.
The best POS software helps you made better decisions.
The best POS software helps you stand out.
The best POS software helps you attract shoppers who are loyal to your business.
The best POS software helps you nurture better employees.
The best POS software helps reduce your stress levels.
The best POS software is about money because of all these things.
The best POS software will help you run a more enjoyable and valuable retail business.
Take your time.
Make the right decision.
Too often, we see POS software companies pressure small business retailers into making a quick decision. They chase sales, putting on pressure.
Don’t succumb to pressure. make the decision you feel the best about, when you are ready.
Get this right and you can tap into some awesome benefits from the right POS software for your retail business. Here are benefits we think we offer retailers we partner with:
These are tangible deliverables. And, the list is incomplete. Using our POS software you can expect more benefits than these.
Smart POS software makes doing a stock take easier, more accurate and more valuable.
Based on the years of experience from Tower Systems helping local retailers to undertake stock takes, here are the top 5 things retailers discover about their business after doing a stock take:
A stock take is when a retailer counts the stock (using g their POS software) that they have in their shop and any other location holding stock,. This exercise enables them to check stock levels, identify shortages and calculate their stock turnover ratios .
A stock take also helps retailers to plan for future stock levels by updating their stock estimation methods if necessary. It can be conducted at any point between monthly or quarterly.
A stock check is a good time for a retailer to reflect on their stock levels and stock management processes. Here are five things that retailers often learn from stock takes:
1. To count stock accurately, you need to know where your stock is
A stock take will usually show how much stock has been counted as being in the store, but it may also show stock that was not counted or stock that has disappeared. This is nothing to worry about though, as stock may have been misplaced or damaged during the stock check anyway.
2. Sometimes stock takes are not conducted regularly enough for them to be used in stock estimation methods
If stock checks are conducted infrequently there may be too much stock variation between stock checks for stock estimation methods to be reliable. This means that stock estimations will not reflect the retailer’s current stock levels or future stock requirements. In this case, stock estimations need to be updated using a more up-to-date method .
3. Stock takes can provide valuable information about how inventory is being used
Stock takes can show what stock is being sold and how the stock turnover ratios of each store is performing. It may also show stock that sat unwrapped on shelves and stock that was out-of-date or damaged.
4. A stock take will reveal stock that has not been entered into stock records
It’s likely that some stock has not been recorded in stock records. This stock may be stock that was sold but not entered into stock records, stock that was stolen or stock that went out of date without being used (and has now expired).
5. Stock takes can help retailers identify theft and loss
A stock check can reveal stock shortages caused by theft or loss which will enable retailers to take action such as tightening stock control processes or increasing security. It may also show stock that was not counted and stock that has disappeared.
Any local Australian retail business that wants to see local shoppers engage with local retailers should consider these benefits of local Australian made POS software:
Of course, we’ll pitch this as we are a local Australian POS software company serving local Australian retailer needs.
While this is a nice emotive case, the real decision has to be what’s best for your business. Now, best can be about the tech. of the software or the broader assist from the company to your business and the local community we share.
Here at Tower Systems we are grateful to have been chosen by more than 3,000 local retail businesses in Australia.
Thank you.
We are grateful to kick off this New Year with a major POS software update that delivers several new facilities we know local small business retailers will love.
In the field testing is set to ramp-up. We’ll have this update in the hands of our customers in no time.
We’re so excited to share with you what we have made.
In the meantime, we have scheduled a live preview / demonstration for all of our customers next week – the first of our regular POS software customer Q&A opportunities for 2022.
We are looking for more ReactJS (Typescript) developers to join our team. Being in Melbourne would be a plus, but we will absolutely consider interstate candidates.
Working within our agile team you will be encouraged to offer suggestions, provide input from past experiences, and truly own what you code. We are not big on hierarchy or position titles. Our only goal is to create a truly unique product and experience for our customers. If you see yourself as the type of person who can work closely with our small team, enjoy being challenged and want to be the pedals rather than just a link in the chain we encourage you to apply today.
About you
Tower Systems is a Melbourne based POS software company developing software solutions for local small business retailers.
We are grateful for the plenty of views of this video we published last month in which we discuss some of the enhancements to our small business POS software in recent years. The feedback from the video has been terrific. We are grateful to have welcomed new customers for our POS software as a result.
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