CategoryRetail Advice

2025 is proving to be a tough year for some. If your retail business is finding it tough, the advice we share here may be of interest. We put it together following a discussion with a couple of our POS software customers a few days ago. They are doing it tough and wanted to discuss their business.

From supplier price increases and increased freight charges to rising wages and rent, the pressure on the bottom line is coming from every direction fort plenty of local small business retailers. While you can’t control the broader economy, you have direct control over the most critical element of your business’s survival: your cash flow.

Proactive cash flow management is the key to building resilience in a tough economic climate. It transforms you from a passenger to the pilot of your business’s finances. With the crucial Christmas trading period just around the corner, now is the perfect time to implement these practical strategies to strengthen your position.

1. Get Forensic with Your Finances

You can’t manage what you don’t measure. It’s a cliché, and it’s true. A vague sense of your finances is not enough when every dollar counts. True visibility is your first line of defence.

• Action: Create a 12-Week Cash Flow Forecast. This is non-negotiable. A simple spreadsheet that maps out your expected income against your fixed and variable expenses over the next three months will be your most powerful tool. It helps you anticipate shortfalls, identify opportunities to delay non-essential spending, and make informed decisions about stock purchases for the festive season. You don’t need accounting experience to do this. You know your income and your expenses.
• Action: Review Every Single Expense Line. Scrutinise your bank statements and profit and loss reports. Are you paying for software subscriptions you no longer use? Can you get a more competitive rate on your insurance, EFTPOS terminal, or internet plan? Small, recurring savings compound over the year into a significant sum.

2. Optimise Your Stock and Suppliers

For a retailer, inventory is cash sitting on your shelves, and your supplier relationships are your lifeline. Products not selling are dead cash-wise. Managing both effectively is critical.

• Action: Identify and Liquidate Slow-Moving Stock. Run a stock turn report in your POS software. Any item that hasn’t sold in over 90 days is tying up cash that could be used elsewhere. A strategic clearance sale now, before you’re flooded with Christmas stock, can provide a vital cash injection.
• Action: Renegotiate with Your Suppliers. Your suppliers are facing pressures too, and most will prefer a collaborative partner over losing a customer. Have an honest conversation. Ask if you can get a small discount for early payment or, conversely, if you can extend your payment terms from 30 to 45 days on core product lines to ease pressure. Consider placing smaller, more frequent orders to avoid large, upfront cash outlays.

3. Diversify Your Revenue Streams

Relying solely on traditional product sales can make your business vulnerable. Creating new, high-margin income sources can provide a valuable buffer.

• Action: Introduce a Service or Experience. Can you offer a paid workshop, a product repair service, or a personal styling session? These services often have low overheads and bring new customers through your door who may then purchase products. The question is: what else could you sell that you’re not selling today. Dopn’t bind yourself to only what is typically sold in your type of business.
• Action: Promote a Strong Gift Voucher Program. A gift voucher is essentially an interest-free loan from your customer. As we head into the gift-giving season, ensure your vouchers are well-promoted both in-store and online.

4. Make Getting Paid Faster

Closing the gap between making a sale and having the cash in your bank account is a simple but effective way to improve your cash position.

• Action: Review Your Payment Processing Fees. A fraction of a per cent difference in your EFTPOS or e-commerce gateway fees can add up to thousands of dollars over a year. Shop around to ensure you are on the most competitive rate available.

Managing cash flow is not a one-time task; it is an ongoing discipline. By taking these proactive steps today, you can navigate the current squeeze and build a more resilient, stable, and profitable business for the future.

We have served local small business retailers for decades, and we’ve run our own shops. The advice here is advice we have given ourselves.

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While the right POS system for any retail business depends on the specific needs of the retail business, Tower Systems was built to serve  Australian and New Zealand local small business specialty retailers. To see how we can help you…, request a free, no-obligation demo today. 

Call 1300 662 957 in Australia or 0800 444 367 in New Zealand. Or, email sales@towersystems.com.au. 

We often see small business retailers chase what they think is the next big thing that’s already been a big thing for a while and is unavailable to them. This happened recently when a retailer asked us about Labubu. By the time a product goes viral on social media, it’s often too late for small businesses to capitalise on it. Instead, retailers should focus on the vast number of people searching for everyday items they already have in stock.

As we develop websites for retailers who use our POS software we spend time looking at keywords to discover opportunities for attracting visitors online and in-store. This keyword work helps us better serve our customers.

In this video we talk about keywords and share how some everyday keywords can be useful to specialty retail businesses, to remind retailers that they likely have in their shop today items people are looking for that are more important and useful than what they think may be the next big thing.

Our advice: Stop chasing fleeting social media trends and discover the goldmine you’re already sitting on. In your shop today is likely a smarter, more sustainable path to retail success by focusing on the everyday items customers are actively searching for right now. Learn how to tap into the massive, consistent demand for products you likely already have in stock, and build a thriving business on a foundation of what people truly need, rather than what’s just momentarily popular. It’s a simple yet powerful shift in perspective that can lead to lasting stability and growth.

We are grateful to engage with plenty of our customers on keyword opportunities when we are developing a Shopify website for their business. It’s all part of the Tower Systems service.

Videos like this are common from us as we offer free tonic cess practical advice to local small business retailers.

Tower Systems is a small business focussed POS software company developing, and supporting POS software for niche specialty retailers.

Jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, produce businesses, farm supply businesses, fishing shops, pet shops, charity businesses, landscape gardening businesses, antique shops, sewing shops, haberdashery businesses, newsagents and more benefit from this software.

Choosing the right software for your retail business depends on you, since it is your business and you know now what you need. based on decades of helping small business retailers, local retailers, we have advice on how to go about choosing the right software.

Take your time. This is an important decision so treat it as such. Move at your pace and not some pace set by someone else, maybe a sales person who is chasing a monthly target. The right decision could add thousands of dollars to your bottom line every year.

Start by being clear about what you want, what you need. Create this in writing. Don’t start looking at any software until you have your list. Take your time on the list. Ensure everything on the list is a must have as this is where it best you focus your attention. This list should be with you all through the process. Share with those you engage with through the process.

Research online based on your list of needs. Again, take your timer. Doing this research yourself sees you owning the results. If you ask someone else do the work you may have to settle for something you ultimately are not happy with. Good software companies make it easy for you to compare functionality, get pricing and see a list of features without having to talk with someone. Note: companies that are not public about price are more likely to want to sell you to maximise their revenue.

Create a shortlist. For local small business retailers, a good shortlist of POS software companies to consider will be no more than 3. These three should be companies that your research indicates can serve your needs and are within your price point.

Book a demonstration. reach out to the three companies and book a demonstration with each. tell them you will give them 30 minutes. tell them the main requirements you want covered. Typically, software sales people will want longer so they can get you to like them and they can use techniques to close you. You set the time, focus on the software functions that matter most. Ask for it to be recorded with a copy of the recording provided to you. Try and do the demonstrations back to back as this makes comparison easier. Take notes too – especially of every claim made or promise given.

Review. Consider the demonstrations and the information you have gathered. By yourself, in a quiet space, consider everything. If a clear preference does not emerge, ask for another meeting. Ask that they include one of their local support people. Have questions for them as it is the local support people who will play a big role in the success you have with the software.

Make your decision. Consider everything and make the decision that feels right to you and that is backed by the evidence you have gathered. If no company feels right, that’s your decision right there. It’s okay if this is the case. You may need to go deeper with one or more of the candidate companies to consider the further.

If this process that we have outlined for choosing the right software for your small retail business seems too big or that it will take too long. Remember, the right software choice could add trees of thousands of dollars of net provide to your business each year. That right there is the return on your time investment.

Take your time, invest your time, and make the decision that feels right to you, for you, and for your business.

Once you have made your decision, get to it, follow the advice, learn how to use the software and work it hard to ensure it delivers the value you need from it in your business.

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Tower Systems makes and supports POS software for local small business retailers. We are grateful to any who consider our software. If we think we are not a good fit, we will say so. Our POS software pricing is transparent as is the functionality in our POS software.

The Visual Deck is an advanced reporting platform designed exclusively for Retailer users.

First released by Tower Systems ten years ago, this business intelligence platform for local small business retailers helps these businesses thrive thanks to immediate access to business performance data and smart insights.

It provides near real-time sales and business insights that you can access anytime, anywhere – no need for remote access to your store. Customise your dashboard to focus on the key metrics that matter most to your business and generate weekly and monthly performance reports to keep your operations on track.

The Visual Deck with our POS software sends an email weekly and monthly outlining business performance across a range of key performance indicators for the business. The visual representation of performance makes understand the health of the business easy and the decision opportunities even easier.

We have dramatically cut the time needed by retailers to access data, understand it and make decisions based on it. The emails weekly and monthly is another way our Tower Systems POS software is helping small business retailers run more enjoyable and valuable local retail businesses.

This cloud-based platform is accessible from anywhere. It provides live access to retail business performance KPIs, helping small business retailers better understand what is happening in their businesses.

This is smart retail management, time saving retail management, profit-focussed retail management. This is the Tower Systems POS software solution.

We first released our visual insights solutions years ago. We have regularly enhanced these ever since. Today, what we offer in this space of reports-free retail; business insights is best-practice, smart and, again, profit-focussed.

Gone are the days of spending hours wading through reports. Who has the time?

Instant Insights, Anywhere You Go

• Real-Time Updates – Sales data is refreshed within minutes, keeping you up to date with the latest trends.
• Cloud-Based Access – Monitor your store’s performance from any device, no matter where you are.
• Customisable Dashboard – Track what’s important to you with personalised tiles displaying key business insights.

Data-Driven Decision Making

With the Visual Deck, you get clear, visualised data to help drive smarter business decisions, including but not limited to:

• Month-on-Month Performance – Compare sales trends from recent months to the same period last year.
• ABC Inventory Analysis – Identify your most and least valuable stock with intuitive grading.
• Trending & Declining Products – Spot hot sellers and underperforming items at a glance.

Olivis & Grace in Mount Lawley, Perth is, we think, the best gift shop in Perth. Okay, we are biased, they are a customer, and we created their website.  The thing is, Olivia & Grace and a wonderful and ever-changing fist shop. We were last there a few weeks ago and it is an inspiring local small business transformation story.

A year ago, we got to talk with the owner about what they had done already up to then:

What was a newsagency is now an inspiring local gift shop that people will travel hours to visit, and shop.

We think it’s the best gift shop in Perth.

Matt bought a traditional newsagency shop in late 2020. It was his first retail business. He knew he wanted to reinvent the business, to be relevant and appealing.

In less than 4 years Matt with his family and team have transformed the business into a thriving and loved local shop in Mount Lawley 10 minutes out of Perth.

While it’s called Mount Lawley News, this shop is not a newsagency, not what you think of as a newsagency. It’s a gift shop, a fun place to shop, somewhere you’re likely to find a gift for just about any occasion.

As Matt shares in this video, he embraces the opportunities of change, and he shows that even though the shop has been transformed, he’s not done. What he has created online through the website as well as on social media is fresh, engaging, and successful.

We are grateful to Matt for the opportunity to find out more. Be sure to check out their website: http://www.oliviaandgrace.com.au.

Helping local retailers thrive is in our DNA here at Tower Systems. Small local retail is at the heart of local communities. Our software can reveal opportunities and help local retailers transform their businesses based on data, evidence, as to the path they can take ahead.

Our specialty retail POS software offers insights specie to your business, insights based on your data, insights that lay a solid path for decision making. We back our software with retail experience and the ability to help you interpret data results revealed by our POS software.

We’re not your usual software company.

It’s Friday April 11, 2025. Here are 5 things we think any shop could do to boost sales this weekend:

1. Reset the counter. Seriously. Take everything off. Only put back on items that genuinely add value. Include at least 3 things people will buy on impulse. Be sure to have at least one thing you’d not expect to sell at the counter. The goal here is for you to be surprised at the results.
2. Reset the first 3 metres. Go outside the entrance and walk in as if you are the customer. Try and only look at what they’d look at. Move what’s not working and replace it with items people will buy from close to the entrance.
3. Refocus on loyalty. If you use a loyalty program, like the awesome discount vouchers in our software, talk to all your team members and ensure they are on board, pitching to every shopper.  Discount vouchers help infrequent shoppers spend more in their visit with you.
4. Demonstrate. Choose a product that you can demonstrate on the shop floor. The best one is where you have a team member engaging with the product but not in the usual boring demonstration type way. This shop floor interaction is all about shoppers noticing a product they might not otherwise notice.
5. Change up your music. Select a completely different playlist to usual. Lift the volume too. Spotify has retail shop playlists ready to go.
6. Do more. Okay, this is point 6 and we said there would be 5. That’s the point here – do something unexpected. If you have products people can eat – offer samples. If you have products people use in a certain way – show them how to do this. If you have products people need training with – offer training. Go the extra mile and show your business as providing a level of service and engagement that is more than typical.

Let’s go back to loyalty. If you’re not using our discount vouchers tools, try them. Setup is easy and the customer reaction is usually terrific. If you follow our advice ion settings the vouchers will pay for themselves easily.

This advice is part of our general retail advice. It is offered to help local retail businesses thrive.

Tower Systems is not your usual software company. We leverage our own retail experience and years of service of awesome local retail businesses to offer advice any local retailer could use.

2025 will bring higher labour and retail occupancy costs. Indie retailers will have to do more to cover these costs. Then there are the challenges of evolving consumer behaviours, the impact of technological advancements and smarter big business competitors with resources to leverage AI.

The interplay between inflationary pressures and shifting consumer expectations around quality and affordability poses complex hurdles. Consumer sentiment has shown volatility, particularly influenced by economic uncertainty, which necessitates a strategic response from small retailers to foster consumer confidence and enhance shopping experiences.

Let’s look at the shift in consumer behaviour. The definition of value is evolving among consumers, particularly as they become more discerning in their expectations for discounts and affordability. Today’s shoppers are not just looking for lower prices; they expect a hybrid approach that combines quality and affordability, presenting a unique opportunity for retailers who can innovate in their pricing strategies. This shift requires businesses to rethink their value propositions and enhance the customer experience to meet the changing demands.

Sitting still is not an option for independent retailers in 2025.

There are significant opportunities for growth and innovation. AI in smart retail software will help with labour costs, speed and value of decision making and facilitate business flexibility for those who embrace it. Embracing sustainability will attract more shoppers. Offering in-store experiences will nurture a love of the business. Being smarter online will help retailers reach more shoppers.

Ultimately, the path forward for Australian small business retailers in 2025 will be shaped by their (our) willingness and ability to adapt, and the speed with which we do this.

Sitting still is not an option for independent retailers in 2025.

Here at Tower Systems we help local small business retailers innovate by providing access to smart software loaded with time-saving and money-making tools. We love helping local retailers thrive in-store as well as online. We only serve local small business retailers.

Selecting Point of Sale (POS) software appropriate to the business is a critical decision for any independent, small retail business. A well-chosen system can significantly enhance your business’s value and prosperity, while a poor choice can be costly.

To make an informed decision, it’s essential to carefully consider your business’s unique characteristics.

• Specialisation: If your business caters to a specific niche, seek out POS software designed for similar businesses.
• Local Focus: If supporting local businesses is a core value, consider locally developed and supported POS solutions.
• Expertise: To establish yourself as a local specialist, your POS system should facilitate efficient and consistent service delivery.
• Services: If you offer repair or maintenance services, your software should accommodate these functions.
• Product Bundling: For businesses selling bundled items, the POS system must effectively manage these configurations.
• Customer Retention: If you operate in a tourist area, loyalty programs can be crucial for maximising repeat business.
• Product Weight: If you sell products by weight, your POS system should have this functionality.

By carefully considering these factors, you can identify the specific features and capabilities required in your ideal POS software.

It’s important to remember that while price is a factor, it shouldn’t be the sole determining factor. Just as you advise customers to avoid compromising on quality for price, the same principle applies to POS software. Investing in a higher-quality system upfront can yield significant long-term savings and benefits.

To facilitate comparison, consider the weekly cost of software rather than the upfront investment. This approach allows for a more accurate evaluation of value for money, considering factors such as support services and software functionality.

If you’re uncertain about a particular software package, it’s advisable to explore alternatives. It’s better to decline a system that doesn’t fully meet your needs than to endure ongoing frustrations. However, be prepared to adapt some business processes to align with your chosen software.

Once implemented, it’s crucial to follow the software provider’s recommendations and fully utilise the training provided.Embracing suggested business process changes can optimise the system’s effectiveness.

Data accuracy is essential for successful POS software utilisation. Implement strict data entry procedures to ensure reliable information for decision-making.

Building a strong relationship with your software provider can be mutually beneficial. Sharing feedback and suggestions can contribute to the software’s ongoing development and improvement.

By leveraging your POS system to automate tasks, you can free up valuable time for strategic planning and customer interaction.

Implementing new software can be challenging. Focus on the long-term benefits of increased efficiency and satisfaction once the system is mastered.

Ultimately, the POS software you choose should reflect your business’s identity. Invest time in careful consideration to select a system that aligns with your goals and drives your business forward.