We are grateful to help local retailers hug their business.
Hug your local retail business and it will love you more
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Why we Think Shark Tank Sends the Wrong Message to Small Business Owners
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Shark Tank is an award-winning show where entrepreneurs pitch ideas to a panel of wealthy investors. The focus is often around the opportunity for scaling the pitched business, as if this is the key measure of success.
A profitable small business is likely to be more satisfying for the owners than a business pursuing scale.
Chasing scale is risky, and expensive. The ones who make money from the pursuit of scale are service providers along the way: speakers, authors and gurus who talk up scale, consultants who ‘help’ others scale and myriad businesses engaged in helping businesses scale.
There is an industry that supports scale because it is profitable for them. We’d put Shark Tank in the mix here.
We get that some people start their businesses to be uber successful so they can sell for a high price.
We are more interested in people who start a business because of a belief in what their business will do, what it does for and offers others, how lives benefit from and because of it. Often, these businesses are small, local.
The obsession on Shark Tank with profit and scale gives would-be entrepreneurs the wrong message. We’d rather see a show about local small businesses that make a difference locally. The thing is though, it may not be watchable TV. It may not have the pot of gold allure.
We need to celebrate successful local small businesses. The owners of those businesses are likely to be happy, satisfied.
Tower Systems serves local small business retailers. We are grateful to serve thousands of them, helping them be efficient, profitable and enjoyable. We see the value they bring to local communities every day and the employment they offer so many. In these businesses we see a terrific contribution to the economy.
Local small business retailers are vital to local towns. They make a difference. Kudos to them for this.
POS software EFTPOS machine options that help small business retailers save money
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A modest Aussie gift shop was paying more than $9,000 a year for their POS software from a US company by way of EFTPOS fees. They went with the company because the software was free.
It was only when they needed the software to do something that it did not do that they started looking around.
The owners of this awesome local gift shop were shocked to discover that switching to us cut their POS software and EFTPOS costs in half. It was a bonus that our software had the additional facilities they were seeking.
The cost of ownership of POS software is something retailers need to consider if they are required to use EFTPOS services provided by their tech company.
There may be circumstances where it works well operationally and financially. There will be other circumstances where it does not.
This is why we say to local small business retailers, do your research, be sure you understand the total cost of ownership. What is pitched as FREE is unlikely to be free as every company needs to make money.
EFTPOS machines connected to POS software are a valuable tool. Partnering with a POS software company that connects with multiple EFTPOS machines offers the retailer choice and from choice flows competitive opportunity.
Tower Systems connects with multiple different EFTPOS machines through its POS software. retailers choose what is right for them. The company has offers available, retailers are also welcome to choose their own. The key is to make an informed decision about what is right for the business.
And, thanks to smart POS software EFTPOS machine integrations, charging a surcharge can be done, mistakes are reduced, end of shift reconciliation is easier and handing EFTPOS transaction queries is managed with ease. The EFTPOS machine POS software integrations from Tower Systems serve many different retail channel requirements.
The key, though, is retailer choice.
As our gift shop customer found, the saving could be worth thousands of dollars to the bottom line of the business. “Who’d have thought that something promoted as free cost more than something not wormed as free”, the gift shop owner commented to us after making the shift and experiencing the significantly lower operating cost.
We own and run retail shops ourselves, where we use our own software. We see first hand the value of getting a core cost such as EFTPOS fees right for the business. We know that smart retailers appreciate choice. That’s what we offer a Tower Systems, choice.
Why we choose to serve local small business retailers with our POS software
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Tower Systems was created many years ago to serve small business retailers and we happily remain focused on that mission today.
We love small business retail for the people, their passion and the contributions they make to the communities in which they are situated.
Indeed, it is the contribution that local businesses make to their local communities that matters to us. We see it in many ways from supporting local community groups to local education, offering locally products unavailable elsewhere and offering places for local, makers to sell their wares.
While our Point of Sale software can be used by retail businesses of any size, it is in the small business retailer community where we are most comfortable.
So, why do we like small business retailers?
This is a question we confronted recently in an interview about our history.
Small business retailers play a vital economic role, often punching above their weight in terms of economic contribution.
Small business retailers play an important social role locally, holding, sharing and even adding to the narrative of communities around the world as well as providing practical support for community based endeavours.
Small business retailers help local shoppers with a level of personal service which leads to better buying decisions.
We like these points, especially that small businesses and small business retailers in particular are more like to uphold and carry forward local customs, beliefs and stories. Small businesses support the local voice. This is why small businesses are important in countries like Australia and New Zealand.
So, yes, we enjoy serving small businesses and remaining modest in size ourselves. This is where we think we can actively contribute and do the most good.
The value of a business is not only about financial performance. Its contribution to community is, in our view, equally if, not more, important.
Local small retail businesses rock! We are grateful to serve so many 0of them.
Small business retail advice: finding happiness
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2022 has been some year for sure, packed with challenges, things that can make your retail business less enjoyable than you hoped.
There’s the challenge of staffing, supply chain delays, changing regulations and more. While 2022 has been a good year for many, it has been a tough year, too, and finding happiness in a tough year can be hard for some.
Tower Systems serves thousands of local small business retailers with POS software. We see retail in many situations and, over time, have learnt from these businesses and the people in them.
There is no doubt for us about the value of being happy in retail. But, it’s not something you can decide to feel. It’s not a switch you can flick.
Finding happiness in retail takes planning and engagement throughout the business. While it does sound like work, it is also about respecting the business and that there will always be challenges, and knowing that being happy can help you get through them.
Here are our tips for finding, nurturing and managing happiness in a local retail shop:
Have good data. Yeah, we know this is a boring topic for many. But as a POS software company with decades of experience we know the value of good data. Good data is your rock. Build on a rock and life is, for sure, good. Good data will make you happier because your decisions will be better, and by better we mean you’ll make more money, and that will make you happier.
Be in control. Stop getting pushed around. If a supplier pushes something on your, use your data to deal in the facts. This, too, will make you happier. Facts matter. Any time someone says fro this or that ask for evidenced preferably in your business data. yes, we are still banking on about the value of good business data.
Price for margin. Maximise when you can.
Price for turn. You can’t bank a gross profit percentage until you sell something. So, price to turn, and bank dollars.
Lean on others. Spread the load, share the responsibility. Hire well. Train well. rely on the team to help you and this will make them happier, you happier and the business a happier place overall.
Set your narrative. In social media posts, stories you share in the business and in your marketing set the tone, set the narrative to be positive, happy and optimistic. This will encourage others to do this too. Own your narrative and own your happiness.
Of course, there is way more everyday practical stuff too: happy music paying, happy window displays, happy product displays, featuring happy products, samples, taste tests, games, fun events, giveaways, competitions … all these things and more can make the shop transactionally happy, which is good, too.
Happiness is good for business and all who interact with it.
Good luck. Now, get out there and smile. 😃
Poop clean up! … stories from local small business retail
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There was this time a a kid, maybe 5 or 6, pooped in the shop, in an aisle over from where their parents were standing. It happened quickly. Pants down. Poop. Walk away.
A staff member saw it and approached the parents. They said their kid would never do something like that. The staff member told them they saw it. The parents asked the kid and the kid ran off. See, they said, not our kid.
The staff member said they could show them a video of their kid pooping because there is a camera in that aisle.
The parents said it was appalling that they filmed kids in the shop and left, shouting what a disgusting smell as they walked out.
The staff member cleaned up the poop.
This is not an uncommon story in local small business retail. People doing things in public that disrupt, damage and hurt a local shop. The shop team members and owner are usually helpless to defend themselves as people caught in these situations often go ‘feral’ and cause more noise and trouble than it’s worth to defend.
It is a dark part of retail that makes it challenging, and upsetting often.
People seem to think that an open shop is open game for behaving in ways that tend to not be acceptable at home. It’s why some retailers leave their shops earlier than they planned when they bought the business or opened it. Its;s a reason people leave working in retail.
Cleaning up poop, vomit and urine is challenging, as is dealing with theft, fights, and more. Every day in some shops there are challenges. Every day can be hard.
Sure, there are bright sides, too, but there are dark days as well.
What makes it a bit different for locally owned retail businesses is that anything bad happening in the shop is personal as the owner is often in or not far away from the shop. They feel it, see it and smell it, whereas in big business, the financial stakeholders tend to be a distance from the sights and smells.
We hear the stories when talk with retailers. We empathise as much as we can.
What’s this to do with POS software? Nothing except that we empathise with what retailers deal with every day.
Some thoughts on considering the federal election in the context of smalll business vs. big business, major parties vs. independents – without the politics
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Square POS software alternative for local small business retailers
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here at Tower Systems we make POS software for specialty retail businesses. We have businesses that have switched to us from Square POS as their needs have evolved from the basic to the specialty retail.
Our specialty retail business POS software is different to Square POS software in that we go beyond the everyday POS transactions of tracking sales, inventory and customers.
Our EFTPOS integrated POS software goes beyond Square POS in offering integrations with specialty retail suppliers, specialty retail functionality like repairs management, customer special orders, bagging up your own products, multi-layered loyalty tools and much much more.
While Square POS software serves basic retail needs, we dive deep every day, guided by the evolving needs of the specialty retailers we serve. This includes working with suppliers, retail business owners and the field force working in retail.
Beyond the sales counter, where Square POS software is most loved, in the back room, on the road, on the shop floor and at home ur tower systems specialty retail POS software serves, serves and serves as it helps retail business owners to uncover opportunities, to see what they might otherwise not see in and for their businesses. This is valuable differentiation on which the retailers can rely and bank.
The thing about Square POS is that they say there is no cost for the software, and that you pay a fee per transaction. It’s easy even for a small business to rack up fees using Square POS that make it more expensive than the Tower Systems POS software. take a gift shop, using our POS software, the cost is under $1,200 a year. our of a $300,000 turnover, that equals a percentage of turnover cost of .4%. That’s less than half the cost of Square POS. Plus, a gift retailer using our POS software has access to facilities and serves considerably beyond the Square POS software options.
Our software is Australian made and Australian supported. Our business is Australian, serving the Australian community. these are all factors for businesses that appreciate and support buy local – because they want their customers to appreciate their own local credentials.
If you are thinking about Square POS soft your local retail business, let us show you a comparison, so your decision can be more informed.
The federal budget missed an easy-win job creation opportunity
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The federal budget last night promised the spending of truckloads of cash on projects designed to create jobs. Almost all the forecast spending would be big business related.
While big projects do help the economy and deliver much-needed new or enhanced infrastructure, there are other ways the federal government could spend more to more immediately boost jobs, and boost the economy.
It’s in small businesses, like retail, local service businesses, local software companies and other local businesses where job creation is easy and fast.
The challenge for the government is that a small business focussed job creation investment would be based on many channel specific investments. They may see that as too hard. They could see it as spreading the risk and thereby spreading the reward.
Thousands of targeted investments could deliver more sustainable economic and jobs benefits than one big billion big project spend.
But … we are not against the big projects. What we propose is in addition to those big projects.
Let us unpack this from the small business software company perspective since that a space we know well. Our POS software business competes with a bunch of overseas businesses. While we are doing well, we’d be grateful to do even better.
A dollar spent with us provides more value for Australia than a dollar spent with an overseas competition, much more.
The government would say we benefit from the extension of the instant asset write off. They are right, we do. But, so do all software companies.
Personally, we’d prefer to see the government offer a financial incentive to retailers buying or renting Australian made and Australian supported software. This would see the government investment spent in Australia, more tax revenue for Australia and more job creation.
Let me break that down. In a company like ours, we respond quickly to demand and can hire for entry level help desk roles quickly, offering people new to software and tech entry-level roles. We could be creating jobs in months, and not years like the big projects funded in the budget. And, the jobs we create come with training that positions the new hires for long-term roles in tech.
We can offer a pathway for people with retail experience to develop good tech skills. We can also offer a pathway for older folks to develop a new career in tech. We can offer people with families and challenging schedules flexibility that is family-friendly. We are not alone in being able to do these things. Indeed, there are plenty of service related businesses that can do this.
Another benefit of supporting local specialty business software companies like ours is that they nurture better business efficiency, benefiting the businesses in which the software is used. This benefits the economy. And, since they are small businesses, they will be nimble in leveraging the improved efficiency within their community.
In both of these examples, the software company and local specialty retail, tax dollars stay in Australia, employment growth is more certain and faster, local communities benefit and the economy is, overall, stronger sooner.
Our example here is one of hundreds or thousands the federal government could employ to rapidly boost employment. They should look at businesses that can respond quickly to demand. They would be local businesses serving local communities.
Covid has proven the importance of local. Many who started working from home through Covid will continue, permanently. This presents opportunities for local infrastructure and this is where local small businesses can play a role – businesses that will make a more valuable tax contribution and businesses that can hire for demand more rapidly.
The federal budget is a missed opportunity in the job creation front. It reads like it’s from people who have little understanding how small business works – that we can respond quickly.
We get that politicians will say dealing with a small number of big businesses is easier than wrangling thousands of small businesses. To that we would say try it.
Small businesses in Australia are a resource that few politicians have ever successfully tapped. We are in federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s electorate. We have written to him about these things. He’s not responded. However, he continues to email us about all the good things he has announced.
We are confident that many investments in buy Australian initiatives with and for a variety of small business channels could deliver early job creation wins, a boost in tax revenue and welcome economic support for regional and rural Australian communities.
Zippay merchant POS software connection helps small business retail
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The thousands of small business retailers using the POS software from Tower Systems have access to Zippay merchant facilities embedded in the POS software. Using these the retailers are able to offer access to the Zip buy now pay later facilities across the counter.
Using the Zippay merchant facilities in the Tower POS software, retailers able able to enjoy a commercially valuable alternative to LayBy. It is better for them and better for their customers. indeed, customers love Zip.
Thanks to a thoughtful and compliant integration, Zippay merchant facilities in the Tower Systems software are proven, valuable and commercially enjoyable in retail businesses of many different types. Tower Systems did the integration early in with Zip, bringing the Zip opportunity to life for the first time in many retail niches.
Using the Zippay merchant facilities, retailers have reporting and other tools for the accurate and prper management of their businesses.
Give your customers the power to pay later, interest free and watch your sales grow. Tower Systems and Zip have teamed up two years ago to provide a seamless, interest free payment solution for your customer, allowing your business to benefit from:
- Increased sales volume
- Increased average order values
- Increased customer repurchases
- Now, with a seamless integration with Tower Systems, you can accept Zip payments as soon as you are accredited. Simply enter your credentials.
Get started!
Our Zippay merchant facilities are robust, best practice, useful and enjoyable act the counter and in the back offer. They are true total solution for a business wanting to bring to life a buy now pay later option.
Tower Systems is grateful to the folks at Zip for their engagement and encouragement. It’s a partnership relationship that we value and have learned from.
The Zippay merchant facilities integrated with our POS software bring to life opportunities thanks to the way Zip promotes their retail business partners. The Zip community is strong and growing. Zip shoppers love their service and this can help small business retailers to find shoppers they may otherwise not have found. It’s an example of a valuable mutual relationship.
Tower Systems is grateful to offer Zip as part of a quite of integration solutions with its POS software. This suite of integrations is growing in 2021, which is terrific news. More soon…
Small business retail advice: Unique Selling Proposition
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We work with more than 3,500 small business retailers in our POS software retail community. We are retailers ourselves.
One thing we know to be true – being unique matters. It gives people a reason to consider your business, to shop with you.
Today, we share updated advice on the importance of being unique in any retail business, but especially in local small business retail.
In his 1960 book, Reality in Advertising, Rosser Reeves, a respected US advertising executive, introduced the world to the concept of the Unique Selling Proposition, USP for short.
Reeves defined USP in an advertising context:
- Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer: buy this product and you will get this benefit.
- The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer.
- The proposition must be so strong that it changes consumer behaviour.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the concept of a unique selling proposition evolved from being essential to advertising to being essential in business. Finding your business USP was considered mission critical to businesses, retailers especially. Businesses drifted however and forgot about the importance of a USP.
Jack Trout told us just a few years ago that it was as relevant today. In 2000, he said that a Unique Selling Proposition was mission critical in business in his aptly titled book Differentiate or Die.
Differentiate of Die. There is no doubt about the call to action in the title, no doubt about the consequences of inaction.
You reflect the uniqueness of your business in 2020 through your inventory mix, shop floor storytelling, your online presence, your social media presence, and, how you reflect your own intellectual property, your own knowledge with and through what you sell. Indeed, you are the key, in many retail businesses, you are the USP.
A good USP will not require an advertising campaign to communicate. It will become obvious through the decisions you make and the actions that follow.
By living the USP in every facet of the business you soon become seen as unique by shoppers and this can drive excellent word of mouth and success for the business.
So, what us your USP and how is it reflected in your business in-store, online, on socials and elsewhere?
It’s Black Friday, a key day in retail, and we’re grateful to help small business retailers
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Shop small, shop local – how Tower Systems helps small business retailers
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Here at Tower Systems we believe in shop small. We love small business and small business retailers in particular. This is what shop small is about – supporting local small businesses.
Shop small matters because small businesses are more likely to support local communities. This is what we see in communities across the country where local shops are fast to offer support for community groups.
Shop small and the local community benefits. That’s it in a nutshell.
Through our POS software we help small business retailers to leverage the shop small and shop local opportunities … everyday through the POS software and levers that are available in the POS software.
Using marketing tools, customer communication tools and more our POS software helps small business retailers to demonstrate how shop small works. We offer multiple communication platforms through our POS software, through which small business retailers can pitch and reinforce their shop local messages. We also help small business retailers to go beyond telling and to actually show – you know … like show, don’t tell. We help small business retailers differentiations titan in their shop local messaging, to demonstrate in real terms their local community connection.
We love shop local campaigns because they absolutely do focus attention on the value for the community of shopping local. They bring to live the benefits for local community groups and local folks to be gained from supporting local businesses. This is what shop small shop local is about – the very circular nature of local communities.
The more community groups and their members shop small shop local the more those local businesses that benefit can support the groups.
Here are the benefits to shoppers who engage with shop small, shop local:
- Local jobs, which benefit the local community more broadly.
- Local makers, boosting local creativity.
- Local community groups, they depend on locals for support and they support locals.
- Save time.
- Save money on travel.
- Make the community better.
- Nurture local happiness.
- Make were you live a better place.
Shop small, shop local is about these things and more. It reaches beyond commerce and into the come and into community groups to make the whole local community better. It really can make a difference to living locally. This is where local small businesses can make a measurable difference.
We are grateful to help small business retailers engage with shop small, shop local.
Shopify website development for small business retailers in Australia
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Tower Systems is proud to offer local, Australian-based, Shopify website development for small business retailers.
We have a team of skilled Shopify web developers, all working from our Hawthorn, Victoria, head office. This is in addition to our POS software developers. Both development teams work together, helping to create valued solutions for small business retailers.
We offer a one stop shop service whereby we offer specialty retail POS software and beautiful Shopify websites connected to this POS software. The connection is safe, fast and seamless. The Shopify websites we develop are made specifically for each retailer customer, to their needs, meeting their requirements, populated with data that is collated through the integrated POS software.
Being a Shopify website developer and a POS software developer in the one business and being Australian based positions us well to serve the needs of local Australian retailers.
We offer more of an end to end Shopify website development solution for small business retailers. Since we are retailers ourselves and using Shopify websites created by us, we bring that experience to life in our own shopper engagement.
Our Shopify website development for small business retailers is done on a fixed price basis. We do this because it is important that small business retailers know exactly what their cost basis will be. We collect information up front to ensure that the fixed price approach serves the needs of our customers, to ensure that the site is the solution our customers are looking for.
handing freight, payment type and other requirements, we help retailers to being to life online their retail businesses or at least parts of their retail businesses. We do this with care from a retailer first perspective. Too often, we see websites created from a tech first perspective and while this is cool for the tech folks, it does not serve the retailer well.
Selling online is a retail activity. It needs to be approached from a retail first perspective. This is what we do. As retailers ourselves we understand this from a unique perspective and through this we are able, we think. to provide our retailers with a Shopify website solution that is fit for purpose with them very much in mind.
An early look at Christmas 2020 in local small business retail in Australia
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We are grateful to the many retailers who have shared recent year on year comparative sales data. This has enabled us to a deep dive into shopper traffic, basket depth and product category performance. We have done this to get an early look into what Christmas 2020 in local small business retail might look like.
The headline is that Christmas 2020 looks good in local small business retail.
Local high street retailers are doing considerably better than shopping mall retail. Suburban, regional and rural high street retail businesses, for which we have comprehensive sales data, are doing very well. They are experiencing solid double-digit year-on-year growth. For the dataset of 60+ businesses in our latest analysis, the average year on year revenue growth is 22%.
What is interesting is that the spike in revenue growth is not matched in a spike in shopper traffic. Rather, the revenue spike has come from shoppers buying more in each visit, driving better shopper efficiency. We are seeing average sale value increase by between 10% and 25%.
The dataset includes business across all states and territories except for the Northern Territory. The results are universal. There appears to be no difference between Victoria, which was in lockdown for some of the weeks under analysis and other states that were not in lockdown.
In terms of Christmas specifically, data indicate excellent year on year growth in Christmas card sales. The same is true for Christmas decorations, Christmas-themed home decor and gift wrap. Year on year growth is, again, 20% and more.
Locally made products are doing particularly well. Shoppers continue to engage with supply chain questions. A common question relates to sourcing from China.
Also of note is excellent growth in sales of calendars and diaries. The diaries growth encourages an optimistic outlook on 2021. Smart retailers are pitching it as that and having some fun with putting 2020 in the past.
Back in March, in the early days of Covid in Australia, jigsaws were hot. They sold out fast. Some expected the surge to fade over time. The latest sales data for October and even into the first two weeks of November suggest otherwise. Yes, jigsaw sales remain strong. half of the stores in the latest dataset sell jigsaws and every one of them is reporting year on year growth. The average of that growth is 150%. Key is breadth of range of supply.
In addition to the jigsaw growth, crafts, art, maker kits and similar are all showing strong results.
Comfort gifts are especially strong. Core in this category is plush. Plush is often dismissed as being tired or ho hum. We have seen sales in the plush space up as much as 50% off a strong base. In one local high street retail business in one recent week, for example, they did $1,850.00 in everyday plush, more than double their usual sales. Range, again, is key this this success.
Not reflected in the POS software collected data is anecdotal evidence that people are spending more this Christmas. Many retailers spoke to this. They spoke of shoppers saying they were spending more on loved ones as well as buying gifts for some they would not usually buy for.
There is the wonder as to the role of government stimulus funding on the sales results. While retailers think is is a factor, they do not see it as the key factor. If time does reveal it as a key factor, local small business retailers will respond accordingly. They are an agile bunch.
Considering the sales data and the and the anecdotal comments, Christmas 2020 looks strong. Plenty of retailers are already talking up the first quarter of 2021.
46 Christmas marketing tips for small business retailers
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Yeah, it’s odd for a POS software company to offer Christmas marketing tips to retailers because … we are tech people and not retailers. That may be true for some.
Tower Systems has owned and run retail businesses since 1996.
We are not your usual POS software company. We actively share marketing tips with our customers. Here are some Christmas marketing tips for retailers that we hope some find useful, or at least inspiring to you to develop your own.
We offer you 46 low cost and no cost Christmas marketing tips for retailers ideas to help create a different Christmas experience in your business.
- Always:
- Have tape with wrapping paper.
- Have wrapping paper with cards, at the counter and with magazines.
- Have Christmas bags at the counter.
- Have tape at the counter.
- Pitch easy to purchase ready to go hampers close to the counter.
- Keep displays fresh.
- Run your loyalty programs through Christmas – to bring them back.
- Make it easy. People often talk about how hard Christmas is. Be the local business that makes it easy. The ways to do this are with easy Lay-By, free wrapping, better shop floor help, guide buying advice or tips on perfect gifts no one else will think of. Consider making Christmas easy as being a key part of your messaging.
- Host a simple party. To preview Christmas, say thank you to shoppers and support a local cause. Do it when the shop is closed. Limit numbers. have some drinks and food. Have fun. Celebrate.
- Use video. To promote products on social media.
- Offer impulse purchase of often forgotten lines. At the counter, with newspapers, next to weekly magazines.
- Offer help. For kids and others who ,may find choosing a card or writing a card difficult.
- Visit nursing homes. With some gifts and cards for easy shopping.
- Be thrilled people are in your shop. Your personal smile or greeting is something they may not see in a big business where employees are less invested in each shopper and where the owner is usually thousands of kilometers away.
- Make the giving easy. If people purchase items from you to send somewhere else. Offer a one-stop shop. Save them the trip to the post office.
- Make the shop less about Christmas. Consider pulling back on the Christmas visual noise. Go for something simple, muted, respecting the season but making a calm statement. Consider declaring the shop a Christmas carol free zone – not because you hate carols but because you want to help customers take a break.
- Help people rest and recharge. Create a Christmas shopping rest and recovery zone. Offer free tea, coffee, water and something to eat. Encourage people to take a break in your shop – without any obligation for them to spend money with you.
- Let your customers help each other. Setup a whiteboard or sheets of butcher’s paper, yes keep it simple. Get customers to write gift suggestions under different age/gender groups. For example: Girls 18 – 25, Boys 55+. Encourage your customers to help each other through their suggestions.
- Make price comparison difficult. If you sell items people are likely to price compare with other businesses, package them so price comparison is not easy. Put items into a hamper as a perfect Boy 8 to 12 bundle for example. Or offer the item with pre packages services if appropriate for an item.
- Less is more. The stack em high watch em fly mantra can be wrong. Indeed, it is often wrong in retail. Shoppers can be store blind because a shop is too full or a display is too busy. Consider creating simpler less cluttered displays and window promotions. Draw attention to what you want people to see by promoting that one thing. Every time someone asks if you have something that you think through should be able to find easily – take it as a challenge for you to address rather than a commentary on a facility of the customer.
- Change. Christmas season in your shop should evolve. Major change weekly is vital for people to see what you have that they could buy.
- Be socially engaged. On Facebook, Instagram, twitter and elsewhere, be the calm voice, the person people enjoy reading or seeing photos from. Provide entertainment this Christmas rather than the usual retailer shrill of come and shop here!
- Be community minded. Choose a local charity or community group to support through Christmas. Consider: a change collection tin at the counter; a themed Christmas window display; promotion on your social media pages; a donation to their work; a collection point for donations from customers.
- Facilitate sharing stories. Find space in your shop for customers to share their Christmas stories. It could be a story wall inside or in front of the shop. This initiative encourages storytelling by locals and better connects the business with the community.
- Award a prize at a local school. Fund a year-end prize at a local school. Attend a school assembly to award the prize. Work with the school leadership on a prize appropriate to your business.
- VIP preview. Host a VIP shopper preview night when you show off your Christmas ranges ahead of being available to the general shoppers. Respect and reward your local shoppers with deals and the opportunity to preview ahead of others.
- Leverage Christmas traffic. Encourage the Christmas shopper traffic surge in after Christmas. Give them a reason to come back. A coupon promotion or a discount voucher on receipts could be the enticement to get shoppers back in-store. Note: the Tower POS software produces discount vouchers to rules you establish.
- Become a gallery. Work with a school, kindergarten, community group or retirement village to bring in local art for people to come and see through Christmas. A small space commitment can drive traffic from family and friends of those with art on show.
- Dress the shop. Fully embrace Christmas. Create a Christmas experience such that shoppers know they have stepped into somewhere special this Christmas. Go for more than some tinsel and a tree. Fully embrace the opportunity.
- Make your shop smell like Christmas.
- Send cards. Send Christmas cards early in the season to suppliers, key customers and local community groups. This connects you with Christmas. Invite all team members to sign each card.
- Host a Christmas party. For shops nearby. You are all in the season together – let your hear down before things get crazy.
- Ensure you have gifts targeted at occasions. For example: Kris Kringle, by price point and by recipient. Make it easy for people to know what they could give.
- Stocking stuffers. At your counter always have one or two stocking stuffers for impulse purchase.
- Offer gift vouchers – for someone to give when they are not sure what to give.
- Be local. Ensure you have a selection of locally sourced products available for purchase. Make it clear in-store that these products are sourced locally.
- Tell stories. On your Facebook page, talk about what is important to you at Christmas. Personalise the season and deepen the connection with those who could shop with you.
- Offer a free gift. Bulk purchase an item to offer those who spend above a set amount. For example, spend $65 and receive XX where XX may have cost $5.00 but could have a perceived value of $20.00.
- Keep it fresh. Every week make significant change to your Christmas displays and promotions to keep your offer fresh.
- Share Christmas recipes. Each week for, say, four weeks, give customers a family Christmas recipe. This personalises Christmas in your business, creates a talking point and makes shopping with you different to your bigger competitors.
- Free wrapping. Sure, many retailers offer this. Make your offer better, more creative and more appreciated.
- This is essential in any business. Manage it through your computer system with strict rules.
- Work the floor. Increase time on the shop floor. Be present to manage shopper flow and to facilitate purchases.
- Christmas is crazy busy I most retail situations. Give yourself and your team members sufficient time to recharge so the smile greeting shoppers is heartfelt.
- Keep a secret. If yours is a business selling gifts a partner may purchase for their loved-one, create some mystery with a closed off display for the shopper to see the products.
- Free assembly. If you sell items that require assembly. Offer to do this for free.
- Free delivery. Offer free Christmas Eve delivery for items purchased for kids for Christmas.
- Sell training. Leverage the specialist knowledge you have in your business by selling as gifts places at classes you run sharing your expertise.
- Hold back. Don’t go out with everything you have for Christmas all at once. Plan the season to show off what you have as the season unfolds. This allows you multiple launches.
- Share a taste. Regardless if your type of business, bake a family recipe of Christmas cake, Christmas pudding or Christmas biscuits and offer tastings to shoppers on select days. This personalises the experience in your shop.
- Offer hampers. Package several items together and offer them as a hamper. Time-poor shoppers could appreciate you doing this work for them. We have seen this work in many different retail situations.
- Buy X get Y. Encourage people to spend more with a volume based deal. Pitched right, this could get customers purchasing items for several family members in order to get the price offer you have. Use your technology to manage this.
Christmas is the perfect time to plan for next year. It is the time to do everything possible to leverage bonus Christmas traffic to benefit your business through next year.
Feel free to share these Christmas marketing tips with others.
Tower Systems helps newsagents with sales benchmark study
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We have completed our latest retail sales benchmark study for newsagents and released the results. This is a considerable body of work done for small business newsagents and businesses that supply them.
The analysis is something we have done for almost 20 years. We hope you find it useful.
Newsagency sales benchmark study results: July -October 2020 vs. 2019
Based on comprehensive sales data for July through September 2020 with data from 2019 from 128 newsagency businesses across Australia in city and country locations, high street and mall, the latest newsagency sales benchmark study is revealing as to the impact of Covid on our channel and the value of location.
- Covid restrictions have benefited many newsagency businesses.
- High street locations have fared better than shopping mall locations.
- Regional Australia has performed better that capital city Australia.
- Diversification of product mix is key to traffic generation.
- Magazines are back on their pre-Covid trajectory.
- There are winners and losers.
I have data from a mix of branded and un-branded newsagencies as well as a mix of states and territories in the data set.
Given the extraordinary gap in performance, I share the results for different cohorts, because reporting them as one dataset does not make sense this quarter.
Victorian newsagencies.
Victorian newsagencies have had a good second Covid lockdown. Their newspaper, magazine and lottery products performance is better than other states, because of the lockdown I think.
All but one Victorian high street business I have data for is up on on 2019. The biggest increase relates to average sale value, this has spiked considerably, as you may expect. The categories that have performed best in Victoria this quarter in terms of year on year growth are: cards, gifts, plush, jigsaws, home decor and games.
Even though the data is up to September 30, 2020, it is interesting to see Christmas doing so well in Victorian businesses that had it out. This augurs well for the season.
All Victorian shopping centre businesses are down. Shopping centres are in for a rough few years I think.
Now, outside of Victoria…
Regional high street businesses.
- Transaction count change: up 3%.
- Revenue change: up 7%.
- Basket size change: up 13%.
- Newspaper unit sales: down 11%.
- Magazine unit sales: down 9%.
- Card revenue: up 7%.
- Stationery revenue: down 8%.
- Gift revenue: up 19%. 80% of businesses report selling gifts.
- Toy revenue: up 11%. 10% of businesses report selling toys.
- Puzzle revenue: up 43%. 25% of businesses report selling puzzles.
- Instant lottery revenue: up 26%.
- Lottery revenue: up 7%.
City high street newsagencies.
- Transaction count change: up 1%.
- Revenue change: up 5%.
- Basket size change: up 9%.
- Newspaper unit sales: down 8%.
- Magazine unit sales: down 9%.
- Card revenue: up 6%.
- Stationery revenue: down 8%.
- Gift revenue: up 9%.
- Toy revenue: up 11%.
- Puzzle revenue: up 60%.
- Instant lottery revenue: up 28%.
- Lottery revenue: up 4%.
Regional shopping centre businesses.
I do not have enough businesses in this group to safely report.
City shopping centre based newsagencies.
- Transaction count change: down 22%.
- Revenue change: down 31%.
- Basket size change: up 2%.
- Newspaper unit sales: down 13%.
- Magazine unit sales: down 11%.
- Card revenue: up 4%.
- Stationery revenue: down 17%.
- Gift revenue: up 11%.
- Toy revenue: up 9%.
- Puzzle revenue: up 22%.
- Instant lottery revenue: up 28%.
- Lottery revenue: up 5%.
Note.
These are averages. The gap between those doing well and those not doing well is considerable. It is important that newsagents look at their own data as the most important competitor they have is themselves. The trading period from the past against which you compare results is your competitor. Look at those numbers more carefully than you look at these benchmark results.
What have we learned from the last 8 months?
- High street retail fares better than mall based retail.
- Diversification in newsagency product offering drives better shopper visit efficiency.
- Having an online presence is vital.
- People want to connect – this is one reason cards are doing so well.
- Postable gifts are selling well.
- Safe buying is key.
I am grateful to all newsagents who shared their data for inclusion in this study.
Advice for small business retailers on combatting the Covid recession
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Whether we like it or not, the world economy is in recession, a Covid recession. While each country fares differently, the recession is global.
While small business retail is vulnerable, it is well positioned to trade out of the Covid recession. Here is our advice for small business retailers on combatting the Covid recession, or at least on guiding trading in your business to be against trend.
Our advice is based on decades of work with many different retail businesses across multiple retail channels. It also drains on our own experience running several different types of retail businesses.
- Get shoppers buying more. Increasing your average visit spend value can be done through smart loyalty lever engagement as well as intelligent product location on the shop floor and with appropriate encouragement for multi-item purchases. Our POS software helps with all of these. It offers facilities through which you can systemise your approach to these and retailers activities.
- Bring shoppers back sooner. You can do this with targeted emails that are based on past shopper behaviour, financial encouragement to shop sooner than they otherwise might and by offering items people collect and add to. Our POS software can support each of these activities in a consistent and easy to manage way.
- Improve retail floorspace performance. Outside of inventory, labour and retail space are the highest costs to any retail business. maximising return from retail space and from labour engageed in managing retail space is key to success. Using our POS software you can stock more of what does sell and less of what does not sell – thereby improving the return on labour and retail space investment.
- Broaden your shopper reach. While opening the doors is considered a marketing activity in many small retail businesses, for a small effort and investment you can be online connected to your POS software and selling products to shoppers far away, shoppers =not in your current reach … thereby improving the efficiency of the business.
Much of what a small retail business can achieve in trading against the trend of a Covid recession comes down to decisions made in the business, decisions about products, people and marketing that can be leveraged through smart POS software.
We’re here to help!
Tower Systems is grateful to serve thousands of small and independent t retail businesses in Australia and New Zealand in service of profit and enjoyment.
Covid impact: Australians embrace shop local, shop the high street is a pivot to back to basics retail
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Since March this year we have seen Australians embrace local high street retailers in greater numbers than for many years.
They have turned from shopping malls to the more easily accessed and the more open and safe high street retail situations.
They have spent up with local businesses as an act of genuine support for small businesses.
How do we know this? In our work with 3,500+ small business retailers across a range of specialty retail channels we are fortunate to see sales data and to talk with many retailers daily. Sales are terrific in many retail channels.
We are told the growth is primarily due to shoppers referencing the high street over the mall situation and making an active choice to support local retailers. Indeed, plenty of shoppers speak to these preferences in-store.
While, for sure, retail since March 2020 has been challenging, small business retailers who have leant-in to opportunities have benefited with sales growth, improved shopper efficiency and greater repeat businesses. Businesses that have enhanced their positioning with a POS software connected Shopify site have done better.
This is great news. It is a thrill to see local Aussie small businesses doing well.
From what we hear, shoppers love easy access to high street retail, a safe shopping experience, curbside pickup, local delivery and delivery for those further away. Add these to the other local retail business benefits such as product knowledge, local knowledge, local community support and you can see why Aussies love local small businesses and why they support them in a year like 2020.
In real terms, based on real data, we see revenue growth in a time when so many say there is none. We have seen this growth in many businesses. While in some cases growth has come from new product categories for businesses, the reality is that good growth is coming from traditional product categories. This, to us, demonstrates growth in support for local high street businesses.
The types of businesses we are talking abut here include garden centres, produce businesses, pet shops, newsagents, gift shops and organic grocer businesses. So many are doing well. So many are making an awesome contribution to the economy.
Australians are embracing local high street retail businesses, small businesses, family run businesses. This is a joy to see and a thrill to be part of.
Politicians need to follow the principles of low hanging fruit in stimulating the economy our of the Covid recession
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Reaching for low hanging fruit is something we in small business know about. It’s about reaching for what is close, within reach, what will deliver tangible benefits in the short term.
This is what I wish governments, federal and state, would do when making decisions designed to stimulate the economy out of the Covid recession.
There are low hanging fruit opportunities, especially in the small business space. We see this here at Tower Systems, through our work across a range of specialty small retail channels. Some channels are already growing while others are stalled.
We also see broader low hanging fruit in small businesses compared to big businesses as the are known to act faster and invest more locally.
While we understand the need for financial support for businesses in distress because of Covid, we think there are opportunities to support businesses that do not meet the current JobKeeper criteria, businesses that are growing without current support as it is these businesses that present low hanging fruit opportunities. These businesses have proven resilience. Resilience is a good foundation for growth.
Businesses that do not meet JobKeeper qualification requirements could grow further and faster, add more jobs, increase local spending, if stimulus was targeted to encourage more growth for them.
I’d like politicians to look more closely at the businesses that are growing, businesses not on JobKeeper, to understand what they can do to leverage their success.
It is frustrating reading of public companies getting JobKeeper and increasing executive bonuses and shareholder dividends.
Thinking about low hanging fruit opportunities for businesses already doing well, I’d like politicians to consider … reinvestment rebate on reported profit, a reinvestment rebate on every new full-time head count, a reinvestment rebate for capital investment with Australian businesses.
I’d like governments to look at where jobs have been created in recent months and to talk to folks in those businesses to understand what they could to achieve more of this. I’d like them to specifically focus on jobs that could be created now without an education lead time, jobs that on themselves lead to other investment that could benefit the economy.
I see opportunities in plenty of niche retail channels as well as in local Aussie tech companies and a range of supporting service providers.
I want to see reward for local sourcing and local spending, and especially anything with a short lead time.
Them more spending today that can provide an impact this quarter has to be a priority. While I get that news outlets like big infrastructure stories, the more beneficial moves are those focussed on the next step as it’s that step that has more valuable potential right now, it’s that step that will help small businesses reach for more low hanging fruit.
What does Q4 2020 look like for small business retailers
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Welcome to the last quarter of 2020. What a year it’s been already.
For many in retail, what happens over the next 3 months traditionally determines the success of the full year for the business. We have been asked several times recently what the next three months look like.
Considering sales data from plenty of business and from many different types of retail businesses, we share some thought below on what we expect. Of course, our expectations are based on current Corona trajectories as at the start of October 2020. Any change to that will impact these.
- Christmas is here, now, early. Christmas purchasing started over a month ago with sales of specific Christmas products including cards, decoration and Christmas themed items already good. People appear to be shopping to be prepared for possibly another lockdown. Some are also buying because of worries regarding the supply chain.
- Working from home is here to stay. retailers selling products that help with working from home should have a good quarter if they continue to leverage this opportunity. There is no sign of working from home slowing, which will impact businesses that rely on major CBD business worker traffic.
- Regional / rural property sales are strong. Property sales in regional and rural locations have surged, bringing in more people and plenty of new faces, which bring in new shopper opportunities. Serving new residents plays well for some retail sectors like garden centres.
- People want to be happy and give happiness. Offering products that will make people happy is key to a good fourth quarter.
- Locally made. This matters more than ever.
Focussing on these and related points positions your business well for a good last quarter.
Thinking predictions, we think that businesses that rely on strong Christmas trade have reason to expect this year to be at least as good as last year. We know one business that does more than 50% of their revenue through the Christmas season and current indications comparing this year to the last 2 years suggest they will be up this year by 20%. The product mix is the same.
The success of this last quarter really relies on your product sourcing, in-store messaging and out of store marketing … your connection with the emotional messages that matter to people, that will get them purchasing through you.
The time to act on Christmas 2020 was months ago. If you are starting now, go for it, quickly and engagingly as Christmas shoppers are spending today.
We hope that this last quarter of 2020 is awesome for your retail business and all who rely on it!
Small business retail management advice: make every day your pay day
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In our work with more than 3,500 small business retailers, independent retailers, mainly high street retailers, we have developed a kit of advice from which we draw to help these retailers run more successful and enjoyable businesses.
One piece of advice that we have found to be most useful is what we share here today. It is advice that is rooted in practicality and personal accountability. We offer it today and hope you find it useful…
Make every day your pay day.
Some retailers consider the day the sell their business as their pay day. Smarter retailers know that every day the business is open and trading is a pay day.
It is unrealistic to look on a retail business as a bank accruing interest which is repaid in the form of goodwill when the business is sold. However, this is how many retailers do view their businesses. So much so in fact that they lose focus on the profitability of the business on a day to day basis.
The Small Steps Strategy for Growth outlined in the previous chapter is vitally important to ensuring the best possible pay day every day.
By making every day your pay day, you focus on profitability today and not next year or the year after, when you ultimately sell the business.
If you run your retail business this way, focusing on driving traffic, leveraging sales efficiency and ensuring the best possible margin every time, you will see profitability improve. While this will drive up the ultimate sales price you can achieve for the business, it will also put more money in your pocket from the business every day.
By driving profitability on a day by day basis, as if this is all that matters, you will take more notice of employee costs, sales efficiency and other more micro factors and drivers in the business.
You are more likely to make changes if you view sales and profitability data on a daily perspective rather than for a longer period such as quarterly or annually.
Did you make enough yesterday to pay for the rent, employee costs, cost of goods sold, marketing and utility costs as well as to pay yourself?
If not, what can you do to change this?
If so, did you make enough?
These are the challenges and the opportunities we will explore in this special report. By looking at your business as if every day is your pay day, you are more likely to look more closely at your business than if you are focused on the day you sell as your pay day. Obsess about these things and you are more likely to bank the results.
If you don’t know how you are doing daily or weekly, you need to put in place manual or computer based systems which enable you to track and report on this. Good or bad, it is information you need to make better business decisions.
So, how did you do today or this week? Make enough to pay all your bills, your employees and yourself? Look on and work on every day as your pay day.
The covid pivot that is helping small business retailers in 2020
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What a thrill it is when a retailer calls and says I got my first online sale … when your POS software co created the POS software connected website just for them.
This is happening here at Tower Systems with more and more small retailers embracing our covid pivot encouragement, attracting new shoppers from out of state and even sometimes overseas as they expand their shopper reach and, in some cases, expand their product offering reach.
The covid pivot is about making a move in your business to find new customers and to do this using smart POS software usually connected to a beautiful Shopify website.
The covid pivot is not reactionary. No, it is thoughtful, opportunistic, leveraging existing infrastructure, doing it with the least investment possible, chasing a brighter and more valuable future for the business.
The covid pivot is smart small business retail.
Our web development team is busy developing Shopify and Magento websites for our POS software customers. Building them, fashioning them to attract new shoppers in local, out of state and other areas. Through our research we understand keyword and SEO opportunities that can leverage data sent from the POS software to the online Shopify or other site and to do this in a labour effective way.
Having an in-house web development team as well as a POS software development team as well as retail businesses with websites of our own – we are conditioned and positioned to be able to help our customers to embrace this opportunity, to embrace what we call the covid pivot opportunity.
The covid pivot is something we first discussed here back in March this year, once were understand what corona was and games out how this could play out for small business retail. We worked it into our own business strategy, to help small business retailers to make the most of the opportunity in their businesses.
We did not want to wallow and think oh, poor us with all this stuff going on. In our marketplaces, bike shops, produce businesses, farm supply businesses, toy shops, newsagents and more have bene growing through corona and in plenty of cases this is because of covid pivot engagement, being opportunistic themselves in making the most of today not knowing what tomorrow may bring.
Helping small business retailers embrace the covid pivot opportunity
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Every day we are engaging with new opportunities to embrace the covid pivot opportunity with small business retailers in Australia and New Zealand.
The covid pivot is where a business embraces a change outside of what has been usual for the business – new products, new services, new business methods – in pursuit of new shoppers and that it does this in response to the covid challenge and opportunity of 2020. Hence, the term the covid pivot. It is real.
It is important to understand what the covid pivot it not. It is not made out of fear or desperation. It is not a last stand. It is not a retreat. No, the covid pivot is a confident move a business makes to pursue new opportunities, new customers, to expand the reach of the business. This is the pivot part. the covid part is that the virus provides opportunity, encouragement and cover, if necessary.
We are grateful to serve more than 3,000 small business retailers in our POS software community, and to be growing this daily as more join with us. Within our current community and without we are helping retailers in their covid pivot journey to find new shoppers, to expand their reach and to being new life and opportunity to their businesses.
While we get that 2020 is challenging, early on, back in march tis year, we decided to focus on walking forward, turning here and there, expanding the business and the businesses of our customers. We think it is too easy to get caught up ion the doom and gloom of some in the media, the negativity. That’s not for us. It’s a mug’s game. That’s not us.
Opportunities abound for finding new customers in retail as well as in our space of being a small business POS software company.
In our focus on the covid pivot opportunity we are doing this here ourselves, in retail businesses we own and with plenty of our partner retailers. This is a 2020 good new story. We call it the covid pivot as something to celebrate, while not forgetting the health and personal harm and suffering that covid itself ha=s brought to so many.
Tyro EFTPOS for small business retailers through POS software
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Tyro EFTPOS has been integrated with our Tower Systems POS software for small business retailers for more than ten years. The Tyro integration is simple, effective, seamless and fast… all factors that matter to small business retailers keen for a smooth counter operation for their businesses.
The thousands of retailers using the Tower Systems POS software for specialty retail can bank on Tyro for delivering counter and mobile based EFTPOS access, including through the Tower Systems Retailer Roam product that takes retail on the road, out of the shop and into the field, the markets and the farm gate.
We like Tyro because it is a smart interface, one that works well for small business retailers, delivering EFTPOS solutions that are best-practice and secure.
Through the recent COVID-19 challenges, Tyro has been our preferred payment solution for small business retailers, as it offers contactless EFTPOS integrated with the Tower Systems Point of Sale software.
At Tower Systems, we use Tyro EFTPOS in our own shops and have done so for many years. We like the streamlined operation, the security, the speed and the ease of settlement. Tyro makes doing business a breeze for our retail shops and we think many retailers using Tyro EFTPOS integrated with our POS software would agree.
Tower Systems is well positioned thanks to a solid relationship with Tyro and our experience across eleven specialty retail channels. The Tyro and POS software solution is robust, proven and used in more than 1,000 retail outlets in Australia.
Together, our integration is regularly updated, ensuring it is current and continues to be useful in serving the evolving needs of small business retailers. This matters now more than ever, because the environment of the retail industry is constantly changing.
Working with the tech folks at Tyro, we are able to deliver an integrated Tyro and POS software solution that is dependable, useful and financially rewarding.
Tower Systems offers first level support for retailers using the integrated Tyro and POS software solution, offering a one stop shop support entry point, delivering fast access to help on any Tyro related query. We pass these queries to Tyro’s 24/7 Australian-based Customer Support team if they are outside our remit. In both support cases, most are easily handled and retailers are able to get back to business quickly.
Tyro is a breeze to work with. We are grateful for the relationship and the value it brings to our small business customer community.
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