The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryToy shop software

How webstore connected POS software helps retailers in a group and independent retailers win more sales

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As well as offering POS software designed for your specific type of business, Tower Systems provides websites seamlessly connected to the shop floor, giving you a single management view.

We develop websites for our customers, in Magento, Shopify or WooCommerce.

Our websites are live POS software connected, offering 24/7 selling with payments through PayPal, Oxipay (interest free buy now pay later) and credit cards.

Our websites leverage online purchases as well as click and collect. They also drive basket depth with up-sell options and handling coupons for special deals.

If you are in a banner group or a marketing group, we can provide a single website to represent all stores in the group. We do this today for one group, through five websites we created – each easily found through Google thanks to our SEO work.

Each store in a banner or marketing group gets their own page, which they can easily promote. For a single business, the POS connected website promotes their business.

We know from experience that:

In some businesses, around 75% of key in-store purchases have an online search component. POS connected websites are important for winning online sales and even more important for driving in-store purchases.

45% of purchases in many categories are when retail shops are closed.

10% of purchases are click and collect in higher-end product categories.

14% of purchases are done with buy now pay later financing.

Shoppers like certainty that a store will have in stock they want to purchase – stock on hand by item can be viewable for each store.

We network stores from a banner or marketing group into a single website. Thereby leveraging the power of the group of independently owned small businesses to be stronger and more useful than a big business competitor. This is how small businesses can win online.

Let us show you how together we can do this, how we can bring single stores online as well as whole groups online … through webstore connected POS software.

Not only do we create the website and the POS software, we ensure they can be found. This is key as a website that cannot be easily found through Google is a waste of money.

We would love to show individuals privately or members of your group, if you are in a group, the POS software connected websites we have created. We would take you behind the curtain, showing not only the tech. but explaining the business approach, outlining what we have done to create successful online businesses.

Fulfilment can be a challenge.We can help here too thanks to our integration work with Australia Post, Sendle and others. We can help you reduce friction with fulfilment and see you benefit from incremental online business.

Online is about a race to the cash. By this we mean that an online shopper is more likely to be ready to purchase. The first business to take their cash wins. This is where POS integrated websites can win. We can show you how.

The latest release of our POS software introduces a web dashboard to help in-store online sales fulfilment. This, coupled with inventory integration, accurate stock on hand data, professional image handling and smart SEO work helps you create and run an efficient, integrated physical and online business.

Whether you run a single store or operate as part of a marketing or banner group, Tower Systems has a track record of success you can leverage for your success. Let us show you how.

Web strategy helps independent retailers in a marketing group leverage online sales

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Tower Systems was the first POS software company in Australia to launch a web strategy for locally owned independent retail businesses that are in a marketing group though which these local businesses can benefit from a national online presence.

Delivering valuable sales to local shops from anywhere in the country, the web strategy has proven to be beneficial to helping retailers who otherwise might not have had access to the customer served.

Today, the Tower POS software web strategy for franchises and small business marketing groups has evolved to be broader, more complete and more valuable.

There are currently nine websites operating under the banner of the tower Systems franchise and marketing group web strategy. Each focusses on a different brand. each works at driving online sales for small business retailers. Each features…

  1. Click and collect.
  2. Buy now pay later. Better than LayBy.
  3. Paypal Express.
  4. Credit card payment.
  5. Bundled offers.
  6. Auto freight management.
  7. POS software Integration.
  8. In-store inventory on hand certainty.
  9. Pre-orders.
  10. National footprint leveraged for local shopping.

What we have done, bringing together indie retail businesses under a national website, is unique in that it maintains accurate stock on hand data at the store level, applies sales based on shopper location, permits purchases from multiple stores in a single transaction and provides each store a local mini-site page for locally focussed transactions.

Internationally, the Tower Systems e-commerce strategy launched more than two years ago was regarded as unique in the world. The advances since launch have maintained the position of the company in this area of working with and for independent small business retailers in franchise and marketing groups for the benefit of each sore and the benefit of the overall group.

What Tower delivers through the platform is a proven and valuable solution, especially for rural and regional businesses where foot traffic can be a challenge. The Tower Systems approach attracts new shoppers who do not need to live near the business. It does this efficiently for each participating business.

Tower Systems is leveraging its experience and knowledge in this area to help others, to grow stronger small retail businesses.

How the POS software help desk works for small business retailers

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Let’s take a look inside the POS software help desk and see what happens on any given day. Let’s look at the Tower Systems POS software help desk, from the perspective of a typical help desk team member. Here are the raw stats:

  1. Calls handled: 26.
  2. Calls resolved on the inbound call: 18.
  3. Calls resolved on call back and follow up: 4.
  4. Calls awaiting customer follow up to ensure problem does not continue: 3.
  5. Call awaiting advice from third party (like a web developer or local hardware tech 1.

This is a typically busy day since in between calls there are case notes to write, advice documents to review and assistance to other help desk team members.

Every call to the Tower Systems POS software help desk is tracked and documented with follow up confirmation and advice provided to each customer for each call. This documentation provides clarity and certainty. It demonstrates transparency between our help desk team and our customers. or us, it is part of good customer service.

We use a professional CRM system to track all customer data and ensure timely and complete feedback. In fact, our follow up email includes a customer feedback opportunity on the help desk team contact.

We run the help desk over several shifts across the 7am and 6am AEST operating hours. After hours coverage is handled separately, outside of the usual daily roster. We ensure team members are given appropriate breaks to protect against stress and burnout.

Calls can come into our POS software help desk by phone, email, text message, Facebook message, Tweet and even good old fax. We take calls from all these channels and we respond to each based on the priority of the query. The priority is usually demonstrated through the type of contact that has been made.

If we can’t get to a call when it comes in it is logged and the call returned as soon as possible. Wait times are managed. We don’t want our customers to wait too long. Urgent calls are bumped up and dealt with immediately because we don’t want any system downtime.

Our help desk process is managed by support professionals who oversee the daily traffic management. They are assisted by the leadership team of the company since customer service sits at the core of what we do here at Tower Systems.

Good POS software for small business retailers

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A good Point of Sale system pays for itself every day by helping retailers increase customer spend per visit, bring customers back more regularly, reduce the cost of slow or dead stock, reduce mistakes and make better business decisions.

Following a consistent approach to in-store technology within the group enables retailers to leverage more benefits from being part of the group.

Consistent stock files, electronic invoices, easier business-to-business comparison and more targeted business development assistance are just some of the benefits you can expect from a more consistent solution.

But being independent businesses we understand you need a computer system over which you have absolute control and security.

That is what the Tower Systems solution offers – locally run software in your business over which you have control yet.

Tower Systems has a strategy for helping small business retailers.

Tower Systems is an Australian software company that develops, sells and supports software for selected specialty marketplaces including pet and produce businesses.

We only serve independent retail businesses.

Our mission is to help retailers run more successful businesses. Our definition of successis a business that is making money, where the owners and employees enjoy what they do and where suppliers enjoy transacting.

Good software can play an important role in nurturing business success as it sits at the heart of the business: transacting sales, managing stock, tracking customer activity and shining a light on business opportunities.

What makes us different is how we engage. We go beyond what is traditional software company.

  1. We welcome working with suppliers to create data links that save you and them time, data links that improve data accuracy, data links that feed more accurate business reports.
  2. We provide business insightsbased on data cultivated through the software – to business owners who ask. This is a free service.
  3. Our help desk provides contextfor advice. Rather than the turn it off and turn it onadvice, our help desk team members explain the why, why from a business perspective the advice they are providing matters.
  4. Our software updates contain enhancements suggested and voted on by customers. You can have a direct say in the evolution of the software.
  5. Our communication is in plain English.While we are a company of IT geeks, when talking with customers we keep it simple. We know technology scares people. We don’t want it to scare our customers.
  6. We are accessible.You get to talk with real people all the time, including our leadership team.

Why we like Tyro broadband EFTPOS for our POS software customers

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We were an early adopter of Tyro broadband EFTPOS many years ago. The relationship remains strong today. Here is why we recommend Tyro broadband EFTPOS to small business retailers who use our POS software:

  1. Speed. Tyro transactions are fast.
  2. Keystrokes cut. Tyro is integrated with our POS software. The details of the sale are fed to Tyro. There is no data entry required.
  3. Mistakes reduced. Every keystroke we eliminate is a possible mistake avoided.
  4. Low merchant fees. Tyro has been the first in Australia to bring to market an approach to merchant fees that is smart and technology driven, that cuts fees from what would expect.
  5. Brilliant support. Fast. Friendly. Genuinely helpful. Real resolution.
  6. Excellent reporting. Know what you need to know, easily.
  7. Innovation. Tyro innovates and as a result of this we participate as appropriate at the small business POS software level.
  8. Partnership. We work closely with Tyro, meeting with key people in their company regularly, engaging with them on strategy and related innovation opportunities.
  9. Help. Tyro is a wonderful help to small business retailers.
  10. Business help. Through a range of services, Tyro helps small business retailers. We have encouraged this and genuinely support it.

Compared to big banks in Australia, we see Tyro as a small, fast moving opportunity for small business retailers, helping them compete and be relevant and helping them provide an over the counter EFTPOS solution that is competitively positioned for small business retailers.

We are a small business focussed POS software company serving in excess of 3,700 small business retailers. We have been doing this for decades, constantly evolving what we do and what we offer, to make sure that what we are doing is relevant and valuable. Tyro fits with what we do, with our focus as a company. This fit matters to us.

We are retailers too. We use Tyro in our retail businesses and have done for many years.

Having said all this, we also support direct POS software access to big bang EFTPOS offerings. We do this because we are committed to ensuring that or customers can access the banking solutions they deem appropriate to their own local businesses. That is, we don’t let our opinions get in  the way of what our customers may prefer for their businesses.

Awesome Toy Shop software for small business retailers

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Our specialty toy shop software has been designed for local family run small business toy shops. It can help you compete with big businesses. It’s smart, easy to use and focussed on helping you run a more successful and enjoyable business.

This software is made for toy shops.

We’d love to show it to you. We can do this, obligation free, in your shop or through an online demonstration.

Here are the details for our sales team: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Events facilities enhance the small business POS software experience for retailers

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The new events facilities in the Tower Systems POS software expand and enhance the experience for small business retailers.

Using events, retailers using the Tower Systems software can track traditional events connected to shoppers as well as events related to the type of business and type of shopper using the business. Here are some examples of events that can be tracked and leveraged through the software:

  1. Birthdays.
  2. Anniversaries.
  3. Dates items were purchased.
  4. Due dates for services such as bike maintenance, working for pets and more.
  5. Valuation dates for jewellery.
  6. Release dates for licenced products customers love.

The thing is, our events facilities are flexible and powerful, most valuable to retailers in all kinds of situations and for many business circumstances.

We have built a valuable tool here, something retailers can use to grow their businesses.

We had facilities like this in the past. The new events facilities take the opportunity to a new level. Plus we have put it in the software for any type of retailer partnering with us to use. This way, our customers can show us the potential rather than us telling them what to do.

This week we are providing more FREE training for all our POS software customers on events, through a group online live training session we are demonstrating events, explaining how to use it and taking all questions.

This free training, plus our offer of one on one training, plus our wonderful documentation makes the events facilities accessible to any of our customers in any situation. we make it easy for people to access and easy for them to learn.

We think this is what being a good and engaged small business POS software company is all about. We create awesome software, based on customer needs, and back with with training and support on  which our customers can rely and enjoy in their partnership with us.

Tower Systems is grateful to the many small business retailers in our community who provided advice and insights that we leveraged to create the new events facilities in our POS software. Working together like this makes better software for everyone.

What is POS software and why is important in my independent retail business?

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POS software, Point of Sale software, is software that turns a computer into a cash register.

But it is much more than that.

Smart POS software for your type of retail business is about much more than being a glorified cash register. The right POS software for your business will help you:

  1. Reduce operating costs.
  2. Sell more.
  3. Bring shoppers back sooner.
  4. Get shoppers spending more in a visit.
  5. Reduce employee theft.
  6. Reduce shopper theft.
  7. Reduce loss from non-performing stock.
  8. Plan better.
  9. Enjoy your business more.

While these may sound like marketing claims, they are real benefits on which you can rely if you choose the right POS software from the right POS software company for your business.

No, we don’t think POS software from Tower Systems is right for every business.

Just a customers assess us and our software to determine if our software and we are right for them, we do the same when considering customers. We want the choice to be right too, we want to do business with customers and businesses that are a good fit.

We take this approach knowing that a good fit works for both parties. We see selling our software as a mutually respectful relationship, one that has to benefit both sides. This is why we take care in partnering with new customers.

If someone does want a glorified cash register for a simple business operation, we will suggest they look elsewhere as there are cheaper simpler systems that serve that need. Our focus is outside of this. Our focus is on retail channel specific POS software that serves very specific needs in retail niches.

This is why we say we are a vertical market POS software company. We deep-dive into the needs of each retail channel in which we serve, working with retailers, suppliers and others to deliver solutions unique to the needs of the retailers in each channel, to be specialist. This is where we can make a real difference beyond basic POS software.

Being specialist matters to independent retailers in their local communities as well as to our own POS software company as we serve specialty retailers with specialty POS software for each of these retail channels.

Customer service matters when choosing small business POS software

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Customer service is a critical factor when choosing POS software for amy independent or small retail business.

That sounds like a motherhood statement so we can understand if you say Duh!

We agree 100%.  Our focus is on delivering the level of customer service we would expect ourselves. To us, it needs to be personal, professional, human, knowledgable, engaged and relevant.

These are the principles of the POS software customer service here at Tower Systems. This is what we train our help desk and other teams in when we meet to work on what we do and how we do it. We see these pri cripples as being differentiating for us.

In a practical sense, our customers see how we operate through:

  1. A human based phone system. there is no automated phone system requiring you to press a bunch of buttons.
  2. An unmoderated and transparent Facebook page where customers can open discussions with us or other customers on any topic.
  3. Regular face to face regional use meetings where we meet with our customers to listen, learn and train.
  4. Unlimited free training long after the POS software is installed.
  5. Easy 24/7 access to an awesome knowledge base where our customers can learn and provide feedback ion the knowledge shared.
  6. An escalation process. We make mistakes inn our help desk processes. We’re human. We offer a structured process for responding to these, to address them and provide rectification. We seek to learn from mistakes, and not repeat them.
  7. Leadership team access. Contacting anyone from the leadership group within Tower Systems is easy. Our customers have our contact numbers and email addresses. We make sure we are accessible.
  8. Knowing us. When you are in contact with someone at Tower Systems you know their name, their real name. You know the person and can be sure they are the person who will follow up.

When you are looking at POS software companies, see if they are similar. We think these eight, and other, personal touch points that we offer here at Tower Systems are differentiating and empowering for our small business retail customers. We think what we do in providing personal and reliable service to our customers matters as much as the awesome POS software itself.

Why you can’t trust POS software Google reviews

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Google reviews can hide the truth of POS software support as people can write them for malicious reasons. Take this Google review by Ashley tester posted to our Google page:

I have been using Tower Systems “Retailer” POS system for about 2 years now and if i was able to go back in time i would never had bought it. The system offers plenty of potential but is incredibly buggy with quite a bit of stuff missing from the program. I have had multiple things go wrong with the program and the customer service attitude with it is “we’re working on it” with no communication on progress of fixing the issues. As we speak i am still waiting on a bug fix that currently has my website looking quite messy as product that has been sold from my POS in store is not displaying correctly on my E commerce website. This issue was brought to their attention a week ago, i phoned again 2 days ago and have still heard nothing. I was originally told it was a day to fix the issue. Many more examples like this have happened over the past two years. I would STRONGLY recommend not buying this product. There are better options out there but i am too invested in the software, not only with the initial 11k outlay but the hundreds of hours of data entry that i have done now.

Here is the response from our Managing Director, Mark Fletcher.

My name is Mark Fletcher, I am the owner of Tower Systems. My mobile number is 0418 321 338. My email is mark@towersystems.com.au. What sucks about Google reviews is there is no vetting and no right of reply to a specific review. The review by Ashley Tester is false and misleading. Ashley had an issue with our software that was resolved the day it was reported to the help desk. 100% resolved. However, that is not my core point here. At Tower we have a structured documented and promoted escalation process, because people do sometimes make mistakes. At no time did Ashley tester use our escalation process. Ashley Tester complained here without our knowledge, in an effort to harm our business, and based on false and misleading information. Many people work at our POS software company. They rely on the company for income and professional development. As the owner, I will not abide an unwarranted attack that, by extension, seeks to attack those we serve.

As mark is connected with the page, Google would not publish the response.

Everything published in the Tower response is verifiable by our CRM data records. The claim made by Ashley tester is false and misleading, as he would have known at the time of publishing.

There is another review at the page by a Ryan Farrow:

Overcharge for their product and services, owners are aggressive and unhelpful, and will charge for every single feature that comes standard with most products. System is often down for extended periods with most features essentially in Beta and not working as intended. Staff are uneducated in their own product and charge a premium for lacklustre support.

Ryan is not a customer of Tower Systems and never has been. Ryan is a web developer. he developed a website for a Tower client. Rather than follow our published advice for connecting the website to our POS software, Ryan demanded it be done how he wanted.

As with any engineering where you build a bridge to connect two sides of a river, there are professional processes to follow to ensure the bridge meets in the middle. Ryan did not see it this way.

We can’t change the reviews. What we can do is point to our current 3,500+ customers, our years in business and our transparent engagement. We established a private Facebook page for our customers where they can ask anything any time, where they can provide feedback and do so without moderation by us. This level of customer driven transparency reflects on our commitment. neither Ryan nor Ashley Tester used this customer forum. Instead, they sought to hurt us publicly.

Why we think small business retailers should beware POS software onboarding

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Onboarding is a term some POS software companies use to describe their process of bringing on new customers.

Onboarding is a corporate term, a big business term, for detached remote setup and installation. It is not personal. It is not small business.

Small business is personal. Most small business rely on providing personal local service.

That is what we do at Tower Systems through our POS software.

We don’t onboard, not in the big business corporate sense. No, we work personally, face to face, in your business. We setup our software in your shop, leveraging installation options to provide you with as much of a tailored solution as we are able. We do this working alongside you.

Not on the phone.

Not by email.

Not via Skype.

Our service is personal, like small business retail is personal.

Of course, if you would rather we did the work remotely we will happily do this. However, this is not our recommendation.

So, here at Tower Systems, no impersonal onboarding, no distance learning. We work with you, in your business, personally and engaged with your Like a conversation. Friendships develop. Understanding of your needs develop. This makes it better for you and for us.

We are confident that the personal in-store approach to setting up your POS software provides you with a better outcome. It is calmer and more engaged. We think you will learn better by our experts working with you in your business. And isn’t learn ing better vital to you and your business? For sure!

Every time we are in a retail business we learn. This is another reason we are keen to install and train on-site, in retail businesses. Working remotely on the phone denies this learning opportunity. It means the outcomes are less appropriate and useful. This is another reason onboarding is not a smart move in our view.

Small business retail is personal. Tower Systems gets that and delivers on the through its personal POS software installation  and training approach.

We are grateful to serve in excess of 3,000 small business retailers today, retailers we have learned from by being in their businesses.

Bulk image import to POS software helps retailers setup e-commerce websites

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The bulk image import facilities in the Tower Systems POS software make it easy for small business retailers to update their e-commerce websites with accurate image data.

We won’t go into much detail here about the bulk image import as it is clever, fast and accurate. It is part of our intellectual property that we leverage for our small business POS software customer base.

The bulk image import tools make it easy for customers to bring in images accurately and with little time investment. It makes it easy for small business retailers to offer image ric h website experiences to customers. This is a massive difference, something that we leverage exclusively for Tower Systems customers.

We work with retailers as well as their suppliers to manger this connection work to the advantage of our customers. We have experience already with many websites where we have done this work.

Looking around at others and what they offer in this area, we are grateful to have a point of difference in our facilities that give Tower Systems customers a commercial advantage on the bulk import of images to websites through our POS software.

We reached this point because we needed it ourselves for websites we created for our own retail businesses. We knew first hand the importance of the fact and accurate bulk image import. However, we found suppliers challenged ing to deal with. Then, we developed a process. We tested this and refined it and got it to a point where it is working a treat.

We can help our customers and their suppliers work together to bring in images to the POS in bulk that are then loaded to websites according to rules established by the retail business, working with us, leveraging our experience and expertise in this field.

We make it easier for small business retailers to get images loaded onto their websites. This helps them move online and leverage the online sales opportunities.

This is another example of the whole of business solutions offered by Tower Systems from the POS to e-commerce and back again.

We are grateful to ur customers for their support and the continual improvement opportunities they present.

How poor POS software rips small business retailers off through missed revenue

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We switched a small business retailer to ur POS software recently from another package that was costing their business money.

Using the other software package, the retailer could scan a series of items and there was no warning, no sound, no error message if the item scanned did not exist in the stock file. This was costing them money on a daily basis. 

If a stock item is not found in the stock file, the sale should stop there until the issue is resolved. This is the only ay to stop the business from losing certain  money.

Our Tower Systems POS software is strong in managing inventory and rob just in reporting data problems, such as scanning a bar code that is not recognised. An error message appears. The transaction cannot proceed until the error is resolved somehow.

Getting data right is vital in any retail business. Otherwise, what is the point.

Here at Tower System s we work with retailers to get data right, to ensure mistakes are minimised, to help make the flow of shoppers through the sales process easy, fast and accurate. If something does go wrong, we do not ignore it, as this other POS software that we recently replaced was doing.

We want small business retailers to have tools and processes that protect their businesses, which ensure good business performance. This is why we back our wonderful software with strong retail management training, that is delivered in store in a face to face situation, with business owners and team members.

This personal service that we provide from our skilled retail experts is what can make a difference for successful POS software integration.

Tower Systems is staffed by retail experienced people. For sure we are a tech company, but we are also retailers with solid retail experience and this is a big difference as we can speak to experience and leverage this for better outcomes in retail customer situations.

Our retail first approach helps small business retailers get more value from their technology investment with us. It is what makes partnering with Tower Systems different and valuable.

Small business retailers should not have to export stock data to excel spreadsheets to make changes

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We were shocked to discover small business retailers using some other POS software needing to export stock data to excel for manipulation and then importing the changed data back into the POS.

We think this reflects poor design of the POS software.

Our Tower Systems small business POS software has an awesome stock manager tool that enables you to make bulk safe changes to data without the need to export. Our stock manager tools are ideal for small business retail where data changes are common, especially bulk data changes as the business moves online or deals with new suppliers.

Indeed, there are myriad reasons bulk data manipulation is needed.

Exporting data to an excel spreadsheet is nuts in our view. It is old school from twenty years ago. If POS software requires it we suggest you look elsewhere as in the export and import problems can happen, damage can be done, data integrity can be lost.

By being able to make any data change necessary from within the POS software and without having to export the data makes sense to us and to our small business customers. That this can be done with a tool that is easily and safely used by a non tech person in a retail business is key. We make sure this can happen.

With more than 3,000 customers, Tower Systems understands small business and the needs of people working in small business. We make sure you are protected while at the same time proving tools necessary to enable you to run the business how you want.

Never export data to excel from your POS software for manipulation again. If a software company rep asks you to do this, ask why? Ask why they are not providing the tools necessary for you to do the data work needed from within the POS software. If they are honest the answer will most likely be a technical restriction in their software, something that does not allow the software to serve the reasonable needs of your business.

Tower Systems can help. Our POS software is ideal for small business retailers. It is robust, l capable and safe.

Helping small business retailers move to cashless retail

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Over the last ten days in the US on three occasions in different shops we had to switch from a cash purchase to using a card as they did not have enough money to make change. The change needed was $27, $16 and $32 respectively. In each case they did not have enough change in their til and, hence, asked me to pay by a card.

Near our office in Melbourne, Cannings the butcher switched to cashless trading three or four years ago,

Recently, we were offered a tenancy at Malvern Central shopping centre in Victoria for retail businesses I own and had decided if we went ahead with the planned gift and collectibles shop we would do so as a cashless business.

Being cashless can cut time spent banking, reduce employee theft opportunity and reduce the cost of change mistakes. While there are downsides for sure, that more and more businesses are switching indicates valuable upsides.

We mention this in our email today so it is on your mind and part of consideration for your own shop. Not because we think you should go cashless, but because we with it could be useful to be aware of the trend.

Going cashless needs planning from an operational perspective as well from a shopper communication perspective. While not for everyone, it is proving to be successful for plenty.

We think governments will embrace cashless as it benefits the tax take, for the same reason it reduces employee theft.

What do we think? We don’t know for sure if cashless will take off. What we do know is that there is nothing to lose from contemplating this, gaming it out, to see how your business might look.

In the meantime in our specialty POS software, we have tools to make cashless easier. For example, ur direct link to Oxipay (like Afterpay) helps you eliminate LayBy. Our direct link to Xero makes record-keeping easier.

Our goal at Tower Systems is to help independent small business retailers be aware of rends and to work with them figure out implications for them.

Our specialty POS software is an awesome platform on which you can rely to serve your needs to day and to evolve for what may happen tomorrow.

We offer solutions for: giftsjewellersbikestoysfishing/outdoorsgarden centrespet shopsproducefirearmsadult shops and newsagents.

Call if you have questions, the account manager for your state / territory can help: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

Web connected POS software for small business retailers

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Thanks to our POS software integrations with Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce we offer independent small business retailers flexibility in connecting their physical stores with online stores.

We make it easy for small business retailers to get online, from their current database of inventory. We do this through the POS software and by developing beautiful websites for our customers.

This makes Tower Systems an established and proven one stop shop for web connected POS software.

POS software users of our software for gift shops garden centres, jewellers, bike retailers, toy shops, newsagents, gift shops, fishing shops, outdoors shops, produce stores and more can rely on the connection for two-way comms between shop and website. It is easy, fast and seamless.

We made the decision years ago to integrate with the best of the best rather than by developing our own web tools. That decision is proven to be the right one since we leverage our POS expertise and web platforms we integrate with are experts in their respective fields.

There is no sense in a retailer having a website developed outside of  Shopify, Magento or WooCommerce. Every need we have seen in retail is served from within these three awesome and proves products.

Small business retailers can benefit from the retail management experience at Tower Systems experience that helps deliver a more retail focussed solution.

The Tower web team, which develops POS software connected websites using Shopify, magento and WooCommerce is also skilled at SEO and SEM services that help raise the website rankings in key search engines, ensuring the site is found ahead of others.

But best of all, Tower Systems provides professional advice and guidance to small business retailers keen to build their online presence. Our commitment is honest transparent advice on which any small business retailer can rely.

The Tower Systems web development team is Australian based, working out of the company’s head office in Hawthorn. This is important as many web development businesses are overseas. While you might have a locally based contact person development too often is done overseas, leading to challenges with delivery and usefulness.

A mental health plan for small business retailers

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As employers, retailers and small business owners, mental health challenges are often not far away.

Sometimes, we don’t know we are experiencing a mental health challenge while other times it’s obvious and on show for all to see. The same is true of any individual in the business.

At Tower Systems through our work with many retail businesses over many years we have been able to see first-hand business situations lead to mental health situations. the advice we share here has evolved over these years and based on advice of professionals in the mental health area.

How we respond to mental health challenges in business is important for for the business, those who rely on it and those it serves.

While we are not trained professionals in the area, our years of working with small business owners confronted by challenges to their mental health have helped us develop some guiding principles.

  1. Mental health is not easily measured or understood. One’s health is not outwardly obvious.
  2. Judgement cannot be part of how mental health is viewed or dealt with.
  3. Action is essential to improve your situation for doing nothing will achieve nothing.
  4. While taking the first step to confront mental health challenges can be difficult, it is relieving and rewarding.

Your GP is an excellent person to speak with. Our advice is that if you suspect there is a mental health challenge, contacting the GP is an important and immediate step.

A GP may suggest preparing a Mental Health Treatment Plan. This is a government recognised and Medicare funded plan for professional help. It can usually be prepared in a single double visit to the GP. This plan is the trigger to you gaining Medicare supported access to a psychologist for an initial number of visits, which can be extended depending on your situation.

Some people can feel a visit to a GP or psychologist is not warranted in their situation. While the medical professionals are the best to determine this, there are other resources you could explore:

Beyond Blue has published Business In Mind, a useful resource for small businesses on issues relating to mental health in the workplace. This is a good starting point for learning more. In the resource there are links to other resources that can help.

Finding mental health resources for small business owners dealing with mental health issues is not as easy as it is finding resources for managing the workplace for better mental health. It’s tough running any business and sometimes things can feel overwhelming. This is where networking can help as a first step, talking with others.

Small business owners feeling challenges within themselves need to treat themselves as employees and use the resources available such as:

In our day to day work with small business retailers, especially though contact o  the health desk, we can ourselves encounter people under considerable stress and, sometimes, experiencing a mental health challenge. We provide training to our team to deal with this in a way that is respectful  and does not cross personal boundaries.

If you feel we can help in any way, please reach out directly to anyone on ur team including our leadership team.

We hope this information has been useful. It reflects concern, care and advice we offer beyond our small business POS software.

Australian POS software helps specialty small business retailers compete

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The most effective ways small business retailers can compete with big businesses and online is through efficient operation, accurate data and customer service touch-points that add appreciated value.

Tower Systems only sells its POS software to small business retailers.

We believe in small businesses, their importance to local communities and their broader economic value.

Through our software, our personal in-store training, 24/7 human and locally based help desk service, regional user meetings, weekly online workshops and other touch-points we help small business retailers beyond what is usual for POS software companies.

Our company motto is we’re here to help. We take this seriously. Everyday, out motto challenges us to help our customers in ways they do not expect, ways beyond the software itself.

Founded in 1981, Tower Systems has evolved as technology has evolved. The software we sell today is generations away from where we started. We are proud to have served some of our customers for decades.

More than 3,500 specialty small business retailers in Australia and New Zealand use our specialty POS software.

To us, a specialty retailer is one that offers services unique to the channel, services that define the business.  We embed in our software for each retail channel facilities that serve needs unique to that channel. We take pride in doing this and enhancing these channel-specific facilities as the needs evolve.

RETAIL MARKETS

There are versions of the software serving the business specific needs of: Jewellers, Bike shops, Garden Centres, Book shops, Gift Shops, Homewares Shops, Produce businesses, Fishing and Outdoors shops, Newsagents, Toy Shops, Confectionery Retail, Stationery retail, Pet Shops, Pet Grooming, Whole Foods Grocers, Swimming Pool Supplies, Firearms Retail and Adult Shops.

Linking directly to Xero enhances the time-saving gained through the software as well as facilitating the accuracy of data managed by the software.

Our Xero link provides for a data feed of sales as well as purchases.

With a CPA working full time in our business we are configured to provide a technical solution that has been overseen by our own Accountant, to ensure it is a viable solution for the small business retailers we serve.

INTEGRATIONS

Our Xero integration is one of many approved integrations provided by the software to serve the needs of retailers. Other integrations include:

  1. Tyro broadband EFTPOS.
  2. Links to all major banks through PC-EFTPOS.
  3. Magento e-commerce.
  4. Shopify e-commerce.
  5. WooCommerce / Word Press.
  6. FlyBys in New Zealand.
  7. Transactor loyalty in New Zealand.
  8. Scale integration for selling by weight.
  9. Touch networks for vending event tickets, phone recharge, fishing licences and more.

CLOUD OR NOT

The Tower software can run on the desktop or in the cloud. Retailers decide what they prefer.

In its cloud offer, Tower offers a 100% hosted solution running in a secure purpose-build location with high-level security and backup. This solution is offered on a SAAS (Software As A services) model with minimal on-boarding costs and a single monthly fee.

Retailers who prefer local control can purchase or lease-finance the software. Once acquired, there are no mandatory annual access fees.

This flexible approach to pricing provides retailers the maximum flexibility in acquisition model.

WHAT THE SOFTWARE OFFERS.

This is a comprehensive and flexible Point of Sale software package offering facilities in many areas of retail business operation including facilities that help small business retailers to run more competitive and valuable businesses. The Tower website provides comprehensive information on software facilities.

PERSONAL SERVICE MATTERS.

The Tower training is personal, one-on-one. It is delivered in-store, by someone with extensive retail experience.

The help desk help desk is based in Hawthorn victoria. When people call, the call is answered by a human and not a computerised phone system. We believe in personal service.

The company also offers free online training workshops where retailers  can learn more and talk to each other about how they use the software.

Every customer has access to free one-on-one training year after year.

There are also user meetings around the country where people can meet the management and technical team in an open group setting for more free training and free assistance.

WE ARE RETAILERS TOO.

We own and operate several retail businesses, providing us with experience every day that enables us to walk in the shoes of our customers. We also use these shops as test sites for early releases of software updates plus we are happy for customers and prospects to visit the shops and learn from what we do ourselves in leveraging the software.

THE CUSTOMERS ARE IN CONTROL.

At the Tower Systems website, click on Software Ideas to see our transparent approach to customer engagement on software enhancements. This is world-class. Customers can make suggestions. These are assessed to ensure they will work. All customers are then invited to vote on the suggestions. The more votes the faster we bring the suggestion to reality.

Advice for small business retailers on how to quit dead stock

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Beyond being a POS software company, Tower Systems often provides business management advice to small business retailers.

How do you identify product that is not working? When do you quit a product that is not working? Why should you quit stock? How do you quit the stock? How long should quitting stock take? What if the item does not sell no matter what you do?

These are all questions we will answer here for you in the form of suggestions. What you ultimately do is 100% up to you. Your choices need to reflect your own situation and circumstances.

Identifying product that is not working.

Product is not working if it is not paying its way – paying for the floor space it takes and the time you spend on it. Check your sales, rank all your stock based on sales – look at the bottom performing stock.  Your software should have a ranked Sales Report that lets you list all your stock ranked by unit or $$ sales. Use this to create your list of items to consider.

The other way to identify stock that’s not working for you is to check your back room or other storage facility. Stock that is not generating cash regularly has to be considered dead in our view.

When do you quit a product?

You quit, exit, products when they are not paying their way, when a season is done or when you want to exit that category for some other reason.

Let’s say your rent is $1,250 per square metre per year. If your gross profit averages, say, 50%, you will need to sell $2,500 worth of product to pay for a metre of space. However, this is not the complete consideration as you have labour, power and other costs to cover. The suggested rule of thumb is that your retail sales need to be at least three times that necessary to cover the cost of the space. In the scenario covered here, you should be earning at least $7,500 from a square metre of space. If stock is not delivering this, quitting it could be necessary.

Why quit stock?

To keep your shop fresh, to not be weighed down by dead stock to make your shop look more relevant, to stop hoarding.

How to quit stock.

Here is how we quit stock in retail businesses we operate. These businesses are in shopping centres where retail space is limited and expensive. We are necessarily aggressive.

  1. Set a deadline. We’d suggest two weeks for quitting a product or range of products.
  2. Choose your timing. The best time to quit stock quickly is on your busiest trading days. For many this will be the weekend. Consider structuring your quitting program to run from Thursday through Sunday.
  3. Set your initial price. The discount must be compelling. We’d suggest 50% off. A smaller discount in this marketplace will not get noticed. Think about your discount words: in some areas, HALF PRICE works better than 50% OFF. Sometimes, 2 FOR 1 can be even more effective. A $$ price can work better – for example a dump bin with everything priced at $1. People then don’t have to work anything out.
  4. Move the product to a high traffic location. Display it as a line you are quitting – in a dump bin or in open boxes. This must be in a location away from where the product is usually located. Do not make an attractive display. Consider placing the stock somewhere that people almost stumble over it.
  5. Put up a sign that is either black on white or white on read. Nothing fancy. Even a hand written sign is good. Do not make a complex or attractive sign.
  6. Adjust your price. If sales are not strong enough, go harder with your discount. From 50% off we suggest a drop to a $$ price point. It can be challenging selling something you would have sold for $20.00 at $1 but that $1 is better than getting nothing for the product at all.
  7. Give it away. If the products are not selling, consider giving the stock away to a local charity. Getting it out of your shop for no compensation can be better than it taking space and giving off the wrong message about your business.
  8. Keep track of time. If you decide to be out of the stock within two weeks, stick to that and make it happen with your pricing and placement decisions.
  9. Use the bin. If you can’t sell the item and you can’t give it away, use the bin.
  10. An alternative: If you have a large amount of stock to quit, consider hiring a local hall and running an off site sale. Talk to your suppliers about getting extra stock in for this. You could even plan to do this as an annual event. Consider, too, linking with a local charity to drive interest and create a fund raising opportunity for them.

Quitting stock takes strength and commitment. We urge you to do it to keep your business fresh. Product not selling gives shoppers a bad impression of your business.

Take a look at your shop floor and in your back room. Look at what you can get rid of right away to reduce the anchor of dead stock on your business.

Too many retail businesses have old stock gathering dust. One of the best ways to separate your business is to regularly quit stock that is not performing as it should.

How the Tower Systems POS software helps small business retailers compete

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Here at Tower Systems, we help businesses using our small business POS software compete with big businesses.

Helping small business retailers compete is important to us and to all who rely on each of our small business retail customers. It is also important to regional and rural towns around Australia, New Zealand and other locations where we serve.

How we help small business retailers compete with big business is a secret as there are things we do in our software, tools we offer, processes we follow, opportunities that we provide that are proprietary. They make our software different, better, stronger and more useful to small business retailers.

It’s like a secret sauce if you will. A secret recipe of software and facilities on which ur small business retailer customers can rely to leverage a points of difference over big business retail competitors.

Since we only sell our POS software to small business retailers, this is 100% our focus, to deliver for this group of retailers so they can have a valuable point of difference over big businesses.

From the way we manage inventory to the marketing tools we provide to the front-end loyalty we offer to the management insights we share, our small business retail software helps provide a competitive advantage.

Take our front-end loyalty. It is unique, valuable and proven to help small business retailers win business they might otherwise not win. These are facilities big business retailers do not offer. They are differentiating and valuable.

We are grateful to the support of our small business customers for trusting us to provide these and other tools in our POS software.

Beyond smart loyalty, our POS software helps small business retailers compete with big businesses by helping them to leverage what is unique about their businesses. We help them leverage local knowledge and experience and to encode this in a way that is useful and easily served to customers consistently and with pride buy the business.

By giving small local retail  business tools that compare favourably with the tools of big business retailers we help small business retailers win moire business, every day.

The POS Software Blog

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