The POS Software Blog

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

CategoryToy shop software

REINVENTING THE POS SOFTWARE EXPERIENCE FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

April 30, 2016

2 Min read

R

Change is the order of the day for retail as it has been since the first shops opened. What is different in 2016 is that the pace of change has picked up. Indeed, the pace of change today is greater than at any time in the past. Technology is playing a key role in that: online and offline technology is facilitating, pushing and even forcing change.

Staying up to date is a challenge, especially in small and independent retailer businesses where having the time and resources to stay open can be difficult.

Tower Systems tries to insulate its customers from some of the challenges of change by leveraging changes in the software without needing to change hardware infrastructure.

In software updates we bring to the businesses of our customers tools and resources they can use to be more competitive. Tools and facilities through which they can enhance the relevance of their businesses in a changing retail landscape.

We think and work strategically on such technical changes, always thinking about what we can do to help our customers drive their relevance for we know if you customers feel more relevant and are more successful as a result of our software then a need of our business plan is satisfied.

What we do is more than about the software though. Enhancing our POS software is only part of what we do. The even more important aspect of helping our small business retailers compete is how we communicate with them about the enhancements. Our live training workshops, regional user meetings, training videos, advice sheets, personal training and other touch points help our customers learn about and embrace opportunities for change in their retail businesses through what we deliver in our POS software.

In our latest work we have helped retailers redefine the over the counter sales experience, leveraging important touch points, driving value from shopper engagement. For retailers, changes like these are money in the bank.

Our work directly linking with Magento, Shopify, Xero and other respected and widely used platforms is an example of us delivering on our commitment to help our small business retail community to embrace change and leverage change for their commercial success.

Read on Read later

PRACTICAL RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE BEYOND TRADITIONAL POS SOFTWARE SUPPORT

April 28, 2016

2 Min read

P

Tower Systems offers help, advice and assistance beyond traditional POS software support and has done for many years.

Our small business retail management advice is fresh and developed from our own hands-on retail experiences and from suggestions from our helpful customers. Each article of advice is jargon-free and accompanied by how-to steps and practice advice any retailer in any situation can read and use.

Here are topics we have published advice for our customers on in recent months.

How to confront feeling overwhelmed in your retail business.
Gift certificates – for selling when you don’t have the gift a customer wants.
How to stop price comparisons with major retailers in your retail business.
How to cut shopper theft in your retail business.
How to protect your business from a ransomware attack.
Don’t be bound by what is usual for your type of retail business.
Make every day your pay day.
Compete by not competing.
Leveraging what sells with what in your retail business.
What manual processes can you eliminate in your business?
5 Rules Every Small Business Retailer Needs For The Sales Counter.
5 Ways small business retailers can market for free.
How to cut mistakes in your retail business.
How to be more local in your retail business.
How to find optimism in your retail business.
How to check prices using your Tower software.
How to develop your unique selling proposition and why you need one.
Competing against your most important competitor.
How and when to quit stock in your retail business.
How to transact if your computer system is down.
How to cut employee theft in your retail business.
30 free marketing ideas for small business retailers this Christmas.

This is a small sample of the advice from us and available to our POS software customers through our searchable and accessible from anywhere Knowledge Base.

Read on Read later

BEST PRACTICE TOY SHOP SOFTWARE HELPS AUSTRALIAN TOY RETAILERS

April 27, 2016

2 Min read

B

The Tower Systems specialty Toy Shop Software is best-practice software for Australian toy shops. Using the software you can easily handle:

Customer special orders.
Catalogues
Gift Cards.
Hampers
LayBys
Presales of hot licence items – get revenue before a product is released.
Shopper loyalty – points.
Shopper loyalty – $$$ off the next purchase based on rules you set.
Importing electronic invoices and stock files from suppliers.
Reordering based on accurate sales data – reducing the cost of dead stock.
BOGO: handling Buy One get One Free offers.
MultiBuy – like a coffee card, free product over time.
Xero accounting interface – cut your bookkeeping time and costs.
Magento and Shopify interfaces – connect to your website easily.
EFTPOS integration – save on a phone line and cut mistakes.
Easy and accurate stock taking.
Professional receipts with your logo.
Serial number tracking.
Age checking for items with a minimum age requirement.
Upsell prompts for staff.

There are many ways toy shop retailers can use this toy shop software to help you personalise the shopping experience with you, ways that make comparing your business to mass market toy retailers difficult.

We help Toy retailers shine a light on their point of difference.

For example, you can have product use and care information included automatically on receipts. This can be information you have written that sets your business apart from others.

You can use smart reports in the software to quickly gain a view of business performance:

By supplier.
By season.
By product licence such as Star Wars, Batman etc.
Comparing trading periods.
By employee performance.
By customer value.
By day of week.

We believe in the value of accurate business data for small and independent retailers. Good data easily accessed can guide better quality business decisions – we see this every day in our extensive work with small business retailers across multiple channels.

Read on Read later

SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ADVICE: BE MEMORABLE

April 24, 2016

3 Min read

S

Memorable customer service is the most important point of difference a retail business can have, especially a business which does not make what it sells and therefore could have its products being sold by any other business apple to reach the same pool of shoppers.

We call it memorable customer service because it truly has to be that … memorable. So memorable that it is praised by your customers to others.

Good customer service should be the norm, the lowest hurdle any retail business can jump. Memorable customer service, the level of customer service that makes a shopper talk about the experience to their friends, must be the goal and it is the word of mouth from these customers that is a factor in driving traffic growth.

Memorable customer service is just as vital to Point of Sale software companies as it is for retail businesses. Since we own retail businesses as well as our POS software company we see it, live it and reach for it from both sides.

This is why we work hard to encode the ability to focus on customer service in our Point of Sale software. That’s right, retailers using our software have touch points they can leverage using software which help deliver the kind of memorable customer service we are talking about here.

Memorable customer service in retail, just as in a software company, is experiences which exceed expectations, it delivers benefits outside of what you expect even from a good business. In our IT company we compete with big IT companies and small, like us, IT companies. While we want our software to be the point of difference customers notice and talk about positively, it is our customer service which is loved and mentioned to colleagues more. Realising this was an epiphany for us.

We focus on building stronger, better and more valuable software. But we also surround this, completely, with customer service experiences which are the very best of the best. This gives us, and our customers, the best of both worlds. And we love it ourselves.

Given that most retailers do not have products unique to their businesses, delivering memorable customer service is critical to the business plan. Small and independent retailers can do this more easily and effectively than big retailers. From the genuine smile to shoppers to product knowledge to that extra information which helps a shopper get more out of the product purchased than they would have had the purchased the product elsewhere. This added value is the key and it can be delivered in almost any situation and with any product from a stapler through to a high-end road bike.

So, beyond our software and as part of our customer service focus, we seek out opportunities to help our customers deliver memorable customer service. Indeed, this was one topic we covered in the recent face-to-face user meetings we ran in capital cities and major regional centres around Australia.

As a Point of Sale software company, our mission is to deliver constantly improving retail management software backed with memorable customer service and going beyond this with business insights and assistance which helps our retailers themselves deliver exceptional and memorable experiences to their customers.

Read on Read later

AN IN-HOUSE VIDEO ON HOW OUR POS SOFTWARE COMPANY INTERACTS

April 22, 2016

1 Min read

A

Read on Read later

THE JB HI FI 3 FOR $10 IS EASY WITH OUR POS SOFTWARE

April 18, 2016

2 Min read

T

Retailers using the Tower Systems POS software can easily handle package or bundled offers, like the JB Hi Fi 3 for $10 offer they are running for greeting cards.

Using our smart small business POS software, retailers can run bundled deals like we see in JB Hi Fi with ease. Small and independent retailers can match the retail giant simply and easily. This is important as offers like this make price comparisons difficult.

In addition to bundled offers like this, the Tower software also handled multi buys where shoppers can purchase over time, reaching an award point where they get free product.

These facilities are in addition to myriad other discounting options including catalogues, loyalty facilities, discount vouchers and more.

All of these tools help small business retailers to be competitive in their offers, competitive against other local businesses, competitive against online and competitive against big businesses, like JB Hi Fi.

The beauty of offers like the JB Hi Fi offer is shoppers are drawn to the deal of Three cards for $10 and often times purchase one card at a higher margin for the retailer. Our software handles this, kicking in the Three for $10 pricing offer only when the shopper purchases the three cards. This counter management based on volume is easy and automatic – delivering good outcomes for the retailers and ensuing maximum margin.

Read on Read later

THE TOWER SYSTEMS AUSTRALIAN POS SOFTWARE COMPANY BY THE NUMBERS

April 15, 2016

1 Min read

T

Read on Read later

EXTRA POS SOFTWARE TRAINING SESSIONS DUE TO DEMAND

April 14, 2016

1 Min read

E

Tower Systems is thrilled to announce the addition of the following training sessions due to demand for the original sessions:

Meeting Name: How to handle non EDI invoices to keep stock accurate. Date: Thursday 12^th of May Time: 2pm Description: See how easy it is to process invoice’s manually for suppliers that do not send electronic invoices to help keep your stock figures accurate.
Meeting Name: Getting Ready for EOFY Date: Tuesday 17^th of May Time: 2pm Description: Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
Meeting Name: Retailer software settings you will be shocked you have access to. Date: Thursday 19^th of May Time: 2pm Description: Help desk expert Colin Harris will show you settings you most likely don’t know exist that can help your enjoyment of the software
Meeting Name: Stocktaking for EOFY Date: Thursday 26^th of May Time: 2pm Description: Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.

We are grateful to our customers for embracing our free training program. We know those attending training make better users of the software and better retailers.

Read on Read later

LOCALLY DEVELOPED POS SOFTWARE FOR AUSTRALIAN LOCAL RETAIL BUSINESSES

April 14, 2016

1 Min read

L

As overseas online businesses compete with local retailers for sales of almost anything, so too do overseas based POS software companies compete with Australian software companies.

Here at Tower Systems, we understand local. We understand our local retail business customers. we understand their shoppers. We understand what being local is all about and why it matters to our customers and the communities in which they serve.

This is what being local is really about, it is about being knowledgable of and engaged with your local community.

Through our POS software and through our customer service we live and breathe the local message. Our actions speak for us through locally focussed software changes and how we serve and connect with our customers.

here is a short video explaining our local pitch. This video serves multiple purposes: it speaks to our in-house video production facilities, it has our owner speaking up for us and what we stand for, it shows our commitment to plain speaking anyone can understand and it speaks to our professionalism that you can trust.

This is the Tower Advantage, our Tower Advantage, offered to you.

Read on Read later

SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: HOW TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS MORE SECURE

April 10, 2016

3 Min read

S

Security is important in any business but especially in a small independent retail business. Here is a list of actions we recommend you consider to ensure your business is secure.

Know how many keys there are to your premises and who has them.
Keep a spare key in a safe place away from the business.
Keep a current data backup off site. Regularly check that you can restore the data from your backup and that the data is current.
Regularly check the use of your business software for the deletion or alternation of sales as this could indicate employee fraud.
Have current reputable virus protection on all your computers.
Have current reputable firewall installed on your network.
Never open a zip file sent by email.
Never open an email from a bank, the ATO or the police.
Change the most powerful / valuable password for your computer software monthly and share it sparingly. Passwords should be complex. Check the strength of your password here: https://howsecureismypassword.net
Be discrete when talking about the business and its performance.
Do not do the banking at the same time every day or every few days. Do not follow the same route. Do not carry the same bag.
Have a camera system installed to get a good shot of the faces of everyone entering and leaving the business.
Consider registering your CCTV with the local police – this is an option in some jurisdictions.
Ensure customers can see they are being filmed.
Train employees to make eye contact with customers.
Train employees on emergency procedures for handling: theft, aggressive people, shoplifters.
Use the full stock control facilities of your software to understand the financial cost of shoplifting.
When doing magazine returns, check discrepancies weekly to understand magazine theft.
Ensure your windows are not cluttered. The police advise cluttered windows are a security risk because of what they can hide.
Ensure there is good lighting outside if the store is locked up when it is dark.
Ensure you have the best possible sight lines of the shop from the counter.
Have a no personal items at the counter policy.
If you catch someone in the act of shoplifting ask them to wait in the store, and call the Police. Also (advice from NSW govt. Crime prevention):
1. Tell them who you are.
2. Tell them why they have been asked to stay in the store. o Advise them that Police have been called
3. Ask the person to surrender any property that doesn’t belong to them. Remember, retailers and other citizens have no legal right to search a person.
4. Most importantly, do not put yourself at risk.
Have a clear refund processing policy and ensure all employees are trained on this.
Track all sales by employee code.
When hiring: ask if applicants agree to a police check, check their references, do not hire friends of employees, explain your commitment to zero tolerance re employee theft.
Have an employee theft policy in full view.

Read on Read later

NEWS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN DESIGNED AND SUPPORTED TOY SHOP SOFTWARE CREATED FOR INDEPENDENT TOY SHOPS

April 8, 2016

3 Min read

N

Thank you to all who visited our stand at the Melbourne Toy Fair last month. We are already scheduling new installations as a result of this terrific trade show.

The show gave us an excellent opportunity to get feedback on our new Toy Shop Software. This Australian designed, developed and supported software provides best-practice management assistance for independent Aussie toy shops.

We only sell to independent retailers in each of the specialty marketplaces in which we serve. This is because our only interest is in independent small businesses.

Using our Toy Shop Software you can easily handle:

Customer special orders.
Catalogues.
Hampers
LayBys.
Shopper loyalty – accruing points.
Shopper loyalty – offering $$$ off the next purchase based on rules you set.
Importing electronic invoices from suppliers.
Importing electronic stock files from suppliers.
Reordering based on accurate sales data, and therefore reducing the cost of dead stock.
BOGO: handling Buy One get One Free offers.
MultiBuy – like a coffee card, tracking customer purchases getting them to a free gift from you.
Xero accounting interface – cut your bookkeeping time and costs.
Magento and Shopify interfaces – makes connecting to your website easy and accurate.
EFTPOS integration – save on a phone line and cut mistakes.
Easy and accurate stock taking.
Customer accounts.
Multiple discount options.
Professional receipts with your logo.
Serial number tracking.
Age checking for items with a minimum age requirement.
Upsell prompts for staff.

There are many ways Toy shop owners and employees can use this software to help personalise the shopping experience, ways that make comparing your business to mass market toy retailers difficult.

We help you shine a light on your point of difference.

For example, you can have product use and care information included automatically on receipts. This can be information you have written that sets your business apart from others.

You can use smart reports in the software to quickly gain a view of business performance:

By supplier.
By season.
By product licence such as Star Wars, Batman etc.
Comparing trading periods.
By employee performance.
By customer value.
By day of week.

We believe in the value of accurate business data for small and independent retailers. Good data easily accessed can guide better quality business decisions – we see this every day in our extensive work with small business retailers across multiple channels.

We would love to show you the latest Toy Shop software, obligation free and to hear from you about the needs of your business.

A hardware and software package from us starts at $8 a day.

Thank you for reading. We hope to talk with you soon.

Read on Read later

KUDOS FOR TOWER SYSTEMS XERO POS SOFTWARE INTEGRATION

April 6, 2016

2 Min read

K

You know you are doing when when small business accountants recommend your POS software and its link with the highly-regarded Xero cloud based accounting software.

That is what’s been happening to us. We are winning new customers who are discovering us thanks to recommendations from their accountants, in part due to the Xero approved and endorsed POS software Xero accounting software link.

Creating an approved link is not an option for all POS software companies. Indeed, Xero says no to some POS companies that approach them. We are thrilled to have been approved and to be able to help small business retailers save time and money through the linking of their POS software to Xero.

As our software evolved as does our partnerships and interfaces. That iOS what we have delivered with our successful Xero interface – a facility backed by knowledgable accounting related support and assistance.

What is Transferred to Xero?

Sales
End of Shift based department-level sales are transferred to Xero via a sales invoice. Each department can be assigned its own Xero account.

Invoices
Invoices received into Retailer are transferred to Xero at department level. No individual stock items are transferred.

Write Offs & No Sales
These are transferred to individual expense accounts depending on the transaction reason chosen.

Cost Of Sales
An option on sales exporting is to export Cost of Sales. While not a full implementation of COGS it does transfer over the cost price of items sold each day to reduce the value of Stock On Hand in Xero. If you use this option you will export Write offs, not as expenses, but as adjustment to your Stock on Hand. This makes processing stock adjustments for the End Of Month much easier.

Read on Read later

POS SOFTWARE UPDATE IN BETA RELEASE

April 5, 2016

1 Min read

P

A major update to our POS software has moved to beta release following extensive testing in house and an alpha live release.

This latest update delivers enhancements in the areas of fast retail sales, loyalty management and marketing, catalogue management and handling special customer orders.

The update delivers new functionality, genuine enhancements to the software, enhancements that continue the lead of the Tower systems software in selected specialty retail channels.

Retailers on our beta release panel have been contacted with details on how to access the update and provide feedback leading into the commercial release program.

Read on Read later

SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: MAYBE IT IS TIME TO CHANGE YOUR FRIENDS

April 3, 2016

2 Min read

S

Who do you talk to about your retail business? Are they sympathetic, pandering almost? Or, do they challenge your perception of your business?

Do they agree with everything you say? Do they offer pity as a response for you explaining your situation?

Good friends will challenge what you say. They will ask tough questions to test what you say about business performance. They will not put up with a victim mentality. They will want to know what you are doing to improve your situation and that your actions are rooted in your business data.

If your friends don’t challenge you when you talk about your business consider seeking out others you can talk to who do challenge you.

Owning a business of any size can be tough and lonely. In the business it is rare you will be challenged. In your immediately family, too often, you will not be challenged. This is why you need to seek out those who could and will challenge you. You need to be challenged. Your plans need to be tested through tough questioning. While some good friend will do this for you many will not.

So, do you need to change your friends?

Seek out people who will give you truthful assessment of what you say, people who will have an opinion and be unafraid to share it. You want people who will actively listen to you and give you their insights.

Seek out people who will want the same from you. The ideal friendship is one that is equal, open and honest in conversation. This is what retail business owners need – people who can help them see what they may not be seeing for themselves.

Read on Read later

DON’T BE BOUND BY WHAT IS USUAL FOR YOUR TYPE OF RETAIL BUSINESS.

April 2, 2016

2 Min read

D

Now, more than ever, retail businesses are not bound by strict borders in terms of what they sell. You only have to look at what pharmacies sell today compared to ten years ago to realise the value of change.

But this type of change, retailers trading outside what is usual for their type of business, is common. There are successful coffee shops today that started out as a customer service experience in vehicle repair shops, fashion outlets and more.

What is it you could sell in your business that does not fit neatly into what is usual for your type of retail business?

In our work in a range of specialty retail channels we see successes where retailers play outside what is usual for their type of business, where they ignore the borders of tradition.

Doing this successfully starts with looking at the type of customers you currently attract and considering this with the capacity of the business to offer other products and services within the space and capital restraints of the business.

A good place to start is to analyse basket data in your software and, through this, to build up a better understanding of what people purchase. Using departments, categories and tags, you can build an understanding beyond what you recall from serving customers.

Use your data to explore possibilities beyond what you sell today.

Who is your customer?
What else do they buy?
What can I sell them allied to what they buy from me yet that I do not carry today.

Data analysis shop could uncover a niche interest among customers that could be served by the business carrying something you may not usually see in a your type shop.

We see this activity as important. If you rely on traffic that is usual for your type of business your results will most likely be usual for your type of business. Whereas if you attract traffic beyond what is usual, your results ought to be beyond what is usual.

Retail today is more borderless than ever. While it is important your business can be easily understood, you can do this and reach beyond what is traditional with careful management and attention.

Read on Read later

ACCESSIBILITY TO POS SOFTWARE ARCHITECTS IS KEY TO SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

March 30, 2016

1 Min read

A

Hey small business retailers: When as the last time you got to speak directly with those responsible for the POS software you use? When were you able to influence the decisions they make on the design of the software?

Here at Tower Systems that happens daily. Access to the decision makers in our business is easy for any of our small business retailer customers.

Such access is important to us as it helps us make more useful software, the kind of software retailers love.

At our current national user meeting tour where we are vuisiting more than twenty locations our customers can directly and one on one talk with our decision makers. They can share suggestions and find out wh6y we do what we do.

We get as much out of this dialogue as our customers. Indeed, it is a thrill to have ah ha moment when we discover opportunities for our software beyond what we may have been thinking.

Beyond the current user meetings our customers have access to the development team through our open door policy of end user contact. We don’t believe in hiding those creating our software from those who use it.

Read on Read later

HELPING A SMALL BUSINESS RETAILER CONFRONT THE WORST TYPE OF THEFT

March 26, 2016

1 Min read

H

The worst type of theft any small business retailer can encounter is that by a business partner. It can be challenging to detect as a smart partner can know processes and opportunities to steal without detection. A well run business, however, has checks and balances, checkpoint opportunities to indicate theft that can be investigated and proven.

We have been working on this for a customer through this Easter period, helping to gather evidence that will resolve the matter.

While we offer excellent theft mitigation opportunities in our POS software, retailers can choose the level to which these are used. Offering local choice is something retailers want. We confront the risk of choice in our training and support of retailers as we want them to choose what is best for their business, to keep the cost low.

We are proud to offer management level business assistance and advice to help retailers uncover evidence of theft and to take appropriate steps to recover stolen funds and bring perpetrators to justice.

Read on Read later

WONDERFUL MELBOURNE TOY FAIR EXPERIENCE

March 22, 2016

1 Min read

W

We are thrilled with our experience at the Melbourne Toy fair over the last four days, showing off our latest Toy Shop Software. During the four days we got to meet plenty of toy retailers as well as gift shop owners and newsagents.

With toys being an important category across several retail channels, this proved to be a valuable trade show for us to support and participate in. The diversity in retailers suited us.

We also enjoyed connecting with more toy suppliers with good discussion around supplying electronic invoices.

As the only POS software company at the fair we had a terrific advantage for which we are grateful.

Total attendance was thousands – from around Australia, large and small retailers and, as we noted, from several retail channels.

Read on Read later

THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CLOUD BACKUP SERVCIES FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

March 21, 2016

1 Min read

T

The cloud backup service offered by Tower Systems to its small business retailer customers is best practice, offering the ultimate in protection for our customers.

The features of the service include:

Whole of PC backup. This is crucial.
Local copy storage.
Cloud based storage in a secure independent server farm location.
Speedy recovery back to a selected data.
Certainty over the management of the processes.
No user triggered backup activity required.

While there are free cloud based backup services, when it comes to protecting your business data a free service is most likely not the best.

Your business data needs to be treated with the respect it deserves.

Read on Read later

TERRIFIC FIRST DAY AT THE MELBOURNE TOY FAIR FOR OUR TOY SHOP SOFTWARE

March 19, 2016

1 Min read

T

We are thrilled with the engagement on our stand during the first day of the Melbourne Toy Fair trade show today. There was plenty of interest in our Toy Shop software as well as our speciality software for gift shops and newsagents as they were well represented in attendees today.

Plenty of business owners stopped by to learn more about what our software does and how it can help an independent toy retailer computer with mass retailers.

Our competitive price and loyalty tools are especially useful in helping retailers to engage commercially and competitively.

We have another three days at this trade show. Based on today we are excited for the opportunities they will bring.

With more than 1,000 attendees on day one this is set to be a terrific show.

Read on Read later

TOY SHOP SOFTWARE ON SHOW AT 2016 TOY FAIR STARTING TODAY

March 19, 2016

1 Min read

T

We are thrilled to be showing off our latest Toy Shop Software at the Toy Fair in Melbourne. With many toy retailers already partnering with us we are enjoying the opportunity to catch up as well as to make new connections.

In our latest software we are helping toy retailers to be smart in how they compete with the big end of town. Toy retailers in particular love our software for:

Catalogue management.
Shopper loyalty tools.
Easy LayBy facilities.
Age checking and protection.
Warranty support.
Serial number tracking and management.
Product bundling for hampers and other packages.
Collectibles management. Special orders.
Special customer service.
Multi-buy tools.
Major supplier integrations.
Tagging – enabling easier licence sales tracking and management.

Our work with toy manufacturers and retailers in Australia and overseas is delivering terrific outcomes for our retail partners and for us. We are thrilled with what we are seeing achieved.

Read on Read later

CANBERRA AREA RETAILERS POS SOFTWARE USER MEETING

March 16, 2016

1 Min read

C

Plenty of retailers using our Tower Systems POS software got together with us today at the Mercure Hotel for a POS software user meeting and networking session. In addition to covering new facilities and delivering appreciated training, we also connected with prospective users keen for a new solution.

From our side at the Canberra session we had our software development manager, COO, national sales manager and CEO all present and engaged in the session.

Read on Read later

SUNDAY RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: CHECK YOUR BACKUP

March 13, 2016

1 Min read

S

A backup of business data is only any good if it can be restored. For decades, Tower Systems has offered a free backup check. Our customers are welcome to post us a backup. We will restore this and check that the backup is current. This provides a real peace of mind that is better than any other approach.

Any of our customers is welcome to use this free service.

Read on Read later

SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: MAKE EVERY DAY YOUR PAY DAY

March 12, 2016

2 Min read

S

There was a time when small business retailers could rely on selling their business for a handsome increase on the price they paid thereby providing a good pay day, when businesses sold for a good multiple of net earnings.

No more. Today, the best way to extract value from our businesses is to make every day your pay day, to not rely on your pay day being the day you sell the business.

The challenge is how do you do this?

Retailers need to look at their businesses differently. This starts with the mindset of every day being your pay day. Each decision needs to be considered in this context.

Focusing on profit today will give you a better result today and make your business more valuable tomorrow.

Here are some suggestions for making every day your pay day:

Run with the leanest roster possibl Just about every retail business we review has capacity to lower labour costs.
Have your best people working the floor, helping customers spend more.
Have stunning displays that attract people from outside the shop.
Have compelling displays in-store that encourage people to browse beyond their destination purchase.
Always have impulse offers at high traffic locations.
Charge more every time you can. Loyalty programs such as discount vouchers, bundling into hampers, multi buys such as 2 for 3 and other opportunities enable you to do this by blocking price comparison.
Buy as best you can.
Grab settlement discounts every time you are able.
Promote outside your store using online and social media opportunities.
Leverage adjacency information. Chase a deeper basket – people purchasing more each visit.

Be responsible for the profitability of your business. Don’t blame your suppliers, your landlord, your employees or some other external factor … it all comes down to you – the decisions you make and the actions you take.

If you relentlessly pursue profit with a clear focus you are likely to see profit grow. That’s better than waiting to make money when you sell because that’s less likely to happen in this market.

Doing all this relies on your measuring the performance of your business. The Tower software helps with this. It is easy.

This advice is an example of the small business management advice POS software company tower Systems offers its customers in its weekly business builder email.

Read on Read later

WHY WE THINK XERO IS THE BEST ACCOUNTING SOFTWARE FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

March 12, 2016

2 Min read

W

We have used MYOB, Quick Books and xero in retail businesses we operate. It is this experience with all three from a bookkeeping through to a finalized accounts perspective that has helped us reach a view that xero is the best solution.

Each professional position in our company agrees from bookkeeper to management to our in-house CPA. xero is the best accounting solution for small business retailers.

There is an ease of use backed by excellent support as well as an easy and direct integration between our POS software and xero that helps us save time and money.

Retailers using xero can see this for themselves.

So this is how we came to our preference, our recommendation, through our own experience on a range of levels.

While our software supports MYOB, Quick Books and xero, our experience with xero is roe complete and our integration more direct. It is an integration tested and endorsed by xero, something the company gives out only after it is satisfied.

The above commentary from us aside, xero don’t just connect with any POS software company. They check out the business and their software. They research whether they want to partner with a business. I am aware they say no, that they reject proposals of integration. That we are integrated is a valuable point of difference for us.

Read on Read later