The POS Software Blog
News from Tower Systems about locally made POS software for specialty local retailers.
Based on past years support call traffic retailers will be too busy to call the office today. So, we are closed. However, all of our after hours numbers are live and working, here to help in an emergency.
Good Christmas trading everyone!
Here are our Christmas / New Year office. hours. Our comprehensive site after hours phone network will remain available throughout:
December 22nd Open 7am Close 2pm (or earlier if desk is quiet)
December 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th Closed.
December 27th Open 8:30am Close 5pm
December 28th Open 8:30am Close 5pm
December 29th Open 8:30am Close 5pm
December 30th, 31st January 1st Closed
January 2nd,Open 7am Close 5pm
January 3rd, Open 7am Close 5pm
January 4th, Open 7am Close 5pm
January 5th, Open 7am Close 5pm.
Our after hours numbers will be live throughout, for urgent system down situations.
Reflecting on 2017, as the year draws to a close, we are grateful for all the new customers who joined us this year.
We are grateful to those installing our software as first time computer users in their businesses.
We are also grateful to those who switched to our software from other POS software – there has been plenty of this in 2017.
To help new customers settle in with our software and our customer support we have a structured welcome process, with assistance provided outside the usual help desk – until new customers reel well settled in their use of our software.
We understand the challenges small business retailers face and do all things possible to ensure their settling in with our POS software is gentle and useful.
For many, years Tower Systems has offered small business retailers access to professional help in detecting, reducing and prosecuting employee theft. In our small business POS software we have excellent services that support this.
In our management team we have skilled professionals who have helped police, prosecutors, insurers and others in situations of employee theft. Our approach is evidence based, professional, discrete and thorough.
Our theft mitigation and theft management services are handled at the leadership team level of the Tower Systems business as this is where the experience lies through helping retail businesses in a variety of retail sectors.
In our decades of experience, it is essential the business draw a line in the sand on the issue of employee theft. This is best done by the establishment of a theft policy. This is best done as a document that employees sign. We provide our customers with a template theft policy. We share this here today for anyone to see and consider for their business.
THEFT POLICY
PLEASE SIGN AND DATE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
We have been helping another small business retailer who engaged what they thought were a local Australian web development company. In fact, they engaged a local company for sure, which was a front for an offshore developer.
We were brought in because the website delivered was broken, not working and not to the requirements of the business. The paperwork signed, in the fine print, showed that the local business the small business owner they thought they were contracting was in fact a sales agent with no contractual responsibility.
It is vital small business retailers know who will do the web development work, that they have easy access to them, that they are local, that they understand the business, that they understand d local requirements, that they have good English.
If a web development proposal is cheap it is probably cheap because of corners being cut. Offshore developers cost significantly less than Australian developers. There is a reason for this,. This is what we say to small business retailers – beware, be careful, m understand what you are buying, understand for sure what the outcomes will be.
Here at Tower Systems we take web development seriously. We offer a 100% local service backed up by local support. We understand retail. Especially the type of retail channels in which we service. We have many websites we can share as reference sites, showing the wonderful commercial outcomes we have delivered to our customers.
Our POS software integrated websites serve a single inventory database between physical store and online store.
The Tower Systems web development team is skilled in WooCommerce, Magento and Shopify. The company has plenty of sites it can show in a live portfolio of successful e-commerce sites, serving shoppers in Australia and internationally.
The Tower web team 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.
Small business retailers who use the Tower Systems POS software have access to unlimited free one-on-one training.
The free training is scheduled at a time to suit and to cover areas of the software requested by the customer.
We have some customers who use the free training to top up their knowledge, others use it to train new staff members while others use it to be surprised at what they don’t know about the POS software. We even have some who take up the opportunity to have us review their business and provide strategic management advice on what we can see in their business data.
Delivered by one of our customer service experts, the training is tailored to each retail situation, to ensure it is useful to the person for whom the training is being provided.
Booked through our head office and managed in a structured way, this free training service provided was unique when first launched, it put us in a leadership position. Today, we maintain that leadership through the scope, professionalism and practical help provided through the training.
Here at Tower Systems our motor is we’re here to help. This free training service is another way we live the motto every day.
Retailers using our POS software are loving that they can see how busy our help desk is at any point in time. The dashboard they have access to shops calls in the system, calls being worked on and calls closed for the day.
The link between our CRM system and the customer service web portal is another initiative delivered by Tower Systems demonstrating transparency. We think this is vital for small business retailers in considering a POS software company. It shows that there is nothing to hide and that facts matter.
These data points are updated live, providing current information, helping retailers make decisions about their use of our personal help desk service.
Given that our small business retailer customers have other options for accessing service, the information we share can help them consider these. For example, we have more than 700 articles in our knowledge base. This is searchable in plain English. It offers customers easy access to useful outcomes. Plus, it continues to grow.
We are proud of the Christmas theme of our POS software website in these days leading up to Christmas. Developed in-house by our creative team, the image reflects beautifully the joy of Christmas through a family setting. For our small family business this is perfect.
Small business retailers using the Tower Systems POS software Shopify link are reporting terrific engagement with shoppers they may not have otherwise found.
Thanks to a direct link between the POS software and Shopify, retailers have one place for managing inventory that is in-store and online. This saves time, reduces mistakes unbend makes management of the online presence easier.
The Shopify link is one of three direct POS software / e-commerce platform links in the Tower software. These three are in addition to a weblink that helps the POS software connect to any website.
Through the Shopify link, data is transferred – inventory and sales – in a structured standard way required by Shopify and in line with the requirements of that business. It is fast, easy and powerful.
Tower Systems is proud to have brought plenty more small businesses online thanks to its work with the folks at Shopify.
Our POS software customers have access to unlimited free one-on-one training. We gratefully offer this as we know it helps our customers get more from the software and that is us doing our job.
We have structured training options as well as free-form where we follow the requirements of any customer diving deep into the software to serve specific queries and needs they may have.
This free one-on-one training is in addition to our group training and user meetings.
Our customers can send a request to schedule free training to bookings@towersystems.com.au.
We appreciate the feedback from toy shops using our toy shop software for streamlined trading this Christmas season.
Our software is helping these businesses not only with the traffic surge this Christmas season but also with:
Being well established in the toy shop software space we are well positioned to help independent toy retailers to achieve good outcomes for their businesses that transact well beyond the Christmas season.
TOY SHOPS: OUR SOFTWARE IS MADE FOR YOU.
Toy shops have unique needs. Your business is personal. You need a software company committed to serving you and committed to helping you more efficiently transact with your suppliers.
From the sales counter to the back room, Our Toy Shop Software is fit for purpose. It is not everyday POS software. No, this is Toy Shop Software.
WE MAKE IT EASY TO GET UP AND RUNNING.
We come to your business, install the software and train you and your staff, face to face, jargon free. We give you a personal support contact as you settle in.
WE REMEMBER YOU.
After the installation is done you can call us for help and a real person answers, with their name. We offer follow-up training and assistance. Our help desk is in our Hawthorn office. You are welcome to visit at any time.
YOUR SOFTWARE KEEPS EVOLVING.
Thanks to advice from our customers your software continues to evolve, meeting changing needs, keeping our customers up to date.
WE HAVE YOUR BACK.
If you are confronted by employee theft, customer theft or falling business performance, we are there for you. We have experience with police prosecutors, helping to convict employees who have stolen. We have helped turn around businesses confronted by trading challenges.
Tower Systems is not your usual POS software company. The best evidence of that is that I am writing to you. I am the founder of the company. My contact details are on this letter. I personally stand behind what we sell.
The software helps you personalise the shopping experience such that price and other comparisons with national retailers is difficult.
In plenty of time f0or Christmas, Tower Systems has commenced beta release of a beautiful POS software update that delivers access to three completely new facilities through which our customers can expand the reach of their businesses.
his update, like all of our POS software updates, will be available for o0ur customers to install when they choose. We don’t believe in surprising people with an unexpected update. hence, our process is advance-noticed, structured and considerate.
This latest update is a thrill for us thanks to the new tech areas we cover that we know will be loved by plenty of our customers as they seek to expand their small businesses.
The update is available to all Tower AdvantageTM customers at no extra cost.
For years, we have gratefully em braced opportunities to support community groups by providing POS software at no cost or low cost to enable the community enterprises to do their good works more efficiently.
The donations of software, time and event hardware by us is part of our social responsibility commitment program where we seek to work with those we see helping to make Australia a better place.
We are able to do this thanks to the support of our customers.
Seeing the benefits community groups to individuals and their local communities is a joy, especially at this Christmas time of the year.
Tower Systems last week launched a world-first, POS software integrated in-store over the counter buy now pay later, backed by an ASX traded corporation, with the retailer being paid regardless.
While facilities like buy now pay later have been available for some years, this is the first that is POS integrated for this consumer-focussed finance facility.
This solution is seen by small business retailers as a more valuable replacement to LayBy in that goods do not have to be stored in the business and with financial settlement guaranteed and faster.
By integrating within the POS software and not merely at EFTPOS processing, the solution is better for the shopper, the retailer and the finance backer.
Tower Systems has worked direct with the ASX traded financier to bring this to life online and in-store.
Every Christmas, retail businesses see more shoppers in-store, buying gifts and items for seasonal celebration. However, the shops are usually too busy for the retailer team members to engage with traditional loyalty programs that require sign up.
This is where our amazing discount vouchers loyalty program options work a treat.
Without any sign-up overhead, the vouchers work all by themselves, bringing shoppers back or, better still, getting them to spend more than expected in that visit.
Stores that want to connect with shoppers and understand who they are can do so with our discount vouchers, because they are smart and can work with card based loyalty. In fact, shippers who sign up and go that extra step for the business can get an extra reward as a result, if you wish.
Simply by offering discount vouchers this Christmas you will get a boost with monomial cost and zero labour overhead. You can enjoy the traffic, love the traffic, and do well with a loyalty offer that works brilliantly to make the most of Christmas.
Tower Systems offers the tech and business practices to back the tech into real revenue growth for small business retailers.
The Tower Systems software for gift shops is winning kudos this Christmas as it helps retailers to make the most of this wonderful retail season.
Xero does not permit all POS software companies to partner with them. This can get those who miss out offside, talking their product down. Tower Systems has been a Xero partner for years, delivering a beautiful easy-to-use PO software Xero link.
Xero POS Software Integration
Save time, eliminate bookkeeping costs, cut mistakes and make better business decisions sooner with the Tower Systems POS software Xero integration.
The Xero integration designed by Tower Systems, working with the folks at Xero, makes it easy for small business retailers to cut accounting paperwork and thereby tap into time and money saving benefits.
We use our Xero integrated POS software ourselves. This enables us to provide practical advice on how to benefit the most from Xero and our POS software working together.
Our customers have access to our in-house CPA, to provide a professional accounting perspective on the link and how to get the most from it.
Tower Systems is a unique POS software company. In addition to serving 3,500+ small business retailers, we own and operate several retail businesses as live test sites. Our in-house CPA manages the accounts for these retail businesses.
Find out more, watch this video:
We have added head count to our help desk to expand resources for  customers. Our latest new hire joined us two weeks ago and is now taking some calls solo as part of the structured go-live process for new help desk team members.
We are grateful to our growing customer base that enables us to need to expand our customer support services.
We are frustrated with the world is ending type reporting relating to the arrival in Australia of Amazon. More stories have been published recently. Most stories are not reporting. Rather, they are ignorant fear-mongering. Unfortunately, the wrong people are often quoted, like the ever-shrill Gerry Harvey.
We shot this video to provide some thoughts on the arrival of Amazon and to offer suggestions for small business retailers.
Best practice software for garden centres.
Tower Systems serves in excess of 1,700 newsagents with newsagency software. Years ago, in another place online, our CEO provides practical advice to newsagents on how to do a magazine relay to increase sales. Â Some months ago, that advice was updated.
Here is the post, outlining how small business newsagents today can build stronger better businesses through a magazine relay:
In the years since I published How to do a magazine relay in your newsagencyplenty has changed. In this post I provide up to date advice.
Before you start the relay, consider the amount of space you want to allocate to magazines. Do not allocate space to fit what you are sent. Allocate space to make money.
Today, magazines are best located on a wall, ideally at the rear of the shop, such that can be seen from people walking past the shop. A simple MAGAZINES sign above works well.
This back of shop placement, with magazines owning the space can work well as a traffic driver. Where I have seen this move implemented it has not increased the decline in magazine sales.
Ideally you can fit all magazines on the back wall and eliminate all aisle use of magazines.
On to the relay.
The relay you do in your business is your relay. There is no right or wrong way. What I have written here is my opinion, which may be wrong for you.
There is also no end point to a relay. What you do today will need refining next week and the week after. So, do not over think what you want to do as that would be a waste of time.
The goal of the relay has to be to disrupt magazine traffic in pursuit of an increase in sales. What I mean is: change everything, upset customers and staff, sell more magazines as people discover titles they did not know you had.
PLANNING
Map out the wall, determine your zones shopper: garden, food, men, women, sports etc. Â The categories where I use less than one pocket per title are: special interest, British weeklies, food, comics and some craft segments.
Look at the percentage of sales delivered by each magazine category and look at sales trends for the categories. Tote up broad groups. For example the percentage of sales for women’s weeklies, women’s interests, crafts & hobbies, crosswords, home & lifestyle and food & wine. If your newsagency is like mine, this grouping will account for more than 50% of your magazine sales.
NOW, THE MAGAZINE RELAY
I suggest it is done by one person, an owner, working alone.
What I do in women’s is the same for the other zones I create. I do each zone separately and try and get into the head space of the shopper of the zone – using the most popular titles to act as beacons, or signposts, for the zone.
I am careful what I place next to top selling titles. This is a prime spot, next to the popular titles. Choose wisely. Choose titles that naturally fit next to the big titles, titles shoppers are likely to browse and purchase on impulse.
If I am not sure about where to put a title I put it aside and move on.
I take extra time with special interest and hobby titles. For example, I put railways and model railroad titles near each other but I am careful to ensure that they are separated as they appeal to two shoppers and only occasionally do you see titles from both segments in the same basket.
Within the zones I look for and respect specialisation. For example, within men’s lifestyle and sports I create a clean space for the quality serious fitness titles like Coach, Men’s Health and Men’s Fitness.
REVIEW, FEEDBACK, FOLLOW UP
You’re not done when you think you are done. Track sales, listen to your team and your customers. Tweak where you feel it is necessary.
Bring new issues to the fore. Continue to be engaged in how your magazine department looks.
Continue to look at your sales data. If there is no lift be open to further change.
FINAL WORDS
Doing a magazine relay can be like doing one of those kid’s puzzles – you move them around and around until you have the completed image. That image can look and feel like a work of art once you are done.
While some readying this will be tempted to say why bother, we only make 25%. Get the relay right and sales will increase without any extra capital investment and with a lower retail space allocation. That is a win in my view.
If you have made it this far, thanks for reading. Magazines really are a point of difference which we need to work harder at embracing – despite the challenges of the distribution system.
I’d be happy to answer questions or discuss magazine relays with anyone: mark@towersystems.com.au or 0418 321 338.
Over to you…
In our work with small business retailers our help often passes from POS software help to business management help.
recently, we were asked for advice on when and how to quit stock. here is the template advice we have created, which is useful in many types of retail businesses.
Advice for small business retailers on quitting stock
If you want to quit stock, quit it, quickly. Quickly means different things to different people. To me, this think it means 7 days … gone and out of the shop in 7 days from when you decide to quit the products.
The easiest way to quit stock is for your shoppers to understand the deal. Understanding the deal starts with how you brand the sale.
A sign with SALE on it could mean anything. I suggest you NOT use this.
A sign with, say, 50% off could be confusing as they don’t know the starting price and some may not understand percentages.
Sign with HALF PRICE is more easily understood but they still do not know the starting price.
If you really want to quit stock, I suggest you have tables or dump bins at price points: $1, $2, $5 – or that ever is appropriate to you.
I have tested this. I have tried $9.99 priced an item at 50% off, half price and $5.00. The $5.00 pricing worked the best, by far.
This is our recommendation on quickly quitting stock: get the price messaging right.
If your price messaging is hard to understand or if there are too many different price messages you could be creating a barrier and this could stop you achieving the sales outcome you want.
Also: display the product for a sale. i.e. not pretty. Reorganise it daily. Keep it separate to the premium merchandise.
Take a break, enjoy…
It’s 7:30am in Melbourne and our office is open for business, providing office-based POS software support, as we do each Saturday for most of the year.
While our mobile phone based support team is also accessible, it is the office based team that’s access to the full suite of tools for providing help on just about any sport issue a small business POS software users could encounter.
We’re here to help.
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