The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Latest stories

Fast recovery from a Crypto locker attack

November 8, 2017
1 Min read
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One of our clients was locked out of their system last week by a Crypto locker attack. We had them up and running within 24 hours – without them paying anything to the criminals behind the crypto locker attack.

This was achievable solely because used our cloud backup service. The 24 hours included moving them to a secure hosted server for their multi-store system. Had we not done this extra work, we could have had them up and running in a couple of hours.

A Crypto locker attack can devastate any business. Tower Systems is proud to have provided its customers with access to a proven easy and low cost recovery option that minimises business disruption and provides certainty in what is often an uncertain time for small business retailers.

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How to compare Tower Systems POS software with Retail Express

November 7, 2017
2 Min read
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It is easy for small business retailers looking for POS software to compare the Tower Systems POS software with the Retail Express POS software.

Here at Tower Systems we are happy to come to your business, to learn abut your needs in person and to demonstrate our software in person.

There is no substitute for being in a business that is contemplating POS software. Try and do this over the phone and you will miss things. Do it in person and you will be able to provide more useful advice to the business owner.

A Tower Systems software small business specialist will visit your business at a time that suits. The is to learn about the business needs, to see if our software is a good fit.

We are also happy to visit the business when a retail Express representative is there, so you can easily compare the software, to see which serves your needs better.

Functionality is everything and comparing two POS software programs function buy function is useful to determine which better serves your needs. This is another reason for wanting the assessment to be done in your business, at a time of your choosing.

This is what good personal service is all about – putting the needs of your business first.

How does Tower Systems compare to Retail Express? Compare the two software programs in your business side by side and see for yourself.

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Ready for the Melbourne Cup

November 6, 2017
1 Min read
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There is something very Australian about making plans for POS software help desk support on a public  holiday for a horse race. However, that is what we have done for tomorrow, as we do every year.

We have put in place terrific support coverage for our customers, to provide easy access to support through the day. We let our customers know the arrangements in the weekly emails sent out yesterday.

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Helping small business retailers leverage the Facebook opportunity

November 5, 2017
3 Min read
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Helping small business retailers beyond their POS software is a key part of the Tower Systems mission. We share insights, tips and advice with our small business retailer community through our weekly email, knowledge base, one on one advice and more.

This article is part of then Tower Systems difference.

Facebook community growth is as important as shopper traffic growth

Here is one example of advice we have provided our customers on leveraging the facebook opportunity for small business retail.

Growth in the number of likes for your business Facebook page(s) is as important as growth in shopper traffic through your front door.

I see a direct correlation between the two, if you use Facebook well. Of course, if is the important word in that statement.

I have been actively using Facebook for business for many years. It is an excellent platform of reaching new customers and talking with existing customers. It is an important tool in business growth.

HOW DO YOU GET MORE LIKES ON FACEBOOK?

This is simple, provide good content, content that gives people what they come to Facebook for – entertainment, inspiration, a laugh. The more you do this the more your post will be liked and shared. The more likes and shoes the more people you reach.

Growth in likes for your page begins with your content. If your page likes are not growing, look at your content.

While you can ask people to like your Facebook page, resulting likes may not be as valuable as those who like your page of their own accord.

You can also buy likes. That, however, is a waste of money.

HOW DOES A BUSINESS USE FACEBOOK WELL?

Businesses that use Facebook well entertain. This can be by making people laugh, smile, feel emotional or be happy overall. They do it by being human, real and engaged. They do it by not trying to sell. They do it y not being commercial.

Photos are real, not studio shots, showing products in use more so than on the shelves. They show customers, happy customers.

They share something of themselves.

A newsagency uses Facebook well by not writing about products newsagents sell.

HOW DO MORE LIKES OF YOUR BUSINESS TRANSLATE INTO MORE SALES?

Someone engaging with your business Facebook page is similar to someone browsing your shop. Both can lead to sales.

People being on your page and engaging with your page brings them close to you and proximity = sales.

The more people who like your business Facebook page the more people you can pitch and offer to or reach out with an event or product announcement, them more people who will hear what you have to say.

Take Facebook seriously as a key business tool. The benefits are real and valuable.

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POS software help for small business retailers on Saturday

November 4, 2017
1 Min read
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Not many POS software companies in Australia offer office based POS software help desk on a Saturday.

Here at Tower Systems, in addition to mobile p0hone based support, we offer office based support Saturdays from 7:30am to 3pm. Yes, we are open right now.

This office based service is loved by small business owners who use Saturday to catch up. We are here for them, delivering another Tower Systems point of difference.

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Politicians in Australia to small business retailers: don’t do as I do, do as I say

November 3, 2017
3 Min read
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The federal parliamentarian dual citizenship mess in which we have found ourselves here in Australia for months now shows how politicians treat themselves as elite, special, compared to common folk, the voters who vote them in.

While we in small business are highly regulated, subject to audit and penalised for even simple honest oversight, politicians refuse to permit themselves to be subject to the same.

While individuals are highly regulated, subject to audit and penalised for even simple honest oversight, politicians refuse to permit themselves to be subject to the same.

The moment the first dual citizenship question was raised, an ethical leader keen for democracy would have ordered an immediate full audit of the status of all politicians.

We are bereft of leadership for everyday Australians in Australia.

For months major party politicians have spun their wheels on the issue of dual citizenship and refused to agree to the type of audit that is regular for us in small business. For months they have said politicians should self regulate on this issue while at the same time imposing challenging and enforced regulation on small businesses and on individuals.

Shame on us for allowing your politicians to get away with them setting a standard for their own behaviour that is lower than standards they vote to impose on regular people.

The one party that has provided leadership on this issue is the Greens. From the outset they called for an audit. The are right. Yet their call has been mocked, especially by the government side of the parliament. This side of the parliament that is in control, in leadership, has eschewed leadership and instead engaged in puerile games.

They must think we are fools.

There ought be an audit of all federal politicians immediately, no matter the disruption or the cost.

Section 44 of the Constitution is not new. Its provision have been known for decades. It is easy for anyone to determine their status. Whether they do this comes down to how they see themselves compared to how they see the peril they serve.

We the people deserve honest leadership, leadership that is transparent and for all people, leadership that submits itself to the same standards and level of regulation as they impose on those they serve. We do not have this in Australia at the moment.

Every day, we see small business retailers squeezed by regulation, while at the same time right now seeing politicians refuse even basic regulation. This double standard has to stop, for the good of our country and democracy.

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Fishing and outdoors shop software FAQ

November 1, 2017
4 Min read
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With more and more businesses using our fishing and outdoors shop software we have refined frequently asked questions about the software and how it helps these specialty retail businesses with a more useful and better value business software solution.

Here are some of the fresh questions and answers.

Can I sell bundled items like a rod, reel and line?

Yes, this is easy. You can have a bundled price as well as single prices for each.

Can I sell bait by weight?

Yes, easily.

Can I sell gift cards?

Yes, easily.

Can I manage repairs for customers?

Yes, the software has a repairs facility.

Can I easily handle LayBys in the software?

Yes, you can establish your own rules and have these managed through the software.

Can I share local fishing location knowledge on receipts?

Yes, this is easily setup and changed.

Can I setup different pricing for members of a local fishing club?

Yes.

Can I sell sinkers at a multi-buy price where the per unit price decreases as the number purchased increases?

Yes, this is part of our catalogue offer in the software.

Can I handle special orders where a customer orders something I do not currently have in stock?

Yes.

Can I connect my POS software to a website?

Yes. This is very easy if Tower develops the website. If you already have a website we will provide your web developer with link instructions to connect the site to the data in the POS software. Your POS software holds all your inventory data including images. We will advise setting necessary to ensure the easy flow of inventory and sales data.

Can I buy an item, like sinkers, in bulk and separate this down to smaller retail packs?

Yes. Plus, you can set your own pricing and generate your own barcode for these packs.

I have a local technician who suppliers all my hardware. Can I still use them?

Yes, if they follow the hardware configuration advice we provide. Like any software, we expect a specific environment. We provide the information to local techs at no cost.

If I install your software do you come to my shop?

Yes. Being in your business enables us to see how and where the software could be used and to ensure what we propose is right for you.

Is there a limit on how much training is provided?

No.   Long after the face to face training in-store Tower Systems provides access to unlimited additional training, at no extra cost.

Is there a mandatory subscription fee?

No, maintaining annual software support coverage is optional with Tower Systems. You can choose to pay per call – this means if you don’t call, there is no cost.  After 12 months initial support coverage included in the package, we will invite you to stay supported.  If you do, the current annual support cost for fishing stores is $1,025 Inc GST no matter what the size of your store or how many computers you run in the business.

Is the software installed on my computer or in the cloud?

Whichever you prefer. Most of our customers like it installed locally and backup to the cloud so they can keep running if the internet is down. That said, running in the cloud is easy.

Is the software specific to Fishing and Outdoors businesses?

Yes, it has been highly tailored and will continue to be, based on customer feedback.

Is there a loyalty facility for people who I will only ever see once – to get them to spend more in that only visit?

Yes. We have an excellent loyalty tool in our loyalty facilities for exactly this type of shopper. It works particularly well with guys. We have businesses getting 25% engagement with it, increasing the value of the one-off shopper visit.

Can I unbundle items from a pack back to single items?

Yes, easily.

Can I have my sales and other data flow across to my accounting software?

Yes, we send your purchase & sales information across to Xero, MYOB & Intuit (Quickbooks).  While you can choose, we love Xero and use it extensively ourselves.

 

Can the software run across multiple stores?

Yes.  We call this multi-store.  It allows you to easily share stock and customer information, order and transfer stock, create stock orders and produce performance reports across your multiple stores.

How can I pay for the software?

You can buy it outright, lease it or rent it. The choice is 100% yours.  Lease is popular as you can claim the cost up front and spread the payments over a set term.

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Why offshore web development can be bad for small business retailers

October 31, 2017
1 Min read
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We have seen another example in the last week how offshore web development can be bad for a small retail business.

Here is some of what went wrong in with one project before we were brought in to fix the situation:

  1. The delivered site was incomplete. Parts of the requirements of the business had not been met.
  2. Links were broken. For example, the link to a gallery of products took the browser nowhere.
  3. The colour schemes of the business were not adhered to throughout the site.
  4. The developer failed to deliver the payment gateway integrations required.
  5. The web developer stopped taking calls, demanding contact was by email – because they did not want to be woken at night.
  6. Spelling of some words was changed to American spelling because that is what the web developer thought was right compared to Australian spelling.
  7. The site was not setup correctly to receive images and inventory data from the POS software.
  8. The site was delivered weeks late.

When it comes to web development you get what you pay for. Low cost offshore web development is low cost because of lower labour rates and, often, because of corners cut.

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On the road with our POS software company

October 28, 2017
1 Min read
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When a retail business owner enquires about our software for their business we visit with them, to look at their business and see whether our specialty POS software is a good fit for them.

There is no substitute for being in a business to determine if their business and ours fit together.

Since a POS software investment is a long-term relationship it is important to ensure the fit is good.

On a recent country trip visiting retailers, one of our team took this photo from their car.

You know you’re in the country when someone is walking their horse to the local pet store!

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Why small business retailers should not be worried about software bugs

October 27, 2017
2 Min read
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All software has bugs. The challenges are finding them and fixing them.

Any POS software company that says their POS software is bug free is either lying, delusional or not in high demand.

Here at Tower Systems our approach to software bugs is structured and professional.

  1. When a bug its suspected tests are conducted, to prove the bug exists.
  2. Proof of a bug is further tested, to ensure it is repeatable.
  3. Once proven, the bug is logged, given a bug id and sent to the development team for consideration. Only on the provision of s bug id is the bug accepted as existing.
  4. The development team fixes the bug and loads it as part of a softwAre update.
  5. The update is alpha tested in the office.
  6. A successfully alpha tested release of the software is tested in or own shops.
  7. The tested in our own shops software is released to the beta community.
  8. The successfully beta tested software is released to the wider community.
  9. On release to any end-user we provide a complete list of bugs fixed in the update along with details of all other enhancements delivered through the update.

All the way through our structured process our customers are kept in the loop and up to date with our progress on resolving issues for them.

Software bugs are not the problem. How software companies deal with them is. We are confident here at Tower Systems in our processes and in the transparency we provide to our customers.

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POS software connected websites for small business retailers

October 26, 2017
2 Min read
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Tower Systems is proud to offer personal business website development in-house in addition to supplying fantastic POS software for specialty retailers.

All of our websites are developed in Australia.

Our websites are connected to our POS software.

We offer POS software connected websites for a range of ecommerce platforms including the best of the best: Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce. 99% of small business retail needs are served through these sites.

Our websites are beautiful  shopper-friendly, ready to transact, easily found on Google and ideal for helping small business retailers to leverage online opportunities.

From simple websites to complex multi business solutions, the Tower Systems web development team for retailers is skilled and capable of delivering valuable solutions.

Tower Systems is committed to local development for local businesses. Our developers understand retail in Australia and New Zealand. We leverage that to deliver practical and valuable business outcomes.

When it comes to web development, you get what you pay for. Saving money may not be as good as it first seems as it could be that the saving is achieved by using an offshore web developer who is only available at certain times and who does not understand the social and commercial situation in which your business operates.

Here are some of the store linked websites we have developed:

  1. www.beanieboosaustralia.com
  2. www.popvinylsinaustralia.com
  3. www.willowbears.com.au
  4. www.willowbearsworldwide.com
  5. www.ittybittysinaustralia.com
  6. www.charliebearsinaustralia.com
  7. www.ezitask.com
  8. www.sendmytask.com

This is a selection of sites created by Tower Systems. Our web development skills are diverse. Our SEO and SEM skills are fine-tuned, to help you get the notice for your website.

Our web development skills are so diverse and mature that we are confident we can develop a website for any type of business, not just retailers. We have experience in comprehensive integrations, shipping methods, payment methods, foreign currency and more. This ensures we bring to the opportunity a broad skill set on which a retail business can rely.

We are proud to help small business retailers run more successful and efficient businesses, in-store and online, through multi-skilled technicians creating easy to use software that is backed by accessible friendly support. This is the Tower Systems advantage.

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Advice on converting data from one POS software program to another

October 25, 2017
4 Min read
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Retailers switching from one POS software program to another usually want to convert their business data. Rather than saying yes this can be done, our approach is to provide our customers with advice on what can be done and what cannot be done and to explain the processes and the whys.

WHY CONVERT DATA

Converting data from your current software eliminates the need to manually key data into the Tower software. The time saving is considerable. If the current data is good data, the value of bringing that across can be vital to any business.

UNDERSTANDING THE RISKS

Converted data is only as good as the source data.

In other words, if the data in your current system is of poor quality, the quality will not improve in the converted data – unless you clean up the current data prior to conversion.

Simply converting data does not make the data better data. Here is advice on cleaning up the data prior to conversion:

  1. Delete all stock items you no longer carry and will not carry in the future.
  2. Delete all customers you have not served in more than five years.
  3. Delete all supplier details where you no longer deal with the supplier.

WHAT IS CONVERTED

What we convert depends on the software we are converting from. Some software is restrictive, to lock you into it while other software calculates data such as loyalty points live, rather than storing a number by customer.

Here is a list of what we most commonly bring across in a conversion:

  1. Customer details. Name, address, phone, email.
  2. Supplier details. Name, address, phone, email.
  3. Inventory. Description, stock code, bar code, quantity on hand, department, category and supplier.
  4. Loyalty. Name. ID code / number and points value.

WHAT IS NOT CONVERTED

Due to data complexities here is a list of data we do not convert. We developed this list to ensure we provide to you the best converted data outcome:

  1. LayBys.
  2. Sales history.
  3. Accounting system data.
  4. Gift voucher balances.

A PRE-CONVERSION CHECK

The best way to be prepared for and certain about a conversion is a pre-conversion check. To do this we would need full access to your data well before the installation. This check will help us see any issues and either resolve them or raise them with you prior to the actual conversion. This check is done at our head office by a senior member of our team.

We will advise you of any issues we encounter during the per conversion check.

THE CONVERSION PROCESS

This is done either on site or at our office during or immediately prior to the installation process as it must be done using up to date data as you switch from one system to another.

The conversion is at a moment in time. In other words, you cannot flip from system to system if you want to have accurate data. Once converted, you are on the new system.

Conversions can take considerable time, overnight, or even longer than a day, depending on the amount of data to convert. Therefore, we encourage you to clean up your data prior to the conversion.

WE DON’T KNOW WHAT WE DON’T KNOW: THE HAND OVER OF CONVERTED DATA

Once the conversion is done and you are advised it is complete it will be important you check the converted data. Check customers, balances, points and other data to ensure you are confident the data you need has been converted.

We say we don’t know what we don’t know as it is true. You know your data better than us, you are better positioned to see mistakes we might otherwise miss – hence our reliance on you checking the converted data.

GO LIVE

Once you have the converted data in our software and are happy with it, you will be advised to run a go live. This sees you enter up-to-date account balances. No line items are entered, only the balance.

TIMING

It is important we know if you want data converted when you order your system from us. We are unable to do the work if it is requested during the installation as we have allocated time for the installation and training only, not for conversion.

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Counselling small business retailers through the challenge of employee theft

October 24, 2017
3 Min read
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It is difficult hearing an adult cry on the other end of the phone when you pick up the call expecting it to be a regular business to business discussion. This time was different. Their story was one of hurt and pain, considerable financial hurt and considerable personal pain. They were distressed. They did not see how they could go on with business, they were so upset.

Our job in the call was to empathise and support, to not judge and to help them navigate next steps in what was a complex and unexpected situation.

The person on the other end of the phone was a retailer using our POS software. They called because they had just discovered an employee theft situation. While they knew they had tools in their POS software for early intervention on employee theft, they had not used them, until now, following a suspicion.

It turned out their suspicion was wrong. The person stealing from them was their most trusted employee, a family friend.

The first few calls with the customer about this were about them, about our customer, helping them navigate their own distress, so they could continue to function, to keep their business going, while they did what was necessary to have the theft dealt with formally by the authorities.

In addition to structured advice on handling any discovered employee theft, we provide help and support personally for the business owner, to help them personally deal with the violation they feel because of the theft.

We help the business owner(s) personally in several ways. These including pointing them to professional counselling services, physically being with them in the business when taking steps to deal with the theft, doing independent research on the theft so the authorities have the evidence they will need, being a pillar of support and strength for the retailer, ensuring they know we have their back and that how they feel right now will pass as they step through dealing with this.

While we are not professionally trained counsellors, we have been involved is supporting retailers from many different businesses in navigating the discovery and management of employee theft. We take care to support the person first, to ensure they are okay and reinforce that they will be okay. We help them as they pass through emotions ranging from hurt, anger, despair and hate. We take their hand and offer ourselves as a pillar of strength.

We do this because we have been there ourselves, in our own retail businesses over the years. We draw on our own experiences as we find this helps.

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Practical advice for new small business retailers

October 23, 2017
3 Min read
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If you are new to owning or running a retail business it is likely that you have been too busy opening the business and settling in to have time to pay attention to basic advice about running the business.

Business consultants and others who advise business owners, too, often get caught up in big picture strategies and themes to deal with the basics.

In the interests of helping new retailers and retail shop mangers, here is a checklist of basic retail business advice, headlines mainly – not too much detail, just enough to remind you of key areas which need attention to build a stronger and more profitable retail business.

This checklist has been developed over the years of us supporting plenty of start-up small business retailers. The list is based on things we often see them neglect or forget.

We have grouped the advice into business areas.

Hiring, training and managing employees

  1. Create an employee manual with all employee terms and conditions.
  2. Hire the best employees available.
  3. Train your employees well. Do this by working with them, taking them into your confidence about the business, what it stands for and what you expect of them.
  4. Pay employees in a way which respects your faith in them.
  5. Share the rewards you make from the business.
  6. Remember, you are more responsible for employee performance than anyone since it is usually you who hire, train, manage and fire them.

Cash

  1. Cash is king in retail. An unprofitable business with a good cash flow can weather a storm.  A profitable business with poor cash flow can fail.
  2. Have a strong cash management policy.
  3. Bank regularly.
  4. Keep little cash on the premises.
  5. Never let one single employee control the cash. Have checks and balances.
  6. Keep expenses to an absolute minimum.
  7. Watch your product margins, make the most from each product you sell that you can without hurting sales.

Inventory

  1. Buy what sells.
  2. Use your software to determine replenishment stock.
  3. Never sell anything without tracking it.

Marketing

  1. Use all the free touchpoints: receipts, customer display and more in your software.
  2. Use social media, daily.

Operating costs

  1. Be frugal.
  2. Know dead stock as this is too often a big overhead.

Your time

  1. Automate as much as you can.
  2. Know how to get data to guide decisions.
  3. Delegate, with rules.

Too often new retailers and retail store managers look for advice to react to situations.  Consider the headline advice in this article early on and revisit it regularly to ensure that you have a strong and healthy business.

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Retail marketing advice on how to increase items per transaction

October 22, 2017
3 Min read
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Driving shopper efficiency is key for retailers. It is easier to get a shopper in the store to purchase more than to get a new shopper into the store from outside.

In looking at shopper basket efficiency for many different retail businesses we have developed an understanding of basic steps different small business retailers can take to drive shipper efficiency. Here is our advice.

ENGAGE.

Smile, make conversation, treasure your customers.  The more they enjoy shopping in your shop the more they will shop in your shop.  Smile.  Get good eye contact.  Say hello rather than can I help you.  The more personal the experience the more they will remember you.  This is your point of difference. Personal service is the single most valuable way to drive shopper visit efficiency.

WORK THE SHOP.

Standing behind the counter means you’ll serve people who come to you.  The more you are in the body of the shop and engaging with customers the more they will buy.  In busy times work the shop – engage, offer up sells.  Customer service increases revenue in every situation we have seen. Our advice is you locate a workstation on the shop floor.

DEMONSTRATE.

Show how products are used.

THE COUNTER AS A SALES TOOL.

Go to your shop counter and look at it from a customer perspective.  What’s the message?  Is it inviting?  Are you using the counter to drive sales?  Anyone can put product at their counter.  It takes a clever retailer to use the counter to entice customers to buy a product.  Use your counter wisely.

COUPONS.

It’s difficult to offer every customer an up sell.  Instead, use your receipts. Include a $$ off on next purchase.  Point it out. Keep it simple, have an expiry date on the coupon. This is an easy win that will bring back shoppers for sure.

TRAINING SALES EMPLOYEES.

Get your employees on side – explain your focus on growth.  If they don’t support you, replace them.  Respect your employees and ask for their ideas.  Use their ideas!  Train them.  Guide them in providing exceptional service.  They are your front line and need to be your most skilled team members.

TARGET, MEASURE, REASSESS.

Keep track of your success and failures.  Be realistic in your assessment.  Change what is not working and celebrate what is working – keeping your employees informed all the way through the process.

HOT SPOT TARGETS.

Focus on your top, say, 5 items.  Watch where people buying these items go in your shop.  Watch carefully.  Consider what you can do to get them elsewhere in your shop.  This is the key – getting people to shop outside their usual category, breaking their habits.

IN STORE SPRUIKER.

In your busiest time in the week bring in a spruiker for use INSIDE your shop.  Create some buzz and excitement to draw people away from their usual shopping areas.

CHANGE.

A key reason people will stop visiting your shop is that they know what it will be like.  A changing shop can be exciting.  Good changes will make people want to come in and check out new products and other changes you’ve made.

While much of this advice reads like common sense. Too often we see retailers who have missed the opportunity.

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Important questions small business retailers should ask POS software companies

October 21, 2017
2 Min read
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What should a small business retailer ask a POS software company as part of your process of considering whether to use their software?

The important part of this question is small business retailer. What small business retailers need differs to what big business retailers need.

What may look good in a video or an online pitch may not be good when you need help or a specific facility or access to an integration to help you grow your business.

Beyond the functionality of the POS software itself there are questions you can ask that could inform a better business decision on what is right for a business.

To help you think about possible questions, we have put together twenty-six for your consideration. Read through these and start to think about questions that could be useful for you.

The answers to these questions will better inform you, they will help separate software companies you are considering. The answers will help you see the software company that is a better fit for your specific business today.

Take your time. The right software company will be a long-term partner of your business.

  1. Will you come my business to assess my needs?
  2. Will you come to my business and demonstrate your software?
  3. If you know your software is not a good fit for my business will you say so?
  4. Is your company Australian?
  5. Is the software developed in Australia?
  6. Is your help desk based in Australia?
  7. Is your company Australian owned?
  8. Are you selling software you developed yourselves?
  9. Can you convert data from other software?
  10. Do you sell to big businesses, 25 shops or more?
  11. Does your software link with Xero, MYOB & Quicken?
  12. Can I access your software from home and elsewhere?
  13. Do you own and run retail businesses as test sites?
  14. Can I connect your software to a website?
  15. Do you develop websites I can connect to?
  16. If you develop websites are the main platforms of Magento, Shopify or WooCommerce?
  17. Can I rent your software?
  18. Can I lease your software?
  19. Can I purchase your software outright?
  20. Is your software designed specifically for my retail channel?
  21. Will you train me on your software in my business?
  22. Will you train my staff in how to use the software?
  23. Is software support included for the first year?
  24. Do you charge to help me uncover employee theft?
  25. Do you charge to assess the performance of my business?
  26. Do I have to buy my hardware from you?
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Advice for small business retailers experiencing year on year decline in retail sales

October 20, 2017
2 Min read
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If your year-on-year sales are not down in your retail business, this advice is not for you.

If your year-on-year sales are down, something must change if you want to turn the situation around, please read on.

Sometimes, when we are asked by retailers how to deal with a year on year sales decline, our suggestions are not taken up and the business keeps doing what it was doing. In doing this, the declining trend will continue.

We appreciate it can be challenging looking outside of the fog of declining sales and worsening business performance numbers. However, if you cannot reach out beyond this fog the survival of the business is at risk.

Here is the most important statement relating to our advice:

If you keep doing what you have been doing, the sales results in your business will be what they have been, the trend is unlikely to change.

It would be a mistake to think that external factors are the sole reason your sales are down.

So, change is necessary – change in what you sell, how you merchandise and how you promote.

It is only from change that the sales decline could be arrested and reversed.

Our advice is to look for u-turn or right turn opportunities, changes you can implement to divert you from your current path.

Suggesting such changes is something we can do through looking at your business performance data for you. Ask us to challenge you. We will first ask to see your year on year data at a detailed level as this will reveal the truth of the situation and from there we can develop change suggestions for your consideration.

Why ask a POS software company? We see data from many different businesses. That perspective can help. We are retailers too and have been for decades. That provides a body of experiences on which we can draw in considering advice we can provide. We will gladly leverage our experiences to help in any situation.

We don’t have all the answers, we will even suggest ideas we later discover are mistakes. However, doing what you have been doing in a situation of declining sales is a bigger mistake.

Can we help?

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Supporting pet retailers

October 19, 2017
1 Min read
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Tower Systems is proud to be the Platinum sponsor of PIAA trade show that opens today in Sydney. We are grateful for the opportunity to support the industry and pet retailers in this way.

In addition to our platinum sponsorship of the event, speaking at workshops and other engagement, we have  terrific stand showing off beautiful, best-practice, pet shop software.

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Helping small business retailers not break the law in selling age restricted products

October 19, 2017
2 Min read
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Age restricted products are a risk for small business retailers in that regulations are tight and penalties for selling to underage shoppers considerable, including the potential loss of right to sell age restricted products.

While it may sound simple to say that this product or that product cannot be sold to someone below a certain age, without the right forced checks and balances mistakenly doing just that is relatively easy.

Our advice to small business retailers selling age restricted products is that they implement appropriate barrier checks and balanced in their POS software to ensure that their age restricted product approach is best practice.

Use your POS software to fore an age check on every purchase. This shows the business having zero tolerance for avoiding the age check. Regularly remind staff about this. Do these things and any violation the retail sales person deliberately violating business policy and defrauding the business in their use of the age check facilities in the POS software.

These steps can help should the business be caught serving an underage customer. You can prove the processes were black and white and that the server needed to lie to the ach check barrier in the POS software for the transaction to proceed.

Retailers can decide for themselves which products have age check and which do not. This should be reviewed regularly to ensure it is up to date, to ensure that the right checks and balances are in place to show the business is meeting all regulatory age check obligations.

Get your age check processes right from the outset and you can layer the business with a level of protection that is vital. For sure, there is an operational delay in selling age restricted products, but this is minor when you consider the cost to the business of being caught breaking the law in this space.

Our advice to retailers is that they use the age restriction facilities in their POS software to ensure that they get it right, every time.

In our work, we deal with the issues of age restricted products in a range of retail channels including: newsagencies, firearms retail, produce stores and adult stores. In each case, there are different regulations and requirements to handle.

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