The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Latest stories

Security warning for small business retailers

June 27, 2017
2 Min read
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2017 has seen an extraordinary spike in attacks on computers and on websites. Our ability to help will depend on the care you have taken. Our advice is that you use a cloud backup service, like the Tower Backup service we offer. It works in the background, backing up without you having to do a backup. If your business is attacked, getting back to a clean and safe place is easy. Any reputable backup service should be able to offer similar to you.

Please do not put this off. Get protection for your business and your business data. You don’t want to be the person who does this after you have been attacked.

At the very least, backup every day, onto a USB stick for that day. While this is an old-school approach, it is better than nothing at all.

But let’s be clear, cloud backup is our recommendation. Our service provides you with a local backup and an offsite backup, in the cloud. This gives you two backups, excellent protection. We monitor the backups to ensure they are working. If we find an issue, we proactively call you. This is rare from a cloud backup service provider.

Here at Tower Systems we take data security seriously. We provide best-pracie advice. Our customers are welcome to use our service or another, our recommendation, however, is that they do something – to be protected.

Too often small business retailers think about data security after they have been affected. Hence this advice here and in our weekly emails and elsewhere in our touch points with customers.

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More accountants join the Tower Systems POS software Xero list

June 26, 2017
1 Min read
M

We are thrilled to welcome more Xero skilled accountants and bookkeepers to our list of professional resources, listed on our website. This is another service for our small business retail friends. We are grateful to our customers for their feedback on the usefulness of this service. What you can see below is only a fraction of the list.

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Tower Systems offers small business retailers POS software rental option

June 24, 2017
1 Min read
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Established small business specialty POS software company Tower Systems offers its software4 on a rental and hosted basis to retailer.

The rental option makes accessing th software easy and fast.

It eliminates the need for purchase.

Rental terms run for thirty days with easy get out for customers.

The company has offered the rental solution since 2015 with retailers able to select what they want when they want.

This approach to acquiring access to POS software is another way Tower Systems makes it easy for small business retailers to connect with its POS software.

We think the important choice for retailer is to find the right software. If we are that right software, and only the retailer will know, then we want it to be easy for the retailers to acquire and install our software. Flexibility is the key here.

In choosing to rent the software there is no delay, no cumbersome sign up process. It is simple and easy, and fast. This is another way Tower Systems demonstrates flexibility to its small business retail customers.

It is another Tower AdvantageTM.

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Warning for small business retailers on website development

June 23, 2017
1 Min read
W

Too many small business retailers are paying too much for poor quality websites.

Here at Tower Systems we partner with Shopify, magento and WooCommerce to create elegant, beautifully functional and commercially successful ecommerce sites for small business retailers.

We think it is a mistake for any retailer or software company to use a lesser known platform for any ecommerce site. You only have to look at the successful small business ecommerce sites to understand how using a respected international platform as your base is the smart move.

With many successful websites under our development belts and many ranging as the highest Google result in a search, we have terrific runs on the board.

There bottom line advice for any small business retailer looking for a website to be developed is caveat emptor, let the buyer beware. Get all the promises in writing, along with all costs.

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Welcoming more newsagents to the Tower Systems community

June 23, 2017
1 Min read
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We are kicking some terrific goals with the Tower Systems software for newsagents with strong sales to businesses switching to our software.

While newsagents love the newsagency specific facilities in the software, it is the optional software support fee that attracts people. Newsagents can use our software regardless of whether they pay a support fee or not. This use includes being able to use XchangeIT for magazine returns – at no locked-in annual cost from Tower.

Our latest software update enhances the facilities for newsagents even further. The feedback from our customers about the update is inspiring. We are grateful for their support, and inspiration.

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NEXT WEEK: Free software & e-commerce workshop for regional QLD small business retailers.

June 23, 2017
2 Min read
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We are looking forward to briefing small business retailers on the latest POS software / webstore opportunities for finding new customers, even customers 1,000s of kms away from your shop, and driving shopper loyalty that increases per-visit spend.

  1. Cairns. June 26. 2pm. Novotel.
  2. Townsville. June 27. 10am. Mercure.
  3. Mackay. June 28. 10am. Mackay Grande Suites.
  4. Rockhampton. June 29. 10am. Quest.
  5. Gold Coast. July 5. 2pm. Sofitel.

Come and see how small business retailers around the world are using website connected POS software to win online sales.

We will explain how to get to the top of Google search results.

We will demonstrate the connection between social media posts (Facebook, Twitter etc) in-store sales and online sales.

At our FREE workshops near you and find out more about how you can equip your retail business to confront the changes in retail, transact online and compete with big businesses, including Amazon.

There will be no hard sell. Our goal is to share practical information to help you better plan for the future of your regional retail business.

Anyone is welcome including people on whom you rely for advice, such as accountants and mentors.

If you have sales queries prior to these events please talk with Justin Randall. 0434 365 789.

I hope to see you at one of these workshops. I am keen to share with you what I have seen and learnt in this rapidly changing space.

There will be plenty of time for questions on any topic connected with retail.

We have software for: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops,  toy shops, fishing/outdoors, garden centres/nurseries, newsagents, produce stores and firearms retailers.

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Regional small business POS software user meetings demonstrate customer care

June 23, 2017
2 Min read
R

We are grateful to our customers and prospective customers who attended regional face to face small business POS software training and user meetings in New South Wales this week.

As we criss-crossed the north of New South Wales by plane and car we covered plenty of ground and met with plenty of small business people, from different specialty retail sectors.

Every encounter in our sessions and after in private Q&A added to our knowledge of small business retail and provided us an opportunity to preach Tower.

100% committed to only selling to small business retailers, we demonstrated through the sessions a commitment to transparency, welcoming customers and prospects to one session in each town. It was terrific hearing the blend of questions and sharing solutions that are well covered in our software today.

It is hard work putting together regional in-person user meetings like these. And expensive. These are reasons most POS software companies do not do it. That we do run these sessions is a genuine differentiator for Tower Systems. Plus, for those unable to attend, we host weekly online workshops, without fail.

Next week, we hit top far north Queensland with four sessions. We are looking forward to learning more and sharing more with small business retailers from a range of channels.

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Inviting garden centres and nurseries to consider the Tower Systems software

June 22, 2017
2 Min read
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Tower Systems is a well established software company serving garden centres and nurseries with competent and speciality garden centre management software.

We are well established in this space with loved software that is regularly enhances to serve the specialty needs of garden centre and nursery retailers.

Developed in close consultation with retail business owners and their managers, our garden centre software takes a service-first approach to delivering genuinely useful solutions to these specialty retail businesses.

Using our Garden Centre / Nursery Software you can easily:

  1. Sell products easily, with accuracy and capturing data vital to guiding business decisions.
  2. Handle customer special orders.
  3. Offer Gift Cards. we can also help with professional production of gift cards.
  4. Sell products as hampers / packs / bundles.
  5. Sell products by weight.
  6. Offer LayBys.
  7. As you re-pot plants, easily increase the retail value.
  8. Print product labels for plants outdoors.
  9. Run Sale Catalogues – based on a date range.
  10. Offer traffic-driving shopper loyalty –  $$$ off the next purchase based on rules you set. Successful loyalty offer for independent retailers.
  11. Automatically include local plant care information on receipts.
  12. Offer the more traditional points-based shopper loyalty.
  13. Import electronic invoices and stock files from suppliers.
  14. Reorder based on accurate data – reducing the cost of dead stock.
  15. Handle BOGO: handling Buy One get One Free offers.
  16. Offer MultiBuy – like a coffee card, free product over time … ideal for encouraging habit based shoppers
  17. Save time with the Xero accounting interface – cut bookkeeping costs.
  18. Link to Magento and Shopify – connect to your website.
  19. Save time & cut mistakes with EFTPOS integration.
  20. Save time on stock takes.
  21. Print professional receipts with your logo.
  22. Track product serial numbers.
  23. Age check for items with a minimum age requirement such as chemicals if you sell them
  24. Use up-sell prompts for staff.
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Stock file updated for small business POS software users

June 21, 2017
1 Min read
S

Last week we released updated and tested stock files for retailers using our POS software:

  1. Big Balloon June 2017
  2. Spirit Publishing June 2017
  3. Newsink June 2017
  4. Hallmark June 2017
  5. Henderson Greetings June 2017
  6. Ancol Mid Year Promotion 2017 Catalogue
  7. GNS Officesmart May – July 2017 Catalogue

These and more stock files are accessible from ur website.

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Click and collect helps small business retailers win more online sales

June 21, 2017
3 Min read
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Tower Systems has been offering click and collect for its various developed online websites for months. It is a ripper of a success, both in terms of sales and attracting new shopper traffic.

Our POS software connected website solutions in magento, Shopify and WooCommerce deliver valuable new traffic solutions. Click and collect is one of several enhancements key to this.

Click and collect is where people shop online and visit a physical store to pick up the goods purchased. It is a major focus of big business retailers like David Jones, Myer, Officeworks, Coles and others. Offering it shows online shoppers how current you are in your online approach. It builds trust.

Customers like that they can shop online at any time, pay online, and be certain that what they purchased is set aside for them to collect at any time.

It is shop online at any time that matters in that the majority of transactions are done outside usual shopping hours. This gives click and collect businesses an advantage – they can win the sale and bank the revenue while their nearby competitors are closed.

Another benefit of click and collect is that it introduces new shoppers to a business. Two thirds of click and collect shoppers surveyed visit the shop from where they collected the goods for the first time. Half purchased other items while in the store. Close to half came back for more purchases, having discovered what the store sells.

Around a quarter of click and collect shoppers use interest-free online LayBy… meaning they buy now, pay later and get the goods right away. The retailer is paid right away less a tiny processing fee that is not much more than the usual credit card fee.

Click and collect is not a massive game changer. Rather, it is a small step in a series of steps that make up a successful comprehensive online strategy.

A comprehensive online strategy is key to competing with other online businesses as well as with other high street businesses.

The way we help our small business retail customers leverage click and collect is through offering access to absolutely current stock on hand data for sought after brands. Having this, updated every 5 minutes 24/7 is what shoppers want when shopping online. It is hard to achieve – this is a reason many small and independent retailers and retail groups have not done it.

Online is big and growing. You only have to look at data from any of the online giants to understand this.

Tower Systems is thrilled to offer leadership on this.

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Major enhancements delivered in newsagency software update from Tower Systems

June 20, 2017
2 Min read
M

Tower Systems has delivered significant enhancements for the 1,750+ newsagents using its best-practice newsagency software with another major software update.

The company approaches developing software updates with care and consideration, knowing that it is spending customer money, as updates are funded our ion software support fees.

The latest update delivers enhancements in a range of areas of including online, offline, integrations and business efficiency.

Of particular value is supplier engagements of high GP value to newsagents.

As the newsagency channel continues to transition from an old-school approach to something more attuned to retail today, Tower Systems is at the forefront of enhancements thanks to close relationships with suppliers that are helping to lead newsagency business changes.

Helping newsagents be smart in how, when and where they sell is key to where the skilled POS software development at Tower Systems is engaged. This is reflected in this latest POS software update as newsagents are better positioned than ever to help evolve their businesses through the technology partnership.

Newsagent suppliers who have remained rooted in low-margin product areas and who have obligated small business newsagents to inefficient practices are not getting the same attention from the leadership team of Tower as the company is focussed in better margin and new traffic.

This is where the company sees the newsagency of the future.

The number of newsagency businesses switching to Tower reflects a shared view that the Tower Systems approach is the correct approach. We are grateful for these relationships and remain committed to helping newsagents thrive through change.

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Tower Systems brings POS software / webstore workshop to regional Australia

June 19, 2017
2 Min read
T

Launching today, small business POS software company is bringing training, insights and inspiration to small business retailers in regional Australia through a series of thoughtful and interactive live workshops in towns and cities in New South Wales and Queensland.

Each session is free and each will be attended by senior folk from ur business, sharing the latest insights from Australia and overseas.

  1. Coffs Harbour. June 19. 10am. Novotel.
  2. Tamworth. June 20. 10am. Leagues Club.
  3. Newcastle. June 21. 10am. Mercure.
  4. Dubbo. June 22. 10am. Quest.
  5. Wagga Wagga. June 23. 10am. International Hotel.
  6. Cairns. June 26. 2pm. Novotel.
  7. Townsville. June 27. 10am. Mercure.
  8. Mackay. June 28. 10am. Mackay Grande Suites.
  9. Rockhampton. June 29. 10am. Quest.
  10. Gold Coast. July 5. 2pm. Sofitel.

Come and see how small business retailers around the world are using website connected POS software to win online sales.

We will explain how to get to the top of Google search results. In fact, we will show it with live search.

We will demonstrate the connection between social media posts (Facebook, Twitter etc) in-store sales and online sales.

At our FREE workshops near you and find out more about how you can equip your retail business to confront the changes in retail, transact online and compete with big businesses, including Amazon.

There will be no hard sell. Our goal is to share practical information to help you better plan for the future of your regional retail business.

Anyone is welcome including people on whom you rely for advice, such as accountants and mentors.

We hope to see you at one of these workshops. I am keen to share with you what I have seen and learnt in this rapidly changing space.

There will be plenty of time for questions on any topic connected with retail.

We have software for: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops,  toy shops, fishing/outdoors, garden centres/nurseries, newsagents, produce stores and firearms retailers.

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5 ways online appointment software helps small business retailers

June 16, 2017
3 Min read
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Online appointment software is helping retailers and service providers in a bunch of ways. Here are the top five we hear about when we talk with people who love online appointment software:

  1. 24/7 trading. In this online and forever connected world, people what they want when they want it. In the area of personal services and anything else for which appointments are essential, businesses that offer online appointments can win businesses ahead of those businesses that do not offer such services. 24/7 trading gives you the edge, the ability to lock in an appointment when peopler want to do that. Imagine the benefits compared them having to wait to call or wait for an email response. Online appointments are fast and easy.
  2. Save time. You save time and the customer saves time. No paperwork. Auto checking of the appointment. It is wins all round.
  3. Customer certainty. With the confirmation provided to the customer in the form they choose, they have certainty and you have certainty. That builds confidence in your business.
  4. Easy resources scheduling. Thanks to also scheduling rooms, people and equipment, everything is done in the one appointment booking process. Yo are covered and the customer knows exactly what they are booking.
  5. Competitive advantage. Your business with an online appointment facility looks different, more current, to competitors without such facilities.

Available as stand-alone as well as integrated with the Tower POS software, the new appointment facility enables people to make an appointment with a business from anywhere and at any time.

Located at www.makemyappointment.com.au  this new facility offers a full suite of appointment facilities including:

  1. Easy appointment making as well as changes – from any device, anywhere.
  2. Text message and/or email notification.
  3. Send reminders of appointments.
  4. Schedule staff, rooms and equipment based on the type of appointment being made and staff and resource availability.
  5. Australian developed and supported.
  6. Data located on a secure server in a purpose built data warehouse facility.
  7. Low monthly access cost. Paid 30 days in advance. Easily cancellable.
  8. Tower Systems POS software integrated to make processing payments easy.
  9. Business management back end to see the schedule of appointments by staff member and overall and to efficiently manage resources.

Developed initially for pet groomers, this new appointment facility has been designed to serve a variety of needs including managing appointments for product repairs, professional services and other businesses.

Each business has its own public-facing landing page that can be found through search engines. There is also a website plug-in to enable appointments to be seamlessly made form your website.

Tower Systems is thrilled to release MakeMyAppointment to retailers and service providers as a genuine cloud based appointment facility developed for small businesses across a range of retail sectors.

Tower Systems is well established in the POS retailer community with high-value POS software for a range of specialty retail niche.

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Free POS software & e-commerce workshop for regional QLD small business retailers.

June 14, 2017
2 Min read
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Retail is changing at a rapid rate. Changes in-store and online are making 2017 an important year.

We have see these changes first-hand at international retail conferences this year. We play with the changes in our own shops where we use our POS software and our website technology to find new customers and drive a higher average spend.

Come to one of our FREE workshops near you and find out more about how you can equip your retail business to confront the changes in retail, transact online and compete with big businesses, including Amazon.

Here are the dates for our free POS software / website workshops. Click on the city name to book your place:

  1. Cairns. June 26. 2pm. Novotel.
  2. Townsville. June 27. 10am. Mercure.
  3. Mackay. June 28. 10am. Mackay Grande Suites.
  4. Rockhampton. June 29. 10am. Quest.

We will share insights on how small business retailers around the world are using website connected POS software to win online sales.

We will explain how to get to the top of Google search results.

We will demonstrate the connection between social media posts (Facebook, Twitter etc) in-store sales and online sales.

There will be no hard sell. Our goal is to share practical information to help you better plan for the future of your regional retail business.

Anyone is welcome including people on whom you rely for advice, such as accountants and mentors.

If you have sales queries prior to these events please talk with your local account manager: QLD: Justin Randall. 0434 365 789.

I hope to see you at one of these workshops. I am keen to share with you what I have seen and learnt in this rapidly changing space.

There will be plenty of time for questions on any topic connected with retail.

We have software for: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops,  toy shops, fishing/outdoors, garden centres/nurseries, newsagents, produce stores and firearms retailers.

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Queen’s Birthday public holiday

June 13, 2017
1 Min read
Q

Today is the Queens’s Birthday public holiday in Australia. Our office is closed but our after hours network including management escalation is available for urgent matters.

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Small business retail advice: how to organise your back room

June 12, 2017
3 Min read
S

The back room of a retail business is a window on the efficiency and focus of the business. This is a fair assumption because it is where the business is organized.. A disorganized back room reflects a likely disorganized business.

Organizing the back room is easy. Those who disagree are probably spending too much time thinking about it and not enough time creating an efficient and enjoyable work space.

Here are some simple tips for organizing the back room of any retail business.

Have defined areas. Separate, mark out and manage the areas for: inward goods, spare floor stock, returns, administration and employee rest space. Locate each area in a logical position.

For example, inward goods needs to be located inside the doorway away from main traffic but close enough to be convenient to delivery people. Create a defined process around this space – such as every delivery being signed for and even verified by a second person if the value of deliveries warrants this.

Administration documents and materials need to be located in an area more secure than the general back room space. It also needs to be in office cabinets and units which can be locked.

A place for everything. Pens, pencils, tape, box cutters, scissors, paper, boxes, packaging materials – everything in the back room should have its defined space. This creates a safer and more enjoyable work environment. The better organization also encourages all others in the organization to be better organized. Lead by example.

Communicate clearly. Setup a notice board or a white board onto which you can communicate with all employees. This should be located next to the door which leads from the room to the shop floor. The noticeboard can share important information about the business as well as required health and safety notices.

Don’t hoard. Retailers are notorious hoarders, handing on to everything in case they need it one day. While it is easy to say don’t hoard, the reality is different. Here is a simple tip for retailers with space available. Set aside some space, hopefully somewhat hidden – where you put anything which you are not using and don’t think you will need but are not prepared to throw out. Not the date you put it there. review this space every six months. Items you do not use in six months should be thrown out.

Structure and discipline are the keys to a good back room. get these right and the business itself will become more organized as a result.

This is an example of practical business advice we provide at Tower Systems to our retail customers, advice beyond our POS software, to help our retail business partners get more from their engagement with us.

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POS software update feedback

June 11, 2017
1 Min read
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We are thrilled with the feedback we are receiving for our latest POS software update. Here is one message we received this week.

We love the update. Thank you for acting on our suggestion. When I put it on Software Ideas and saw others voting it made me feel good, that other people using the software liked my suggestion. I love that you listen to us.

Software Ideas is a publicly accessible place where our customers can make suggestions for software enhancements and have others vote on these suggestions. This is an exclusive platform of which we are most proud.

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Employee theft remains the biggest concern of small business retailers.

June 10, 2017
1 Min read
E

Employee theft in small retail businesses remains the biggest single concern among small business retailers and the biggest single cost to retail businesses.

We say this based on evidence of interaction with 3,500+ small business retailers in our user community and from working with plenty of retailers outside our user community, helping them to deal with the hurt and cost of discovering theft by retailers.

We have tried many approached to getting the attention of small business retailers on the issue of theft. One of the most successful means of engagement has been this cheeky video from us. It gets attention.

We have used it through YouTube as well as other platforms. It works a treat, gaining thousands of views.

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Australian developed POS software for Australian specialty retailers

June 9, 2017
2 Min read
A

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

Australian POS software company Tower Systems is grateful for the opportunity to help more than 3,500 independent small business retailers leverage more benefits from being part of the group.

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

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

That is what the Tower Systems solution offers – locally run software for your type of business in your business over which you have control yet that can be run in a manner that helps others you work with help you.

Tower Systems has a strategy for helping individual businesses as well as businesses that trade as part of a group.

From the sales counter to the back office to online, Tower Systems has comprehensive solutions to work with and for a business in a broad variety of ways. these solutions are available for a variety of retail businesses channels, with software designed specifically for the businesses in these channels.

We have software for: gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, pet shops,  toy shops, fishing/outdoors, garden centres/nurseries, newsagents, produce stores and firearms retailers.

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Helping small business retailers manage efficient and accurate stock takes

June 8, 2017
1 Min read
H

The annual stock take can consume a small business, taking time and resources away from more productive activities.

Tower Systems has a range of time-efficient and accuracy-guiding stock take options in its software. These options can be leveraged to make the annual stock take faster. They can also be leveraged to eliminate the annual stock take altogether.

Yes, small retail businesses can avoid the annual stock take.  This can be done in a way that meets the requirements of the ATO, that ensures the business fulfils its data tracking and record keeping obligations.

All through June, and last month in May, Tower Systems has offered and is offering access to many live stock take training workshops. As sessions fill we add more, at flexible times. Plus, we supplement these with the offer of free one on one training for business owners who cannot make it for any of our scheduled times.

Our small business retail stock take training covers all forms of stock takes and includes advice on how to eliminate the annual stock take if you would like to achieve that.

This free training and personal assistance with stock takes in another Tower AdvantageTM.

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