The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

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POS software for New Zealand specialty and local independent retailers

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Tower Systems makes, sells and supports POS software for retailers in New Zealand. Wee are grateful to serve plenty of retailers in New Zealand already using our POS software. We have been serving New Zealand retailers for for more than fifteen years.

Our POS software for New Zealand retailers comes with facilities designed to save time and enhance business value for small business retailers across a range of retail sectors including garden supply, pet shops, jewellers, bike shops, gift shops, toy shops, dairies, bookshops and plenty more.

Our New Zealand POS software customers have access to a toll free number for support. Support coverage suits hours for NZ businesses too.

We’re local too. One of our senior help desk team members lives near Christchurch and one of our senior POS software developers lives in Auckland.

Our POS software is integrated with Shopify, Magento and Woo commerce and easy online selling. We also develop POS software connected websites.

Plus, our POS software is integrated with Xero and has been for years.

We’re an odd POS software company in that since 1996 we have owned and run shops – 3 gift and homewares shops. 2 in Westfield centres and 1 on the high street. We walk in the shoes of our customers.

Call us on 0800 444 367.

Our specialty POS software for New Zealand retailers offers many specialty retail benefits, including:

  1. Colour, size and style: Easily track sales at a granular level.
  2. Club pricing: Helps you attract community group members.
  3. Repairs: Easily track & manage repairs & communicate with customers.
  4. Sell by weight. Sell by fractions.
  5. Smart loyalty. While you can use points, we also have something better.
  6. BOGO: Increase sales with buy this and get that bundling.
  7. Warranty: Track details and leverage this for customer service.
  8. Bring them back: Target market for birthdays, anniversaries and more.
  9. Sell anywhere: Using our Retailer RoamTM sell anywhere app.
  10. Sell anytime: With our Shopify / Magento / Woo integrations.
  11. Special orders: Easily manage special customer orders.
  12. Jeweller specific product labels.
  13. Outdoor, weatherproof, product labels.
  14. The ability to design your own product labels.
  15. The ability to design your own receipts.
  16. Awesome loyalty: Guide one-time and regular shoppers to spend more.
  17. Seasonal reordering: Easily reorder inventory based on seasonal sales.

The low monthly rental cost gives you:

  1. POS software with unlimited computer licences for your location.
  2. Software updates as we release them.
  3. Integrations: Xero, Shopify and more.
  4. Easy access to Support, training and documentation.

We help you from the get-go with personal one-on-one training to make it easy for you to get the most from your software. In you are a local independent retailer in New Zealand and you are looking for POS software, Tower Systems could be a good partner for your business.

POS software Quote and invoice management software from Tower Systems helps local small business retailers win more business

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The new quote and invoice management POS software integration solution from Tower Systems is helping computer shops, garden centres, produce businesses, building businesses and other businesses that provide quotations to provide quotations, appropriately manage stock and deliver solutions all from within the POS software.

The new quote and invoice management solution from Tower Systems is a complete replacement from what was there before. It’s expanded in scope and function, based on wonderful feedback from our customers with whom we actively consulted before starting work on the upgrade project.

We first developed the facilities over last year and into 2024. Then, we embarked on a comprehensive in-field trial process during which we further enhanced the software. This was followed by a comprehensive beta release process that resulted in further enhancements.

The new POS software integrated quote and invoice management solution is now live and in commercial use across a broad range of businesses. here is some of what we shared with our customers in the release announcement email:

  • New Facility: We are excited to introduce a new capability within our Quote & Invoice Management system that allows users to reserve items from their inventory. This ensures that your stock levels are accurately reflected, preventing overselling.
  • Proforma Invoice Status: A new interim status, “Proforma Invoice,” has been added to our Quotes & Invoice management. This status acts as an accepted quote that has not yet been processed as an invoice but has already reduced the available stock quantity by moving it to a new “Reserved Quantity.” This significant update allows you to issue proforma invoices to customers without making the reserved stock visible on your website or in-store.
  • We have enhanced the Quote & Invoice Management system to support the acceptance of deposits and progression payments for Proforma Invoices. This feature facilitates flexible payment options for your customers and streamlined financial management for your business.

This was accompanies by a video preview of the software facilities as well as documentation for those who prefer to learn by reading text. These new facilities for quote and invoice management come with a full set of training and documentation, we have made sure of that.

Quote and invoice management is something we have always done. This re-write allowed us to take the solution to the next generation based on evolving needs.

We are grateful to the customers who engaged with us through this process. we think, together, we have made something wonderful and business beneficial.

We help local independent pet retailers thrive in Australia’s competitive pet retail space

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It’s been a tumultuous 12 months in pet retail in Australia. While the ACCC has intervened in some of the big business expansion, big competitors are bigger than before, and noisier.

Our pet shop software offers tools you can use to differentiate your local business.

Our loyalty options include one shoppers love and big retailers rarely use because it puts customers ahead of the business.

Our pet shop software makes it easy for you to sell you, your knowledge and experience, your local insights … things unique to your business.

You can easily buy ingredients in bulk and bag up retail packs of your own feed mix, and you can manage inventory all the way through.

Loading supplier electronic invoices is a breeze. It saves time, cuts mistakes and provides you more control.

Our support for club pricing makes it easy for you to win more business from clubs, and community groups.

Easily track and nurture time-based purchases such as flea and worm control.

Recording the microchip number for a pet helps you offer a more personal service.

It’s the business insights where this pet shop software easily pays for itself, reducing sell-outs, cutting dead stock, reducing theft and more.

This pet shop software is made and supported here in Australia for local independent pet shops.

  • Easy & accurate selling.
  • Time saving supplier links.
  • Shopper loyalty facilities to bring them back.
  • Money making business insights.
  • Easy worming and care product reminders
  • Buy in bulk and make your own products.
  • Win more customers with club pricing.
  • Leverage your knowledge to differentiate.
  • Personal training.
  • Local human delivered support.

We back our pet shop software with human support. When you contact us, we listen to your query, and help. Our customers can call us direct, or email. Our goal is to be there for you when you need us. Small business retail is personal after all.

Here’s what’s included in the monthly rental cost of our pet shop software: licences for unlimited computers in the location, help desk support (by phone or email) 6 days a week (including Saturday), access to a comprehensive support knowledge base, after hours support call access for urgent system down queries, access to our Shopify, Xero and other integrations, access to our supplier invoice import tools.

Australian made POS software backed by local support from a team with retail experience.

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Hi, my name is Mark Fletcher, CEO of Tower Systems. I hate it when I call a help desk and I am put through to someone who follows a rigid script with limited options. I also hate it when I end up talking to someone in an offshore call centre who doesn’t understand my local situation.

At my POS software company, if you call for help, we answer the call and one of our local retail experienced help desk members talks with you about your query. There is no rigid script, no tech menu to navigate before you get through.

As retailers ourselves, yes we own and run 3 shops, we understand the importance of easily accessible customer service. We genuinely walk in your shoes. You’re welcome to meet us at any of our shops to see what we offer first-hand – to see that our retail experience is more than a marketing pitch.

Justin Randall grew up in retail before joining our help desk and then moving to sales. He’s passionate about helping local retailers thrive. He’d love to answer your questions: 0434 365 789 or justin@towersystems.com.au.

Tim Batt worked in retail but to be honest he’s been with us for 20 or so years so he’s likely yo be rusty behind the counter. Tim loves helping independent retailers: 0401 833 917 or tim@towersystems.com.au.

Whether you run a pet shop, jewellery business, gift shop, bike shops, garden centre, produce business, fishing shop, bookshop, music shop, sewing shop, op. shop, newsagency, toy shop or fabric shop, we will do our best to help you.

Visit www.towersystems.com.au or email sales@towersystems.com.au or call 1300 662 957 to find out more. We’d love to learn about your needs.

POS software for Op. Shops, community enterprises, not for profit and charity shops

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Op. shops, charity shops and community run shops benefit from software made for their needs and software priced in a way that reflects the good they do in the community.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve these not for profit retail; businesses with a 50% discount off our usual pricing while providing access to the software and full kit of support service.

Op. shops, charity shops and other community run retail businesses have unique needs such as easy to learn for volunteers, the ability to track and sell items that are not barcoded, the opportunity to price by different categories and the ability to serve community members with discounted or free product while still tracking product movement.

Our charity shop software, op. shop software and community enterprise software manage this for these organisations. Plus, the software can connect to deputy and others for rostering, Xero and others for accounting and many different banks for easy to use and manage EFTPOS.

It also offers the opportunity of different pricing for members of the community group as well as offering fund raising opportunities from within the software.

Here at Tower Systems we are grateful to serve many charity related businesses with our op. shop and related POS software.

Tower Systems is a small business focussed POS software company developing, and supporting POS software for niche specialty retailers.

Jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, produce businesses, farm supply businesses, fishing shops, pet shops, charity businesses, landscape gardening businesses, antique shops, sewing shops, haberdashery businesses, newsagents and more benefit from this software.

Retail transformation: one of our own shops

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In this video we discuss the transformation of one of our shops, another place where we get to play with our POS software for guidance on how to run a more valuable shop. We are grateful to have this point of difference:

What is the future of POS software?

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With so much change in retail and POS software solutions for retailers, it is reasonable to ask: What is the future of POS software?

We are a POS software company, we have a vested interest for ourselves as well as for all who rely on us. When we consider a question like What is the future of POS software?, we do so with honesty and clarity, because we owe ourselves that.

Not a black and white question, not a yes or no situation. Retail and and what POS software does are more complex than that. Indeed, the nature of retail has changed considerably in recent years. So, too, has POS software. Whereas in the past it was about inventory management and cash register replacement, today it is about workflow, maximising business performance and helping businesses be everywhere all at once, easily.

Good POS software evolves at pace with change in retail, or faster. It remains relevant while at the same time offering retailers the opportunity to leap forward into new revenue opportunities. It is also about helping retailers to be challenges as to what they do in their businesses, to help them reach beyond their expectations. This is where flexibility plays a key role.

This need for flexibility, for playing outside the boundaries of traditional, is relatively new in retail, in our world of specialty retail for sure. Whereas for decades retailers stayed within their lanes as defined by the shingle under which their businesses trade, today a shingle can mean little as to what a retail business offers. This is where it can be interesting for POS software in the sense that the traditional POS software for a type of retail business may not be as flexible as it needs to be in this more open world.

While some POS software companies have pivoted to focus more on collecting revenue for themselves with tollway type charing at the transaction level, the POS software that we think will have a brighter future is the software that delivers measurable and loved benefits ton retail business owners and those who work in retail.

Yes, functionality in the software is the key. What the software does is what matters to the future of the POS software. And to be clear here, in this world of considerable and rapid changes, rapidly evolving POS software is the key.

The future of POS software as a category is as strong as retail itself. The future of any specific POS software solution will depend on the attention those who control the software pay to changes in retail. Speed is as important as functional change.

Now, if this sounds challenging, rapid changes, new technology … these are things smart software developers love as these changes help them enhance their own skills and that’s something for which they are grateful.

Tower Systems is a vertical market POS software company. We serve 16 specialty retail channels. We love change and we love retail. We are grateful to have engaged customers who keep us abreast of changes in retail.

Our free app makes it easy for retailers to load product photos into their POS software

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The free web app we created for retailers to facilitate fast and easy loading of product photos to our POS software and feeding these to Shopify, Magento, Woo and Big Commerce websites is being loved by our customers. In the year since release many have used it to save time on what used to be a laborious process.

Using this free tool our customers open their phone, take a photo, check that it looks okay and click to share it. The back end software does the rest, including removing the background of the image if you like.

This is another time saving tool created by Tower Systems to help local retailers more easily get new products online.

The photo management and upload app is 100% our tech, designed to serve our 3,000+ local retail business customers. we created it once we understood the frustration of retailers at how long it took to take photos, remove the background and upload them to the software. Removing plenty of steps and making it a 2 or 3 click quick process is helping local retailers get more products online in a time efficient way.

Tools like this can make the tech experience in retail far more enjoyable. We are glad to have helped here.

It all came about from experience we had in one of our shops. We thought there had to be a better and faster way to get good product images into our POS software.

International barcode lookup integration with Tower Systems POS software loved by retailers

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Retailers are loving the international barcode lookup integration in our POS software.

We released our POS software international barcode lookup integration over six months ago and we can see it being used every day to verify data, collect data not available anywhere else and to collect product images.

The integration connects our POS software with a respected worldwide database of product barcodes and provides excellent access to descriptions and much more: improving data accuracy, saving time and enhancing in-store and online product engagement.

Here is how we train our POS software customers on how to use the POS software integrated international barcode lookup facilities:

Like all of our POS software customer training videos, we also provide a transcript for those who prefer to read. It is time coded to match the video. here is an example:

0:00 My next favourite integration with Retailer is Barcode Lookup. Barcode Lookup is an online database of barcodes, their descriptions, their web descriptions or extended descriptions, images, classification information such as brand, manufacturer, dimensions.

0:15 It’s massive. Now over the time that we’ve integrated with Barcode Lookup, it’s grown from 100 million records right through to today at time of publication nearly a billion records.

0:26 That’s massive. So, what can it do? Well, Retailer can integrate with it and pull data down when you create a product or choose to update a product with data from that website.

0:37 Let’s have a look. The very first thing you’d want to know is how to sign up and how to get it working.

0:41 So, you should always read our knowledge base articles. Which will be linked to this video down below and it goes through the entire sign up process and how it works.

0:49 So, just follow the article and go from there. If you want to have a look at the website, we even have a link to the website and this is it here.

0:56 So, you can see right now 978 million people products exist on this site. to give you an example, I’ve got a few items here.

1:05 I’ve got a package of um electrical tape and a box of glasses cleaners to clean my glasses. I’ve done a little search on those and believe it or not, here’s my glasses cleaners and this is the description that it’s going to pull down from the site.

1:17 It will pull down the menu. Manufacturer information and it’ll also pull down this extended description and put that where I choose to put it.

1:25 There’s only one attribute to go with it, which is an MPN or a manufacturer’s product number. And these are all the images that it will pull down with it.

1:33 If we go look at this. The electrical tape pulls down this description one by three meter PVC electrical tape and has a much better description to explain what it comes what it’s all about no classification information with this one and then I’ve got my three pens so we’ve got the the blue tip which

Be sure to watch the video and check out the transcript to the right side of the page.

This video is another from our growing library of freely accessible training videos for retailers using our POS software.

Expensive risk for small business retailers who fail to backup data daily

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We have just completed a project working with customers that we could see were not backing up their POS software data daily.

This is customers not running in the cloud – customers who prefer to run on computers in their businesses. There are plenty of situational reasons where this is required.

Anyway, we did a deep dive and found a group of several hundred not following our advice to backup daily. So, we engaged with each of them, reminded them of the importance of daily backup, offered easy access to automated safe cloud backup and urged them to do something.

The whole project resulted in a different type of engagement with our customers – proactive with us reaching out to them to say hey, things don’t look right here.

Customers loved it.

You don’t want to discover that you need a backup when you don’t have one.

Hardware failures, natural disasters,cyberattacks, accidental deletions, and even power surges can all lead to irreplaceable data disappearing. This can be catastrophic for a business, causing delays, damaging reputations, and incurring significant financial losses.

That’s where daily data backups come in. Regularly backing up data creates a safety net, ensuring you have a recent copy of your information readily available in case of disaster. Here are some reasons why backing up your data every day is crucial:

  • A data loss event can bring your entire operation to a grinding halt. Daily backups allow you to quickly restore lost information and get back up and running with minimal downtime. This keeps your business productive and prevents lost revenue.

  • Ransomware attacks are a growing concern, and businesses are prime targets. By having daily backups, you can avoid paying hefty ransoms to retrieve your data. Simply restore from your latest backup and continue working.

  • Human error is inevitable. Accidental file deletions or system malfunctions can happen to anyone. Daily backups ensure you have a recent copy to restore, saving you the heartache and hassle of data recovery.

  • Disasters can strike at any time. Floods, fires, or even power outages can damage hardware and destroy data. Daily backups stored offsite guarantee you have a copy of your information safe and secure, enabling you to resume operations quickly.

Our advice to any POS software customer is to ensure you are backing up daily.

Pet shop software from Tower Systems helps locally owned pet shops thrive locally

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Local matters to people connected with their local community. Pet shops provide wonderful services to local pet owners and it is in this area of local service that pet business owners can stand their business out from the noice of the big box pet businesses.

Here are 9 ways this pet shop POS software from Tower Systems helps you achieve this.

  1. We work with AIRR and Just For Pets and accept electronic invoices from suppliers like Kongs.
  2. Leverage your localness. In the Tower Systems software there are many want you can leverage being local, being different, being nimble and being engaged locally.
  3. Community support. Using the pet shop software from Tower Systems you can partner with a local pet related community group, raising funds for them which being an appealing place to shop for locals who support the local community group. It’s a win win leveraged by the software.
  4. Easy small wins. The one-percenters make a business. This pet shop software is packed with one-percenters, helping you to small wins in efficiency, add-on purchases, smarter buying and more.
  5. Healthier pets. Pet owners will love your reminders about a treatment that is due. They will also love that you treat their pets as a member of the family. You will love that this software makes it easy. You can embed in the software knowledge that can be served to customers, automatically.
  6. Hands off. Every keyboard click has a cost and could be a mistake. Look at your last Kongs invoice and reflect on the time it took to process. Imagine importing an accurate electronic version in seconds.
  7. Standing out from the crowd. While dog breeds are judged to a set of strict standards, in retail being different matters. When it comes to loyalty, we help you stand out, be noticed and be loved.
  8. You are the difference. When it comes to pet food and other items that make up the bulk of your revenue, standing out from the crowd can be a challenge. The thing is, you and your people are the difference. This software helps you shine a light on that. Sell you and leverage you as the point of difference.
  9. Not every shopper will walk past your door. A smart and seamless connection between your software and a beautiful website can help you easily and with low overhead sell to people you will never meet. Points are so yesterday, shoppers love and understand value, especially when it respects them.

There is no long-term contract for this pet shop software. You can cancel at any time. There is no finance application, no on-going finance obligation.

Our pet shop software offers many benefits, including:

  • Save time with electronic invoices from suppliers.
  • Easy special customer orders. Smart tracking and customer notification.
  • Make money from pre-orders – Easily pre-sell before release.
  • Community group pricing. Set pricing rules based on customer type.
  • Easy record keeping: microchip tracking.
  • Business differentiating loyalty. Stand out from the crowd. Drive sales.
  • Differentiate with bundles. Make price comparison hard.
  • Say goodbye to LayBy – with integrated buy now pay later options.
  • Market to customers based on past purchases.
  • Cut accounting and bookkeeping fees with integration to Xero and others.
  • Easily sell online with a direct to Shopify link from your POS software.

This is pet shop software to love, like your shop, like your pets.

Advice from Tower Systems on how to choose the right POS software for your business

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The best advice on choosing the right POS software for your retail business is that you do it yourself. This is not something to outsource, not something to use one of the comparison (marketing) websites for. Do your own research.

Choosing POS software is an important decision, a decision for the long term, a decision directly connected to the financial viability of your retail business.

Take your time.

Start with what you want and what you need. These are different things. Write lists. yes, write them down for the more organised you are the more likely you are to make the best decision for your retail business.

Choosing POS software is not something to rush. Beware of the POS software companies that put limited time deals in front of you. Those companies likely offer POS software that is not ideal and they try and make your choice about price so as to distract you from your lists of needs and wants.

The decision is about what you need and want and each of the POS software companies that you consider. It’s not about what representatives of those companies think about software from other companies. Asking them to comment on competition is not ideal. If you do ask though and if they bag a competitor, ask them how they know this, ask them for evidence.

Be sure to gather evidence in writing. If a representative of a POS software company makes a claim that they will do this or that or that their software does a specific thing you need be sure to describe your need fully and to get their response to this in writing – it could be you rely on this later.

If being local is an important part of what you pitch for your business, think about the local situation of POS software companies you consider. Find out how local a company you are considering is, how local their people are, think about whether their answers factor into your decision making.

See, don’t hear or read. See the software for yourself. Come to the demonstration with unique sales scenarios you see play out in your shop. See how the software handles these. Ask for a recoding of the demonstration so you can share it with others in your business who will use the software for if they feel they are part of your decision making they are more likely to support the decision you ultimately make.

No marketing company, so software comparison website, no consultant can substitute for what you invest in considering POS software for your retail business. Invest the time, your time, and it will reward you with the best decision for your business, you, people who work in the business and the customers of the business.

No software is perfect, and doubt anyone who claims it is. Software that is the best will not be perfect. best is good though. This is why controlling the consideration process yourself is vital, it helps you find what you decide is best.

Small business retail advice: a busy shop can lie to you

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Hi, my name is Mark Fletcher. While here at Tower Systems we make POS software for local small business retailers, I also provide support advice to retailers. I was asked to write an article recently for a small business retail publication. Thinking about a shop I had visited recently and how the performance of the business did not match what the owner thought, I decided to write about how a busy shop can lie to you. Here is the article:

Do you get to the end of the day exhausted from how busy the shop was and feel good about the business? When I bought my first shop, I loved being exhausted by the end of the day. I thought being busy equalled success.

The thing is, a busy shop handling many low-value, low-margin transactions in a day is likely to exhaust you more than a far quieter shop handling fewer transactions at a higher value and with a higher margin.

Now, for simplicity, when I talk about margin here, I am talking about gross profit. This is what you sell an item for, less the cost of the item to your business.

The most important truth about the performance of any business is in the profit and loss statement. This is where everything comes together. On one side is all your sales revenue. On the other side is the cost of stock purchased, along with all other costs such as labour, rent and overheads.

Set yourself up to get easy access to your profit and loss statement yourself without needing to go through an accountant. This is easy to do, especially if your point-of-sale software feeds sales data and inventory purchase invoices direct to the accounting software. Being on top of performance has never been easier.

If your business features low-margin, low-transaction value products, look at opportunities to increase margin on those products and sell more higher price point items with better margins.

The price you charge should reflect what you offer. If your business is convenient, shoppers are likely to be comfortable with a higher price than they may pay elsewhere. If you offer a value-addition, such as differentiating product knowledge or follow-up servicing, this should be considered when setting pricing.

On initial consideration, this may feel too difficult to achieve. I have seen retailers think this, only to realise that they were the barriers to deciding what might work in their shop.

A while back, I was helping a retail business that was rooted in that low transaction value, low margin world. I suggested they add a product category their type of business was not known for. They did, and it was a success. Today, that initial change has led to a complete business transformation, delivering a much-appreciated profit multiple that they could not have achieved had they not changed.

In retail today, there are no rules demanding your business stay in a lane defined by the shingle above your door. By disrupting expectations for your type of business, you can create more success for you and all who rely on the business.

Don’t be duped by your business. Feeling tired is no measure of success. The only measure that matters is the one reflected in the financial statements of the business.

Local retail business advice: small is beautiful

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Hi, my name is Mark Fletcher, I am Managing Director of Tower Systems. We make POS software for local small business retailers. I have also owned retail businesses since 1996. There is plenty of noise aimed at small business owners to scale, to get big. I wrote this article to comment on that and encourage that small is beautiful. here is my article:

I enjoy working in and on my small businesses each day, more than I might if those businesses were much bigger.

Social media, business books, videos and seminars tell business owners to chase size: more likes, more followers, more customers, more revenue, more profit.

Consultants and gurus applaud people for making businesses that are scalable and replicable.

Influencers celebrate follower milestones and encourage others to join in the race for numbers.

It’s as if size is the only measure of success that matters.

Those encouraging small business owners to chase size are often people who profit from you joining the race. Doing what they exhort may serve their goals more than your own. It’s likely to benefit their interests and not be aligned with those they encourage.

The pressure to chase size doesn’t make sense to me. I see it as the pressure on people to relentlessly pursue being slim or having white teeth or a full head of hair. It’s like being happy with what you have is not an option.

Happiness should be the goal—happiness for the business owners, for those who rely on the business for income, and for the customers of the business.

A small business that is profitable can make more money for the owners than a business pursuing scale, especially if that pursuit involves considerable financial risk.

The emotional cost of taking on a loan to fund growth is considerable. Compare this to a small, debt-free, self-sustaining business.

I’ve only ever owned and run small and barely medium-sized businesses. Along the way, I have encountered many big business competitors. While some have scared me for a time, none has hurt my businesses.

I remember a time, decades ago. A supplier to a specialty retail channel my software company served made a multi-million-dollar investment into a software company. They announced they planned to become the industry standard software. I found out that a customer of ours had allowed programmers from this other company to look at how our software worked and the data structures we used. They appeared to be trying to reverse-engineer some very retail channel–specific facilities we had developed.

I was paralysed with anger as I didn’t have the money to mount a legal challenge. Then, I realised that we were already ahead technically and that we should leverage that advantage to reach even further ahead.

Within a year, the other business was in retreat from the retail channel we dominated.

While it sounds cliché, I learned the value of staying the course, being true to the goal of the business regardless of the scale of a competitor confronting you.

In my experience, small businesses are more nimble, innovative and efficient than big businesses. Typically, they will be more profitable. I suspect this is because everything matters and everything is noticed in a small business, whereas inefficiency can go unnoticed in a big business.

Technology makes it easier for us to do more in our small businesses with less and to do so with less risk.

A benefit of being small is easy differentiation, thanks to your people, their knowledge, and their approach to transacting business. In a big business, such personalisation is systemised to be average and, ultimately, lost.

If you value independence and understand the importance of differentiation through personal service, you’ll probably be happier and more fulfilled running a small to mid-size business than chasing scale.

Don’t be told what to think or do. Reach your own conclusion as to what is right for you.

Local retail management advice: don’t be the shop living in the past

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Hi, my name is Mark Fletcher, the Managing Director of Tower Systems. I recently visited a regional town to talk with an innovative retailer, a newsagent who had transitioned their business way beyond tradition. On the same road was another shop, a newsagency that has not changed with the times, a newsagency that was living in the past. I made a short video about this that you might find interesting.

Small business retail advice: step off the treadmill

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Hi, my name is Mark Fletcher, managing Director of Tower Systems. We make POS software for small business retailers. Today I share with you a story about local small business retail and someone I met with plenty of times. I hope you find it helpful. here’s the story:

Alan had worked in his dad’s thriving shop in Sydney for 25 years and had pretty much run things for the last 10 years. He had spent more than half his time in recent years looking at changes they could make to enhance the relevance of the business. He went to retail conferences and trade shows. He took meetings in the shop with people who could help.

I met Alan at conferences and in the shop. Each time he was full of questions about retail trends that relate to his type of business and ideas he could implement.

I loved talking with him because Alan loved talking retail. He had excellent insights and some terrific ideas for transforming the family business.

When the shop lease came up for renewal a couple of years ago, they did not take the option to renew. Even though the business was successful, and Alan had a kit full of ideas on how to navigate changes to their type of business, they gave up and walked away.

Alan never implemented any of his ideas. It turned out he liked to think and talk about change. He and his family closed a shop doing more than $1.5 million a year in product sales.

When it came time to commit, they decided they did not have the energy to engage in change.

They’d overthought change, considered too many options, created an out-of-control project, and all the while not implemented even the simplest of changes in the shop.

There is a saying in the start-up world: Launch early and launch often.

Some repeat a related saying: Fail often.

It is the fear of failure that can get in the way of even the simplest of changes being implemented. I think that is what blocked Alan and his family. They were stuck on a treadmill that went nowhere.

If you know you need to make changes in your business, start. That’s it, start. Do something. Take a step forward. Make a change. No matter how small, it’s a start, and that’s what matters. That action fights back against any fear of failure or other hesitancy.

If you have more ideas beyond one small and simple change, embrace and implement them. The act of making changes will help you develop your plan.

In some retail settings, it is the regular small changes that bring shoppers back. They know that something will be different each time they visit.

Small changes are manageable, often affordable, and measurable.

Big changes can feel daunting and be expensive and, therefore, riskier.

Personally, I like do-it-yourself changes, things we can do in the shop without bringing in an expert.

Alan and his family made good money from their successful business over many years. Had they acted years before the lease renewal on some of the changes Alan had developed, they would have had a business to sell.

Next time you are at a conference or trade show, look for the two or three easy things you can implement at a low cost that have the opportunity of a good reward.

Retail transformation: the inspiring journey of newsXpress Sarina, QLD

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We are grateful to Shelley and Mark Petersen for the opportunity to discuss their journey from purchasing a traditional newsagency in Sarina, 25 minutes out of Mackay in Queensland and their transformation of the business into a loved gift and homewares destination.

This discussion is a deep dive into how to approach change and thrive in a local retail business in a channel that itself is experiencing considerable change.

Neither Mark or Shelley had experience in this type of business when they bought it in 2001. Today, they are experts because of the experiences they have embraced and continue to embrace.

Their pragmatic approach to business is inspiring. Their success is well deserved. Any retailer watching the video will discover how they can evolve their business in ways Shelley and Mark have.

newsXpress Sarina is seen by plenty as a newsagency and Post Office. While it is those things, it is primarily known in Sarina as the place to shop for gifts and things that will surprise. It’s a business of which Shelley and Mark can be proud.

Grateful to serve local

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Software for bookshops made and supported in Australia for independent bookshops

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Here at Tower Systems we are grateful to make and support POS software for bookshops. From the sales counter to the back office to a POS software connected website that drives online sales, our bookshop software is designed to help local and independent bookshops thrive.

Here are two ways in particular where our bookshop software provides practical and beneficial help to local bookshops:

  • Returns management. Returning unsold books can be a time-consuming task. But with our bookshop software, booksellers can easily identify titles that can be returned based on when they arrived in store, how many have been sold, and how many are currently in stock. We also provide a structured approach to handling returns in a way that is friendly to publishers. Our approach has been tested with booksellers, so we know it’s genuinely useful and meets the requirements of suppliers.
  • Titlepage integration. Our software has been integrated with Titlepage for many years. Our latest integration is even better and more useful for book retailers. And as Titlepage software continues to evolve, so will our integration.

We are grateful to local bookshop customers who have helped us evolve our bookshop POS software over the years, to help it lead into new areas of relevance and value for these vital local shops.

From electronic invoices to author lookup to special orders for customers, this software for bookshops helps local bookshops serve local shoppers.

Our software helps bookshop owners position their businesses as locally focused in unique ways, from reader loyalty programs to special interest focus to local club support to bundle offers. We help local bookshops better serve local readers and those who buy for them.

Our seamless Shopify integration makes it easy for local booksellers to sell online professionally. This enables them to reach shoppers far beyond their local catchment area. We are proud to have delivered bookshop software connected websites that are doing this.

Our locally made bookshop software also includes other tools that booksellers tell us they like, such as:

  • Easy searching of book inventory by title or part of a title.
  • Easy searching by book inventory by author name or part of author name.
  • Pacstream integration.
  • Structured handling of special orders of books.

Book retailing is a challenging industry, with big businesses pushing hard in this space. Our goal with our locally made bookshop software is to help small local retailers compete more successfully every day.

The bookshop POS software we offer today is different to what we will offer tomorrow. We are constantly evolving our software to meet the changing needs of our customers and the bookselling industry.

If you are a local book retailer, we’d love to find out if we could serve your needs.

Stocktakes are a thing of the past for retailers and here’s why

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While our POS software has stocktake facilities to enable fast and accurate counting of inventory, it’s not necessary for businesses to do a stocktake at the end of the financial year. You can ignore the end of year stocktake if you are disciplined as to how you run your retail business. here’s what you need to do:

  • Track all inventory arriving in the business at the point of arrival. This is easy with electronic invoices from suppliers or software generated order files.
  • Track all sales, at the point of sale. Scan everything you sell. This is easy to do, for anything.
  • Track all returns at the point of return. Anything you send back to a supplier, scan it out first. The same is true for any products you write off.
  • Spot stocktake parts of the business to get a read on theft.

These straightforward things done in a retail business with consistency and accuracy will provide the business with a stock listing, what you’d usually get from a stocktake, that is accurate for your financials and accurate for your taxation return purposes.

By having a tight and consistent approach to stock management at all appropriate gate points in the business and doing this work daily on stock movements, you negate the need for end of financial year work. This saves time, labour cost and results, actually, in more accurate business data.

Stocktakers, of course, will criticise this as this post makes the point that they are not necessary. the thing is, their manual processes, have been found to be inaccurate and, often, inappropriate. Stocktakers make their money from selling you their services. What we are saying is that with good business management practices you don’t need a stocktaker, you don’t need that cost.

For those who do want to do a stocktake, we make stocktake easy. We have a stocktake process in our POS software that could save you time and help you know what you need to know today.

While doing a stocktake of the whole business is the traditional way, if you break it up and do sections of the shop when it suits, you could, through a rolling stocktake process, have more accurate data with a lower labour cost for the counting of stock.

The Tower Systems POS software lets you do part of the shop if you wish. That could be a shelf, an aisle, a section of the shop or even a single item. Of course, you can do a stocktake for the whole store too.

By doing a stocktake of a section or segment of the business, you can concentrate on high moving items, items more likely to be stolen or for some other reason. You can also schedule these sectional / spot stocktakes in a way that suits your labour availability. Finding half an hour to do a section in a daily roster could save the business money compared to bring people in especially to stocktake.

Having worked with 3,500+ local retail businesses for many years and participated in many stocktakes across a variety of product categories, our advice is that the rolling stocktake approach is usually more time efficient and financially beneficial to a business. This approach does provide you an earlier indication of possible theft challenges.

Good POS software gives you stocktake flexibility and this helps you drive value for your business.

Now, some quick fire stocktake questions, which we answer from the perspective of the Tower Systems software.

  • Can my shop be open while I stocktake? Yes.
  • Can I stop and start the stocktake? Yes.
  • Can I use multiple terminals to stocktake? Yes.
  • Can I use a hand help PDE or PDA? Yes, many brands are supported.
  • Can I use a laptop? Yes.
  • How long will it take? It all depends on your products, store layout and staff training. Time improves as they go usually.
  • How often should I do a stocktake? Once a year for the whole business or weekly in manageable time bites if doing the rolling approach.
  • Will you train us? Yes, we have excellent self-serve and one-on-one training resources and options.

If you are thinking about an end of year stocktake, consider changes you could implement in your business that render this usual end of financial year activity worthless.

AI generated content can show why a business is not worth doing business with

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Plenty of AI generated content online is junk put there to try and drive the position of a website. Often, it offers little genuine value. It’s text written for the tech bots, and not for humans.

You can see it on plenty of company blogs: boring content with the same bubbly emotions, similar lists and the ever present use of bold text.

There is a sameness to AI generated content that shows it for what it is – filler put there as a marketing exercise.

Here at Tower Systems we serve local small business retailers, independent retailers. Their point of difference is their product knowledge, their local knowledge and their ability to share this. An AI engine is unlikely to capture the knowledge of those in the business and share it in a meaningful way.

Our advice to our customers is: the more you share your knowledge in ways that are genuinely useful to your customers the more they will trust you, the more your business will grow. Retail is human at its core. AI content is unlikely to add value to the human contact. While it will save time, it is unlikely to add appreciated value.

We get that local small business retailers are time-poor and looking for ways to do more in less time, using AI to generate content about your business and what you do is not the saving you think it might be for your AI generated content joins data centres full of AI generated content. It’s value is limited.

We think a local small business could get more value from one authentic and genuinely useful blog post than ten AI generated blog posts on the same topic for in that one human-generated blog post you can share genuinely new information or insights that add real value to what is know about the product or service of which you write.

AI cannot replace you, it cannot replace your innovation. This is your point of difference, it is what you need to share so people see the value of you and your business. It’s what helps you stand out.

With the advent of more tools available for identifying AI generated text and image content, it is easier to rank content, to determine the authority of it. AI generated fodder will be seen for what it is, and we think this is a good thing. By all means use AI tools as a springboard or to treat a thought drought. For the content you publish in your name or the name of your business, give of yourself for that is what matters the most.

We sometimes play a game here at Tower Systems: spot the AI junk. It’s fun for a while and then it makes us sad that businesses feel it’s okay to publish what they publish, thinking that something is better than nothing, except that it’s not.

Our difference is us, each of us here in this business. We interact with our customers authentically, one-on-one. What we publish here reflects that. Retail is human after all.

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