The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Latest stories

Seven valuable reasons small business retailers should not wait for the end of the financial year to do a stock take

January 3, 2017
2 Min read
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Gone are the days when retailers needed to do an annual stock take. Now, with smart technology, there are valuable reasons for not waiting, for undertaking custom and spot stock takes throughout the year. Here are out top seven reasons retailers should not wait to do an annual stock take.

  1. You discover theft sooner. In many retail businesses, shopper theft is isolated to a product category and / or specific location. Target this and get hard data to guide your actions.
  2. Better manage the labor cost. Using downtime in quiet shifts is more cost effective than bringing in a team for a stock take.
  3. More accurately order. Order based on accurate on hand data.
  4. Achieve a valuable connection with your online store. Your online store needs accurate on hand data. Spot and custom stock takes are vital for achieving this.
  5. Have more accurate financials. Account for shrinkage as the year goes rather than in end of year financials.
  6. Educate staff. Knowing what is being stolen or damaged on the shop floor from spot or custom stock takes in sections of the shop can help you better inform staff.
  7. Sell more. the more work staff do on the shop floor the more they will sell.

There are many other reasons stock takes in bite-size chunks through the year are better for independent small business retail outlets. This list is our top seven based on years of work with thousands of retailers.

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How our POS software company helps small business retailers reduce the risk of ransomware

January 2, 2017
2 Min read
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Here at Tower Systems we help small business retailers with everyday computer use advice. We have recently mailed to all of our customers this COMPUTE USE POLICY that will, if followed, reduce the opportunity for the user business to be impacted by a ransomware attack.

This advice was emailed and mailed to our customers as a service. We share it here for the broader community of small business retailers who stop by this place.

COMPUTER USE POLICY

  1. The computers in this business are business tools. Their security is vital to the safe running of the business.
  2. Do not use any computer for any form of personal use without permission. This means:
    1. No playing games.
    2. No looking at porn.
    3. No Facebook.
    4. No downloading movies, TV shows, music.
    5. No browsing websites unless they are websites used regularly by this business for running the business.
    6. No connecting your phone to the computer.
  3. Do not open emails including business emails unless you have permission.
  4. Do not click on any link in any email unless you are 100% certain the email is from a trusted source.
  5. Do not clear the browser cache.
  6. Never put a USB stick in a computer unless you are certain of the source.
  7. Never permit anyone to use a computer in the business unless you have permission.
  8. Never give anyone a computer password from the business.
  9. If someone you don’t know calls and tells you to do something with the computer, make sure they have authority.
  10. Never write down any business password you are entrusted with.
  11. Never connect a USB stick with the computer unless you have permission.
  12. If you do something wrong own up to it immediately.
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A busy yet quiet week in retail

December 30, 2016
1 Min read
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Plenty of small business shops are closed this week which makes for a quieter week on the help desk. We have been taking the opportunity to attend to some housekeeping here in the office. It is always good to have time to work on your own infrastructure. This is especially exciting given the plans for 2017. We are excited and 2017 is still a couple of days away.

Today we close at 5pm. Based on past years the help desk traffic will be minimal by this time.

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Tower Systems helps bike shop owners leverage their workshop services

December 28, 2016
1 Min read
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The workshop is often the most important part of any bike retail business as it is where their people can make a real difference to the experience of the cyclist.

Thanks to smart management tools in our bike shop software, our retail partners can provide a more complete workshop experience.

from the management of time and parts used through to professional communication with customers, the Tower System bike shop software helps bike retailers leverage their workshop services to provide professional, local and personal service … and to do this with efficiency, accuracy and timeliness.

We are proud to help independent bike retailers win in the customer service experience stakes through their workshop service.

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POS software support over the holidays

December 27, 2016
1 Min read
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Even though Christmas holidays are in full swing, the Tower systems customer service team is on deck and helping retailers.

One retailer about to sell their business needed help yesterday to finalise data prior to the settlement with the new owner in less than a week and we were able to help. In this case the help was in the form of business advice more so that POS software specific advice.

We are grateful for the opportunity to help our retail business owner customers beyond the software. It is what we are here for. As a POS software company with practical retail experience, our help often goes way beyond what people expect from a POS software company.

As our motto says: we’re here to help.

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All ready for Boxing Day sales in small business retail

December 26, 2016
1 Min read
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BoxingDaySaleA4In keeping with tradition and our help for small business retailers beyond the POS software w develop and support, we are posting here artwork for A4 and A4 Boxing Day sale posters for anyone to use.

Click here for the A4 PDF.

Click here for the A3 PDF.

Boxing day is massive in some states. It can be as valuable as the two weeks before Christmas.

We are thrilled to help small business retailers attract new shoppers through marketing like this.

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In retail today

December 24, 2016
1 Min read
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IMG_2339Being Christmas Eve it has been crazy busy in the shops today with last minute shopping.

Since we are a POS software company that owns retail shops we have been personally and practically involved in retail today, behind the counter, using our software serving shoppers with last-minute Christmas purchases. This photo is from our shop at Knox City in Melbourne today before we opened for customers. Thankfully it is the only time of the day the shop was empty.

We are grateful for another busy day in retail and another day of retail experience that inform some choices we make in our software.

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Strong retail sales this Christmas

December 24, 2016
1 Min read
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Thanks to our cloud based small business retail BI platform we get to see comparative sales data for a range of independent retail businesses.

Christmas 2016 has been strong from what we see. Good businesses marketing themselves well outside their four walls are seeing good year on year growth.

The BI platform we have developed helps our customers track key performance indicators remotely and easily. This is a wonderful benefit to help these retailers see trends, represented visually.

We are thrilled to be helping retailers achieve this.

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The POS software help desk is winding down for Christmas

December 23, 2016
1 Min read
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As is always the way with the last office day prior to Christmas, help desk calls have stopped as retailers focus on selling.

We are calling it a day and switching all support coverage from now until December 28 at 7am to our after hours numbers. Here are our contact points. This is a copy of the card, which we sent to all customers last month by mail and by email:

SupportCardOct16

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Tower Systems helps retailers cut the time of a stock take

December 23, 2016
1 Min read
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Stock takes in retail can be a chore, especially if you do them the old school way. Thanks to smart technology in the Tower Systems POS software our retail partners are able to get stock takes done faster.

The new approach leverages facilities unique to the Tower software. The approach is ideal for a business with stock take needs that vary based on product types, categories, suppliers and other groupings.

The custom stock take facility in the Tower Systems software is simple and elegant. Retail employees love it for its ease of use and that it delivers the outcome in much less time than the way too many other POS software programs go abut the stock take process.

This is another Tower AdvantageTM another time saving and benefit for the small business which which we partner.

Thanks to online and other trade stock takes are needed far more regularly than ever before. This is where the tower Systems approach really shines.

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Making a difference to small business retailers this week before Christmas

December 22, 2016
1 Min read
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Fast access to POS software support is key this week. Retailers are busy. retail employees are under the pump. Every question to any POS software company help desk this week is urgent. This is why we are all hands on deck, making sure every query is treated with priority and resolved quickly.

From the first calls early in the morning to the last calls late at night, our help desk team is here helping small business retailers have a more enjoyable Christmas trading period. This is part of our customer Christmas gift.

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Small business newsagents loving cloud based school booklist software

December 21, 2016
1 Min read
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The cloud-based school booklist management solution from Tower Systems has helped small business newsagents win more school booklist business this year.

Developed with schools as well as local newsagents, the software we launched this year has been built from the ground up, in Australia, for Australian conditions.

We have created a completely self-serve facility that enables schools and newsagents to work together to create a time efficient solution to managing school booklist orders. This helps parents, schools and families. This is important with many booklist requirements being managed this side of Christmas, in what is usually a busy time for everyone involved.

The booklist software is another example of web development leadership by Tower Systems. This is us delivering extensions to our everyday product, through which we facilitate benefits for our customers that help them drive more income from local community relationships.

We love the booklist website. It has been a wonderful time saver for us in what is such a busy season for us. Thank you Tower Systems!

Time saving and empowerment are key to the success here. The software works on both front to deliver a beautiful solution.

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POS software Xero link helps retailers cut mistakes and save time

December 20, 2016
1 Min read
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Paperwork is the bane of small business since it is the business owners who most often have to do the paperwork.

Tower Systems helps small business retailers make paperwork a thing of the past.

Our seamless POS software / Xero link frees your time.

It also cuts mistakes.

And helps you see more clearly.

Tower Systems and Xero … helping small business retailers.

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Managing the POS software help desk in this busy week before Christmas

December 19, 2016
1 Min read
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The types of calls our POS software help desk receives in the week before Christmas changes. This week, calls will all be about quick resolution, the calls will be about the now rather than with an eye to the future.

Retail businesses will be busier this week than any other week of the year in most situations.

To serve the needs that we know will be unique to this week we have our help desk team focussed and our processes tuned to serve our customers, to provide the best possible outcome as quickly as possible.

We understand time is especially short this week. We have structured our approach to ensure we meet the expectations of our customers.

We have a fully staffed help desk. We back them with our escalation team and senior management.

We want this week before Christmas to be happy and valuable for everyone!

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Small business retail marketing advice: protect your business data against disaster

December 18, 2016
1 Min read
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Data is as valuable as cash to any retail business yet many do not treat data with respect. Our advice to small business retailers is to get real about data, to get serious about protecting this important asses.

In terms of protecting your business data against disaster, here is our most important advice:

  1. Backup your business data every day, at the end of the day, without fail.
    1. Better still: use a cloud based backup service that undertakes the backup as the day unfolds without you having to every do anything to backup.
  2. Maintain a separate backup for each day of the week.
  3. Remove the backup from the business property.
  4. Store the backup in a safe, dry place.
  5. Check the usefulness of the backup by restoring and checking the data.
  6. Store original business software in a safe off-site location.
  7. Check the backup every three to six months – to make sure the backup is actually backing us current data and can be read. A backup you cannot read is a waste of time and money.
  8. Change your passwords regularly.
  9. Use hard to crack passwords.
  10. Do not share passwords widely.
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Extraordinary results for Tower Systems small business retailer e-commerce sites

December 16, 2016
1 Min read
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Retailers are thrilled with the results of several Tower Systems created, hosted and managed e-commerce sites in the rush to Christmas.

Delivering extraordinary sales, the sites are helping small business retailers find new customers.

The thrill is heightened in regional and rural situations where retailers are able to win sales that are substantially more valuable than they ever see in their out of the way situation.

Call from retailers winning this unexpected windfall business is a wonderful experience for us. We love to hear the stories about the several hundred dollar sale completed online and shipped to a happy customer across the other side of the country.

Tower Systems created a series of sites and managed the marketing of the sites to make them highly sought after, compelling and enjoyable for shopper experiences. This is a 100% in-house project for our retail partners.

We are proud of the technology and even more proud of the commercial outcome we have facilitated for our customers.

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Planning for POS software training for 2017

December 15, 2016
1 Min read
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Tower Systems is planning its free weekly live POS software training schedule for 2017. This process includes considering the engagement for 2016, talking with customers about training they would like to see and planning sessions on topics we anticipate will be hot to serve the changing needs of retail.

Training is more important that ever as small business retailers seek to get more value from their technology investments.

We are grateful to all of our customers who have engaged in the free training this year. The 100+ sessions we have run have been a wonderful opportunity for direct customer contact and through which we can add value to the customer relationship.

Our training program is a point of difference for us. But more important, it is a point of difference for our customers since it helps our customers to leverage the training for delivering better outcomes in their own businesses.

Every one of our customers has access to the training. Better still, every one of our customers can guide the development of the training topics – ensuring we serve broad needs and not just those we think are important.

Our fist workshop topics will be announced prior to Christmas.

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