The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Latest stories

$0 transaction fee POS software

October 6, 2023
2 Min read
$

Savvy retailers are price comparing POS software and gaining a better understanding of the cost of ownership of the software as the cost of ownership includes monthly rental cost as well as fees imposed on transactions and costs associated with any required payments platform.

Here at Tower Systems you can choose the payments platform you prefer, for no cost.

Our POS software connects with Tyro, Linkly, Linkly Cloud, MX51, CentrePay, SmartPay, Quest and others. These are integrations, saving time, cutting mistakes and offering seamless engagement.

There is no payments charge when you use our POS software. Tower Systems has a $0.00 transaction fee cost.

There is no payments platform requirement when you use our POS software.

This is why the total cost of ownership of the Tower Systems POS software is less than plenty of comparable products.

If you are looking for POS software for your business, do your homework, check out pricing, all the pricing, compare and decide what is functionally and financially right for your business.

When you compare our POS software to others, ask the question about payments fee or transaction fee or any percentage surcharge on transactions.

We think software companies should make money from software and not from each transaction a retailer makes in their business.

We also think that transaction fees and payment fees are like a tax, an awful tax, and impost on your business for making sales. It’s why we have taken the approach we have and why we are so transparent about it.

We don’t have the marketing funds to match the POS software companies that do charge a transaction fee. We rely on word of mount and other grass roots marketing. we’re doing okay, too, for which we are sincerely grateful.

Now, to be very clear, Tower Systems does not charge any fee whatsoever for transactions or payments. Nothing fee for debit cards. No fee for credit cards. Tower Systems has no fee whatsoever for any form of payments put through its POS software.

Ultimately, the best POS software for your business will depend on your specific needs and budget. Be sure to compare the features and pricing of different POS systems before making a decision.

Read onRead later

Aussie news outlets publish nonsense about work from home

October 5, 2023
2 Min read
A

There is so much nonsense in the media at the moment about work from home and the push to get back to the office 5 days a week. Just today there was a story reporting that CEOs claim work from home will be history in 2 years. We think (hope) they are wrong.

Here at Tower Systems, we are grateful for a terrific team creating and supporting our software for local retailers. They are welcome to work where it suits them. We trust them. Always have. More than two thirds of our team have worked from home since March 2020 and there is no pressure on them to return to the office.

We think the media stories about people getting back to the office are likely from landlords who want to fill offices and businesses that rely on office workers for food, clothing and other sales. These sales are still occurring, but closer to home, for which local retailers are grateful.

We have work colleagues who have 15+ hours a week for personal and family time that they did not have prior to opening up to working from home. That’s 720 bonus family time hours in a working year. The value of that for individuals and families is extraordinary.

The whole community benefits from this. This is even more true in regional communities.

Read onRead later

Is Arielle Executive right when it promotes 7 Best POS Systems In Australia For 2023?

October 2, 2023
3 Min read
I

Arielle Executive claims to list 7 Best POS Systems In Australia For 2023.

We think what they actually promote is software companies that pay them to be on the list. We think theirs is an ad platform.

Why do we say this? Because they’ve not assessed our software. Okay, we’re a small company. But we do have 3,500+ local Aussie business customers.

We think that if you are going to pay Google to rank well for listing the best POS systems in Australia you should have at the very lease actually looked at POS systems made for retailers in Australia. Like, you should have done the work to enable you to make the claim.

Oh, and by looking at POS systems we mean looking at the actual software, comparing functions, getting into the total cost of ownership and understanding each product before making an assessment leading to the claim you promote.

We are suspicious about comparison websites like that offered by Arielle Executive because in our experience they are ad platforms you pay to list your product to be considered ‘best’, when really the ranking comes down to an amount of money you spend.

Arielle Executive is a commercial business that offers a range of services. None of the services listed at the Arielle Executive claim expertise in assessing the best software of any kind.

We get that Arielle Executive is running a business and has to make money. We wish they were clearer about what they were doing with the ads they are running on Google claiming to list the 7 Best POS Systems In Australia For 2023. And while they products they list are well known and loved by many, whether they are the best comes down to much more than whether they have paid money to be on the marketing list promoted by by Arielle Executive.

Here at Tower Systems we are a transparent company, clear in what we offer. People considering us can see demonstrations of our software on our website and on our Google channel. We’re not pushy either. Folks who enquire about our software are respected. We are keen to understand their needs. If we think we are good fit we will say so, and show how.

If you are considering POS software for your business, take your time, do your homework, trust what you discover and not a marketing lost others have paid to be on.

Read onRead later

Retail business advice: leverage smart loyalty in your POS software to differentiate your local shop

September 28, 2023
2 Min read
R

There are loyalty offers from big retailers that are supported with expensive attractive marketing and then there are loyalty offers from local businesses that deliver real value, appreciated value.

While the big business loyalty program gets media attention, it is usually the local business loyalty program that delivers what customers love most.

With many retail businesses running points based loyalty programs, differentiating is key for businesses that want to stand out. This is why our Tower Systems discount voucher loyalty program is loved by plenty of our POS software customers.

Oh, and you can actually call it whatever you like. We have customers who call these receipt-based vouchers Our Thank You Gift or Bonus Bucks or Customer Reward..

Discount vouchers genuinely differentiate your business.

  • You name the voucher anything you like and can change this at any time.
  • You set the rules on how the value of the voucher is calculated.
  • You set the rules on what the voucher can be redeemed for.
  • You set the rules on expiry dates.

Male shoppers are more likely to spend the voucher immediately and many customers use the voucher to purchase items more expensive than the items in the initial purchase made. Customers see the voucher as cash, often commenting that they like the direct approach better than a points-based system. They like the transparency and simplicity.

In our own retail experience, shoppers tell us they prefer discount vouchers, they like how easily they are understood, they like the saving.

To us, shopper loyalty programs should reward loyalty with a genuine reward, and they should do this in a way that nurtures more engagement with the business.

The relationship between shopper, business and loyalty program is circular, mutually beneficial, appreciated and valuable. This is how our program works.

Now, for retailers who like to copy big business with a traditional points based program, we offer that. It’s easy to setup and run. You control how points are accrued and redeemed. We have this in the software because we do not want to restrict what our retailers can offer in terms of loyalty.

We are grateful to serve thousands of retailers with loyalty offerings that help local retailers thrive.

Read onRead later

Chat helps retailers get quick and easy access to POS software help desk queries

September 27, 2023
1 Min read
C

While we love talking with our POS software customers and take hundreds of calls for advice, training and support every day, plenty of our customers are loving the enhanced self-serve facilities through our website where many day-to-day queries are answered instantly, without the need to call or email.

The advanced tech behind this innovating is delivering terrific POS software support content to our customers, helping them to get more from our software instantly, when they need it.

Customers using this self-serve access to help desk advice free our people to handle more complex queries on how yo use our POS software.

Our help desk team members don’t follow a script. Each call is a conversation, free flowing, in pursuit of valuable and appreciate answers for our POS software customers.

Read onRead later

Helping retailers quickly and easily load product images to their online store

September 26, 2023
1 Min read
H

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, magenta, Woo and Big Commerce websites is being loved by our customers.

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 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 plan ty 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.

Read onRead later

Epos Now compared to Tower Systems POS software for small business retailers

September 21, 2023
1 Min read
E

Epos Now is a UK based software company that has a track record of spending big on Google to come up in search results when local small business retailers are looking for software.

We are grateful to have welcomed Epos Now customers over to our Tower Systems POS software platform.

We’re different to Epos Now. We encourage retailers to compare – but before do that, be sure of what matters most to you.

Here’s a video a couple of our team members made talking about Epos Now and Tower Systems.

If you’re happy using Epos Now, we encourage you to continue to do so. This post and the video are for local small business retailers looking for an alternative.

Read onRead later

What is the best POS system for small retail business?

September 19, 2023
3 Min read
W

It’s an interesting question, What is the best POS system for small retail business?, one plenty of local small business retailers ask.

We are Tower Systems We only make POS software for small business retail. We are not chasing big business. We are not chasing franchises with hundreds of shops.

Our focus is on local small business retail, local shops, specialty shops, small business shops.

So when you ask, What is the best POS system for small retail business?, we think a good response has to be – software from a company that makes software for small retail businesses, software from a company that only makes software for small retail businesses.

This is important because if you are a small retail business and you go with software from a company that serves plenty of big chains and big groups, your small business could get lost in the mix, not listened to, forgotten. While their marketing will likely pitch that your business will matter and that you will get personal service, one way big, massive, software companies serve their customers is through offshore services centres and automation.

Retail is personal, local retail especially.

Here at Tower Systems we provide personal service. You see this reflected in our POS software and in the support services to local retailers we provide for our POS software.

Each POS software update includes enhancements suggested directly by our customers. We discuss these with them, and let them know when and how they are proceeding. This direct contact between our software development team and our customers is unique as is the direct, easy and personal contact between our POS software customers and our help desk team – all of whom work for us and are local in Australia and New Zealand.

Okay, well, all of what we have shared so far here is about choosing the best POS software company for a small retail business. In terms of the software itself, it’s easy …

Be sure of what you need and what you want, and know the why s to each of these.

When looking at software, ask them to show you, using their software, how each of your needs is met. Don’t just take their word.

If they say sign up and test it for yourself rather than taking the time to understand your needs and wants and showing you this reflects on the personal service they will, or will not provide.

The best POS system for a local small retail business is the one that serves the needs of the retail at a price that works for the retail business.

Take your time, do your research. Get everything in writing.

This is a long-term decision, one worth taking time over.

Read onRead later

Advice for small business retailers on dealing with increasing retail theft

September 18, 2023
3 Min read
A

We know from the news that retail theft has increased. Shoplifting, stealing, retail theft, call it what o=you like, has a financial cost as well as an emotional cost. It can debilitate business owners, managers and team members, multiplying the total cost to the business.

Employee theft is easier to uncover, track and address than shopper theft.

Good POS software will offer proven tools for indicating potential employee theft and do this in a way that empowers business owners to act before the cost to the business is out of control.

The challenge is that many small business retail owners and managers do not use theft discovery and mitigation tools in POS software. We know because our Tower Systems POS software is well resourced in theft detection and mitigation and too often in talking with customers it is discovered later rather than earlier.

Our advice for retailers on employee theft is to use your software, check regularly, act on the indicators to see if there is something concerning there. In our case here at Tower systems – call or email – one of our senior theft mitigation specialists will help. These are people who have worked with the police and insurance companies on such situations. They will Bring that experience to the table for you.

Shopper theft, shoplifting, stealing of products is best discovered by a regular process of what we call spot stock takes. Choose several high interest product categories and every week check stock on hand. This will indicate if there is an issue. If there is not, choose another.

Having a consistent approach to spot stock takes if key to the discovery point of shoplifting.

The best deterrent is your action. Here is our advice to be known as a shop not worth stealing from:

  1. Greet people when they enter the shop. Them seeing you see them, eye to eye, will deter some people planning to steal.
  2. Have systems to collect evidence: CCTV and, when appropriate, matching POS software data.
  3. Always report people caught to the police.
  4. Write about reporting it to the police on social media.
  5. If you have camera evidence of theft but no knowledge of the name, use the photo to try and figure out the identity.

If the problem in your shop is serious and at a point where it is distressing you, consider bringing in a uniformed security guard for a week or two. While there is a cost with that, it makes a physical statement about your approach to the security of your space.

Complaining about theft is not action.

Catching someone and getting your goods back is inadequate action.

Not acting on a hunch because of a fear for what you might discover is not action.

Theft requires action. Typically in local small business retail it is costing the business somewhere between 3% and 5% of turnover. In our experience, retailers trend to not act because they are not sure where to start.

Here at Tower Systems we offer guidance to retail business owners on what to do, actions to take, processes to establish to at least get a handle on what might be happening. That is the best place to start if the business has not been acting consistently up to that point.

Read onRead later

Australian-made POS software for small business specialty retailers

September 15, 2023
3 Min read
A

Here at Tower Systems, we develop point of sale (POS) software specifically for small business retailers in a range of niche retail channels. We develop what we sell and support, so you can be sure that our software is designed to meet the specific needs of your business.

Our POS software is called Retailer, and while it’s been around for many years, what we offer today is technically and visually fresh, up to date, and ever-evolving.

We’ve built it with the input of many hundreds of retailers and today it’s used by thousands of retailers, so we know it’s genuinely useful in a variety of retail situations.

Retailer is used by specialty retailers like jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, pet shops, produce businesses, farm supply businesses, firearms dealers, newsagents, adult shops, gift shops, homewares shops, and more.

We release software updates to Retailer several times every year, based on customer feedback. We love this democratic approach, and it’s helped us to make Retailer the best it can be.

The POS software we sell and support today is very different to that with which we started. It’s fresh visually, technically, and functionally. We’re proud to bring this to local retailers in Australia and New Zealand.

In addition to our POS software, we also offer a range of integrations that can help your business operate more efficiently and successfully. These include integrations with Xero, Shopify, Magento, Big Commerce, scales and more.

We also offer a range of back-office tools that can help you run your business well, including repairs software and manufactured goods software. Our repairs software is a great option for jewellers, bike shops, and any business that offers in-house or external repairs to customers.

We’re a proud team of software professionals who are passionate about helping small business retailers succeed. We’re grateful to our customers for their business and for their recommendations. Their guidance and support has been invaluable to us as we’ve grown the business and helped more retailers run successful businesses.

That’s what our POS software is all about: helping local independent small business retailers run efficient businesses they enjoy. We love seeing that, and we’re here to help you make it happen.

So if you’re a small business retailer looking for a POS software that’s designed to meet your specific needs, then contact us today. We’d be happy to show you how Retailer can help you run a retail business you enjoy more.

Read onRead later

Cash beats points when it comes to loyalty marketing in local retail

September 14, 2023
2 Min read
C

Loyalty points are hard to quantify. But cash, we all understand.

Think about it. When did you look at the loyalty points in a retailer or airline program and try and figure out how much they are worth. Confusion suits them. We think it dilutes the value significantly.

A customer recently spent $87.97 at a shop in suburban Melbourne. They were an infrequent shopper there, but they were given a $4.40 voucher on their receipt.

The customer looked at the voucher and then back into the shop. A few minutes later, they spent an additional $165.00 on products. They said they might as well get these things here and save money.

The customer lives an hour from the shop and was only shopping locally because they were visiting a friend. But the $4.40 voucher was enough to encourage them to spend more.

The Tower Systems POS software offers integrated loyalty marketing, including points-based and cash-back rewards. The cash-back rewards are popular with retailers because they are easy to implement and track.

Differentiating your loyalty program can encourage shoppers to spend more and come back more often. The Tower Systems loyalty platform also offers a way for retailers to engage with local community groups and raise funds.

We believe that cash-back rewards are a better way to build loyalty than points-based rewards. This approach is a differentiator for local indie retail businesses.

Too often, small businesses think that copying what big retailers do is the smart way to go. But it’s not. Big retailers have the resources to offer complex loyalty programs with lots of bells and whistles. But small businesses can’t afford to do that.

The Tower Systems loyalty platform is a simple and effective way for small businesses to build loyalty. It’s used by retailers in Australia and New Zealand, and it’s helped them to drive basket depth and bring shoppers back sooner.

This loyalty program is easy to setup, and to fine tune based on experience. With no overhead and no external people to deal with, it’s so easy for local retailers to leverage local opportunities and Leeds in how they execute their loyalty offer.

If you’re a small business owner, we encourage you to check out the Tower Systems loyalty platform. It’s a great way to differentiate your business and build customer loyalty.

Read onRead later

Alternative for Vend and Lightspeed POS software customers concerned about Lightspeed payments

September 13, 2023
3 Min read
A

More retailers using Vend POS and Lightspeed POS have told us of concerns at being told by Lightspeed to switch to the Lightspeed Payments platform or face what reads like a penalty charge from the company for continuing with a current, non-Lightspeed, payments solution.

As recent Lightspeed earnings reports have revealed, growing Lightspeed Payments revenue has become a key commercial activity for the Lightspeed business. This pitches them as like a road a tolling business, making a clip from each transaction processed by retailers using their Lightspeed POS software or their Vend POS software.

It’s like they see revenue from a clip of retail sales in the shops of their customers is more important to them than the revenue they get from the actual rental of their software.

Here at Tower Systems, our view is that as a software company it is important that we make most of our money from our software, and not off the back of hard work by retailers using our software. Making money off our software itself keeps us focussed on the evolution of the software, it keeps the software at the core of what we do.

The more businesses using our software, the more money we make, the more money we have available to invest in enhancing the software.

If you think about the Lightspeed model, they make more money when your transaction volume increases. Does this mean bigger businesses, with higher turnover, are more important to them as a company? We don’t know.

What we do know is that here at Tower Systems every single customer is valued and treated the same because we are not tracking sales volume.

We don’t care what EFTPOS or payments platform you use. Our POS software integrates seamlessly with all major Australian banks, so you can process payments quickly and easily without any extra keying or keystrokes.

We also don’t charge any penalties or fees based on your payments platform choice. We believe that retailers should be free to choose the best payments platform for their business, without being penalized for doing so.

Unlike Lightspeed, Tower Systems offers a flexible, no-contract rental plan. You can rent our software for as long or as short as you need, with no lock-in period.

We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible support. Our team of experts is available 24/7 to help you with any questions or problems you may have.

If you are a Lightspeed POS or vend POS customer and are looking for an alternative to Lightspeed Payments, consider Tower Systems. We would be happy to discuss your needs and see how we can help you.

There’s more to us:

  • Comprehensive reporting tools to track your sales and inventory
  • Customisable features to fit your specific needs
  • Robust security measures to protect your data
  • 24/7 customer support

If you’re a Vend POS or Lightspeed POS customer and happy with their products and service, terrific, please stay with them. What matters most is that you are using software you love from a company that appreciates you.

Read onRead later
The POS Software Blog

Categories

Categories

Categories

Recent Comments

Monthly Archives