The POS Software Blog

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

Latest stories

SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS MANAGEMENT ADVICE: CHOOSE MUSIC THOUGHTFULLY

April 17, 2016

2 Min read

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Is the music you play in your retail store right for the retail store? While major chains broadcast in-store radio with ads for what they sell, you can create an oasis in your business that suits your customers and the retail space you create for them.

Rather than turning on commercial radio or playing CDs, our suggestion is to sign up for a premium service like Pandora, ideally the ad-free version. Pandora [provides an excellent selection of stations, allowing you to set the mood based on the season or other aspects of what is going on in your business at the time.

Using a service like Pandora brings flexibility to the business, it ensures change and helps provide an environment that is more enjoyable and flexible.

No music is not good. Commercial radio may be okay in some situations but the ads promote outside your business. CDs need changing and you need a vast library to have a different sound. Pandora, or a similar service, is ideal for i-store small business retail use. This is what we see in plenty of retail businesses now.

There is a free version of Pandora, and other services, that you can try before you spend any money on ad-free facilities.

The sound of your business can help drive excellent sales for little or no cost.

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POS SOFTWARE KNOWLEDGE BASE MAKES ACCESSING HELP EASY

April 16, 2016

1 Min read

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The ever-evolving knowledge based helping users of the Tower Systems POS software is easily accessible, using natural English searches.

While the Tower Systems team enhanced knowledge base content, users themselves can provide feedback within knowledge base articles, adding value to the information seeking experience. It is accessible 24/7. It is also referred to in help desk calls as part of the training process and to provide customers with step by step advice on how to do something – if that is appropriate to a specific call.

Knowledge base resources include videos as well as text based articles. Indeed, there are more than 100 knowledge base accessible videos.

The knowledge base approach by Tower Systems is a good example of the open and interactive approach taken by the company to serving its small business retailer customers.

Here is one example one knowledge base article of several on the end of shift process accessible through the Tower Systems POS software knowledge base.

The Tower Systems knowledge base can be accessed from any internet connected device including desktop computers, tablets and smartphones. Yes, it is iPhone ready.

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THE TOWER SYSTEMS AUSTRALIAN POS SOFTWARE COMPANY BY THE NUMBERS

April 15, 2016

1 Min read

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EXTRA POS SOFTWARE TRAINING SESSIONS DUE TO DEMAND

April 14, 2016

1 Min read

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Tower Systems is thrilled to announce the addition of the following training sessions due to demand for the original sessions:

Meeting Name: How to handle non EDI invoices to keep stock accurate. Date: Thursday 12^th of May Time: 2pm Description: See how easy it is to process invoice’s manually for suppliers that do not send electronic invoices to help keep your stock figures accurate.
Meeting Name: Getting Ready for EOFY Date: Tuesday 17^th of May Time: 2pm Description: Get ready for End of Financial Year now. What you need to do and the reports you need to run.
Meeting Name: Retailer software settings you will be shocked you have access to. Date: Thursday 19^th of May Time: 2pm Description: Help desk expert Colin Harris will show you settings you most likely don’t know exist that can help your enjoyment of the software
Meeting Name: Stocktaking for EOFY Date: Thursday 26^th of May Time: 2pm Description: Doing a stocktake in retailer and what option works best for you.

We are grateful to our customers for embracing our free training program. We know those attending training make better users of the software and better retailers.

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LOCALLY DEVELOPED POS SOFTWARE FOR AUSTRALIAN LOCAL RETAIL BUSINESSES

April 14, 2016

1 Min read

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As overseas online businesses compete with local retailers for sales of almost anything, so too do overseas based POS software companies compete with Australian software companies.

Here at Tower Systems, we understand local. We understand our local retail business customers. we understand their shoppers. We understand what being local is all about and why it matters to our customers and the communities in which they serve.

This is what being local is really about, it is about being knowledgable of and engaged with your local community.

Through our POS software and through our customer service we live and breathe the local message. Our actions speak for us through locally focussed software changes and how we serve and connect with our customers.

here is a short video explaining our local pitch. This video serves multiple purposes: it speaks to our in-house video production facilities, it has our owner speaking up for us and what we stand for, it shows our commitment to plain speaking anyone can understand and it speaks to our professionalism that you can trust.

This is the Tower Advantage, our Tower Advantage, offered to you.

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REAL POS SOFTWARE USER MEETINGS FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

April 13, 2016

1 Min read

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Here are more photos from our recent, in the last six weeks, regional and cap city POS software user meetings for small business retailers. We are thrilled to have met with many engaged and earner to learn retailers.

It is one thing to write you have hosted a user meeting and another entirely to show it was real. What Tower Systems has delivered over recent weeks is real: every state, cap cities and major regional centres. And there are more to come. Plus we have our weekly live online workshops for people who cannot get away from their shops.

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A MESSAGE FOR INDEPENDENT JEWELLERS FROM JEWELLER SOFTWARE COMPANY TOWER SYSTEMS

April 13, 2016

4 Min read

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You are an independent Jeweller.

In the same way that you need the right tools to craft the clearest diamond, the warmest gold and the sharpest ruby, so you need the right tools to grow your business. You need software that will help you make the most profitable, appropriate business decisions for your circumstances without violating your privacy. Your software should not make these decisions for you: it should help you make them yourself.

Our specialty software for jewellers is here to help you.

We’ve crafted our software in-house, line by line of code. Just like your jewellery pieces, our software is more than the sum of its parts. It is feature-rich and fast. It is endorsed by hundreds of jewellers across Australia. But what makes it special is the dedication surrounding it: the passion of the team behind it, the culture of Tower Systems.

We are small. We have been a vertical-market, specialty retail software developer for thirty-four years and we are proud of it. Being small means being real. We answer the phone when you call. We sell you software directly. We give you our honest opinion. Our software is steeped in this culture: personal service meeting the needs of independent jewellers like yours.

You know about jewellery. You don’t need a large software company looking through your business data without your permission. What you need is to be empowered. You need a company on the level with you, an Australian business immersed in the challenges of running an independent business. Tower Systems is that company.

We empower you through our software to sell more and sell better. We empower you to create cutting edge business intelligence reports from your data, when you want to. We provide features and functions to help you to perform valuations, manufacture goods, perform stocktakes, sales, catalogues, promotions, customer marketing, to link with a webstore, accounting or payment platform, to customise receipts, send anniversary reminders and more.

If our software could perform better for you, we’ve built a community where you can share your ideas and be part of the development process yourself. Straight up, openness. This has led to the development of an industry-leading loyalty facility and business analytics reports based on benchmarks most jewellers do not consider or have access to.

We do not hire sales people. Our state based account managers are ex-training & support staff. They are experts. Experts who have worked their way up through the ranks of Tower Systems. They fielded customer phone calls in the support room. They installed computer systems in jewellery stores across the country. They earned their detailed knowledge of the jewellery industry in the field, with hard work and experience. They are the only people who can sell you our software, because product knowledge beats sales technique any day.

When a customer buys a watch from you, they initiate a relationship with you. When you buy our specialty POS software, you join our family. We look after you with real support. Every morning our support team – across offices in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane – is ready for your phone calls and emails. When you call, they pick up the phone.

Tower Systems does not employ robots. We hire real people with diverse experiences. We don’t hire smart-arses: we save our jobs for communicators. Customer support is crucial to empowering your business. You need to know you can rely on your computer system – and if the power goes out or a staff member does something unexpected, you need to be certain we’re here for you. You need to be sure that the company who developed your POS software has your needs at heart.

We do. And we’re here to help.

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EASY ACCESS TO POS SOFTWARE DOCUMENTATION FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS

April 12, 2016

3 Min read

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When it comes to POS software, small business retailers want an easy life. This means hassle free, straightforward.

Key to achieving an easy life with POS software, besides the software itself being easy to use, is the ease with which parts of the software not often used can be learned and understood in the context of business operation.

Whereas in the past, a user manual was the key learning tool, today, the key learning tool is a good online, searchable and constantly evolving knowledge base, a knowledge base that keeps up to date with the software, evolving as the software evolves. A good knowledgeable includes how to text, step by step guides and instruction videos. It facilitates access to all these resources from anywhere including mobile, tablet and computer – at work, home and elsewhere.

This is what best practice user documentation looks like for smart POS software for small and independent retail businesses.

Whereas a printed manual is hard to update and not easily searched, evolving online searchable documentation is different, more useful and more valuable for engaged users who want to achieve more from their software.

Yes, the printed manual is so last century.

At Tower Systems we provide access to our documentation through a searchable knowledge base. This is setup in such as way so as to make searching easy for non technical people, so they can search based on plain English terms and find what they are looking for. The knowledge base is interactive too, allowing users to add comments and provide feedback. This makes it a customer driven resource and open to two-way communication.

Our experience is that small business retailers love the accessibility of the knowledge base and the documentation it contains. Better still, they love the ability to request enhanced coverage on this or that topic and then seeing us deliver this enhanced content.

Helping users enjoy easy use of our software is vital to their success and the commercial value of the software. So, to us, good documentation starts with easy to use software. Screen designs, data field descriptors, on-screen information and more combine to make using the software easy. The online documentation through the knowledge base makes it easy to, to learn more about the software.

Our approach to POS software user documentation is that the job is never done. Just as our software evolves so does the documentation supporting our software.

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HOW FARM AND OTHER PRODUCE STORES CAN USE THE TOWER PRODUCE SOFTWARE TO SAVE TIME & GROW SALES

April 11, 2016

3 Min read

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Produce stores including farm produce stores, stock feed businesses, equine supply businesses and other businesses supplying pet and produce supplies are embracing the Tower Systems Produce Software to get a better handle on many aspects of business management.

With so much work being undertaken away from the business base, using software that enables easy tracking while on the road is important, just as tracking requirements by customers for bulk through to single pack shipments.

Being able to bring product in by bulk and breaking this down to saleable and deliverable packs is important as produce stores sell to a variety of situations. The Tower software has proven usability in this area of handling multiple pack sizes and easily enabling service of this and other produce business specific requirements.

Better still, enabling a seamless link between the Tower Systems Produce Store Software and e-commerce platforms such as Magento and Shopify provides produce businesses with mechanisms for reaching a broader community of shoppers without the usual old-school business overhead. This is particularly useful for produce businesses serving customers who may live in the city and be on the farm on the weekend.

There is a certain type of shopper keen for transacting business online. Tower Systems makes it easy for those businesses to connect with the online shopper while at the same time providing tools for serving the needs of the offline shopper, the shopper who prefers personal service. This flexibility in entry points to the business through the software make doing business easy and help produce stores to win more sales from more types of shoppers.

Our work in the pet retail space with our Pet Shop Software has leveraged us into the produce store space and the result is good for both retail channels thanks to our approach to business specialisation.

Customer accounts, scale integration, hamper facilities, integrated EFTPOS and more enable produce business owners to offer state of the art tools in their businesses to improve customer service and business efficiency.

Produce businesses can rely on the Tower Systems software enhancement program to deliver more comprehensive tools as the needs of the marketplace evolve. Tower engages with customers in their businesses to ensure the software evolves to meet their evolving needs.

To see the latest Produce Business Software, talk with a local Tower Systems expert: Contact: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: HOW TO KEEP YOUR BUSINESS MORE SECURE

April 10, 2016

3 Min read

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Security is important in any business but especially in a small independent retail business. Here is a list of actions we recommend you consider to ensure your business is secure.

Know how many keys there are to your premises and who has them.
Keep a spare key in a safe place away from the business.
Keep a current data backup off site. Regularly check that you can restore the data from your backup and that the data is current.
Regularly check the use of your business software for the deletion or alternation of sales as this could indicate employee fraud.
Have current reputable virus protection on all your computers.
Have current reputable firewall installed on your network.
Never open a zip file sent by email.
Never open an email from a bank, the ATO or the police.
Change the most powerful / valuable password for your computer software monthly and share it sparingly. Passwords should be complex. Check the strength of your password here: https://howsecureismypassword.net
Be discrete when talking about the business and its performance.
Do not do the banking at the same time every day or every few days. Do not follow the same route. Do not carry the same bag.
Have a camera system installed to get a good shot of the faces of everyone entering and leaving the business.
Consider registering your CCTV with the local police – this is an option in some jurisdictions.
Ensure customers can see they are being filmed.
Train employees to make eye contact with customers.
Train employees on emergency procedures for handling: theft, aggressive people, shoplifters.
Use the full stock control facilities of your software to understand the financial cost of shoplifting.
When doing magazine returns, check discrepancies weekly to understand magazine theft.
Ensure your windows are not cluttered. The police advise cluttered windows are a security risk because of what they can hide.
Ensure there is good lighting outside if the store is locked up when it is dark.
Ensure you have the best possible sight lines of the shop from the counter.
Have a no personal items at the counter policy.
If you catch someone in the act of shoplifting ask them to wait in the store, and call the Police. Also (advice from NSW govt. Crime prevention):
1. Tell them who you are.
2. Tell them why they have been asked to stay in the store. o Advise them that Police have been called
3. Ask the person to surrender any property that doesn’t belong to them. Remember, retailers and other citizens have no legal right to search a person.
4. Most importantly, do not put yourself at risk.
Have a clear refund processing policy and ensure all employees are trained on this.
Track all sales by employee code.
When hiring: ask if applicants agree to a police check, check their references, do not hire friends of employees, explain your commitment to zero tolerance re employee theft.
Have an employee theft policy in full view.

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HELPING INDEPENDENT BIKE RETAILERS LEVERAGE THE BIKE WORKSHOP POINT OF DIFFERENCE

April 9, 2016

3 Min read

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Professional bike retailers usually offer terrific bike workshop facilities servicing and repairing bikes. These workshops are a personal and local point of difference for these businesses yet, too often, they are not marked by bike retailers as a valuable point of difference, as a local service through which the business can find new customers.

A well run and promoted bike workshop is an excellent way for a bike shop to grow their business. It is also an excellent way for the business to differentiate itself from online retailers and mass retailers that are focused solely on revenue and not the long term relationship.

Overseas, bike shops promote their workshops by making the facilities visible within the shop. Some even have the workshop located at the front of the business, in the window, so it can be seen from the street. This makes the provision of the services real and helps people walking past the business to understand the services offered. This builds trust. It also demonstrates that the service is local, conducted by people customers can speak with and that it is authentic.

Being authentic is important when running a business that competes with online because online can be from anywhere and to any level of quality.

A bike is an important purchase. Buying a bike from somewhere it can be serviced by a professional, working locally, will be important for people who rely on the bike for safety – whether it be their own or that of family members. This is why showing off local servicing is important.

Thanks to facilities in the Tower Systems Bike Shop Software, independent bike retailers are able to more effectively promote their workshop services to existing customers as well as to prospective new customers.

Here are some ways the Tower Systems Bike Shop Software helps bike retailers with workshops:

Job management.
Parts management.
Labour management.
Job tracking.
Account customer integration.
Customer contact on a bike being ready.
Email targeting of workshop customers.
Email targeting of customers with biked due for a service.
Promotion of workshop services on all receipts.
Bike care information from the expert bike engineer in-store – connected back to the workshop.

The Tower Systems Bike Shop Software helps in many other ways too. We are committed to the independent bike shop retail channel. This is evident through our personal service through the help desk and through our continual development of our software – based on customer feedback.

To find our more about our Bike Shop Software, speak with one of our retail experts: Contact: Please call our sales team at 1300 662 957 or email them at sales@towersystems.com.au.

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NEWS ABOUT AUSTRALIAN DESIGNED AND SUPPORTED TOY SHOP SOFTWARE CREATED FOR INDEPENDENT TOY SHOPS

April 8, 2016

3 Min read

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Thank you to all who visited our stand at the Melbourne Toy Fair last month. We are already scheduling new installations as a result of this terrific trade show.

The show gave us an excellent opportunity to get feedback on our new Toy Shop Software. This Australian designed, developed and supported software provides best-practice management assistance for independent Aussie toy shops.

We only sell to independent retailers in each of the specialty marketplaces in which we serve. This is because our only interest is in independent small businesses.

Using our Toy Shop Software you can easily handle:

Customer special orders.
Catalogues.
Hampers
LayBys.
Shopper loyalty – accruing points.
Shopper loyalty – offering $$$ off the next purchase based on rules you set.
Importing electronic invoices from suppliers.
Importing electronic stock files from suppliers.
Reordering based on accurate sales data, and therefore reducing the cost of dead stock.
BOGO: handling Buy One get One Free offers.
MultiBuy – like a coffee card, tracking customer purchases getting them to a free gift from you.
Xero accounting interface – cut your bookkeeping time and costs.
Magento and Shopify interfaces – makes connecting to your website easy and accurate.
EFTPOS integration – save on a phone line and cut mistakes.
Easy and accurate stock taking.
Customer accounts.
Multiple discount options.
Professional receipts with your logo.
Serial number tracking.
Age checking for items with a minimum age requirement.
Upsell prompts for staff.

There are many ways Toy shop owners and employees can use this software to help personalise the shopping experience, ways that make comparing your business to mass market toy retailers difficult.

We help you shine a light on your point of difference.

For example, you can have product use and care information included automatically on receipts. This can be information you have written that sets your business apart from others.

You can use smart reports in the software to quickly gain a view of business performance:

By supplier.
By season.
By product licence such as Star Wars, Batman etc.
Comparing trading periods.
By employee performance.
By customer value.
By day of week.

We believe in the value of accurate business data for small and independent retailers. Good data easily accessed can guide better quality business decisions – we see this every day in our extensive work with small business retailers across multiple channels.

We would love to show you the latest Toy Shop software, obligation free and to hear from you about the needs of your business.

A hardware and software package from us starts at $8 a day.

Thank you for reading. We hope to talk with you soon.

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SOFTWARE COMPANIES THAT LOCK USERS OUT FROM THEIR DATA DESERVE TO LOSE CUSTOMERS

April 7, 2016

1 Min read

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We are helping another retailer switch to our software and in the process the retailer has discovered their old software company is blocking their access to their own business data.

This is unethical in our view. Legal advice suggests it could be challenged in the courts.

Here we have a small business retailer who has cultivated business data for twenty years and now, when they want to change software, they are locked out.

We have seen this before and are sure we will see it again. It is appalling action by the software company reflecting badly on them in this instance and into the future.

UPDATE: 5:36PM APRIL 7, 2016.

Bernard Zimmermann, director of competitor POS Solutions Australia Pty Ltd has copied text from this post and posted it on their blog this afternoon. The post appears to be a response to what I have written. This following of Tower is not the first time he has done this:

For the record, Tower Systems does not lock users out, never has and never will. The claims by Zimmermann are false and he knows that.

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POS SOFTWARE USER MEETING IN GEELONG, VICTORIA

April 7, 2016

1 Min read

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We met with some of our Geelong region POS software users yesterday at the Mercure hotel over coffee, tea, muffins and quiche. It was a good business building discussion about our software and, more important, about business generally and opportunities for embracing change in a period of rapid and comprehensive retail change.

This was another session from which we learnt plenty and renewed business friendships.

We are grateful to our customers for their support.

Anyone can announce user meetings. It is another thing entirely to run them, share photos and other information confirming the meetings actually happened. Our blog posts show us living to the truth of our words. We are proud to do this.

Footnote: the photo is dark as the room was set to dark to make reading the screen easier.

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HELPING NEWSAGENTS HANDLE THE NEWS CORP. COIN COLLECTION PROMOTION

April 6, 2016

1 Min read

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Earlier this week we published advice to our newsagent software customers on how to handle the News Corp. commemorative coin collection promotion. This advice leverages facilities in our smart software to make it easy for our 1,700+ newsagent customers to handle this important promotion with ease.

Thanks to early notice of the promotion we were well prepared and provided not only how-to advice but considerably more, helping our newsagent customers make more from this traffic-driving promotion.

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KUDOS FOR TOWER SYSTEMS XERO POS SOFTWARE INTEGRATION

April 6, 2016

2 Min read

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You know you are doing when when small business accountants recommend your POS software and its link with the highly-regarded Xero cloud based accounting software.

That is what’s been happening to us. We are winning new customers who are discovering us thanks to recommendations from their accountants, in part due to the Xero approved and endorsed POS software Xero accounting software link.

Creating an approved link is not an option for all POS software companies. Indeed, Xero says no to some POS companies that approach them. We are thrilled to have been approved and to be able to help small business retailers save time and money through the linking of their POS software to Xero.

As our software evolved as does our partnerships and interfaces. That iOS what we have delivered with our successful Xero interface – a facility backed by knowledgable accounting related support and assistance.

What is Transferred to Xero?

Sales
End of Shift based department-level sales are transferred to Xero via a sales invoice. Each department can be assigned its own Xero account.

Invoices
Invoices received into Retailer are transferred to Xero at department level. No individual stock items are transferred.

Write Offs & No Sales
These are transferred to individual expense accounts depending on the transaction reason chosen.

Cost Of Sales
An option on sales exporting is to export Cost of Sales. While not a full implementation of COGS it does transfer over the cost price of items sold each day to reduce the value of Stock On Hand in Xero. If you use this option you will export Write offs, not as expenses, but as adjustment to your Stock on Hand. This makes processing stock adjustments for the End Of Month much easier.

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POS SOFTWARE USER MEETING ON THE GOLD COAST

April 5, 2016

1 Min read

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We had a terrific three hour meeting with some of our POS software users on the Gold Coast today. The session included training, one on one support and business growth discussions as retailers talked through plenty of opportunities for business growth using our software.

Today’s session was a good example of the added value of these events, from a diverse group of retailers and the retail experience we can bring to the opportunity.

Tomorrow, we are in Geelong, Victoria with another of our regional sessions.

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POS SOFTWARE UPDATE IN BETA RELEASE

April 5, 2016

1 Min read

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A major update to our POS software has moved to beta release following extensive testing in house and an alpha live release.

This latest update delivers enhancements in the areas of fast retail sales, loyalty management and marketing, catalogue management and handling special customer orders.

The update delivers new functionality, genuine enhancements to the software, enhancements that continue the lead of the Tower systems software in selected specialty retail channels.

Retailers on our beta release panel have been contacted with details on how to access the update and provide feedback leading into the commercial release program.

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FREE TRAINING FOR POS SOFTWARE USERS THIS WEEK

April 4, 2016

1 Min read

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Tower Systems is proud to offer free and live training opportunities for users of its POS software this week. We have two local user meetings, in Geelong and the Gold Coast and online. The two user meetings are the latest in our series of capital city and major regional centre meetings – face to face with our customers, providing free training and business development strategy.

The online session on End of Shift Reports is fully booked. We are running this session again in the coming weeks.

In addition to the live training opportunities, our customers continue to have access to an extraordinary library of video based training and text based training – making POS software training easy to access from anywhere and at any time.

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SUNDAY SMALL BUSINESS RETAIL MANAGEMENT ADVICE: MAYBE IT IS TIME TO CHANGE YOUR FRIENDS

April 3, 2016

2 Min read

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Who do you talk to about your retail business? Are they sympathetic, pandering almost? Or, do they challenge your perception of your business?

Do they agree with everything you say? Do they offer pity as a response for you explaining your situation?

Good friends will challenge what you say. They will ask tough questions to test what you say about business performance. They will not put up with a victim mentality. They will want to know what you are doing to improve your situation and that your actions are rooted in your business data.

If your friends don’t challenge you when you talk about your business consider seeking out others you can talk to who do challenge you.

Owning a business of any size can be tough and lonely. In the business it is rare you will be challenged. In your immediately family, too often, you will not be challenged. This is why you need to seek out those who could and will challenge you. You need to be challenged. Your plans need to be tested through tough questioning. While some good friend will do this for you many will not.

So, do you need to change your friends?

Seek out people who will give you truthful assessment of what you say, people who will have an opinion and be unafraid to share it. You want people who will actively listen to you and give you their insights.

Seek out people who will want the same from you. The ideal friendship is one that is equal, open and honest in conversation. This is what retail business owners need – people who can help them see what they may not be seeing for themselves.

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DON’T BE BOUND BY WHAT IS USUAL FOR YOUR TYPE OF RETAIL BUSINESS.

April 2, 2016

2 Min read

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Now, more than ever, retail businesses are not bound by strict borders in terms of what they sell. You only have to look at what pharmacies sell today compared to ten years ago to realise the value of change.

But this type of change, retailers trading outside what is usual for their type of business, is common. There are successful coffee shops today that started out as a customer service experience in vehicle repair shops, fashion outlets and more.

What is it you could sell in your business that does not fit neatly into what is usual for your type of retail business?

In our work in a range of specialty retail channels we see successes where retailers play outside what is usual for their type of business, where they ignore the borders of tradition.

Doing this successfully starts with looking at the type of customers you currently attract and considering this with the capacity of the business to offer other products and services within the space and capital restraints of the business.

A good place to start is to analyse basket data in your software and, through this, to build up a better understanding of what people purchase. Using departments, categories and tags, you can build an understanding beyond what you recall from serving customers.

Use your data to explore possibilities beyond what you sell today.

Who is your customer?
What else do they buy?
What can I sell them allied to what they buy from me yet that I do not carry today.

Data analysis shop could uncover a niche interest among customers that could be served by the business carrying something you may not usually see in a your type shop.

We see this activity as important. If you rely on traffic that is usual for your type of business your results will most likely be usual for your type of business. Whereas if you attract traffic beyond what is usual, your results ought to be beyond what is usual.

Retail today is more borderless than ever. While it is important your business can be easily understood, you can do this and reach beyond what is traditional with careful management and attention.

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BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS ATTRACTING KUDOS

April 1, 2016

1 Min read

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The Retailer Visual Deck released by Tower Systems to its small business retailer customers earlier this year is generating terrific responses as retailers see the power of the visual compared to the traditional POS software reports.

This cloud-based platform is accessible from anywhere. It provides live access to retail business performance KPIs, helping small business retailers better understand what is happening in their businesses.

The Visual Deck is a new product from Tower Systems. Accessible from any internet connected device, this platform provides you with a fresh view of your business performance data. Visually reporting on revenue, gross profit, transaction count, items per sale, units sold, average transaction value, by month, week, day and day of week – easily allowing you to compare trading periods.

Cloud based, this new business intelligence platform is available on a month to month or annual basis. Called the Visual Deck, It is visual because, well, your business data is presented in a visual way. It is a deck because it is a platform off of which you can see far and wide.

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Q1 2016 NEWSAGENCY SALES BENCHMARK STUDY.

April 1, 2016

2 Min read

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We are proud to have announced our first newsagency sales benchmark study for 2016 in an email sent to newsagents this morning:

We are preparing a fresh benchmark study for the newsagency channel to look at the latest sales trends overall and in key product categories. This quarterly newsagency sales performance study will help newsagents see the future based on the data trends. It will also reveal the difference between emerging newsagency model changes.

We see many newsagency businesses embracing tremendous change already in 2016. In the sea of change are wonderful opportunities. These opportunities are revealed in the business data in each business and in the benchmark results we publish.

How to participate.

Please run a Monthly Sales Comparison Report for 01/01/2016 – 31/03/2016 compared to 01/01/2015 – 31/03/2015.
Tick the category box.
Tick to exclude home delivery and sub agent data.
DO NOT tick the supplier box.
Preview the report on the screen. Save as a PDF and email this to us.

We will email the results to all participating newsagents and publish the results on the Australian Newsagency Blog as a community service.

Tower Systems serves in excess of 1,750+ newsagents with best practice newsagency software.

Note: the study reflects performance as reported by a range of newsagency businesses trading under a range of brands.

The results of each study are backed up by circulation results published later by the Audit Bureau.

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THE EASY WAY TO BOOK FOR A TOWER POS SOFTWARE USER MEETING

March 31, 2016

2 Min read

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Retailers using our POS software can book for any other twenty face to face user meetings in the current series by using our online facility. There, we show all addresses and times and parking details. We demonstrate ease of doing business, transparency and certainty – all important things to small business retailers. With all bookings, loading to your calendar is fast and easy.

Take our Gold Coast meeting Tuesday next week. We have twenty-four businesses booked to participate. Here are the publicly accessible details:

Free Training: Gold Coast User Meeting

Time: Tuesday, 05 April 2016 08:00am

Training Type: Face to face

Duration: 3 Hours

Location: Mantra Twin Towns – Wharf St Tweed Heads NSW

Join us to learn how you can drive more value from the Tower Systems POS software. We will share business management, strategic planning and operational insights that will be sure to help you make more money in your business as a result.

These sessions are 100% free. Tower System provides the room, catering and access to senior management from our company.

The sessions provide an excellent business owner networking opportunity as well as an opportunity to speak with us. Indeed, a key reason for running these sessions is to get your feedback.

At the sessions we will launch a brand new cloud based product that leverages the data retailers collect in every transaction through our Retailer POS software.

Anyone can announce user meetings. It is another thing entirely to list the actual dress details and go through with it.

We think you can assess a software company by its frequency of user meetings, transparency of details and ease of booking.

The same is true for our weekly free online workshops. Our customers can book online anytime they choose.

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TAGS CHANGE THE WAY SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS TRACK INVENTORY

March 31, 2016

1 Min read

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The introduction of tags in the Tower Systems POS software last year added to an already powerful reporting suite for our retail customers.

Using tags our retailers can take a horizontal slice through their business data across departments, categories and suppliers, linking items based on a licence or sole other connection relevant to the business.

Tagging is smart easy and powerful, providing small business retailers a fresh view of their businesses, one unique to Tower Systems.

We have been demonstrating the value of tags in our user meetings, [providing our customers with ah ha moments when they see it, get it and realise the power for their businesses through the unique view of business performance available to them.

Tagging inventory items is another point of difference we have been able to leverage for growth among our small business retail user community.

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