The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Latest stories

POS software for produce, rural and farm supply businesses helps with dispatch management

October 13, 2022
2 Min read
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In our Aussie made and supported software for produce and farm supply businesses we offer access to dispatch management tools that we developed in association with these businesses.

Successful dispatch management is all about local specialty retailers. managing the assets, ensuring accurate data and making this available in a seamless and workflow supportive way for

Using these dispatch management tools, retailers can efficiently, and in place, manage dispatch of products sold within their business. The facilities include:

  • Scheduling of in-house vehicle assets.
  • Allocating dispatch jobs to those vehicles.
  • Tracking completion of dispatch.
  • Management of dispatch orders at the customer and other levels.
  • Seeing a view of dispatch by vehicle.
  • Viewing orders by customer on a vehicle.
  • Address validation to ensure a more accurate dispatch experience for customers and to ensure efficiencies.
  • Dispatch route options for use by drivers.
  • Driver management of dispatch sequence based on local knowledge and other factors.

The dispatch management facilities within our Tower Systems POS software are robust, on the ground proven and loved by customers of ours. We are so grateful to have had customers walk this path with us, guiding us, suggesting ways the software we were building could be more valuable.

It’s not often POS software goes this deep in a niche area of need. For garden centres, farm supply businesses, produce stores, landscape businesses and others, rob just dispatch management facilities integrated with the POS software offer a workflow management solution and time efficiency to love and appreciate.

Made from the ground up by our in-house POS software development team, the dispatch facilities are true innovation for specialty retailers that have mid-size dispatch operations.

You can probably tell, we are proud of what we have achieved here for our local small business retail partners. This is comprehensive software made for very specific, and niche, needs in selected specialty retail channels. This is what Tower Systems exists for – to serve the needs of selected specialty retail channels.

Tower Systems makes what it sells. We support it too, offering our retailers ever evolving POS software to serve needs today, and needs as they evolve for the specialty retail marketplaces we serve.

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Here’s how we use the POS software we make in our own retail shops in pursuit of value, enjoyment and success

October 12, 2022
2 Min read
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Tower Systems is a rare POS software company that uses what it makes, in its own shops, to learn, and make better software, and, of course, create more valuable, enjoyable and successful local retail businesses.

late in 2021, we bought an old-school newsagency business in malvern, Victoria. It had been in the same family for 28 years. We are slowly enjoying the business, on a frugal budget, and based on where data take us. here’s a look at how September 2022 has done in this business, where we have leveraged the ideas from the newsXpress newsagency marketing group, which we also own.

While this video was made to demonstrate what newsXpress helps its partner retailers achieve, it also speaks to the value from the Tower Systems POS software.

There is a narrative put about by some POS software companies that they started because they could not find software that suited their needs. We went the other way. In 1996 we bought our first sop to learn, and walk in the shoes of our customers. In the 26 years since, every day, we have experienced value and enjoyment from owning and running retail shops.

Tower Systems is not your average POS software company. We live and breathe retail, and can engage with our customers from a position of experience, empathy.

Our owning and running retail businesses informs decisions we make about our software, how we train our customers and how we support them. It is a whole of business benefit for us and for our customers.

The last thing any retailer wants is a tech person telling them something about retail that’s out of context or disconnected from the world of retail. We make software here at Tower Systems that seeks to integrate with retail in a more meaningful and useful way, and we can do this thanks to our everyday retail experience.

Every person working in our business has retail experience. This matters because when they talk with any of our customers, they can know what it’s like in a shop. The empathy from personal experience makes for a better POS software support experience we think.

We are grateful for the people in the shops we own for their experience and advice helps us make better POS software and provide it with more valuable POS software support.

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A retailer contacted Epos Now to enquire about their POS software, here’s what happened

October 11, 2022
2 Min read
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Recently, a retailer we know contacted Epos Now to enquire about their POS software. They contacted them because they come up in searches on Google for POS software. Epos Now advertises extensively. Over the seven days from the enquiry, here’s what happened.

They were bombarded with emails, text messages and calls over five days:

  • 2 phone calls.
  • 4 text messages.
  • 5 emails.

The main thrust of the contact was price offers. And, as time went on, the offers seemed to get better. We’re told the contact did not feel personal and that, rather, it felt automated.

What is interesting is that this push contact from Epos Now was before there had been any discussion as to whether the Epos Now software was suitable for the needs of the retail business.

Here at Tower Systems, the first contact we have with anyone enquiring about our POS software is personal and direct, from a human working with our company, someone based here in Australia. And, that first contact has one goal – to find out what they are looking for in software, to understand their needs because that is where it starts, the needs of the customer.

Sometimes, our POS software is not a good fit. It’s better that we identify that early, explain to the retailer why we think that and wish them all the best.

There is no value for a retailer going with POS software that is not a good fit.

So, yes, this is where we start – in understanding the needs of the business, to see how well our software serves the needs that are important to them.

From what we could see from what our retailer friend went through,. Epos Now did not appear to focus on the needs of the business. we wonder if this is so people sign up.

Here at Tower systems, there is no lock-in contract for our POS software. People renting our POS software can cancel the rental easily and payment arrangements are cancelled immediately without any penalty period. The next due rental payment, monthly, is stopped – as are all future rental payments. We think it is important that retailer are not locked in and strongly urge any retailer considering POS software to be sure they know the terms of any agreement.

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11 reasons why POS software from Tower Systems is worth considering by Aussie local retailers

October 8, 2022
3 Min read
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  1. Aussie made. We make our POS software here, in Australia, for local specialty Aussie retailers.
  2. Aussie supported. We support our POS software through our help desk team members, who work here in Australia. We have one in New Zealand, too. We have customers in NZ. Everyone on our help desk works for us. We don’t use an offshore help desk.
  3. Aussie supplier connected. Our POS software connects to many Aussie suppliers through easily loading their stock files, loading their electronic invoices and providing them with sales data for auto replenishment – with these connections all controlled by our retail business owner customers.
  4. Aussie accounting connected. Yes, we provide data to Xero and MYOB.
  5. Aussie words used. Terminology matters, especially in local retail. We’re not American software using American terms or UK software using UK terms.
  6. Real people serving you. Call us, a human answers. Email us, a human answers. no bots. No AI. No offshore call centre. Authentic, like local specialty retailers want.
  7. We’re retail experienced. We own and run shops and have done for many years. Almost everyone working in our Aussie POS software company has retail experience.
  8. Our software is for specialty retail, not everyone. That’s right, our software is not right for everyone. By not chasing everyone, we handle the specialist retail requirements that we do handle well, with maturity and depth of functionality.
  9. 100% local small business focussed. We don’t provide access to our software to mid-size or big retailers. Our focus is 100% on local small business retail. Those are the businesses that matter to us. You will never get lost in the crowd with Tower Systems
  10. This POS software continues to evolve. We regularly release valuable updates that enhance the capabilities of the software. his year, in 2022 so far, we have released 3 significant updates.
  11. It covers unique needs. Serial number tracking, dispatch management, selling by fractions, scale integration, serial number tracking, age checking, supplier integration, integrated loyalty … these specialty retail needs are more are core to our POS software.

There are more than 11 reasons to consider POS software from Tower Systems, many more, including facilities it may offer that are unique to your business. You would only know of this match or connection if you look at the software. that’s obligation free. Call 1300 662 057 or email sales@towersystems.com.au and set it up. we’d love to learn about your needs and show what we offer. Then, you can decide if we’re a match.

We will never pressure you.

Have a wonderful day …

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We think this Compare POS Quotes ad is misleading

October 7, 2022
2 Min read
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If you search Tower Systems on Google today, this www.ComparePOSQuotes.com.au ad appears.

In our opinion, this ad appears misleading. we say this because it says in the headline Compare Tower Systems – POS Systems for every industry. The thing is, there is no comparison with us, no comparison with Tower Systems. So, why is Tower Systems in the headline. We think this is because we are sought after, searched for via Google and so this business, Comparison Advantage Pty Ltd, is using our business name as a form of click bait, as a way of getting people to click the ad.

If you click this compare POS systems ad that has our Tower Systems name, you are not comparing Tower Systems, we are not involved whatsoever.

So, guess what we did … we entered our details into their website that came up after we clicked the ad. They emailed us. While we were typing a response to their emails, they called us. Talk about spam.

We explained to the representative of Comparison Advantage, who sounded like they were calling from an offshore call centre, what the company was dong by boyu=ing our business name for Google advertising their response was that it was outside their area.

While we get that there is nothing illegal to this type of Google advertising, we think it is ethically wrong for one company to pay to present the name of a competitor in order to divert traffic the competitor may have otherwise achieved.

We think, it’s our opinion to be clear, that Comparison Advantage sucks. We think their approach is questionable ethically. But, hey, it’s our opinion only.

We have sought to raise a complaint with Google, but that is not an easy process. In fact, dealing with Google on anything like this is frustrating. We think the company makes it so deliberately.

Our Tower Systems POS software is awesome in our opinion. The best way to decide whether it is right for you is for you to take a look at it, and con sider whether it serves your needs. It may not. But do compare it. Using a comparison website like Comparison Advantage is no comparison at all as they are not comparing everyone, not even the key players in our experience. It is misleading we think.

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Cloud backup service helps retailers save time every day

October 6, 2022
3 Min read
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Tower Systems offers its POS software customers a safe, secure and time saving clod backup service that backs up POS software data.

There are two backups, one in-store on a fast NAS device and one stored at a secure server located in a server farm that has awesome protections both physically and technically from a data access perspective.

The POS software data cloud backup service offered by Tower Systems helps retailers:

  • Save time as the end of shift backup is a thing up.
  • Easy recovery thanks to moment in time snapshots taken.
  • Peace of mind because back-up happen without human intervention.
  • More peace of mind because we keep an eye on backups for our customers and proactively notify them if were to discover an issue.

Data is gold in any business. the Tower Systems POS software cloud backup service treats business data with the respect it deserves.

Tower customers can also setup their own cloud backup arrangements – they are not locked into the Tower Systems POS software data cloud backup service.

The NAS device.

NAS stands for “Network Attached Storage” and a 2TB NAS* is included in your initial subscription and setup fee for the service. This device is like an extra hard disk but rather than being inside your computer it is attached to your network.

* Supplied device may change depending on availability but will be of equal quality and value.

How does the Tower Systems POS software data cloud backup work?

The software performs an incremental backup every fifteen minutes. An incremental backup is a backup of files that have changed or are new since the last backup.

These incremental backups are catalogued on your NAS device. They are then collated to create your full system backup. This process allows access to backups from a particular point of time – even at the file level. Because backups are stored on the NAS device you have immediate access in-store as well as being sent to the Tower Systems Data Storage Centre in the cloud where a secure additional offsite copy of your data is kept.

So how is this different to the old daily or end of shift backup approach?

The Tower Systems POS software Retailer Backup ONLY backs up your Retailer Data leaving your other business data, accounting data, important documents and emails at risk. Safe Backup backs up your entire main PC, meaning all your business data is safe and secure. A copy of your business backup is also securely sent via the Internet to our secure data storage centre, giving you a safe off-site copy for protection.

Once Safe Backup is implemented you will no longer need to perform your daily backup. You or your staff will no longer need to wait for the daily backup to complete.

Our cloud backup service is optional for our customers.

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17 years ago us: Me too loyalty systems are lazy

October 5, 2022
3 Min read
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17 years ago on this blog we wrote about loyalty. Our views then stack up today, we think.

ME TOO LOYALTY SCHEMES ARE LAZY

September 29, 2005

With both supermarket chains pushing their fuel discounts heavily many small business retailers are joining similar schemes connected to independent fuel outlets. It seems to me that these small businesses are copying the giants because they fear it is the only they can compete – by offering the same.

This is nuts.

Fuel rebates are so common that I don’t trust them. There is no point of difference any more. I don’t trust that it is a discount off an already fair price for fuel. I don’t trust that there is any element of reward in the offering. Okay I am probably in the minority – a space for cynics. However, the reality is that Australia now has 6 or 7 fuel discount offers.

The other aspect of the fuel offer which does not make sense to me from a small business perspective is that I say thanks to a customer for shopping with me and reward them by saying, hey, go buy some fuel and there’s your reward. Why can’t I offer a reward from my own product offerings? It seems to me that I have more control and more to gain by offering reward from in house.

In house rewards allow me to be more flexible, they can be used to encourage a higher spend from the customer and they make me work smarter within my business.

Fuel discount programs being offered (pushed) on small businesses have a cost and drive traffic elsewhere and that’s where I have big problems. They are the easy way out. In the case of newsagents, offering fuel discounts as part of a loyalty strategy drives consumer traffic to retail outlets which compete with newsagents. Surely there is more to gain by rewarding newsagent customers by offering discounts on newsagent product?

Coles and Woolworths control the fuel outlets they are driving consumers to. They have purchased and established these outlets in response to consumer research. Small business does not have the same needs to move traffic cooperatively between their businesses and fuel.

Small businesses are better off rewarding from within and with a view to generating incremental business within. The win is better in your pocket.

In our Tower Systems POS software we offer retailers flexibility in terms of loyalty solutions: the old-school points approach, the coffee card type approach, discount vouchers that give shoppers off for genuine loyal engagement, and more. Core to our loyalty offer is flexibility.

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Free training for new POS software customers

October 4, 2022
3 Min read
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Free training for new POS software customers

We are so grateful that some of our new customers joined us last week for a new customer training session on Zoom.

While all of our customers had access, our focus was on new customers since we have added so many in recent months.

This training session is part of our regular monthly free Zoom training program.

Here is a video of the session. Yes, we are sharing it publicly as transparency is everything in serving small business retailers.

You can see in this session that we provided training, answered questions and were genuinely accessible from an operation level through to a leadership level within our Tower Systems business.

It’s not often POS software customers get direct access to those in control of the direction of the software development. Here at Tower Systems, this level of access is common.

We let our customers know about the session through our regular weekly customer email. And through our quarterly customer print newsletter – we wanted to make sure that everyone knew about it.

What is special is the number of people who accessed the video of the session – several hundred within 24 hours, and some of those then reached out with their own questions flowing from what we covered.

Sessions like this are a game changer for small business retailers. They help them learn the software and through this get more from their POS software investment. The POS software becomes a more useful business tool, which what we aim for here at Tower Systems.

Our message to all Tower Systems customers is that we will schedule more of these sessions on topics people want. We are open to what our customers want. And, we record the sessions and the recordings become an asset for the future.

POS software is only as good as what you can get out of it, only as good as the value it delivers to the business. These free training sessions along with our personal customer service, our practical retail experience and our business insights combine to help our POS software customers cultivate value on which they can rely.

Tower Systems is a POS software company focussed on serving local small business retailers in selected specialty retail channel. We’re not for everyone, and we will say if we think we are not a good fit. Training is key to achieving the fit.

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Software for fishing and outdoors shops. Aussie made. Aussie supported. $185.00/month.

October 3, 2022
3 Min read
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Our software for fishing and outdoors shops aims to help you you run a more successful, valuable and enjoyable business. It helps you streamline workflow, eliminate some manual processes and make better business decisions, sooner.

This QR code will take you to a video of a demo of our software that covers some of what’s unique and valuable.

Call 1 300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au to find out more or arrange a personal demonstration for your business.

We’re often asked questions about what the software does. Here are some of those questions, and our answers:

  • Can I connect the software to a scale to sell bait by weight?
  • Can I sell products in fraction units, like 1.25?
  • Do I have to pay extra to run it on more terminals?
  • Do I have to pay more if my sales increase?
  • Can I share local fishing maps and information? Yes, you can load files, images, documents and include them on receipts.
  • Can I bundle items together like a rod, reel and line?
  • I sell at events away from the shop sometimes, can I do this with the software? Yes, using our Retailer RoamTM
  • Does the software handle club member pricing? Yes, this can be a great marketing, connecting with and supporting clubs and your business.
  • Can I share local fishing and camping tips on receipts?
  • Can I set an age check on age restricted items?
  • Can I run BOGO pricing, buy 1 get 1 or similar?
  • Does the software let me manage time-based catalogue pricing?
  • Can I sell gift cards for my business?
  • Is there a loyalty facility guiding infrequent shoppers to spend?
  • Does the software let me buy in bulk and break up to retail packs?
  • Does the software produce WAS / NOW price labels?
  • Can you reach out to customers based on past purchases?
  • Does the system handle account customers?
  • Does the system produce invoicing and statements?
  • Does the software track product serial numbers?
  • I sell clothing, can I manage this by colour, size and style?
  • Does the software connect with my website? We partner with Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce and offer direct links to these.
  • Can you make a website for our business? Yes, we’ve made many websites for our customers.
  • Can I email receipts?
  • Can I track where my customers come from?
  • Can I connect with my EFTPOS terminal? We have a direct link to Tyro and through Linkly we connect to all major banks.
  • Can I use my existing hardware? Yes, as long as your hardware meets our minimum standards.
  • Can I use my existing data with the software? We’d like to check your data to be sure. We will advise what can be safely brought across.
  • Does it integrate with Xero?

To talk to one of our fishing shop software experts, please call 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.

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How does Tower Systems POS software compare to Square POS?

September 29, 2022
3 Min read
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Okay, we are Tower Systems. It’s important you know that when reading this article. But, that said, we have tried to be objective. We are not doing a deep dive comparing software function with software function. No, this comparison note today is high level – even at this level the differences are considerable.

The big pitch by Square POS is that it is free, and while technically this is true, it is a questionable claim given how they get paid – through a clip on EFTPOS. At the moment, from what we can tell, the clip is 1.l6% of transaction value.

An average gift shop putting $250,000 a year through card transactions will pay Square $9,176 over 2 years. Compare this to a Tower Systems customer paying us $159 a month to rent the software and also pay EFTPOS fees of, around, 0.75%, their cost of ownership is $7,566.

We think Tower Systems is cheaper than Square POS. If our calculations are wrong please let us know and we will correct.

The Tower Systems POS software comes with loyalty software includes. Square POS is currently quoting $49 a month for opo9yalty facilities with their software.

That makes Square POS more expensive than the free offer people tend to see.

Tower Systems offers 7 day a week support, 24 hours a day. Our understanding from the Square POS website is that their coverage is not as extensive.

Square POS is from overseas while the Tower Systems POS software is Australian made and supported.

The Tower Systems POS software supports for no extra cost Shopify integration, Xero integration, selling by fractions, scale integration and comprehensive management reporting.

These are all differences.

Then, there are the people. Any retailer considering the Tower systems POS software can speak with a human and discuss their needs. They are welcome to an obligation-free demonstration to see if the software is a good fit for them before investing any time.

Let’s, for a moment, consider software functionality in a more detailed way.

The Tower Systems POS software has been made for specialty retailers, small business retailers, indie retailers. It is loaded with specialty functionality.

Tower is not chasing high volume sales.

Square POS , on the other hand, is chasing volume, mass, they want numbers and because of this we thing their focus is more general, serving more common needs rather than specialty retail needs.

So to answer the question, How does Tower Systems POS software compare to Square POS?, we think we compare well. What we can’t match is the Square POS advertising budget. We rely on word of mouth, for which we are sincerely grateful. We have o thousands of awesome customers, which makes us happy.

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7 free marketing tips for local indie small business retail to drive traffic and sales

September 29, 2022
4 Min read
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Shopping ought to be enjoyable and, preferably, fun. Often it is the experience itself which separates one retail store from another. This is why every retail business needs to devote management and front line attention to delivering a memorable and enjoyable experience.

The pandemic fundamentally changed retailing 2020. These changes prevail today. It’s time we re-awakened the inso-tore experience.

While Tower Systems its a POS software company, we offer retail management advice to our community of local indie small business retailers, advice beyond our POS software itself, advice designed to help our retailers thrive, and have fun.

One way to provide a memorable shopping experience is to have fun – among the sales team and with customers. Here are seven tips for having fun in any retail store:

  1. Theme days. Embrace an era which with interest your customers. For example, the 1970s. Dress the store and employees in keeping with the 1970s. Have a couple of items on sale at 1970s prices – to connect the theme with a commercial outcome. Get some stories from the 1970s related to products you sell and place these on display boards in the window. Consider a competition for the customer in the best 1970s costume. Other theme days include: school days, foreign country days where you wear traditional dress from a foreign country, crazy hair day and, of course, more theme days around key decades.
  2. Local sports competition. Fully embrace any major local sporting event, choose a team, dress in their colours and dress the store in their colours. Be unashamedly parochial and show your customers your local support.
  3. In-store buskers. Find some local musicians you enjoy and who have a repertoire which would connect with your customers and invite them in to play live for your customers. This would bring a vibrancy to the store and provide welcome entertainment for your customers as they shop. The local performers get to reach a new audience and you get to change up the feel of your business.
  4. Repurposing day. Host an event where customers compete for a prize for the most innovative repurposing of a product you sell. The idea would be that they take something you sell and demonstrate a use for it in a way which is completely different to what the manufacturer expected. There would need to be a rule that the new use is genuinely useful.
  5. The cutest baby. Invite your customers to bring in a photo of whey they were a baby, the older the better. Stick the photos on a wall and take votes on the best. You could change this up with two photos: as a baby and today and get customers to connect the two. Family members will come in to look at the photos and vote. A local store could get a real buzz with a promotion like this. While there is no obvious direct sales imperative, the traffic and word of mouth should drive good business.
  6. Stand up comedy in store. Invite local comedians to try out their stand up routines with your customers. While you would need to be careful about content, such an event would show the store supporting local artists and it could bring some fun to quiet retail times.
  7. Crazy tie day. While this has been done before plenty of times, you could kick it up with an amazing tie display – collect these from local Goodwill stores, invite customers to donate. As with the theme days idea, interact with customers and offer a prize for the best / worst. This tie day ist especially fun given that ties are a thing of the past in business today.

These seven ideas are the tip of the iceberg for in-store promotions. They are designed to kick start your own thinking on engagement ideas that could work well in your situation.

Retail is very much about the shopping experience, especially local indie small business retail. While good customer service and a friendly shopping experience are vital, sometimes it is the wonderful unexpected experience which can get people talking about a business.

Be bold and have fun.

Tower Systems makes software for local specialty retailers, software designed to help you run more successful, valuable and enjoyable businesses. Along the way, we have collected plenty of management and marketing tips. We share them here and in our customer emails from time to time. We hope you find them useful.

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Advice for local small business retailers: promoting to retirees

September 28, 2022
3 Min read
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The retiree (or seniors) marketplace can be lucrative for a local small business retail store. They tend to be loyal and engaged in word of mouth marketing about good retail experiences, experiences they value. They can also be flexible about when they shop and this is where a retail business can really leverage the opportunity.

Before you can market any retiree service or benefit you need offer what they want, offer what they value. Next, you need a plan. What products will be offered and at what special prices? The most common approach is to offer a flat discount to retirees, or seniors as they are called in some marketplaces. This discount is usually between 5% and 10%. Discounting is kind of lazy though.

Price is important to the seniors marketplace since they either have a fixed income or are living off finite savings.  They like businesses which help them save money. This is the value piece. It’s about value every day, every visit.

One option is to create your own retiree / seniors card, something like a club card, for use in promoting the business. These should be professionally designed and produced. Ensure that such a card is respectful and something these customers would proudly carry. Design the card so that it promotes the benefits you offer – so that it is an extension of your marketing program.

An approach we really like is partnering with local seniors organisations or retiree communities – helping members save and the group itself benefit. Mutual benefits like this – for individuals, a group and your shop – yes,  they are programs that work the best in nor experience. Plus, our POS software can manage this for you.

Local indie retailers, small business retailers, are well placed to connect with the retiree marketplace through these approaches. Where big businesses will tend to go the straight Seniors card discount route or similar, a more engaged and nuanced approach with a community benefit connection is more likely to drive a valuable Lebel of word of mouth.

Tower Systems provides this advice to local indie small business retailers because you are our community. We only engage with indie retailers. No big businesses. We want, and need, local indie retail to thrive.

To market a business to retirees consider these options:

  1. Train employees to offer the discount or other benefits to someone who looks eligible. While this could cause embarrassment, it could also extend the word of mouth around the offer.
  2. Promote to retirement villages in the local area.
  3. Advise local government authorities that you offer a benefit to retirees.
  4. Contact local clubs and organisations likely to connect with retirees.
  5. Promote the benefits in-store and in your business newsletter. You want to spread your offer as far and wide as possible, so that retirees beat a path to your door.
  6. Visit local retirement residences and offer assistance.
  7. Advertise in trailer parks.
  8. Look up clubs the Internet – there are plenty of groups, clubs and forums for older folks travelling around. They share tips about places they like.

The value of the retiree market to your retail store will depend on the value of the offer available to them and how widely you promote this. While some retailers see retirees as a chore others see a business opportunity.

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Epos Now compared to Tower Systems POS software

September 27, 2022
3 Min read
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Epos Now is a British software company selling its Epos Now POS software product in Australia. We come across them a bit with retailers comparing their POS software with our Tower Systems POS software.

There is a big difference in POS software from Tower Systems compared to Epos Now.

Epos Now makes out that they are low cost, when a comparison shows that may not be the case, certainly compared to Tower Systems.

Let’s compare the Epos Now cost of $139.00 a month with the Tower Systems cost of $159.00 a month.

From what we can tell on the Epos Now website today, a gift shop, for example, would see you have to pay extra for additional terminals, Get is not included in their price, you have a lock-in 2 year contract, support is provided out of the UK, support is Monday to Friday and in office hours. It appears you use their EFTPOS processing at a cost of 1.2% of transaction value. We saw this on their website.

Compare even these basic details with the Tower Systems POS solution for the same gift shop the cost is $159 a month, Get inclusive, no lock in contract, no extra cost for additional terminals, genuine 24/7 support, including weekend support. With Tower you can choose your own EFTPOS partner and Tower has plenty of customers on a deal it negotiated at 0.75% of transaction value.

On the EFTPOS cost comparison alone, unless we are missing something, Epos Now looks expensive. If we’re wrong on that, please contact us.

The Tower software also includes, at no extra cost, terrific loyalty options, advanced reporting, sell by fractions, sell by weight, integration with Xero, Integration with Shopify, and more.

If you are Aussie retailer and you want your customers to shop local you will appreciate the value of local in your business.

Tower Systems in an Aussie company offering software developed here in Australia and supported here in Australia. Partnering with us is a strong message for the shop local engaged.

Plus, Tower Systems offers local Aussie retailers free and easy access to a local marketplace through which your shop can be found by people searching for items you sell.

So, which is better for your business, Tower Systems or Epos Now? Only you can make that decision. start by looking at both software products. be sure of what matters to you and your business. be sure of the value you want from your POS software choice.

Compare like for like. Ask lots of questions. get the answers in writing. be sure to get the true total cost of running the software in writing too.

Get a thorough personal demonstration. This extra work you put in before you make your decision will ensure that the decision you do make is more valuable for you and for your retail business.

Here at Tower Systems we offer personal one-on-one demonstrations. We record them and give you a copy of the recording so you can share with your colleagues.

And, if you are still not sure, be sure to understand for certain whether you can stop using there software without penalty or payout at any time. With Tower Systems there is no lock in contract. You can sign up today, use it for a few weeks and then stop. rental is paid every month.

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The importance of POS software data backup in local small business retail

September 26, 2022
2 Min read
T

Our advice to retailers using our Tower Systems POS software is to backup every day, ideally at the end of the day.

We recommend to our customers that they use a cloud backup service that undertakes the backup, in the background, perpetually. We offer this type of service. We are equally happy with any other commercial cloud backup service.

Cloud backup is ideal because you don’t have to think about it, it’s offsite and onsite, it offers options as to the restore, it’s fast.

How our customers backup is 100% up to them.

The problem is, some don’t backup and as these things go, their realise the cost of not backing up when they need a recent backup the most.

So, we regularly remind our customers about the need to backup and we do this by sharing stories about businesses that did not backup and they cost to them of failing to to this vital and regular thing for their business.

POS software data backup should be daily as up to date backup data is critical to the ability to recover from anything.

Any business not backing up could suffer from a range of impacts by the lack of access to a recent data backup, including:

  • Wrong decisions based on gaps in business data.
  • Lower price achieved when selling the business due to gaps in data or no historical data.
  • More theft because of lack of evidence available.

The negative impacts of not backing up POS software data go beyond these, too, as because data is an asset and any loss of assets within a business comes at costs often not discovered at the time.

By moving to a cloud based backup solution, retailers are able to provide certainty as to data access and accuracy, and this brings peace of mind for a small cost to the business.

How and when any local retail business backs up POS software depends on how they view data. If they view it as an asset, the business benefits and those who rely on the business benefit. If they do not view data s an asset, then the business suffers.

Our advice here at Tower Systems is that any local retail; business should backup POS software data daily.

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