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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
Promote to retirement villages in the local area.
Advise local government authorities that you offer a benefit to retirees.
Contact local clubs and organisations likely to connect with retirees.
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.
Visit local retirement residences and offer assistance.
Advertise in trailer parks.
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.
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.
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.
The Optus data hack that was announced yesterday is serious. As to how serious, it’s too early to sell since Optus is yet to be sure as to the extent.
What we don’t understand is how Optus had this data organised and stored.
Our advice to our customers is to not, ever, store customer credit card, licence or other key identifying details in one place.
It’s why we recommend all payments are done through secure gateways, with only those gateways capturing and processing payment. This way the POS software itself does not need to store or even know the payment method or account numbers.
We also recommend any identifying details required for age specific purchased, details like a licence number, are sighted and accepted, but not stored. It doesn’t make sense to us to store a licence number or passport number. Maybe Optus had their reasons.
The last thing any business wants is to be responsible for the release into the public domain of private identifying details for any customer.
Software companies have a responsibility to provide tech platforms that meet the needs of local businesses. We have, in the past, been asked to store personal identifying details of customers, and declined. We explained the security risk. Some who asked understood. Others, it turned out, were not a good fit for us.
Software companies, like our POS software company’s have a responsibility to also provide advice to our customers since we are likely to be the tech experts in their world., We can’t make them behave a certain way, but we can at least explain what’s best when it comes to data security, protection from hacks and best practice backup tools to enable recovery would a hack be successful.
Local indie small businesses retailers following the advice we provide could not, ever, find themselves in the situation of Optus as the sensitive personal data would not be there to be taken in a hack.
Here at Tower Systems we take our role of making and supporting POS software for local indie retailers seriously. We are grateful to the 3,000+ local indie retail customer we serve for their support and engagement,. it means a lot to us and all who rely on us.
Our head office is closed today for the AFL Grand Final eve public holiday. But fear not, we’re open in other states, providing awesome customer service and sales access to awesome POS software made for local small business retail.
Now, the And the Big Men Fly reference … it is a reference to an excellent Australian play by Allan Hopgood. It’s a classic AFL drama. But back when it was written, the AFL was the VFL.
The Shopify POS solution from Tower Systems is designed for a range of specialty retail channels, independent retailers, local retailers, retailers that offer unique liocal service around specialty products.
Our Shopify POS solution is made here by us at Tower Systems and it is supported by us too.
We partner with Shopify to provide local small business retailers with a seamless Shopify POS solution.
From sales to inventory management to business decisions to business success, the Shopify POS solution is an ideal partnership solution for any local retailer keen to deliver a seamless in-store and online retail business management solution. designed for retailers first, it’s easy to learn and use, with the POS being in control of inventory and data at all times.
We love Shopify and what it offers online. Add to this our decades of years experience is serving local specialty retailing bolt it into Shopify and you have a two-way, seamless, Shopify POS solution from us here at Tower Systems.
Here is how our integration with Shopify works for retailers using our POS software:
Stock
Retailer is your master stock database. You flag what stock items you want to appear on your shopify store. Descriptions and extended descriptions are added as your titles and descriptions in Shopify. Newly flagged products are automatically added and if you edit items in Retailer you have field level control over how these are handled in Shopify.
Department And Categories
Option One: Treat departments as collections and Categories as Product Tags
This will use your Retailer Department as the collection and the category will be created as a product tag. This is our recommended approach as it allows for menu sorting and for categories to appear over multiple collections. Tags are searchable keywords associated with your product and can help customers find your product through your online store search. Tags can also use them to create automated collections. Please see Shopify knowledge base for more information.
Option Two: Treat Categories as Collections, ignore departments
The collection names are Retailer Categories. This is best used in smaller web stores selling a defined range of product.
Option Three: Self-Managed Collections
This is the least popular but may be necessary if there is an existing store and you do not want to change your current structure. If this option is selected then products will be added without a collection you will then need to allocate them once they have been added to the site via the link.
Prices And Quantity On Hand
You have control over your webstore pricing from within the Retailer Stock Screen. Bulk updates of the webstore prices can be performed in Stock Manager. Once new prices are set, your web store is updated automatically.
Quantity on hand is also managed automatically, when your sell or arrive an item into stock these adjustments are sent directly to Shopify. If the quantity on hand of an items drops to 0, the item is marked as out of stock in Shopify.
Images
The images you set against stock items in Retailer are automatically uploaded to your website. If images change, then old one is removed and the new one is added. You can upload as many images as you like per stock item.
Customers
Customers that purchase off your webstore are added as customers in your Retailer database, allowing you to track what they buy and market to them if you desire. Existing customers with an email address will also be added to your web store to facilitate easy sales if you choose.
Sales
Sales are downloaded on a periodic basis and imported into Retailer. They are imported into our Customer Invoice Maintenance facility allowing you to place orders and print invoices if needed. Once sales are imported it reduces your quantity on hand so you maintain accurate stock control. Sales can be allocated to a specific location or merged to you main sales data, giving you excellent control over how you report on your webstore sales.
The Tower Systems Shopify POS solution is comprehensive and constantly evolving as retail changes and the tech. platforms themselves change.
Aussie software company Tower Systems makes POS software for a range of specialty retail businesses including POS software for adult shops. Adult shops, like any specialty retail business, have needs unique to their channel. Some are regulatory needs while others come with the nature of the business and needs owners have to successfully run these businesses.
The POS software for adult shops from Tower Systems offers access to a variety of benefits including:
Get one-time-only shoppers spending more thanks to an easy to pitch loyalty system embedded in the software.
Leverage you. If you believe your knowledge is a differentiator, offer it through structured opportunities in the software.
Add value with product care information included on receipts.
Encourage customer happiness by serving product care info. on receipts.
Easily handle special customer orders. Bring product in for a specific customer and have them notified automatically by email or text when the goods are in and ready.
Easily sell online with a direct to Shopify / Magento or WooCommerce link from your POS software – including image flow.
Ensure compliance when required with structured age checking.
Save time with electronic invoices from suppliers.
Use tags to get a fresh perspective, side-view, on stock performance.
Bundle items together to make price comparisons harder and thereby increase sales.
Business differentiating loyalty. Stand out from the crowd. Have customers coming back to you for this.
Trade and club pricing profiles. Set pricing rules based on customer type.
Make money from pre-orders – Easily pre-sell a delivery so that when the stock arrives you can manage distribution and billing efficiently.
Differentiate with informative receipts. These can include product care, use and safety information based on what customers buy.
Differentiate with bundles. Selling items bundled together makes price comparison hard.
Track who sold what.
Say goodbye to LayBy – with integrated buy now pay later options.
Market to customers based on past purchases.
Save time by importing electronic invoices.
Sell more with a direct connect to buy now pay later services.
Cut mistakes with integrated EFTPOS.
Cut accounting and bookkeeping fees with integration to Xero and others.
We are proud to serve this specialty retail community with software made for them, software fit for purpose for adult shops.
You can rent our Aussie designed and supported POS software made for Adult Shops for $155.00 a month.
Australian developed and supported Adult shop POS software.
Software updates as we release them.
Unlimited licences for your shop. No extra cost for extra computers.
Shopify / Magento / Woo link. Easily sell online from your POS software.
Direct to Xero link. Easing bookkeeping and accounting costs
Our OzBiz link – connect to MYOB and Quicken through OzBiz.
Tyro link – safe, fast and easy EFTPOS link for streamlined sales.
PC Eftpos link – easy EFTPOS processing for the major banks.
Easy buy now pay later thanks to Zip Pay and Humm – that Boomers, Gen Y, Gen X and others are using more and more.
Support – help desk access, unlimited training, updates and more.
User documentation. Access to our searchable knowledge base.
Like all our POS software, our software adult shops continue to evolve. We have released two updates this year and have a third coming out in the next week or so.
All our offices are closed today for the national day of mourning following the passing of the Queen. Our after house numbers are available for any customer in urgent need of help.
In 2021, customers used cash for only 18% of POS transactions worldwide. People everywhere are using physical money less and less as technology advances.
To remain profitable, almost every business needs a method of accepting credit and debit card payments. A retail POS system is essential to avoid losing customers and sales.
However, choosing the best POS system can be difficult since you have so many options to choose from. There are many factors to consider when choosing retail POS software, like your business model and the volume of transactions.
If you’re not sure how to choose from all the newest retail technology on the market, we’ve got you covered. Read on to learn how to choose a POS system retail locations can rely on!
Retail POS: An Overview
POS stands for “point of sale.” POS systems for accepting card and mobile payments are often called EFTPOS, which stands for “electronic funds transfer at point of sale.”
The point of sale is the location where the actual transaction between customers and businesses takes place. Before digital payments, the POS was simply a cash register, but today the POS can be a mobile device or completely online.
The type of POS retail locations and restaurants use can vary, as restaurants often include a way to tip servers with your card payment. For retailers, this function is typically unnecessary for POS systems.
In addition to accepting card payments, POS systems can create receipts, and track sales and taxes. By keeping all this information together, you can make your accounting much simpler.
Different POS systems have options to help prevent retail theft and manage multi-store businesses.
Replacing point of sale technology can be overwhelming, so let’s look at some of the options on the market.
Tyro: Best Overall for Australian Retailers
Perhaps lesser known than POS giants like Square and Clover, this hidden gem is a great choice with several options to choose from.
Tyro has a monthly rental fee for equipment, which may initially be a turnoff. However, they charge a lower transaction fee than other retail POS systems, which can easily outweigh the rental fee with even a small number of transactions.
Tyro software also integrates with external POS hardware. If you already have a register and a card reader, you can use Tyro software without getting new equipment.
Tyro offers retail technology options for physical stores as well as e-commerce. Businesses also have a choice between mobile and tabletop POS hardware.
In particular, retail locations based in Australia should consider a Tyro POS system. Tyro is an Australian company that aims its services specifically toward Australian small businesses.
Square: Best Free Option
Square is possibly the biggest name in the POS industry. Known for its low-maintenance mobile readers, Square is a good choice for small business retail operations with a lower budget.
Businesses that want a simple and portable option will be pleased with a Square POS. Startups that can’t afford high upfront costs might also consider Square.
The simplest system is the magstripe reader, which is available for free and plugs right into a phone or tablet. For businesses needing more functionality, they also offer bigger POS hardware.
Square gives the option to buy POS equipment and doesn’t require a contract. The software can also help with tracking inventory and staff management.
What customers tend to like about Square is its simple pricing structure. Businesses know what they’re going to pay without a confusing combination of fees.
The biggest issue you may run into with Square is in the delivery of your funds. It can sometimes take days for funds to transfer to your bank.
Clover: Best for Large Shops
Clover is a good choice for larger stores that have a large number of monthly transactions. The software is user-friendly and it’s easy to get set up.
The biggest advantage of a Clover system is its functionality. Clover has many added features that can make businesses run more smoothly.
With this software, you can track payroll, customer reviews, and several other features that most POS systems don’t include.
While Clover has lots of perks, it doesn’t compare well to other systems in its contract structure and costs. Users have 60 days to cancel a subscription without additional fees.
In addition to the contract, Clover software doesn’t integrate with external systems, so you have to use their equipment. The transaction fees are also higher than Square and other systems.
Shopify: Best for Online Selling
Shopify is another good choice for retailers considering replacing POS system software. Specifically, Shopify works well for e-commerce.
While you can use your preferred payment processor, Shopify offers one on its platform called Shopify Payments. Users who process transactions on this payment processor don’t pay transaction fees.
The software is compatible with most smart devices and they offer mobile card readers.
The reason Shopify is good for online selling is because of how well it integrates with websites and social media. Customers can make partial payments, and you can embed the POS on Facebook and Instagram pages.
While there are many features available, users are often priced out of using a different payment processor. If you use a third-party processor, transaction fees can be as high as 2.9% plus a flat fee.
Another feature missing from Shopify is offline processing. If your system loses its internet connection, you can’t take payments using Shopify.
Upgrade Your Business
Payment processing is essential to running a successful business. Having an effective retail POS will ensure your customers can easily pay for your product.
When choosing the POS system that’s best for your business, consider your market and what features you want.
Still have questions about POS systems? Since 1981, Tower Systems has been helping small businesses in Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands.
Book a free demo today to learn what our POS services can do for your business!
Tower Systems is launching www.findit.com.au, a free marketplace for local indie retailers like you. Listing products on FindIt will be free for Tower Systems customers.
Our goal for FindIt is to help customers looking online for items you sell, to drive traffic to your shop.
We have built FindIt because of the growing importance of being online to in-store retail, and because some retailers are challenged with creating and running their own website. This is a no cost / low cost solution to help you be found online.
If you do have your own website, you will still be able to list on FindIt if you wish.
Retailers can choose to sell through FindIt, or just list what they have available in-store. If they do sell through FindIt, there is a fee of 10%. This covers Tower for credit card fees and Afterpay fees once that is live. It also covers us for credit card fraud claims. Retailers choose whether to sell through FindIt or not. Again, to list products and have your shop found is free.
We are hosting the website on a large secure and fast server in a remote data centre. We are also doing the backend SEO work to raise the Google profile.
Customers will land on the website from Google. As the ranking of the site increases, products on FindIt will list in Google results. Customers will be able to add items from multiple retailers to a FindIt basket in a transaction.
The FindIt website confirms the order to the customer and provides the retailer with a recipient created tax invoice. Retailers will be able to go to their FindIt vendor panel to download a picking slip.
Retailers choose the price of what they sell – it can be their web price or their retail price. In the Tower Systems POS software, retailers choose whether a product is listed online.
The image for a product will be the first image loaded for a product. If a retailer has a better image than the first one loaded by another retailer, it would take a manual process to change it, a process not currently in place. The same applies to descriptions.
We connect products by barcode. If a retailer generates their own barcode for an item already on FindIt, it will treat that product as a new item.
The price will be the retailer’s price – yes, multiple retailers on FindIt could result in different prices for the same item.
The product description is the key. Our advice on this is to try and think about what someone is likely to type into Google.
Retailers will have the option to be either freight free or charge. If a retailer has product dimensions and have selected to charge freight, the Australia Post plug-in we have will calculate a freight charge. Retailers will also have an option, on their vendor page in FindIt to set a flat freight charge if you wish.
We currently serve over 3,000 local small business independent retailers. Across that eco system there are more than 100,000 unique products. FindIt has the potential to be an important marketplace.
We are around 3 weeks away from launch.
In terms of the launch tho, it will be soft, no major fanfare. We’re taking a Field of Dreams approach … building it in the hope they do come.
This is a new space for us and for our customers. There will be missteps along the way for sure. We will evolve the site based on what we learn from these and from your feedback.
We are excited to help local indie retailers find new shoppers for your business.
Find out more about our Tower Systems POS software at our website, www.towersystems.com.au, where you can also easily watch demonstrations of our software. We only supply independent retailers. Plus, our software is Aussie made and supported.
For a personal demonstration or to discuss your POS software needs:
Multistore POS software helps retailers manage across multiple retail stores easily, accurately and efficiently.
Created by Tower Systems for retailers with multiple stores in the toy, garden, jeweller, bike, homewares and similar specialty retail spaces, this multi-storey POS software is made to save time, reduce mistakes and support fluid movement of inventory between stores.
This is an add-on to the Tower Systems POS software. Single store retailers can evolve to multi-storey POS software if they wish over time, when it suits. They can also transition back, if or when it suits. It is available in every specialty marketplace in which Tower Systems operates.
Flexibility is the key to this multi-storey POS software.
No matter how hard you work as a business owner, you can’t be everywhere at once – but with Tower Systems’ multi-store technology, you can act as if you are.
If you’re a small business owner with multiple retail sites then you need flexible software to manage each location with confidence. We first expanded our software suite with multi-store functionality in 2007 and continue to install and support it for dozens of clients, whether they have two shops or twenty. Developed out of our own retail experience running four gift shops, you can rest assured that we’ve considered your needs and have the answers you’re looking for.
For example, if a customer asks for a certain product that is out of stock at their current retail location, our software will immediately check for stock in other stores and inform your customer service staff of its availability. If you have a warehouse location, your staff can use this functionality to provide estimates on how long it will take to restock your retail store, or to transfer stock across from another store. This kind of seamless connectivity is instantaneous, invisible to the customer and representative of the opportunities of a multi-store point of sale system.
Multi-store locations can also be managed remotely, from any device and at any time – all you need is an Internet connection. You may want to do stock item maintenance for all your stores from home in the evening, or arrive invoices for some of your stores while you head to a café for lunch. You can compare store sales data over breakfast, adjust rosters for each store’s employees from the backseat of a taxi and much more.
Our multi-store package has fixed, transparent pricing. While some other retail software platforms charge a monthly amount per terminal, we offer pricing per physical location – whether each of your shops has one computer terminal or three, our competitive pricing remains the same for that location. It’s also eminently scalable – if you have one store now, you can easily add another later.
Tower Systems’ multi-store functionality has been built from the ground up to link your stores and give you the best possible control. We want to help you grow your business.
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