One of the most common challenges that small retail business owners face is employee motivation. It can be difficult to keep your team members engaged and enthusiastic, especially if they are dealing with bored customers or challenging tasks. However, motivated employees are essential for a successful business, so it’s important to find ways to keep them inspired. Here are a few tips to help you motivate your employees in a small retail business:
Encourage employee input and ownership: Make sure that your employees feel like they are part of the team and that their opinions are valued. Encourage them to take ownership of their work and give them the opportunity to contribute to decision-making.
Create a positive work environment: A positive work environment is essential for employee motivation. Make sure that your workplace is clean, comfortable, and organized. Encourage open communication and positive reinforcement.
Offer incentives: Offering incentives is a great way to motivate employees. Consider offering rewards for meeting sales goals, completing tasks, or providing excellent customer service.
Provide training and development opportunities: Employees who feel like they are learning and growing are more likely to be motivated. Offer training and development opportunities to help your employees reach their full potential.
Show appreciation: Showing appreciation is a simple but effective way to motivate employees. Take the time to thank your team members for their hard work and dedication. Let them know that you appreciate their efforts.
Most important, however, is how you motivate yourself. Retail; business owners are the leaders, they set the exam able, the tone and the pace of the business. Motivation can be picked up from watching them, working with them. So we say the most important advice is to work on motivating yourself, so you can be an encouragement for others.
By following these tips, you can create a motivated and productive team in your small retail business.
Tower Systems can help local small business retailers motivate staff by providing software that encourages efficiency and facilitates day to day enjoyment working in the business. This is software that helps the business provide good customer service, which in itself is motivating.
Calling a POS software help desk, or any help desk for that matter, can be a challenging experience. It’s important to know that no two help desks are the same.
We have put together some tips for a good help desk experience. These are designed to be useful in any situation:L
Make sure you’re prepared before calling – have your account number and password ready.
Be polite and respectful to the help desk representative, even if you’re frustrated. be sure to tell them who you are.
Explain the problem as clearly as possible, and be patient while they try to help you. Don’t interrupt once they start responding to what you have said.
Thank the representative for their time once the problem has been resolved.
If the problem can’t be fixed over the phone, ask for instructions on how to proceed.
Follow up with a thank-you email after the issue has been resolved.
Consider leaving a review of your experience.
If the call was not satisfactory, let the company know, so they can guide improvement.
Oh, and if you are at the counter in the shop, don’t expect them to hold while you serve customers.
Good customer service relies on good engagement from both sides. Customers need to be able to articulate their needs clearly, and customer service representatives need to be patient and attentive listeners.
Furthermore, both parties need to be respectful of each other’s time.
One of the most frustrating things about poor customer service is feeling like the representative is rushing you off the phone or not taking your concerns seriously. On the other hand, representatives should be efficient in order to minimize wait times for customers. In short, successful customer service engagements require effective communication and a mutual commitment to courtesy and respect.
Every day here at Tower Systems we interact with our customers, mainly on the phone. We are grateful for the opportunity to help. It all begins with listening, which is followed by providing advice that we expect will help. Often, the help we offer is from existing content we have that has been tested. We prefer to offer a proven solutions from that everyone wins.
A few weeks ago we hosted another Zoom meeting for our POS software customers, which we recorded as the majority of customers from your 3,000+ strong community will access the video rather than be with us live. We shared the video and it;’s been a hit. Here now, for others to see, is POS software company transparency in action as we show a brand new software facility, take questions and feedback on it, and engaged in an open Q&A.
The update to which we refer is out, and getting plenty of love, for which we are grateful.
From the outset – we can’t answer this question. We don’t use the OnSwim jeweller software. We’ve never used it. What we do know is our POS software for Jewellers.
We;’re not 100% sure but we think, based on our research, that our POS software for jewellers is the only Australian made and Australian supported software for jewellers. This makes it a perfect fir for jewellers who themselves spruce Australian made and shop local. You can’t get any more local for jeweller software than our Tower Systems software for jewellers.
There are differences in how retail jeweller businesses operate in Australia compared to, say, in the United States or Europe. Being made here in Australia, our POS software for jewellers serves Australian needs for sure. That our support is local, live in the local Aussie time zones, makes accessing customer service easier too for jewellers and their staff members.
But it’s the software that really matters here as it is the software that must serve the needs of each user retail business. Our jeweller POS software is made for jewellers.
Here are some of the benefits of the Tower Systems jeweller business POS software:
Jeweller specific stock management, including stone details.
Family event tracking.
Jeweller repairs management services.
Club pricing: Helps you attract community group members.
BOGO: Increase sales with buy this and get that bundling.
Warranty: Track details and leverage this for customer service.
Sell anywhere: Using our Retailer RoamTM sell anywhere app.
Seasonal reordering: Reorder inventory based on seasonal sales.
Using this software for jewellers, you have access to:
Loyalty facilities through which you can differentiate your business, like seriously … shoppers respond to the levers you can pull, and your business benefits.
Sell online, easily. Our Shopify integration is seamless, official and easy to use and manage.You can pass images and data to the website. Sales come back into the Tower software.
Special orders: tools that enable you to sell in advance of having physical stock to sell.
Repair facilities through which you can track and manage in-house and offsite repairs.
Colour / size / style: smart and efficient inventory tracking.
Event marketing through which you can create contact lists of customers based on anniversary, birthday and other life event dates.
The $199.00 a month software rental can be cancelled at any time. There is no annual payment, no lock-in.
We provide a structured and personalised on-boarding process designed for jewellers, which is paid for separately. This provides data conversion, one-on-one training, setup guidance and priority support as you settle in.
In his 1960 book, Reality in Advertising, Rosser Reeves, a respected US advertising executive, introduced the world to the concept of the Unique Selling Proposition, USP for short.
Reeves defined USP in an advertising context:
Each advertisement must make a proposition to the consumer: buy this product and you will get this benefit.
The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not
The proposition must be so strong that it changes consumer behaviour.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the concept of a unique selling proposition evolved from being essential to advertising to being essential in business. Finding your business USP was considered mission critical to businesses, retailers especially. Businesses drifted however and forgot about the importance of a USP.
Jack Trout told us just a few years ago that it was as relevant today. In 2000, he said that a Unique Selling Proposition was mission critical in business in his aptly titled book Differentiate or Die.
Differentiate of Die. There is no doubt about the call to action in the title, no doubt about the consequences of inaction.
Yet many retailers, for the most part, have remained still in the face of an onslaught of competition.
Retail is tough, especially small business retail, local retail, indie retail. The differences between competitors are fewer – there is a lot of follow the leader / innovator. Retailers are surrounded by competition and it grows by the day. Yet many have copied others, and not done anything to stand out.
Smart retailers are re-acquainting themselves with the writings of Reeves and Trout and leaning about the mission critical imperative of having a Unique Selling Proposition.
Differentiation could be service, products or location or a combination of these. Differentiation will most likely not be price as anyone can match this easily. Price is, after all, the last line of defense in any business battle. That said, there are some major price-focused success stories – Walmart for example. It is rare in an independent retail situation.
To develop your USP, engage with your employees and other stakeholders. Take your time. Determine what you and your business stand for. Following open and honest discussion and debate, the USP around which everyone in the business can willingly congregate will emerge.
A good USP will not require an advertising campaign to communicate. It will become obvious through actions and decisions. By living the USP in every facet of the business you soon become seen as unique by shoppers and this can drive excellent word of mouth and success for the business.
While differentiation in retail is more important today than ever thanks to today’s economic conditions, the approach to the challenge is the same as in the 1960s.
Our Tower Systems POS software offers opportunities to be unique, easy and quick ways through which any retail business can present as being unique. We help retailers stand out, be noticed, be remembered, and be more successful.
Just about all local high street retailers will tell you trade is good, even if the face or a returned wave of covid infections.
High street retail is strong because shoppers are concerned abut big shopping centres. They prefer the easier local high street situation for shopping. We hear from shoppers that they feel this situation is safer for them. So, in a comparison of a shopping mall visit versus a high street retail visit, for plenty of shoppers the preference will be the high street visit.
The other reason local high street retail is strong is because plenty who shifted to work from home at the start of Covid have not returned to the city, to big offices. People are loving working from home, living and working locally … and, local retailers are loving serving them, helping out with new needs of this now more regional office based workforce.
We are not part of the camp calling for workers to return to the office. For our customers and even for our own business we support people working where they are able, where they are happiest. This is good for local communities, and especially good for local high street retail.
Of course, our views are selfish in that the vast majority of our Tower Systems POS software customers and local high street retailers. Jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, pet shops, games shops, sewing shops, fishing shops, charity shops, music shops, produce businesses, newsagents, camping shops, firearms dealers, convenience shops … and more.
These local shops benefit from shoppers preferencing local high street retail over a shopping mall or shopping during a lunch break from office work in the city.
Plenty of local retailers have adjusted their businesses to better serve these new opportunities that emerged from Covid and while some saw the shift as temporary, engaged retailers have planned for the permanent shift of some from city based work to suburban and regional work. The benefit for the local community of this shift is considerable as local retailers will spend more of what they make locally than a shopping mall big business or than a city based business.
What we are seeing in Australia, and globally, is a reset of how, where and when we work and having a front seat to this shift, this change, is a wonderful opportunity not only as an observer, but as a participant.
One of the benefits of us owning and running retail shops is that we can offer a live and behind the counter demonstration of our POS software.
Retailers considering our Tower Systems POS software can get in behind the counter, watch transactions, and even do transactions so that they get up close and personal with the software in a live situation. Better still, they can talk to our store managers and team members on a retailer to retailer level and ask any questions.
Typically, these visits happen without sales people there, offering a more authentic opportunity to see this POS software live.
We also have customer who watch from the customer side of the counter, to see how that plays out, the workflow and efficiency.
Some retailers like to look in the back room and see any back office management using our POS software – where stock bay be arrived into the business,s stock scanned out to be returned to suppliers or other more office related work undertaken.
Having shops available for retailers to visit is a unique situation. We are not aware of any other Australian POS software company that has this resource – shops they own and run where their POS software can be seen, used and observed first-hand.
POS software démonstrations are good and can show off the detail of how the software works. It is in-store where you get to see real life situations, how the software can help with queries, actually save time, genuinely cut mistakes and more. It is in smooth workflow in specialty retail settings that the Tower Systems POS software shines and we think our ownership of retail businesses is a factor on the tuning of our software to a level that it is easily seen as valuable.
We have more retailers going through our softens for personal in-store demonstrations and hands-on use this week. It’s all organised through our sales team: sales@towersystems.com.au or 1300 662 957.
We do have retailers who just turn up at one of our shops and look and while there is no barrier to this, it’s more respectful of our retail team members if we schedule the visit as in the shops we put the needs of our retail customers and our retail team members ahead of everything else.
So, come see awesome locally made and supported POS software live in one of our shops, serve some of our customers and see whether it suits your own business.
We are grateful for the opportunity to be interviewed for this ABC TV news story about working from home through Covid.
Here at Tower Systems, and our other business, newsXpress, we offer our team members the choice of where to work. There is no pressure on them returning to work, to the office. We will support them where they want to work.
We filmed so much more for the ABC story. We appreciate their interest in our approach to business.
What a perfect Father’s Day card for a cyclist dad this Father’s Day. Even better, it’s Aussie made just like our software for bike shops and our software for card, gift shops and newsagencies where this awesome Father’s Day card is for sale.
We are grateful to also have this card from Aussie company Henderson Greetings in our own shops, as part of our Father’s Day card range.
Aussie made does matter to Aussie shoppers.
Tower Systems is a proud Aussie POS software company serving local Aussie retailers with specialty retail POS software.
Local game shops are unique retail businesses, awesome businesses, fun businesses, serving a loyal community of game players of all sorts.
A good local game shop connects with this community in many ways. The software we have for game shops helps with this. here is a recent Q&A about our specialty retail game shop POS software.
I have multiple shops, does the software handle this? Yes.
Can I sell gift cards for my business? Yes.
I sometimes sell away from the shop at events, can the software do this? Yes, our Retailer RoamTMoption manages selling from anywhere.
Can I manage second-hand goods with this software? Yes, you can track the details of the seller and maintain accurate records.
Can the software manage special orders for customers? Yes.
Can I pre-sell items? Yes.
Does the software handle club member pricing? Yes, this can be a great marketing tool, getting local community or other group members support the business and fundraising at the same time. Being able to do this, to support clubs, helps be business lock-in members long term.
Does the software have a facility for encouraging infrequent shoppers to spend more? Yes, it’s proven to work well at achieving this.
Does the software produce WAS / NOW price labels? Yes.
Does the software manage time-based catalogue pricing? Yes.
Can I include product use instructions on the receipt? Yes.
I have similar items from several suppliers. Can I compare suppliers? Yes.
Does the software handle LayBys? Yes.
Can you reach back out to customers based on past purchases? Yes. This is vital given the special interests of game players and those who buy for them.
Does the system handle account customers? Yes, you can setup and manage customer accounts.
Does the system produce invoicing and statements? Yes, these can be printed or emailed.
Can I manage stock by colour, size and style? Yes.
Can I integrate the software with my suppliers? Yes. We have many customers importing stock files and invoices. If you want to provide a supplier a data feed of sales of their product, our software can do this too.
Does the software connect with my website? We partner with Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce and offer direct links to these.
Can I email receipts? Yes.
Can I track where my customers come from? Yes.
Do I have to pay for software on additional computers in my business? No.
Can I connect with my EFTPOS terminal? Yes. 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? Yes. We’d like to check your data to be sure. We will advise what can be safely brought across.
Does it integrate with Xero? Yes.
The game shop POS software from Tower Systems offers many facilities, helping specialty game retailers serve in a way that matches the specialisation we see in that retail channel.
It saddens us to hear stories of challenges experienced by newsagents trying to get their business online. It happens too often.
One newsagent told us they spent $10,000 for a local web developer who made something complex but that could not connect to the software they were using at that time. Another newsagent told us last week that they went with a website from their newsagent software company and it never worked for them.
Here at Tower Systems we offer to create websites for newsagents using our POS software at a fixed price. There’s a deposit paid and the remainder is not paid until the site is live and useable.
We have done hundreds of websites connected to our POS software, for newsagents and many other businesses.
The challenge for newsagents, though, is unique. What do they sell is a big question, which were contemplated in making this new video for newsagents:
When people shop online they shop for an outcome. They search for the product or purpose. They do not search for a masthead.
This is a valuable insight for any newsagent considering a website for their business for putting your newsagency online with what you sell today could be an expensive mistake.
Tower Systems has built many websites for newsagents and most are not sites that represent the newsagency shop online. Rather, they present as a different business, focussed on a niche category and leveraging the shop infrastructure to help the business expand.
This is the smart move for any retailer selling online – using it as a start-up opportunity that makes use of space and labour in the shop but not relying on products in the shop.
In one case, a newsagency business has grown online to where it is more financially valuable than the shop within which it was incubated.
In another case a newsagent tested a category online, hit gold and expanded the shop to offer this, hitting more gold.
Engaging with Tower Systems to create a POS software connected website provides newsagents with access to comprehensive online sales data through deep Google results research. This can help newsagents discover opportunities not previously on their radar.
By tapping into current keyword search data using respected commercial tools, Tower Systems is able to show newsagents pathway opportunities into new product areas online. These can be opportunities tapped into with a minimal capital investment, an opportunity for expansion with a modest budget.
While we understand the push to take the shop online, in my years of experience owning newsagencies and running successful and failed websites connected to the shops, my advice is to leverage the website opportunity as if it is a start-up, playing in a space you have not played in before, with the goal of it leading you on a path of discovery.
Tower Systems is better placed to support this greenfield approach than a local web developer as we own and run shops that are connected to our POS software and do sell online. We walk in your shoes daily.
We are looking for a senior React Native developer who can develop and maintain a new iOS and Android App using React Native for a new product. Ideally, located in Melbourne given the new nature of this role and the new product for which it is planned, but we may consider interstate candidates.
This can be a permanent full time position or contract – it’s up to you.
About you (essential):
Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or a similar field.
3 years minimum experience in developing software for iOS and Android
3 years minimum experience in Mobile App development using React Native and React JS(Typescript).
Understanding of GraphQL, REST APIs, and offline storage.
Familiarity with native build tools, like XCode, Gradle, etc.
Experience in deploying Apps to App Store and Google Play Store.
Ability to work in a highly agile, non prescriptive environment.
Self motivation and management are key.
Bonus skills we’d love:
Experience building node.js applications.
Experience with AWS services.
Office based in Hawthorn, VIC, which is preferred. We may consider work from home.
What do you do? It’s a question you’re often asked when meeting someone for the first time.
Imagine the reaction when a local retailer says I sell memories.
How awesome is that. It’s emotional, heartwarming and intriguing all at once.
This is what local small business retailers using our POS software can say. Like the fishing shop that sells fishing rods, bait and more, and adds value by sharing local fishing tips and secret location details … and doing all of this consistently and easily through their Tower Systems fishing shop POS software.
This is one of the videos we have made to nurture part of what we do, the selling of memories. While this is made for fishing shops, it also speaks to other retailers where we support them selling memories to customers.
Embedded in out POS software are ways retailers can do this, sell memories, add value beyond the products they sell to make the experience wonderful, memorable.
We are so proud to be able to do this, to help our retailers sell memories that are heartfelt and cherished. And, while for sure, this is about what the tech does, it is about how what we do helps retailers to act in ways that play out as to how customers feel. This is where the memories are made – from feelings as a result of using the what the business sells, based on the use of the POS software we make.
Tower Systems is not your usual POS software company.
We make POS software for local specialty retail. We also run and operate 4 shops in Melbourne in the gift / homewares / collectibles spaces as well as 7 online shops. We understand the challenges of being small and local, and we have built into our software tools to help you thrive.
In you software you have easy easy for sharing locally relevant knowledge and advice, which can help your business stand out, and bring people back.
Like we said, Tower Systems is not your average POS software company.
As well as making and supporting our POS software, we also share retail insights.
To find out more about our POS software, email sales@towersystems.com.au or call 1300 662 957. You can also directly call Tim on 0401 833 917 or Justin on 0434 365 789.
While we are flattered that Canadian owned software company Retail Express thinks Tower Systems is important enough to target in YouTube ads, it is frustrating that they are trying to woo sales prospects from people we attract to POS software demonstration videos at our YouTube channel.
Here is a screen shot from a Retail Express ad video that appeared for us this morning when we went to play our newsagency POS software demonstration video at our Tower Systems YouTube channel.
Being targeted like this by a Canadian owned software company is frustrating in that we are an Aussie owned software company.
We found out about Retail Express targeting us when someone called and let us know. They were confused because they wanted to see the video of the demonstration of our POS software and this video from the Canadian owned Retail Express appeared. Once we explained that Retail Express is paying YouTube (Google) money for their video to play before ours they understood what was happening.
Tower Systems does not pay for any keyword or company name ads or other content promoting us to run when people are searching for a competitor. People searching have a right to find what they are looking for, not a competitor paying to insert themselves in the search retails.
Retail Express is a competitor of Tower Systems. We’ve not seen their software, other than this ad they are running. We have switched some retailers from their software to ours. We are sure they will have switched some our customers to them. It happens.
What we do know is that we are an Australian owned POS software company. Our software is highly specialised in nature. we serve over 3,000 locally owned retail businesses. We only focus on local retail – we have no interest in chasing large retail groups or businesses. We are best at serving local.
Retail Express is owned by Marapost, a Canadian company.
If you go to play a Tower Systems YouTube video and the Retail Express ad comes up, please know that it’s not our choice their ad plays first. It’s something they are paying for. And, while we are flattered that they think we are important enough for them to do this, we wish they’d focus more on their own business rather than ours.
In mid 2019, our POS software company, Tower Systems moved from the old software sales model to rental.
Today, 3 years on, the move has proven to be a hit with more than 30 newsagents switching to Tower Systems in the last 6 months and many more since mid 2019.
Whereas in the past newsagents would find around $8,000 up front for software, today the cost is $185.00 a month with the newsagent having the option to stop rental at any time. There is no lock-in contract.
This new approach to acquiring modern newsagency software is less of a strain on capital and cash flow in a newsagency business. It also bundles together software support access and software update costs into the single $185.00 a month cost.
Indeed, we made this move for all our POS software, for jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, sewing shops, gift shops, toy shops, pet shops, farm / produce businesses, firearms dealers, and more. Each has access too our specialty POS software for their marketplace under a rental arrangement for a few dollars a day.
With retail businesses now changing hands at a higher cost, the rental model is easy at time of change over as there is no longer a question as to the financial value of the software.
The software offered for rental is the 2022 release of the Tower Systems POS software, the software already in use by more than 3,500 specialty retailers in Australia and New Zealand newsagents in Australia.
The rental model also provides retailers with access to the Tower Systems proprietary theft check service, the business performance analysis service and low cost ready to use website development services.
The software also provides local retailers with smart tools for engaging with community groups, helping them to deal with the challenge of donation requests in a way that benefits the community groups, shoppers, and the business.
With the goal of helping retailers run more efficient, profitable and valuable retail businesses, the Tower Systems newsagency software packs considerable value for the few dollars a day cost.
The small daily cost was set in mid 2019 and has not changed since, offering locL retailers certainty when budgeting business tech. overheads.
We’re chuffed that our home made YouTube video has reached more than 23,000 full views in under 2 weeks. We are especially grateful because this ad shines a light on local small business retail and the role it plays in serving the local community.
This is what we do through our POS software, help local retailers serve their local community. And we love that role, love that we are able to practically help, through the software, into the community.
It is no secret that turnover is high in the retail industry. In fact, according to the National Retail Federation, the average turnover rate for retail employees is more than 70%. This high turnover rate can be costly for businesses, in terms of both time and money. Therefore, it is important for retail businesses to find ways to retain their employees.
One way to retain employees is to provide them with opportunities for growth and development. This could include offering training and development programs, as well as opportunities for promotion. Another way to retain employees is to offer competitive compensation and benefits packages. This could include things like health insurance, paid time off, and retirement savings plans. Finally, creating a positive work environment can also help to retain employees. This means providing things like a flexible work schedule, good working conditions, and a supportive team culture. By taking steps to retain their employees, retail businesses can improve their bottom line.
Here at Tower Systems we help retailers hire and retain employees in a number of ways. In fact, we made a short video about it yesterday:
Thanks to our structured training materials, employees in retail businesses using our software have a pathway of education that can hold them in good stead as they move forward with their career.
Being able to learn like this encourages them to appreciate their employment more, and this facilitates stability within the local small business team.
Retailers looking to staff their stores with the best talent should consider implementing these tips, structuring their business to be less labour reliant and more accurate when it comes to data. And, once you have the right team in place, be sure to use Tower Systems POS software to help manage and retain your employees. Our software is designed to make the retail experience as smooth as possible for both customers and employees alike. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you build a successful team that will keep your customers coming back for more.
See more at our website www.towersystems.com.au or call us for a human to human chat on 1300 662 957.
Finding employees is challenging for local small business retail. It’s a problem here in Australia and around the world.
Using our POS software, retailers can offer retail employees skills development, which helps people develop their careers. Through our structures self-paced as well as personal one-on-one training, retail employees not only learn the software, they learn business, and this can help them find a future pathway they enjoy.
Good POS software plays a vital role in hiring and retaining employees.
Our trainers and our POS software help desk trim members provide resources and services that can help retail employees contribute more, enjoy their work more and develop more valuable skills.
We love work with retail employees who want to learn more and who have the backing of their employer to do so – we are careful yo respect the wishes of our clients in terms of the extent of employee training and insights we provide and there are some settings where this needs to be limited.
Our CEO was recently in the US looking at retail and noticed the challenges confronting retailers on finding employees. We share this today to reflect the broader view we have of retail, beyond the POS software itself …
The retail job shortage has retailers changing-up their approach to recruiting.
The challenge of hiring and retailing retail workers is worldwide. It is causing retailers to go to extraordinary lengths.
In a small US town I was in a few days ago, of the 25 shops on the Main Street, 21 were advertising vacancies in their front window.
In a Taco Bell that I visited (don’t judge me) 3 days ago, every place where this chain restaurant location would usually promote meal options and deals, they were advertising for people.
The moment you step into Taco Bell, you see this table.
Four of the windows had these signs facing inside and out.
The front window had sign writing, too:
Above the registers and at the self-service tech screens they had signs too.
But back to the table inside the front door. They had collateral pitching employee benefits:
On top of all this visual noise is the pitch at the counter. Yes, they were asking some (but not all) customers if they knew of anyone looking for a job.
In this Taco Bell outlet, looking for new staff was more important than promoting what they sell.
Apple Inc. is raising salaries for retail workers in the US by 10% or more and upping its global companywide compensation budget as it faces a tight labor market and unionization efforts.
The company is hiking hourly pay for retail staff to at least $22 per hour, up from a previous $20 minimum, the company told employees on Wednesday. The move follows a pay bump in February after inflation grew more severe and some staffers complained about working conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Apple and Taco Bell are not alone.
During the trip to the US I got to speak with a broad range of business owners and managers. Staffing is their top of mind challenge. Some are taking the Apple approach and increasing pay rates. Others are offering signing bonuses and new employee referral bonuses. Others are ensuring they run companies people enjoy working for.
The staffing problem exists across all sectors in all settings. Bigger businesses are more likely to use money to address the challenge. In small businesses we have more flexibility in terms of our response. But respond we must, otherwise, we will struggle to retail people let along hire new people when we need.
I am not suggesting we follow the Taco Bell approach. I think that approach is more rooted in decades of minimum wages and challenges in terms of the grind of the work in the business. I shared the Taco Bell story because I saw it first-hand.
Local small business retailers in Australia will need to address the staffing challenge in the way that is most appropriate to their situation and settings. If I was to offer any advice on this it would be be sure to have a plan, because you don’t want to react when facing a staffing shortage that is negatively impacting the business.
Let’s talk for a moment about why there is a job shortage.
More people are able to work from anywhere than ever before;. They can find good jobs, well-paying jobs, working from home. For plenty, this has enabled them to break free from minimum wage and jobs with a high commute cost.
There’s more gig economy work, too. This offers flexibility for people with other demands on their time.
We are grateful to have switched more MYOB Retail Manager customers to our POS software so far in 2022.
We follow a structured process for retailers making the switch from MYOB Retail Manager, to ensure they are fully trained and as much data is converted as is possible. We are also careful to not pressure people to make the switch. Our pitch is we’re here if you need us.
We respect the place MYOB Retail Manager has played in serving small business retailers. As the alternative to MYOB Retail Manager, Tower Systems seeks to help those retailers lean into opportunities of change.
We are grateful for feedback from small business retailers who have switched from MYOB retail manager to our Tower Systems POS software …
We loved that we could start again with our data. We have used MYOB Retail Manager for many years and had not been ideal in our management of the data. The stock was right but the stock on hand was wrong. So switching allowed us to clean the data.
Tower were great. They took our MYOB Retail Manager, looked at how we used it and provided advice on how to take that generational leap we needed to shift our business up a notch or two, to make it more viable and competitive.
We loved that even though we moved on from MYOB Retail Manager we could keep using MYOB for our account ting software. That was important to us. Tower were great in respecting this.
Our data was a mess.We had used MYOB Retail Manager for many years over many different staff. The Tower people helped us get completely clean and accurate data and that has made a huge difference to our business.
The personal training was awesome.
I like that they didn’t pressure us.
We are grateful for the many former users of MYOB Retail Manager who have joined our user community.
With MYOB Retail Manager at end of life, research options that are out there. Take your time to choose software that serves your needs. If that is Tower Systems, we will do everything we can to make the move stress free for you and your team and commercially valuable for your business.
Processing credit and credit card payments through POS software can be expensive. Some POS software companies have arrangements that add to the cost.
This is why we say to retailers to take care, to take the time to understand the transactional cost of using the POS software.
In one situation recently a new customer for our Tower Systems POS software was grateful to create, through us, a low cost for EFTPOS transactions since through their other POS solution provider the cost was over 2% per transaction. The saving in their business amounts to a saving of $30,000 a year. That’s right, more than $30,000 in EFTPOS fees saved by switching to Tower Systems.
It is not uncommon to see 2% and higher fees for EFTPOS as plenty of companies operate at the core with this model of a per transaction clip to fund their business.
We think this approach is unfair. It is disappointing that the real details are often not obvious.
We’re a POS software company and charge a fair price for the software. That;s how we make our money. Our customers are free to choose the EFTPOS partner that best suits their need. We can share our insights through which they could save money.
It is frustrating seeing some POS companies make slick marketing pitches and hiding in fine print high operating costs, like we see from some through their EFTPOS fee arrangements. It’s expensive, and unreasonable in our view.
For any retailer reading this and wondering how to tap into the significant saving on EFTPOS fee costs, talk to us. We will share our insights and what we did in our own shops to keep these per transaction EFTPOS fees low and to a level that they are not a pain point in the business. Being retailers ourselves we live these concerns every day and we are grateful for the opportunity to share our knowledge.
If EFTPOS is used regularly in your retail business, consider looking at your arrangements to see if a fee reduction could be achieved. As plenty of Tower Systems customers have found, switching software can unlock financially rewarding benefits.
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