The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Latest stories

Marketing tips for small business retailers

May 1, 2021
2 Min read
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Here at Tower Systems, through our work with our specialsist retail POS software, we get to see many different types and sizes of retail businesses. we are grateful for the insights they share and the inspiration they provide.

We have put together this collection of local small business retail every day marketing tips. These are tips that could work in almost any business situation. We hope you find it useful.

  1. Always unpack and price products on the shop floor and not in the back room or outside of shopper view.
  2. Always have a value-proposition offer just inside the entrance to the business. This should be a double-sided offer, one they see as they enter and as they leave. Ensure it is:
    1. Easily understood.
    2. Easily purchased.
    3. Broadly appealing.
    4. Something people will talk about.
    5. Fun, ideally.
  3. Always have an appealing impulse purchase offer at the counter. Change this weekly. Use the opportunity to learn more about what your customers will purchase on impulse.
  4. Always know your top selling items in the store and always place products next to the top selling item thoughtfully, to leverage the eyeballs looking for and at the top selling product.
  5. Run a generous loyalty program where the value is understood. This probably means not using points, because points have a questionable value thanks to the trashing of loyalty programs by big retailers.
  6. Create stunning window displays people would not expect to see in your type of business.
  7. Offer multi-buy opportunities unlocking savings for people purchasing more than would be usual in a single visit.
  8. Be brief in talking to customers about your products on social media: a single product per post. Two sentences. Short sentences. Make the post appealing beyond you trying to promote your business. Entertain them.
  9. Send customers a card for special occasions, a personal card to reinforce the personal relationship you have with them.
  10. Change the front two metres of your shop weekly, keep it fresh for your customers and your staff.

Our goal with this list is to give you ideas you can use right away as well as ideas that will get you thinking of your own ideas.

Go for it. Remember, if you do next week what you did this week you cannot expect any growth. Growth only comes from change.

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Can your POS software help identify a gross profit problem in a retail business?

April 30, 2021
2 Min read
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Yes, it can!

Good POS software provides you with tools for checking / tracking GP% and thereby cross-checking to see if data errors have been made that result in inaccurate information as to the profitability of the business.

Our POS software helps mitigate against data errors by eliminating human touch of data as much as possible. However, not all human touch can be avoided, and this opens to possible data errors, which can play out to GP, business profitability reporting and, eventually, tax liability.

Our Tower Systems POS software helps small business retailers to identify and resolve data errors that feed an inaccurate gross profit reporting situation. Our help desk team also provide comprehensive support for any business chasing problematic data. Our retail business support team go further and provide help from an accountant perspective, where a issue may be revealed in the P&L – we work back to the source, which is usually inaccurately entered data in the POS where someone has not followed basic principles or, worse, someone has manipulated the processes to hide fraud.

We saw a situation recently where a local retail business using other software, not from us, was confronted by a tax bill that was considerably higher than expected. They had been trying to get help through the POS software company they were using. As that was not working ut for them, they sought our help. We showed how we track and manage GP fluctuation in our software and encouraged them to speak with their POS provider again, to ask for more useful help in getting to an understanding of what has happened.

Can your POS software help identify a gross profit problem in a retail business?

We are grateful to answer yes to this question – through our software, our help desk and our retail business support team.

POS software is only as useful as support provided by those who make and care for the software and its users. It is frustrating seeing a small business owner left with a challenging situation for which there should be answers in their business data, but, answers they cannot find for themselves as they do not have the requisite tools and knowledge.

Good software support is key for small business retailers using POS software.

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Charity shop / op. shop software helps charities manage community retail businesses

April 30, 2021
2 Min read
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Tower Systems is grateful to work with a diverse and engaged mix of charities and community groups through providing charity shop  / op. shop software.

We were surprised when first approached years ago by a community group and, then, thrilled to discover that our specialty retail PO software has facilities embedded in the software that serve the needs of charity shops, community retail businesses and the quintessential Aussie Op. Shop.

Our op. shop software , opportunity shop software, charity shop software helps these businesses, these community run and community serving businesses, to run more efficiently, accurately and successfully.

Thanks to unique tools, this charity shop software / opportunity shop software can track engagement with multiple community groups in several ways, making the software useful in a broader variety of community group settings.

Using this Aussie made and supported POS software, a local charity can manage secondhand goods if they are selling items above a trigger value that requires such tracking.

From tracking inventory, rewarding shoppers, understanding sales performance and helping volunteers run the business, this POS software for charity shops and opportunity shops helps local charities in their mission of service.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve charity / community businesses in regional, rural and suburban Australia from garden and produce related enterprises through to the more traditional op. shop situation. We have years of experience with church related groups as well as community groups.

This op. shop software / charity shop software / social enterprise retail management software serves in a diverse mix of situations and offers facilities backed with flexibility.

To see the software, speak with one of our sales people today. they can demonstrate the software to the charity shop manager,  volunteers and / or board members. We are happy to to this, to see if our POS software made for op. shops is useful for your needs.

Sell online. Using this software, you can easily connect with Shopify to sell online thanks to our partnership with Shopify for a seamless integration.

Made in Australia and supported locally, this POS software is used by thousands of independent retail businesses, including charity shops and op. shops. being local and small business focussed keeps us grounded and targeted in a way that benefits the local focus of charity shops.

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Small business retail advice: beware web developers and consultants offering to create a website for your retail business

April 30, 2021
3 Min read
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We urge small business retailers to take care when selecting an individual or business to undertake Shopify web development. Inside the Shopify web developer ecosystem there are people who take the money, do the bare minimum and run – failing the retail businesses that paid them.

How do you spot a Shopify web developer who is not likely to serve the needs of your retail business? Here is our advice …

Look at their quote. Is it professionally laid out? Is it well written? Is it understandable? Is it complete? If it is none or only some of these things they may not be the developer for you for if they take this approach representing themselves what approach will they take representing you?! we say … be particularly concerned about text based quotes.

Look for understanding. In their words there should be indicators that they understand your needs and that they want to understand your needs. The website is all about you and your business after all.

Speak to them. We have seen shonky web developers void this at all costs. Speak to them. Talk with them. Engage in conversation. You are looking for someone you can trust your business with. Speak to them.

Look at them. Ask for a Zoom meeting, so you can meet face to face. Ask them to show you sample Shopify sites in this meeting and to explain why each is a good sample site for you to consider. Sometimes we see web developers avoid Zoom meetings so they can hide behind typed words. face to face can be revealing.

Say you don’t understand. Tell them you don’t understand some or all of their pitch. Test their patience. See if they meet you at a tech jargon level that you are comfortable with. Challenge them. test them. It is vital they use words and terms you understand. They have to meet you, not you them.

Be in control. You are the customer. You choose the web developer you go with. Decide whether you accept their quote and their terms. You do these things when it suits you. Do not succumb to pressure as anyone pressuring you on timing may be serving their needs and not yours.

Website development right now is like the 1800s gold rush – fast, unregulated with a lot of people being negatively impacted along the way and only a few finding gold.

Take your time. Be sure of what matters to you. Choose the business you want to work with, they business you think can hell you achieve what you want.

Know that you get what you pay for. by that we mean … some web developers under quote as a business model either because they will cut corners or because they know they can charge extra for what they did not know at the start. Again, take your time, be sure of your needs, and remember the carpenter adage: measure twice, cut once. Time spent before you make a decision on your Shopify web developer could ensure that the outcome is better for you and your business.

If you are looking for a Shopify website for your retail business: Email sales@towersystems.com.au or call us on 1300 662 957.

Recently released websites we have developed for Tower Systems customers.

www.backobourkecollective.com.au
www.inspiretasmania.com.au
www.brindabellastockfeed.com.au
www.heavensabove.com.au
www.loavesrobe.com.au
www.masterjewellersonline.com.au
www.chitchatgifts.com.au
www.eidsvoldrural.com.au
www.forevergiftsandmore.com.au
www.funporium.com.au
www.goulburnstationery.com.au
www.rehfisch.com.au
www.merimbulaextra.com.au
www.morganpark.com.au
www.nextragiftsorange.com.au
www.northsideproduceagency.com.au
www.pamperedpetz.com.au
www.www.paperplayonline.com.au
www.parkesnewsandgifts.com.au
www.rivercitypets.com.au
www.smithstreettraders.com.au
www.sprengersruraltraders.com.au
www.hefeedshop.com.au
www.shop.newcastle.edu.au
www.toyworldcanberra.com.au
www.toyworldwauchope.com.au
www.reasureboxgifts.com.au
www.uncletomspps.com.au
www.warragulpetemporium.com.au
www.welbygardencentre.com.au
www.wollongongbikehub.com.au

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Helping garden centres win from online sales through garden centre POS software e-commerce connection

April 29, 2021
2 Min read
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More and more garden centres are selling online and Tower Systems is grateful to help garden centres achieve this. Through our garden centre POS software, garden centres can easily connect to a beautiful Shopify website for easy selling online.

Thanks to the seamless connectivity within the garden centre POS software, product data including care instructions and images flow through to the website, with the retailer being able to control online pricing, freight settings and more. sales from the website flow back thrugh the POS software, making ti easy to sell from the business in-store as well as online and being able to manage inventory levels to meet shopper expectations.

Tower Systems offers a one stop solution for garden centres with its garden centre POS software as well as beautiful Australian-made Shopify websites – giving garden centres a valuable and connected solution for e-commerce.

Garden centres can rent our garden centre POS software for a few dollars a day. they can have a beautiful POS software connected website for their garden centre created and live for a fixed price, usually around $6,600.00 (inc. GST).

By getting the POS software and the website from the one business you have more certainty, better connectivity and a better business solution in our view.

Too often we see small business retailers pay a web consultant anything between $5,000 and $15,000 for an awful website, one not connected to your POS software. Our goal is to deliver what you want, for a fixed price of $6,600.00 (inc GST).

See some of the beautiful websites we have created: www.towersystems.com.au/Websites-we-have-created

Garden centres have unique needs when it comes to selling online. Our considerable work serving this channel has helped us develop a skill set in this space that is useful in helping garden centres get online in an efficient and successful way.

With many garden centres using our specialty retail garden centre POS software, we are well positioned from within the POS software to deliver websites that leverage what makes a garden centre special.

Before we start creating a website for your business, we want to know about what you need from the site, your competitors and how you’d like to handle things like shipping, payment methods and more.

Talk to us about our Specialty retail POS software or a fixed price Shopify website.

 

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Sewing shop POS software helps local sewing shops serve their customers

April 28, 2021
3 Min read
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Sewing shops are genuinely specialty retail businesses. They offer valuable expertise, products and services for people who love sewing. They are appreciated local businesses.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve local specialty sewing, fabric and haberdashery businesses with our specialty POS software that has been found to serve the needs of sewing shops and the customers they serve.

Several sewing goods retailers have shown us how our POS software is suitable for the needs of these businesses. From handling special orders, to serial number tracking, to repairs management to selling by fractions, it turns out our POS software is good for sewing businesses and sewing machine and goods retailers.

Here is a short video we made recently in which we discuss our POS software for sewing shops and demonstrate some of its facilities.

It is our work in similar specialty retail channels such as bike shops, jewellers and similar that has seen us develop tools and facilities in our POS software that works for sewing shops. We were so happy to discover that our software is useful for sewing shops.

Since we make our own POS software, we are able to evolve the software to serve evolving needs, and we are able to fine-time our support of the software to ensure that it serves the needs of sewing shops and related businesses that decide the software is a good fit for their needs.

Take the selling of items by decimals or fractions. This is how fabric is sold. We make it easy and accurate. We even handle pricing that can vary based on the length of a fabric purchased. In other words, play less per metre the more you buy. This is handled by the software based on the settings created by those running the sewing shop.

Take repairs. This is a service many sewing shops offer. Our repairs management tools are terrific in supporting this service.

We are not saying that our software is perfect for any sewing shop. That decision must 100% be up to those making the POS software decision in the business. We will demonstrate the software and answer questions, so that the necessary assessments can be made, to determine if our Tower Systems POS software is a good fit for the needs of a sewing business.

Our POS software for sewing shops and sewing machine businesses is already in use. We have people to whom we can refer. It is their innovation that set us on this path. Hence, our gratefulness.

To see the Tower Systems software first hand, please contact us direct. Email is good at sales@towersystems.com.au.

We make, sell and support our POS software.

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Quote and invoice management POS software facilities help local specialty retailers win more business

April 27, 2021
2 Min read
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Retailers love the quote and invoice management tools that are embedded in the Tower Systems POS software. They love them because they help them win more business.

See for yourself some of the highlights of these unique quite and invoice management tools available in the Tower Systems POS software in this new short video that we shot in-house last week.

Retail businesses of all sorts are benefiting from these tools, loving these tools. garden centres, farm supply businesses, jewellers, bike shops, whole foods businesses … any business that quotes for business can benefit from these quote and invoice management facilities that are part of the Tower Systems POS software solution.

Quote and invoice management sounds like a mouthful, sounds complex. The beauty of these facilities in the Tower Systems POS software is that they bring structure and certainty to the process of creating quotes for customers, presenting the quotes professionally and easily turning the quotes into actionable invoices for goods to be supplied or work to be done.

The quote and invoice management facilities in the Tower software provide to local small business retailers management facilities rarely seen in POS software, management facilities through which local retail businesses can differentiate.

Quote and invoice management facilities are just part of the broader Tower Systems software package. Also included are facilities such as:

  1. Special customer orders – get a sale today, before you order the stock.
  2. Loyalty rewards customers love. Encourage return visits and purchases.
  3. Sell you. Extended product descriptions help you offer plant care info.
  4. Bagging up. Bag bulk products smaller packs, with accurate stock data.
  5. Genuinely informative receipts. Share information that sets you apart.
  6. Repairs / workshop management. Strong, flexible, fit for purpose.
  7. Trade pricing profiles supporting pricing flexibility for your customers.
  8. Customer account management: Professional and accurate control.
  9. Catalogues. Easily manage special pricing for a date range.
  10. Pricing profiles. You can set pricing rules based on types of customers.
  11. Sell by weight, including fractions.
  12. Seasonal reordering. Easily reorder inventory based on seasonal sales.
  13. Weatherproof labels.
  14. Stock write offs – done in a structured way feeding into your accounts.

Quote and invoice management is a specialty area in this specialty retail POS software from Tower Systems. We are grateful to work with many specialty retailers to bring differentiating retail experiences to local communities across the country.

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Competing with Vend POS software with a $99 a month POS software solution

April 26, 2021
2 Min read
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Plenty of local retailers consider the VEND POS software when looking for as POS software solution. here at Tower Systems we have an alternative the VEND POS software, a POS software alternative that is available to be rented for $99.00 a month.

Using this software, retailers can have tools like they would have with VEND POS software and more, including the ability to…

  • Get rid of manual books at the counter for LayBys, special orders, stock you need to order and more.
  • Cut dead stock and re-order based on data facts.
  • Cut theft by knowing what is being stolen.
  • Eliminate LayBy and get you paid sooner with buy now pay later.
  • Make price comparison harder with bundled packs.
  • Easily and consistently pitch locally sourced products.
  • Drive community group member engagement with group pricing.
  • Get one-time-only shoppers spending more with loyalty tools.
  • Bring customers back with reminders on dates important to them.
  • Save money on bookkeeping by integrating with Xero.
  • Leverage your knowledge on receipts and elsewhere. Sell you.
  • Reach beyond your four walls with a directly linked Shopify store.

These are some of the benefits available in our POS software, which competes with the VEBD POS software. Included with the software rental and embedded with software access is:

  1. Specialty Gift shop POS software developed in Australia.
  2. Software updates as we release them.
  3. Unlimited licences for your retail location. If you need an extra computer, there is no extra software cost.
  4. Shopify / Magento / Woo link. Easily sell online from your POS software.
  5. Xero link. Easing bookkeeping costs and streamlining accounting.
  6. Our OzBiz link – connect to MYOB and Quicken through OzBiz.
  7. Tyro link – safe, fast and easy EFTPOS link for streamlined sales.
  8. PC Eftpos link – easy EFTPOS processing for the major banks.
  9. Easy buy now pay later thanks to Zip Pay and Humm – that Boomers, Gen Y, Gen X and others are using more and more.
  10. Support – help desk access, unlimited training, updates and more.
  11. User documentation. Access to our searchable knowledge base.

We are local. Tower Systems serves 3,500+ specialty businesses. If you think we could help you, please call 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.

The software continues to evolve, too. With updates released every eight weeks or so. The enhancements in these updates are guided by suggestions from customers, for which we are sincerely grateful.

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The ethics of using POS software to hide income from the federal government

April 24, 2021
2 Min read
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Many many years ago we were shown a function in POS software from another local software company that enabled a retailer using the software to take cash out of the business in a way that was difficult to detect.

Using a special password, anyone using the software could enter the amount they wanted to withdraw. the software adjusted records to hide the withdrawal, maintaining accounts records for any tax audit and a separate, hidden, set of records for the business owner.

We discovered the unique tax free cash accessing facility when we were asked many many years ago to add a similar facility in our software. The business owner wanted to remove $2,000 cash a week from their busy business. We refused. We lost that customer and some others who wanted such a facility.

Eventually, the knowledge of the facility in the other POS software reached state and federal government authorities. Several agencies from state and federal governments got together to look at the facilities. We were able to observe this first-hand. It was breathtaking. Their interest was in how a retailer was assisted in removing cash from a business without detection. This was demonstrated.

We have been asked since several times by some retailers to make it easy for them to remove cash undetected from the business. Our answer is as it has always been – you can’t do this with our software. To do so within the code of our software would be illegal, just as doing so in any retail business would be illegal.

With benchmarks and other data analysis tools, the federal government is especially well equipped today to detect such activity.

We have many ways we can lawfully help local retailers make more money in their businesses – through better decision making, faster decision making, tactical shop floor engagement, efficient online selling to shoppers they will never see. retail today is growing for many local retailers thanks to these and other engaging tools in smart POS software. This is where good business growth can be achieved and through which value can be cultivated to make a business worth more when it comes time for the owners to sell.

Bad business decisions can be a big burden in a retail business. make better business decisions and you can make more than any cash you may wish you could take form a business.

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Vape shop POS software helps manage local vape shops

April 23, 2021
3 Min read
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The vape shop POS software from Tower Systems leverages specialty facilities that we are told by vape shop owners helps them run more successful and valuable businesses.

Here is a video we shop last week in which we discuss and look at some of the facilities offered by this vape shop POS software. See for yourself how this locally made POS software could serve the needs of your vape shop.

Our Vape Shop POS Software offers a range of facilities vape shop owners tell us they love. These are tools built to serve their needs and needs of businesses similar to their requirements.

Using our locally made Vape Shop POS Software you can benefit from …

  • Systematically managing an age check at the transaction point. Being able to demonstrate that you do this in a strutted way in your Vape Shop POS Software can help when checked by regulators.
  • Providing product use and other important notice information on receipts to ensure customers are fully informed.
  • Customising product labels with information you want on there.
  • Tracking the tastes of customers so that you can market to them if a new product emerges that may satisfy their interests, needs or tastes.
  • Selling by fractions. With some products sold in less than whole number units of measure, our Vape Shop POS Software allows inventory tracking at the fractional level.
  • Selling online through our Shopify link through which products managed in the POS software can be easily offered online through a beautiful website that is seamlessly connected to the Vape Shop POS Software for product details and images and with online sales details flowing back to the software.
  • Tracking who sold what and when.
  • Strong remote management tools for owners of businesses run under management.
  • Strong audit tools through which we respect the importance of accurate business data and the need to track behaviour that may compromise the integrity of the business.
  • Loading electronic invoices from suppliers.
  • Structure. Ultimately, that’s what this software is about – structure, business structure through which the business can safely and consistently operate to the benefit of the business and those who work in it.

The Tower Systems Vape Shop POS Software is made for vape shops, built on already successful locally made small business retail POS software used in retail channels where regulation and adherence to regulation is key for the retail business owner, retail business staff and the regulators themselves.

Our goal is developing specialty retail POS software, like our POS software for vape shops is to help these specialty retailers to better serve and through this to be more valuable to the owners of the businesses and all who rely on them.

Our POS software for vape shops, made here in Australia by us, is feature rich for specialty retail.

Tower Systems serves more than 3,000 small business retailers across a range of specialty retail channels.

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Repairs management software integrated with POS software for retailers

April 22, 2021
3 Min read
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Tower Systems has been offering locally made repairs management software as part of its specialty retailer POS software for more than twenty years. the software it offers today is fresh, innovative and focussed on serving the efficiency and customer satisfaction needs of local small business retailers.

Thanks for wonderful advice from businesses offering repairs services, this software evolves to serve new opportunities.

See for yourself some of the highlights of this repairs software in this new short video that we shot in-house last week.

Integrated with the Tower Systems POS software, these unique and local business focussed repairs and workshop management tools are part of the software, not come add-on that you say extra for or that you rely on some other software company to support. being an integral part of the POS software helps make these repairs tools more valuable, more useful.

Made for jewellers and bike shops, these repairs and workshop management tools in our POS software are being used in myriad businesses today.

Some of the functions our specialist retail software’s repair features are being used for include:

  • In Jewellers: Jewellery and watch workshop repairs, dated manufacturing.
  • In Bike Shops: Bicycle and tricycle repairs, warranty returns.
  • In music shops: instrument repair.
  • In sewing shops: sewing machine maintenance and repair.
  • In Garden Centres: Landscaping services management.
  • In pool maintenance businesses: Pump and equipment planned maintenance as well as repair.
  • In Firearms Stores: Gunsmithy and equipment repairs, warranty returns.
  • In Pet Shops: Aquarium installations.

Repairs management software is flexible, serving a range of needs outside managing the actual repairs themselves. The flexibility in the software enables it to be used in different businesses for different purposes – from job management, to workshop management and traditional repairs management.

This specialty function software tracks the labour and resources used from a billing and inventory management perspective. It also handles allocation of repairs or parts of a repair to venues outside the business (for contracting and supplier exchanges or repairs for warranty issues, for example) and tracks repair staff and couriers used in shipping repairs.

Once the repair is ready for pick-up by the customer, the software finalises the billing and advises the customer by SMS or another preferred method. Customers love the contact they receive. It positions the business as professional and engaged.

Payments are processed with the usual depth of our retail software’s point of sale functionality – customers can make multiple payments against a repair or a specialist manufacturing, pay through cash, EFTPOS, PayPal or other methods.

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POS software for game shops helps these local businesses thrive

April 21, 2021
3 Min read
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The POS software for game shops from Tower Systems is made for local and independent game retailers. It’s packed with facilities that help these local and loved game shops better serve customers and attract new customers.

This POS software for game shops is specialty in its facilities, just as local game shops themselves are specialty retailers.

Here is a short video we shot a few days ago in which the discuss and look at some of what is valuable in this game shop POS software.

Of course, the game shop POS software from Tower Systems offers much more than this.

Customisable thanks to many user-selectable options, this software helps game shops differentiate from big box retailers. It helps retailers highlight their difference, leverage their specialty knowledge and compete in unique and proven valuable ways.

This POS software is not average POS software that you; ld see widely used. It really has been made for local specialty retail, like game shops, to help them leverage being specialty.

Tower Systems only makes specialty retail POS software for niche retail channels. It’s game shop POS software grew out of its extensive work with toy shops through its unique toy shop POS software.

Game shop retailers can expect to benefit fin many ways. Here are five reasons to love this locally made POS software:

  1. Local matters. Local game shops make a vital contribution to local communities and families. Our software helps you leverage your localness, to genuinely differentiate your business from big competitors.
  2. You are a key asset. Only your business has you and your people. You can leverage you through our game shop software, to easily share your knowledge in ways big businesses cannot match.
  3. You can bank on loyalty. Points don’t reward loyalty. What is a point worth anyway? In our game shop software, you have fresh loyalty tools you can bank on to drive a deeper visit value and bring shoppers back sooner.
  4. The unseen can reveal opportunities. Knowing for sure what sells with what, knowing how suppliers compare knowing return on investment and return on floorspace … knowledge is power.
  5. Not every shopper will walk past your door. A smart and seamless connection between your software and a beautiful Shopify website can help you easily and with low overhead sell to people you will never meet.

Our game shop software offers many benefits, including:

  • Save time with electronic invoices from suppliers.
  • Easy special customer orders. Smart tracking and customer notification.
  • Make money from pre-orders – Easily pre-sell before release.
  • Community group pricing. Set pricing rules based on customer type.
  • Easy record keeping: serial number tracking of items with serial numbers.
  • Ensure compliance when required with structured age checking.
  • Business differentiating loyalty. Stand out from the crowd. Drive sales.
  • Differentiate with bundles. Make price comparison hard.
  • Say goodbye to LayBy – with integrated buy now pay later options.
  • Market to customers based on past purchases.
  • Cut accounting and bookkeeping fees with integration to Xero and others.
  • Easily sell online with a direct to Shopify link from your POS software.

We’d love to show this software to you.

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Insights help local toy retailers benefit from Toy Shop software

April 20, 2021
3 Min read
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We are grateful to have been provided a copy of a comprehensive report into global and Australian toy sales in 2020 comparing to 2019. The data assessed in the repot is pulled from a large pool of toy and toy related retailers in Australia and globally. The assessment itself is undertaken by the NPD group.

The results are extraordinary. While we won’t share the report itself here, we can share high level data. we have shared even more with our customers.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve local toy shops with toy shop POS software made for their specific business needs. Our toy shop software is comprehensive. It is also connected to the Shopify e-commerce platform for selling online – offering local toy shops a true omnichannel retail opportunity and enabling them to compete effectively with much bigger businesses.

Deeper in the report is a list of top performing brands, some of which plenty of newsagents stock. This information and other information nearby is what we can leverage to further grow the toy category in our businesses.

Of particular interest are the Christmas results and the move, in 2020, to toys and games of >$50 in value. This is the fastest growing sub-category for the Christmas season. It interests me because too many newsagents focus on low price point toys while shoppers are happy to spend up on higher price point toys.

Looking at the results more broadly …

  1. Global Trends 
    1. 8/13 Countries grew sales revenue.
    2. Australia achieved strongest growth: 22% as shown above.
    3. Q4 growth was excellent.
  2. Australian Market 
    1. +22% Growth.
    2. 12out of 13 super categories grew revenue.
    3. Unlicensed Toys Grew +21% .
    4. Licensed Toys Grew +26%.
    5. 10 months of consecutive growth (adding $256m to Toy Industry).
    6. Consumers move to bigger box items > $50 items
  3. Christmas performance 
    1. +16 grow revenue/
    2. Unlicensed Toys grew 19%.
    3. Licensed Toys grew 11%.
    4. 12 out of 13 super categories grew.
      – 5 categories grew faster than the total category.
  4. Looking ahead into 2021 and considering early indications.
    1. Toys / games remain strong.
    2. Online in toys and games is growing faster.
    3. Movie licences are back.
    4. Puzzles and Games need to be watched / managed / promoted.
    5. Collectibles are showing a strong start to the year.
    6. Shoppers are looking for newness.

The toys / games / puzzle and related categories are good for plenty of retail businesses, not just toy shops. They can make a terrific contribution. I know of non toy shops doing more than $150,000 a year in these categories and achieving a 50% or more gross profit – making the GP value of the categories considerably greater than the contribution from products more traditional for a non-toy retail channel.

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We are grateful to help local Aussie newsagency businesses transform through our newsagency software …

April 19, 2021
3 Min read
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The local Aussie newsagency focussed in newspapers, magazines, lollies, lottery products and cigarettes is fading, which is a good thing. petrol outlets, convenience stores, supermarkets and tobacco shops are taking over these low-margin convenience lines.

Aussie newsagents have been shedding tobacco products for years. They have been reducing space allocation for magazines and newspapers, too. The margin from print media is small and cover price decisions mean newsagents make less in real terms from each magazine sold today than ten years ago.

More newsagents, too, are not in the lottery space, having chosen to not engage with that highly regulated low-margin product category.

The local Aussie newsagency is evolving … and not in a network wide way, often not in a way that is easily identifiable.

While the local Aussie newsagency may still offer newspapers and magazines, it will most likely have an awesome range of products, which could include: gifts, homewares, books, self-care, nesting, toys, games, garden products, clothing, coffee, food and art … in addition to what you may expect in terms of cards, stationery and craft supplies.

There are plenty of local Aussie newsagency businesses that do not look and feel like a newsagency. Some shoppers don’t like this, they prefer the older style newsagency. The thing is, that old style business is not profitable in 2021. Newsagents can’t bank on the nostalgia pangs of some people. They need foot traffic, turnover and profit. This is why the local Aussie newsagency is changing.

Many newsagents have been chasing change for years and years, trying new products, experimenting to bold layout changes and shape-shifting their businesses to see what might work. What works in one location may not work in another location. This is why the unified and similar looking local Aussie newsagency of decades ago is lost today in 2021. The book and game focussed ‘newsagency’ in Inverloch, Victoria looks very different to the toy and game focussed ‘newsagency’ in Cooma, New South Wales, and both of these look very different to the gift focussed ‘newsagency’ in Sarina in Queensland.

While your local newsagency may still be there, expect it to be different because different is what helps them be there for the local haul, offering you access to magazines and newspapers along with a bunch of interesting and thoughtfully sourced products that work in your local community.

Indeed, in the newsagency retail channel in Australia right now you can see some of the most innovative retail in-store as well as online. It is an exciting time to be a newsagent.

If you haven’t been in your local newsagency for a while, check it out, be ready for a surprise.

Oh, and if you do pine for the nostalgia of the old-style newsagency, think about whether you’d preference one of those brick mobile phones fro the late 1980s or the smart phone you have today. Yes, the world changes. Retail changes, too. This is a good thing. So … check out your local, new, newsagency.

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POS software company satisfying …

April 17, 2021
1 Min read
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One of the most satisfying parts of what we do here at Tower Systems is helping our small business retail customers see their businesses differently. Slicing data can help achieve this, revealing opportunities previously not seen. #SmallBusiness #Retail #POSsoftware #Help #ShopLocal #AustralianJobs

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Gift shop POS software helps local gift shops to more easily connect with local and online shoppers

April 16, 2021
2 Min read
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The Tower Systems gift shop software offers many benefits from time saving to shoppe engaging to team member enjoyment. Delivering tangible benefits through our POS software is important to us, especially benefits beyond the traditional, beyond what people expect.

The top benefits from using the Tower Systems Gift shop software, as told to us by our customers.

  • Get one-time-only shoppers spending more thanks to an easy to pitch loyalty system embedded in the software. This is a genuinely unique, engaging and valuable loyalty platform.
  • Leverage you. If you believe your knowledge is a differentiator, offer it through structured opportunities in the software. We often see knowledge within the b business as a key differentiator for the business.
  • Encourage customer happiness by serving product care info. on receipts. That extra piece of information can make all the difference.
  • 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.
  • Go cashless if that is your goal – we make it easy and affordable. Frictionless.
  • 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.
  • 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.
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Proud to launch more Shopify websites for small business retailers

April 15, 2021
2 Min read
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We are grateful to have launched more POS software connected Shopify websites for small business retailers in our community. These sites, all developed by us here in Australia, deliver terrific new customer acquisition opportunities for our shoppers, helping them to sell 24/7 and sell as far afield as they would like.

Here are some of the recently made live websites from our web team:

www.backobourkecollective.com.au
www.inspiretasmania.com.au
www.brindabellastockfeed.com.au
www.heavensabove.com.au
www.loavesrobe.com.au
www.masterjewellersonline.com.au
www.chitchatgifts.com.au
www.eidsvoldrural.com.au
www.forevergiftsandmore.com.au
www.funporium.com.au
www.goulburnstationery.com.au
www.rehfisch.com.au
www.merimbulaextra.com.au
www.morganpark.com.au
www.nextragiftsorange.com.au
www.northsideproduceagency.com.au
www.pamperedpetz.com.au
www.www.paperplayonline.com.au
www.parkesnewsandgifts.com.au
www.rivercitypets.com.au
www.smithstreettraders.com.au
www.sprengersruraltraders.com.au
www.hefeedshop.com.au
www.shop.newcastle.edu.au
www.toyworldcanberra.com.au
www.toyworldwauchope.com.au
www.reasureboxgifts.com.au
www.uncletomspps.com.au
www.warragulpetemporium.com.au
www.welbygardencentre.com.au
www.wollongongbikehub.com.au

If you are interested in a POS software connected website, please reach out to our sales team: sales@towersystems.com.au.

USEFUL, EVERYDAY WEBSITE ADVICE FOR SMALL BUSINESS RETAILERS.
Regardless of who you choose to create your website, here are tips we offer to help make setting up a Shopify site successful for you.

  1. Know why. Knowing why you want the website can answer plenty of other questions. For some it is to win new customers, for others it is revenue growth, while for ithers it is better service of existing customers.
  2. Know your narrator. Every website has a narrator, the person behind the scenes writing the text, responding to queries. Think about that person, how they speak, words they use, their manner. Think of this person as a character you create.
  3. Look at competitor sites online locally and overseas as it is beneficial to see what someone else is doing and learn from that.
  4. Only use unique images. If you use supplier supplied images, they may be on other sites and Google will know this. Google likes fresh content.
  5. Write your own product name / title. Use search keyworks in the name – that is, what people are searching for. Google likes fresh content.
  6. Write your own product description and think about what shoppers search for.
  7. Do not load everything. Too much stock makes a site hard to navigate.
  8. Consider using a website name that is different to your business name. Online can benefit from a different brand to your in-store situation.
  9. Be open to additional sites. You may make more money from having multiple.
  10. Support the site with active social media engagement.
  11. Promote the site with an email monthly at least, through MailChimp or similar.
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Workshop management software for jewellers and bike shops

April 12, 2021
2 Min read
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The workshop management facilities in the jeweller POS software and bike shop software from Tower Systems offer support for managing customer repair and other jobs.

Embedded in the POS software itself, these tools have evolved over time to serve the needs particularly of bike retailers and jewellers … and long the way have been found to be useful in. myriad others retail businesses in which workshop management facilities have been found to be important.

From the moment a job is setup or opened, the Tower Systems POS software tracks work, parts and other aspects of the job. It also manages contacting the customer when collection c an be made, when the job is done.

Connected to our inventory management tools, this software really does help a retail business track everything used in a workshop job, giving a business an overall level of visibility and control, which is crucial to understanding the performance of that part of the business.

Having the workshop management tools embedded in the software offer bike shops and jewellers a low cost alternative for managing repair and product build jobs without the need to source additional software at an additional cost.

Growing out of our POS software connected workshop management software, our spare parts inventory software has become critical to accurately recording sale and use of spare parts in repairs as well as over the counter to customers.

Offering tracking by brand, use, supplier, barcode, SKU and more, this spare parts inventory software works in a range of situations and businesses. Motor bike businesses, trailer sale and repair businesses, bike shops, jewellers, outdoors businesses, farm supply businesses, pool maintenance businesses … they can all use this spare parts inventory software.

In addition to managing workshop jobs, this  software offers multiple reporting tools that enable various views of inventory performance. The flexibility in the reporting is useful and a key factor in the software serving needs across several types of spare parts related businesses. Accessibility to these and other reporting tools enables easier remote business management, which is a need that has come into its own in recent times.

Tower Systems is grateful to serve thousands of independent, local and small business retailers across a range of retail channels.

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Fixed price POS software connected Shopify sites for local retailers

April 11, 2021
3 Min read
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The Tower Systems approach to Shopify website development and connection to our specialty retailer POS software is thorough. it includes …: For ease of reference and clarity, below is a numbered list of all work and tasks included in the above quote and work you will have to do. This is the complete list.

  1. Shopify account. We would use our development account until such time, as we deliver the live site to you. Once this has occurred you will need your own Shopify account and we will transfer the site to you.  We can help you get your own account.
  2. Template / theme selection. We will guide you through template / theme selection options. You will have free choice over any theme available at themes.shopify.com. Many templates have no cost while some have a cost, paid to Shopify. We will also fund the purchase of a paid-for theme up to US$250.00 in value if that is the theme you want.
  3. Overall design to be applied to the template selected to customise the look and feel of the site. While there is back and forth involved, the design process is not priced to be an extended back and forth process. Please be clear and concise in articulating our needs. We will listen to your brief and provide a design for your consideration. Adjustments can be made within the quote but any major diversion from the original brief may add to the cost.
  4. The site we create will have the following elements:
    1. Including text and images (which you are to provide), and site navigation. We would also include a business location map.
    2. Social media links to any business accounts you have for: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
    3. About page. Your text, describing you and your business. This will need to be between 150 and 350 words. Well written, clear as to what you and your business are about.
    4. Legal / Privacy Policy. We can use yours or you can edit ours and use it.
    5. Terms and conditions page: terms and conditions that you can modify.
    6. Contact us page showing your contact details as well as an enquiry form.
    7. Configured Product Page showing the images and details about products.
    8. Shopify Chat setup, if you want chat turned on.
    9. Blog feed. A blog allows you to publish your own news stories. These can be critical for helping people find the site through Google.
  1. The setup of loading of products into the site via a live link to the Retailer software. We would need you to have this data in Retailer ready for export.
  2. Interfacing to payment gateways: Shopify Pay, Apple Pay, Stripe and Paypal.
  3. OPTION: Interfacing to Humm, Zip and Afterpay. The work is all done at once for all 3 or for those of the 3 you go with. It is vital you do all at once.
  4. Training: over the phone and usually around two hours. We’d like 2 people from the business there as we have found this helps the business get the most from it.

There is more to the work we do than this. It is detailed, comprehensive and small business retail ourcome focussed. Oh, and all done in Australia for local Aussie businesses.

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Game shop POS software helps local game shops sell in-store and online

April 9, 2021
3 Min read
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The Tower Systems POS software for game shops has evolved from our work with local specialty toy shops. We are grateful to have discovered that our toy shop POS software serves local specialty game retailers well, making it ideal POS software for game shops.

Using this Australian made POS software, specialty game retailers are able to serve the specialty needs of their specialty businesses. This is POS software for game shops that truly specialise. Proof can be found in some of the facilities offered by this software:

  • Easy selling by barcode, product code or touch button.
  • Serving your own notes with products sold – helping you to sell your specialisation with each product.
  • Categorising products to make searching easier than traditional. the TAGS facilities in our software help this with awesome side views.
  • A loyalty facility that is tailored to infrequent shoppers, facilities that help you make more from that visit, maximising basket depth.
  • Second hand goods – offering tools for good record keeping and product tracking.
  • Handling special customer orders.
  • Club pricing that helps you tap into members of local games clubs.
  • Linking to buy now pay later platforms.
  • Direct integration with Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce.
  • Brand performance insights.
  • What sells with what data insights that can help with shop floor placement and out of store marketing.
  • Theft mitigation through reporting on unexpected stock discrepancies – cal help with employee and shopper theft.
  • Bundling – enabling better serving of shoppers purchasing for special interests and occasions.
  • Easy loading of electronic invoices from suppliers.
  • Easy loading of stock files from suppliers.
  • Ordering based on stock on hand data.
  • Reporting on seasonal sales.
  • easy identification of dead stock.

Using this POS software for game shops you can expect to enjoy a valuable view of the performance of your game shop – from in the shop or afar – if you manage the business remotely.

Thanks to our work with local specialty toy shops we have developed solutions for some data situations that are unique to that channel that play our for specialty game retailers, too.

This POS software for game shops from Tower Systems could be an ideal solution for your specialty game shop. The easy way to determining if it is a good fit is for your to see the software for yourself through an obligation free demonstration. We are grateful for opportunities to do this and to understand your specific business needs.

The key with POS software for game shops is to see if it fits your needs. The Tower Systems commitment is to let you know if we think our software is not a good fit. We;’re not high pressure. We treat every demonstration as a learning opportunity for us.

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