A retailer using Epos Now contacted us recently, looking for an alternative. Our software suited the specific needs of their shop. What surprised us was what they asked about most. It wasn’t features. It was everything around the software:
- Is it developed and supported here? (Yes.)
- Is there a lock-in contract? (No.)
- Do I have to use your EFTPOS provider? (No.)
- If I ring, will I get a person? (Yes.)
- Can I suggest changes to the people who write the software? (Yes.)
- Is AI built in, or is it an add-on? (Built in.)
We’re biased, of course. We’re Tower Systems. Our view comes from the retailers who have moved to us from Epos Now. We also know we’re not right for every shop, and if we’re not right for yours, we’ll say so.
Different companies, different markets
Epos Now is a global company. Its cloud platform is used by retailers, restaurants, hotels and other businesses in many countries, and it’s designed to work across all of them.
Tower Systems makes software in Australia for selected types of specialty retailers in Australia and New Zealand: gift shops, toy shops, newsagents, bike shops, jewellers and more.
We don’t work with franchises or chains.
Neither approach is wrong. They suit different businesses. If you run a stock-heavy specialty shop, it’s worth asking which one was built with a shop like yours in mind.
What the software does
From what we are told, Epos Now covers the POS basics well: sales, inventory, reporting, staff and payments, plus a large marketplace of add-on apps.
Tower goes deep into the work specialty shops do every day. You can take special orders, track serial numbers, sell bundles, and sell by weight or length. You can also manage repairs, run self-checkout and sell from the shop floor. These features are part of the software, so you don’t need to find and pay for an app to get them.
Read the contract first
Before you compare features, compare contracts. Check how long each one runs and what it costs to leave. Then work out what you’ll really pay over three years, not just per month.
Tower doesn’t lock customers in. If the software stops being right for you, cancel your rental with 30 days’ notice.
Our pricing is simple. You pay one price for one location, however many computers you run. Xero, Shopify, WooCommerce and Magento links are included, along with loyalty tools. You choose your own EFTPOS provider and bank, so you can shop around for better rates. And we don’t take a percentage of your sales.
Tower does not charge based on transaction volume or value.
Integrations
Epos Now has a large international ecosystem of apps.
Tower’s integrations are the ones Australian and New Zealand retailers use: Xero, Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, Tyro, Linkly Cloud, Smartpay and several industry-specific connections. For most local shops, a few well-built integrations with the systems they already use beat a long list of apps.
Support
Ring Tower and a person answers. The help desk team is local, many of them have worked in retail, and nobody reads from a script.
New customers get one-on-one training. There’s also a library of training videos and help articles, and an open user meeting every month. Customers suggest improvements on our public Software Ideas platform and vote on each other’s ideas, and the most popular ones shape what we build next.
Our advice: do your own thorough research
Don’t take any company’s word for it, including ours. Read reviews, search Reddit and social media, and ask other retailers in your channel what they use and what annoys them about it.
Then sit both systems side by side and run through the jobs your shop does every day: receiving a delivery, taking a special order, doing a return, running end of day. That will tell you more than any comparison article.
Ask for references.
So which one?
If you want a general-purpose system that works across many types of business, Epos Now may suit you.
If you run an independent specialty shop in Australia or New Zealand and want software built for that, supported by people here, Tower is worth a look.
If you’re happy with Epos Now, stay with it. If you’re not, we’d like to show you what we do.
Book a free, no-obligation demo. Call 1300 662 957 in Australia or 0800 444 367 in New Zealand, or email sales@towersystems.com.au. Contacting a human is easy.
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