If you run a produce, stock feed, farm supply, rural supply, ag supply, fencing or saddlery business, you already know that most retail software was not written with you in mind.
Before you sit through another demonstration, work out what your business actually needs it to do, then make the software prove it. To be honest, this is where you need to invest your time – be sure about what matters to you and others in the business.
Start with your yard. If a customer pays at the counter and then drives three hundred metres to collect the goods, you need a docket printing where the stock is, not only where the money was taken. Ask to see that configured.
Then map the selling that happens away from the site. Trucks loaded at the store and invoiced farm by farm as goods come off the tray. Stock managed inside a dairy, checked on a scheduled visit and invoiced on the spot. Gas or bulk orders taken across the week and grouped into delivery runs. If any of that describes your week, dispatch scheduling and mobile invoicing are not extras. They are the job.
Look hard at how products are handled in your business. Do you build feed mixes or own-brand blends from components you buy in? You need manufactured goods handling, so the system reduces what was purchased and creates what is sold. Do you receive landscape supplies by the tonne and sell by the cube, half cube and quarter cube? You need fractional and weight-based selling in the same product file. Add kits and care information and you have a fair test of any system.
Factor in where you are heading, too. As independent pet retailers close, many produce businesses have moved further into pet food. Giftware has appeared. So have cafés, which means kitchen printing and order modifiers in a rural supply setting.
Finally, ask about paperwork and money. Quotes emailed to customers, invoices emailed, pick slips printed, supplier orders raised from customer orders, and a clear view of who owes you what. Tower Systems added a debtors dashboard following customer feedback for exactly that reason, and its dispatch scheduling plans routes through Google Maps across multiple vehicles, with an optional link to Allotrack for GPS tracking.
Then ask what it costs. Ours is one subscription, unlimited phone and live chat support around the clock, no professional services fees to configure the software, and no percentage taken from your transactions.
Tower Systems may or may not be right for your business. Our commitment is that if we think we are not right for you, we will say so, and wish you all the best.
Enquiries are welcome at sales@towersystems.com.au.
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