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.
Here at Tower Systems we are grateful for a warm winter welcoming so many new customers using our POS software.
We are grateful for every new customer, and even more so that we have welcomed new customers across a diverse mix of retail business channels: jewellers, sewing shops, garden centres, farm supply businesses, charity shops, community group businesses, toy shops, pet shops, bike shops and pool maintenance businesses.
All of our customer businesses are local and small (in a good way). This is the space in which we are most comfortable. We prefer to be working with those most invested in the business.
Our business is configured for growth from our pre-installation scheduling team to our new customer training team to our post-installation care team to our everyday help desk team. Each of these teams is configured and resourced to help our growing pool of new customers land happily and profitably with our locally made POS software.
2022 is already a bumper year. We are over the moon.
Thank you to every retailer in our community. Your faith and trust in us means the world to all of us here at Tower Systems.
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