The POS Software Blog

The POS Software Blog

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

Tagspecialty retail

The Independent Retail Markets We Serve at Tower Systems

October 22, 2026
2 Min read
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Tower Systems is a vertical market software company. We don’t make one generic POS system and hope it fits. We build software for specific retail channels, and we work only with independent, specialty and small business retailers in Australia and New Zealand.

Today, thousands of local retailers use our software. Here are the markets we serve.

Gifts, fashion and lifestyle

Toys, games and hobbies

Garden, outdoors and rural

Everyday local retail

Technology and mobility

Community retail

Why this matters

Each of these markets trades differently. A bike shop needs serial number tracking and repairs. A health food shop may need scale integration. A garden centre has seasonal peaks. A charity shop handles donated, one-off stock. A newsagent juggles a mix of categories with very different margins.

Because we focus on specific markets, our software, training and support are shaped around how these businesses actually work. The people who help you understand your type of shop.

Don’t see your market?

If your business isn’t listed, talk to us anyway. Many other independent retailers use our software successfully. We’re always happy to have a conversation about what you need.

Talk to us

AU: 1300 662 957
NZ: 0800 444 367
Email: sales@towersystems.com.au

Contacting a human is easy.

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What free POS hardware actually costs

October 2, 2026
2 Min read
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A retailer recently shared a competitor pitch with us that included seven thousand dollars of free point of sale hardware. On a social media ad, it looked spectacular.

The questions started once the retailer sat with the paperwork. How long is the contract? That had not been asked. What does the software cost each month? Not much, apparently. Is there a per-transaction fee? A small one. When the retailer added it all up, the three year total cost of ownership came out at around double what they would pay with Tower Systems.

The hardware was not free. It was funded by a per-transaction percentage that grew as the business grew. The better the retailer traded, the more they paid for hardware they thought was a gift.

We see this often. The giveaway is big and visible. The lock-in and the rising recurring cost sit in the fine print, and by the time a retailer finds them, the ink is dry.

Our advice is to slow down. Read the contract, all of it, before signing anything. If you are weighing up two or three vendors, gather every contract and ask ChatGPT, Claude or Google Gemini to compare them clause by clause. Ask for the total cost across three and five years, at today’s turnover and at a realistic growth rate. This used to take an accountant and a spare afternoon. Now any retailer can do it before their coffee goes cold.

We do it differently at Tower Systems, and happily so. Our pricing and our contract are transparent. There is no bundled free hardware and no percentage taken from your turnover. You pay a straightforward rental fee for the software and that is where our revenue ends. Easy to understand, and easy to compare with anything else in the market.

This post is for Australian independent retailers looking at POS software right now. Compare, review and decide with clear numbers in front of you.

Tower Systems develops and supports POS software for local specialty retailers, including bookshops, jewellers, garden centres, bike shops, toy shops, stockfeed and farm supply businesses, saddleries, computer shops, fishing shops, pet shops, charity businesses, landscape gardening businesses, antique shops, sewing and haberdashery shops, newsagents and more.

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Meet the Tower Systems sales chatbot: answers on your schedule

August 28, 2026
2 Min read
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Independent retailers work odd hours. You might be researching POS software while restocking on a Sunday night, or catching up on admin after dinner. Your questions don’t keep office hours and we understand that.

Our website has a sales chatbot that answers them any time. Visit towersystems.com.au and look for the small blue circle with a white square, bottom left of the screen. Click it and ask.

Our chatbot is only trained by us, about our software, what it does and does not do. It doesn’t hallucinate.

It’s trained on our software and handles specific questions, like:

  • How much does the software cost?
  • Do you have software for jewellers or garden centres?
  • How do produce, farm supply and stockfeed stores use the system?
  • How do toy shops, music shops, trophy businesses and newsagencies use it?
  • What was in the latest software update?

You’ll get direct answers about features, integrations, the retail channels we serve, and pricing. Ask a follow-up and it keeps the thread, so you can dig into the detail that matters for your shop rather than starting again each time.

People in the software business ask why we’d make the chatbot so open. Couldn’t a competitor use it to look us up? Sure. They’d find out about us anyway. Our focus is the retailers we serve, and an open chatbot fits how we prefer to sell.

It’s also a fast way to qualify us out. If we don’t serve your retail channel, better to find that out in one question at the counter than across a 40-minute call you were too polite to end. The chatbot will tell you straight.

The chatbot is also useful after you become a customer. It knows what shipped in recent updates, so “what’s new” is a ten-second question rather than a trawl through release notes.

One more thing: we won’t stalk you. Ask as many questions as you like, anonymously. There’s no forced contact form and no follow-up calls, unless you ask to talk to a human. We think that’s how software should be sold: you decide when you’re ready to talk, and the information you need to decide is available at 10pm on a Sunday, because that might be when you have time to think about it.

Try it. Ask it something hard.

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What is ERP software, and does Tower Systems offer it?

August 24, 2026
3 Min read
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People evaluating software for a growing business run into the term ERP: Enterprise Resource Planning. We get asked, does Tower Systems offer ERP software?

No, we don’t offer WRP software and here’s why.

ERP software is built to run every part of a large organisation from one central system. You’ll find it in banks managing accounting across international divisions, in corporate HR departments running payroll and benefits, in factories tracking raw materials and production schedules, and in businesses coordinating global freight across multiple warehouses.

That scope is the point, and it’s also the cost. ERP suits mid-sized and large companies. It needs serious capital, dedicated IT people and a long onboarding.

We make POS software for local independent specialty retailers. That focus is deliberate.

Rather than building a generic tool for big corporations, we build for specific retail channels. Our workshop module, for example, is used by jewellers and bike shops to manage repairs, by trophy businesses to manage engraving jobs, by doll hospitals and specialty toy shops for restoration work, and by irrigation and rural supply businesses to assemble components into packages for farm and trade customers.

The distinction matters when you’re comparing quotes. An ERP vendor will sell you a platform and then a long implementation project to configure it for retail. We sell software that already understands retail, because retail is all we do. There’s no army of consultants between you and a working system.

Some of this looks like ERP in miniature. It isn’t. The workshop module manages repairs; it doesn’t try to run your payroll. The stock tools manage a shop, not a container terminal. If you need a corporate ERP system for international supply chains or multi-tiered HR, we’re not the right fit, and we’ll tell you so.

There’s another practical difference: cost of ownership. ERP platforms carry licence fees, infrastructure and specialist staff. Our customers run their software with the people they already have, supported by our helpdesk. For a local shop, that gap is the difference between software that pays for itself and software that becomes its own project.

Our software is for independent small business retailers. It helps them manage inventory, build customer loyalty and improve the bottom line, without the expense and complexity of a corporate ERP platform.

We think it’s important we know what we do and who our ideal customer is. Sometimes, this means saying we’re not for you and wishing you all the best. We do want customers for sure, but we don’t want to waste your time saying we can help if we know we can’t.

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Advice for retailers: Take every POS software training opportunity: the cheapest return available in retail

August 12, 2026
3 Min read
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Most retailers use a fraction of what their software can do. That is not a criticism. Running a shop means the urgent work almost always gets attention before the important work does.

The gap has a cost, though. Admin gets done by hand when the software could have handled it. Stock gets ordered on instinct when the evidence was sitting in a report nobody opened.

Training closes that gap, and for Tower Systems customers it is already paid for.

What is included

Every new Tower Systems customer receives up to two days of personal onboarding training, tailored to their shop and their team and guided by a dedicated onboarding specialist. There are no consultants to engage and no training packages to buy. More training is available is needed.

And that is only the start.

Free webinars on diverse retail specific topics. Each session takes 30 to 60 minutes and covers one specific part of the software. Topics are chosen because they make a measurable difference in shops, like tightening stock control or cutting the time spent on admin. Retailers can attend live and ask questions, or watch the recording later.

There are free in-person customer meetings as well. These are face to face sessions where questions get asked and retailers share what has worked in their own businesses. That second part is often the more valuable half of the meeting.

Alongside the live options sit a large library of awesome training videos and a searchable knowledge base, both updated regularly and available at any hour. One-on-one telephone training can be booked as often as a customer wants.

Why it is worth booking

Retailers who know their software buy better and carry less dead stock. They also serve customers faster, because nobody is fumbling at the counter. None of this is dramatic, but over a year it adds up.

Consider one 45 minute webinar. If it saves twenty minutes a week for a year, that is more than fourteen hours returned for three quarters of an hour invested. Most sessions save more than that.

How to make it happen

Book the session first and read the description later. A session that waits for a quiet moment will keep waiting.

Pick one weak area rather than trying to learn everything at once. Stock control this quarter, customer loyalty the next.

Send someone other than the owner sometimes. A staff member who learns a facility and brings it back into the shop spreads the knowledge further than an owner who learns it alone.

Watch the recordings on a quiet trading day. Fifteen minutes at a time is plenty.

Come back to training years later, too. Access does not expire and the software keeps changing. Tower Systems usually releases three major updates a year, so a facility that did not exist at onboarding may be exactly what the business needs now.

The short version

Training in the Tower POS software is easily accessible. The only thing standing between a retailer and it is the diary. Details are on the Tower Systems website.

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What actually goes into a Tower Systems software update

July 15, 2026
3 Min read
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We’re deep into building our next update right now, which seemed like a good reason to explain what that actually involves. It isn’t someone sitting down and writing new code for a few days. It’s a process, and most of it happens before a line of code changes.

We start with what customers tell us

Every update begins with a review: ideas submitted through Software Ideas, feedback from customers directly, and what our own support team hears on the phones every day. We look at what’s urgent and what will genuinely benefit customers, not just what’s easiest to build.

This step takes longer than people expect. We test what we’re told against the software itself before we act on it, because a suggestion that sounds right in a phone call doesn’t always hold up once you’re inside the actual system. Thoroughness costs time here, and we spend it.

Planning it properly

Once we know what we’re building, we scope it: what the change actually involves, and what else in the software it touches. A newsagency’s software talks to a lot of different parts of itself, magazines, lottery, gifts, loyalty, so a change in one place can affect something you weren’t expecting elsewhere. Understanding that before we start building saves everyone trouble later.

Building it, then testing it, and testing it again

This is the part most people picture when they think of software development, and it’s the smallest piece of the whole process, by far. After the build comes testing. Then more testing. Then testing again. It’s repetitive by design.

We document it before we release it

Once the change is solid, we write it up properly, so it can be explained clearly to customers rather than dropped into an update with no context. Good software isn’t just software that works. It’s software people understand how to use.

Beta testing, in real shops

Before anything goes to every customer, it goes to a small group of engaged customers in live, trading shops. Real stock, real customers, real Saturdays. That’s a different test than anything we can run in-house, and it catches things our own testing sometimes doesn’t.

Only then do we release it

All of that has to happen before an update reaches your till. It’s slower than just shipping code, but it’s why updates tend to work the way they’re supposed to when they land.

We’re in the middle of this right now, building the next one. It’s the same process every time, because it’s the one that works.

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How independent retailers can offset the 2026 cost increases

July 13, 2026
2 Min read
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Award wages rose 4.75% from 1 July. Rents are tracking 4–5% higher at most renewals. From 1 October, the RBA surcharge ban means processing fees that were passed to customers now need to be absorbed or built into prices.

Together, that is around 1.5% added to the cost base of a typical independent retailer. On a 5–6% net margin, it is worth taking seriously.

None of these are negotiable. But there are five places to look for recovery, and Tower Systems customers already have the tools backed by implementation advice with a foundation in practical management in local small business retail.

Pricing on the products you control

Plenty of supplier-set prices are fixed in different retail businesses. Stationery, gifts, homewares and general merchandise are not. Many retailers have not reviewed margins on these categories in over a year. The stock manager tool in the Tower software updates pricing across a whole category in one pass — worth doing before October. It’s fast, easy and safe.

Invoice processing

Many stores spend 5–10 hours a week entering invoices by hand. AI invoice arrivals imports them directly, cuts that to near zero, and removes the keying errors that come with manual entry. Those hours go back to the counter. Cut mistakes and save time with the AI invoice import tools.

Dead stock

Stock sitting unsold for six months typically ties up 10–15% of inventory value. It occupies shelf space and earns nothing. The dead stock report finds it. Moving it out — clearance, supplier return, bundling — puts that capital back to work.

Stockouts

Sales lost to unavailable stock are invisible in most reporting. The insights dashboard makes them visible, with a dollar figure attached. Fixing the reorder triggers stops the leakage.

Theft detection

Theft accounts for around 5–7% of turnover across independent retail. The volume tends to be customer theft; the larger individual losses tend to be internal. The audit and early detection tools find discrepancies well before a stocktake would. Too many small business retailers ignore theft, at their cost!

Pricing, processing time, inventory, loss — none of these require new investment. They require looking.

Tower Systems customers can reach the support team by phone, email or live chat. New enquiries: towersystems.com.au or 1300 662 957.

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Payment choice: why the freedom to choose your processor can save you thousands

July 10, 2026
3 Min read
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When you choose POS software, you are often also choosing who processes your payments. With some systems, that choice is made for you. The software and the payment processor are bundled together, and the rate is set by the vendor. At Tower Systems, you keep the freedom to choose your own provider and negotiate your own rate.

That freedom has a real dollar value.

One retailer switched from software that locked them in on a payment platform and is not saving thousands of dollars a year.

Many international POS platforms tie their software to their own payment processing. To use the software, you use their payments, at their rate. It is easy to set up, and that is partly the appeal. Easy can be expensive.

This is like a tax on every sale.

When your sales grow, the money the software company makes from you grows. What are they selling: software, or a taxation system on your success?

When one vendor controls both the software and the payments, there is no pressure on the rate. You cannot shop around and you cannot negotiate, because the processor is built into the system you depend on. A small margin on every transaction across a year’s trading adds up.

A worked example

A specialty retailer turning over $1.5 million a year in card payments, on a bundled platform-tied processor, might pay an embedded margin of around 0.7% above the underlying cost of acceptance:

  • $1,500,000 in card turnover
  • 0.7% embedded margin
  • Around $10,500 a year

If that same retailer can choose their processor and negotiate directly, moving to a competitively priced provider could save more than $10,000 a year. That stays in the business.

The exact figure depends on turnover, card mix and the deal negotiated. The basic calculation is the same for any retailer: when you can shop and negotiate, you can lower the cost. When that option is gone, you pay what you are charged.

Why we leave the choice with you

We could bundle payments into our software. We chose not to.

You know your turnover, your margins and your existing banking relationships better than any software vendor. Keeping that choice with you means you can shop the market, compare providers on rate and service, negotiate using your own volume as leverage, and change processors later without changing your POS software. When payments are locked to the software, switching processor can mean switching systems entirely. When they are separate, your options stay open.

A locked-in processor takes a quiet margin on every sale. Over a year, for a busy specialty retailer, that can be more than ten thousand dollars. The freedom to choose and negotiate puts that decision back where it belongs.

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Small business retailers in control: Software Ideas: how our customers help shape what we build

July 9, 2026
2 Min read
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Most software companies decide what to build behind closed doors. A roadmap is set somewhere, customers find out when a feature appears or does not, and the cycle continues without them. At Tower Systems, our customers help decide what we build next, openly and on the record.

We call it Software Ideas.

Transparent and democratic software enhancement discussion.

Software Ideas is many years old and remains a key tool that Tower Systems customers love.

How it works

Any customer can submit a suggestion — large or small, anything that would genuinely help their business. Before it goes anywhere, our team checks that it can realistically be built. Once it passes that check, it opens for all customers to vote on.

The ideas with the most support move up the list. That list shapes what we develop next.

Why we built it this way

We could have kept our roadmap private. Most companies do.

We did not, for a straightforward reason: customers deserve to see what has been suggested, what others are supporting, and where the software is heading. We also check viability before a suggestion goes to a vote, so we are not raising expectations for things we cannot deliver. What goes to a vote is something we can actually build.

Priorities are not set by the loudest voice or the largest account. Every customer gets a vote.

What it means in practice

The people who understand a trade best are the ones working in it every day. They see the small frictions and missed opportunities long before any vendor would. Software Ideas gives that knowledge a direct path into the product, rather than leaving it in a support ticket or a conversation at a trade event.

Why it fits how we work

We build, sell, train and support our software ourselves, here in Australia, because we want a direct relationship with the retailers we serve. A system that lets customers suggest, check viability, and vote on what gets built next is a natural part of that.

If you want a software partner that builds with you rather than at you, Software Ideas is worth a look.

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What makes Tower Systems different: our positioning, in plain terms

July 8, 2026
2 Min read
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Every software company says it is different. Few say clearly how. This post sets out what Tower Systems stands for and why it matters to the specialty retailers we serve.

First up though, here at Tower Systems we’re not about cliche-heavy corporate speak. Our customers are local small business retailers, independent retailers. They like direct talk.

Our positioning, in one sentence

Tower Systems is specialty retail POS software, built, sold, trained and supported in Australia, that helps independent retailers turn their specialist knowledge into a stronger business.

That’s it. Plain and simple. That’s us.

The one thing to remember

We go deep, not wide.

We do not try to be POS software for every business. We build for specific specialty retail trades, and we own the whole relationship with our customers: the software, the training, the support. That focus is what holds everything else together.

The four pillars

Deep niche specialisation. We build for defined specialty retail channels, not retail in general. The workflows, language and reports are shaped around how each trade actually operates. The retailer works the way they already think, rather than bending their business to fit generic software.

Full local stack control. We build our software, sell it, train on it and support it — ourselves, in Australia. There is no offshore call centre and no third party between us and the retailer. When you need help, you reach the people who made the product.

Freedom of payment choice. We do not lock retailers into a platform-tied payment processor. You choose your provider and negotiate your own rates. Many international platforms tie the software to their own payments. We do not.

Tools built for the owner. Beyond the sale, we build tools that help owners run a better business: an insights dashboard that surfaces the numbers that matter, stock and replenishment tools that save time, and reporting tuned to your trade. The software has to earn its place every day, not just at the counter.

Why this matters to specialty retailers

Specialty retailers do not win by being everything to everyone. They win on product knowledge, specialist services, supplier relationships and the way they deal with customers.

That is the kind of retailer we build for. Software that understands your trade. Support from the people who built it. No lock-in to payment platforms you did not choose.

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Why deep niche specialisation matters in retail POS software

July 7, 2026
3 Min read
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Most point of sale software is built to handle everything for everyone.

Generic is good if you run a generic business.

The same system serves a cafe, a clothing boutique and a hardware store from the same generic template. That works fine — until a retailer needs their software to actually understand how their business runs.

At Tower Systems, we build POS software for specific specialty retail channels. Newsagencies, jewellers, bike shops, garden centres, pet stores, toy shops, gift shops, produce and farm supply. Each operates differently. We build for each one specifically.

Generic software solves generic problems

A generic POS system handles the basics. It processes a sale, takes a payment, records the transaction. For a simple business, that is often enough.

Specialty retail is not simple. A newsagency manages put-away and returns for hundreds of magazine titles on different supply cycles. A jeweller handles repairs, quotes, laybys and special orders, each with its own workflow. A garden centre sells by weight, by season and by plant variety, with stock that lives and dies. A bike shop books workshop jobs and tracks serial numbers for warranty claims.

None of these needs is unusual within its trade. Generic software treats them as edge cases anyway. The retailer ends up working around the software rather than the other way around.

Specialisation is built in, not bolted on

There is a real difference between software configured to approximate a specialty workflow and software built for it from the start.

Configuration asks the retailer to bend a general tool toward their needs — custom fields, manual workarounds, compromises on how things are named. Purpose-built means the workflow is already there, designed around how that trade operates, tested by retailers in that field, refined over years of real use.

When the software is built for a specific trade, the language matches. The reports answer the questions that trade actually asks. The daily tasks follow the rhythm of the business. Less time adapting.

Specialisation compounds

Deep specialisation is not something you add once. Every year spent serving a particular trade teaches more about how it works, what is changing, and where retailers need support next.

That shows up in practical ways. A supplier integration that cuts hours of manual entry. A stock tool tuned to seasonal buying. A report that flags slow lines before they tie up cash. Each is modest on its own. Together they produce software that genuinely fits the business — and that is hard to replicate by configuring a general platform.

What this means for specialty retailers

The retailers who do well in specialty channels are not competing on price with the chains. They compete on what the chains cannot easily copy: product knowledge, specialist services, supplier relationships, the way they deal with customers.

Good specialty software should support those strengths. Software that does not understand your trade asks you to do the opposite.

The Tower Systems approach

We go deep rather than wide. We serve a defined set of specialty retail channels, and we build, sell, train and support our software in Australia. That focus is deliberate.

If you run a specialty retail business, ask any POS system this: does it understand my trade, or am I expected to adapt to it? The answer usually becomes clear quickly.

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Who is the ideal Tower Systems POS software customer?

June 17, 2026
2 Min read
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We know we’re not right for all retailers. In fact, our commitment is that we will say so if this becomes clear to us at any point in our discussions with you.

POS software companies usually claim to suit everyone. We would rather be honest. The wrong customer wastes their money and our time, and after forty years we have no interest in pretending.

Our ideal customer owns and runs a specialty retail business in Australia or New Zealand. One shop, maybe two or three. They work in the business, make the decisions and feel the result of every one. Among our thousands of customers are bookshops, outdoors shops, newsagents, gift shops, jewellers, bike shops, garden centres, toy shops, produce stores, pet shops, fishing and charity shops  and firearms dealers.

What they share is a type of shop that generic POS software handles badly. Serial number tracking for bikes and firearms. Repairs. Scale integration in the produce store. Magazine handling in the newsagency. Inventory tracking for the jeweller. Weatherproof labels for outdoor businesses. If you have ever tried to bend a big-name POS product around work like that, you know the feeling. That feeling is usually what brings people to us.

They also want to manage the business, not just take payments. Stock control, theft, margin by category, reordering discipline. If all you want is a till, cheaper options exist and you should take one. We mean that. Our software earns its keep through what happens after the sale is rung up.

Support matters to them, often because of a bad experience somewhere else. When customers call us they reach our team in Australia, and many of us have worked in or owned shops like theirs. We have lost count of how often someone told us that mattered more than any feature.

The newer thing: curiosity about AI without any appetite for learning it separately. Our customers drop a supplier invoice into the software and watch it load in 30 seconds, or click AI Insights on a report and get advice in plain English. Built in, not bolted on.

Who is not a fit? Hospitality, pure service businesses, and anyone shopping on the lowest monthly fee alone. Better to say so here than disappoint you later.

If you recognised your shop somewhere in this, book a free demo and bring your hardest questions. We have been answering them since 1981.

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Retail Theft Is Often Costing Local Retailers More Than They Think

June 3, 2026
3 Min read
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Most small business retailers underestimate how much theft is costing them. Not because they are naive, but because the losses rarely announce themselves. Stock shrinkage accumulates quietly. Cash discrepancies get explained away. Time theft goes untracked entirely. By the time the problem becomes visible, it has usually been running for months.

Another factor is a readiness to look away rather than confronting an uncomfortable truth.

Retail theft is a consistent financial drain on independent small businesses in Australia. The businesses most at risk are often those that feel too small or too close-knit for it to happen to them.

It Is Not Always a Stranger

Customer theft gets the most attention. Security cameras, product locks, and store layouts are all designed with the external threat in mind. But employee theft is statistically just as significant, and far harder to detect without the right tools. It does not always look like cash taken from the register. It can be stock walked out the back door, discounts applied to personal purchases, refunds processed against non-existent returns, or hours logged that were never worked.

None of these show up on a security camera. They show up in your data — if you know where to look.

Here at Tower Systems we shine a light on retail theft to help local retailers lose less in theft.

Our retail experience helps us serve retailers in this space.

Your POS System Already Has the Answers

A well-configured point of sale system captures every transaction, every discount, every void, every refund, and every login. That data tells a story. Unusual patterns in any of those categories — a staff member who voids more sales than their colleagues, a till that reconciles short on the same shift rotation, a product category with unexplained shrinkage — are signals worth investigating.

Most retailers use their POS software to process sales. Fewer use it to protect the business. The intelligence is already there. It simply needs to be reviewed regularly, not just at the end of a financial year when the damage is done.

Policy Matters As Much As Technology

Data alone is not enough. A clear, written theft policy sets expectations before a problem occurs. Every team member should understand what constitutes theft, what the consequences are, and that the business monitors its data actively. This is not about creating a culture of suspicion. It is about creating a culture of accountability — one where the people doing the right thing feel protected, and those considering otherwise understand the risk.

Stop Waiting for the Annual Audit

An annual stocktake or financial audit is not a theft detection strategy. It is a damage assessment. By the time those numbers surface, a sustained theft problem may have cost tens of thousands of dollars. Regular review — weekly till reconciliation, monthly stock variance checks, and consistent POS reporting — turns detection from an annual event into an ongoing discipline.

The Businesses That Stay in Control

The retailers who manage theft well share a few things in common. They use their POS data actively. They have a policy in place. They do not wait for obvious signs before acting. And they understand that protecting revenue is just as important as generating it.

Tower Systems builds point of sale software for independent specialty retailers across Australia and New Zealand. Our software includes the reporting and audit tools to help you stay across your business — every day, not just once a year.

To learn more, call us on 1300 662 957 or email sales@towersystems.com.au.

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How to Use the Small Business Instant Asset Write-Off to Upgrade Your POS Technology This Financial Year

May 29, 2026
3 Min read
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For small business retailers who have been putting off a technology upgrade, the instant asset write-off is a practical reason to act now rather than later.

Here is what you need to know, and how to make it work for your retail business.

What the Instant Asset Write-Off Is

The Australian Government’s small business instant asset write-off allows eligible businesses to immediately deduct the full cost of a qualifying asset in the year it is purchased and first used — rather than depreciating it over several years. This means the tax benefit lands in your current financial year return rather than being spread across three, five, or more years.

For a retail business buying point-of-sale hardware — terminals, scanners, receipt printers, cash drawers, tablets — this is a straightforward category of qualifying asset. You buy the hardware, you put it to use in your business, and you claim the full deduction this financial year.

The Numbers Matter

The write-off has threshold and eligibility conditions that change periodically. As of the current financial year, consult your accountant to confirm the exact threshold applicable to your business and turnover. What does not change is the underlying principle: spending money on business assets before 30 June produces a tax benefit now. Waiting until July means waiting another twelve months.

For a retailer on a 25% small business tax rate, a $5,000 hardware investment produces a $1,250 tax saving in this year’s return. The effective cost of that upgrade is $3,750, not $5,000. For a larger hardware package, the saving scales accordingly.

Always confirm your specific position with your accountant before purchasing. Eligibility conditions apply and individual circumstances vary.

What to Upgrade

Point-of-sale hardware has a direct bearing on how your business operates daily. Slow, ageing terminals create friction at the counter. Unreliable scanners slow down stocktakes and receiving. Inadequate receipt or label printing hardware creates manual workarounds that cost staff time.

The areas most worth considering for an EOFY upgrade are:

  • POS terminals and touchscreens
  • Barcode scanners — both fixed counter units and portable devices for stocktaking
  • Receipt printers
  • Label printers for shelf-edge and product labelling
  • Cash drawers
  • Customer-facing display screens
  • Tablets for mobile POS and stocktaking on the shop floor

Any of these qualify as business assets used in the operation of your retail business.

The Tower Systems Hardware Store

Tower Systems supplies POS hardware direct to retailers through its online store. The range is selected to work with Tower Systems software and is priced for independent small business retailers — not enterprise buyers.

Right now, Tower Systems customers can access a bonus 10% discount on hardware purchases. Combined with the instant asset write-off, the effective cost of upgrading your technology this quarter is meaningfully lower than it will be in July.

Buying before 30 June captures both the tax deduction in this financial year and the current discount. Waiting until July loses both.

Act Before 30 June

The combination of the instant asset write-off and the current 10% customer discount makes this quarter the right time to upgrade. The process is straightforward: purchase the hardware, put it to use in your business before 30 June, and discuss the deduction with your accountant when preparing your return.

To browse the Tower Systems hardware range and take advantage of the current customer discount, visit our online store.

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Advice for Small Business Retailers: Here’s Why Vibe Coding Your Own POS Software Probably a Mistake

May 16, 2026
4 Min read
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Let’s talk about vibe coding and vertical market software.

Hi, I’m Mark Fletcher. I founded Tower Systems back in 1981. Back then I was a programmer. My languages of choice were Fortran (for more technical application) and PL/1 (for more commercial coding). The last programming I did was in the very early 1990s.

I also have owned retail shops for decades. Today, I have one physical shop and four online retail businesses. That retail experience is relevant to this. You can check me out on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-fletcher-tower/

Early this year, I vibe coded a couple of applications. It was exciting, fun. One was a possible commercial project. I deployed a test version. It was very cool. But, it wasn’t commercial, certainly not to a standard I’d want money for.

I mention all that for perspective for what I want to say in this comparison of vibe coding versus buying commercial software. I should also note that I sold Tower Systems to Vela APX, a Constellation Software company. I’m still in the business and loving it by the way.

How does vibe coding compare commercial vertical market software?

Vibe Coding is a mainstream topic thanks to social media content pitching it. Plenty of people are making money selling courses and workshops about vibe coding and while vibe coding is cool, there are reasons that businesses need to be careful in approaching it.

Retailers read about vibe coding, about anyone being able to spin up an app in a weekend, and they start wondering: why am I paying for software when I could just build it myself?

It’s a fair question. But most of the time, the answer is: don’t.

Here’s the thing about commercially released software: it’s been through a process. Think of it like food from a licensed kitchen. Before it reaches you, someone has checked it, tested it, made sure it does what it claims. When you vibe code something yourself, you might end up with something that looks right and feels right. But unless you’re a developer, it probably has gaps.

Where does commercially released vertical market software differ to vibe coded software?

I spoke recently with a retailer who’d done exactly this. They’d built their own tool, and it handled some of what they needed. But not all of it. There were steps at the end of key processes that the software couldn’t complete, and so they completed them manually. Two to three hours a week, every week. When we looked at Tower Systems software covering the same ground, it handled the whole process end to end. Our software costs a few dollars a day. Their manual workaround was costing them hours.

There’s another reason to go commercial that doesn’t get talked about enough: collective knowledge. Software used across hundreds of businesses accumulates feedback that a single-user build never can. Every retailer using Tower Systems is, in a sense, contributing to the product. Their experience, their edge cases, their suggestions, that all feeds back into what gets built next. Retailers benefit from that even if they never submit a single support ticket.

The latest Tower Systems release is a good example. A meaningful chunk of the enhancements came directly from retailers. Not from our team guessing what might be useful, from people actually running shops telling us what they needed.

What is the value difference between commercial and vibe coded software?

When you’re weighing up vibe coding versus commercial software, think about what you’re actually comparing. On one side: something built quickly, for free, by someone who isn’t a software developer, with no QA process and no community behind it. But, since it’s personal you may feel more love for it. On the other: software built over decades, tested before release, shaped by hundreds of retailers across Australia and New Zealand, and updated regularly. But, since it is commercial it has a cost.

The food analogy I shared earlier holds. You wouldn’t buy a meal from a home kitchen that hasn’t met basic health standards. The same logic applies to software running your business.

Tower Systems builds specifically for specialty retail: bookshops, farm supply businesses, gift shops, bike shops, pet shops,  jewellers,  newsagencies, garden centres, toy shops, music shops, and more.

If you want to talk through whether it’s right for your business, reach out: towersystems.com.au, sales@towersystems.com.au, or call 1300 662 957.

Yes, this post is a sales pitch. It’s also true. And, it’s written by me: Mark Fletcher. Someone with decades of experience in software development and decades of experience owning and running retail businesses.

Oh, and, yes, these are all my own words.

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Thinking of Switching POS Software? Ask These Questions First

May 15, 2026
2 Min read
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Switching POS software is one of those decisions that feels bigger than it is — and then turns out to be exactly as big as you thought.

Retail business owners: Take your time. Do your research. Make decisions only when you are ready. This decision is 100% about you and is best made by you, not a consultant, not your accountant. Choose software that is best for you. If you are not sure, wait. Make sure every claim, every promise is documented.

The actual switch is usually straightforward. The regret comes when you’ve committed to a new platform and discover something important you didn’t ask about before signing up.

Here are the questions worth asking any POS vendor before you make a decision.

About the contract

  • Is there a minimum contract term?
  • What are the cancellation terms and notice period?
  • Are there exit fees or early termination penalties?
  • Does the contract auto-renew, and how much notice is required to stop it?

About the full cost

  • What is the all-in monthly cost — including every module I need?
  • Are there transaction fees on EFTPOS payments?
  • Is there a penalty for using my own payment processor?
  • Are there fees per terminal or per location?
  • What does onboarding and training cost?

About your specific business

  • Does the software have features specific to my type of shop?
  • Does it connect to the suppliers and buying groups I use?
  • Can it handle my specific selling mode — weight, fractions, serial numbers, repairs?
  • Can I see it running in a business like mine?

About support

  • Where is the support team based?
  • What are support hours?
  • How do I contact support — phone, email, chat?
  • What is the average response time for a support request?

About data and stability

  • Can my existing customer, product, and sales data be migrated?
  • What happens to my data if I cancel?
  • How long has the company been operating?
  • Who owns the company?
  • How often is the software updated?

One more thing

The best POS vendors will answer all of these questions clearly, in writing, before you sign anything. If a vendor is reluctant to provide written answers or a real demo, that’s useful information too.

Tower Systems is happy to answer every one of these questions. We’ll put it in writing.

Ask us anything →

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What to Look For in POS Software for Your Type of Shop

May 9, 2026
3 Min read
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Choosing POS software feels like a big decision. And it is. The software you run in your shop touches nearly everything — sales, stock, customers, suppliers, reporting, stagey, compliance, and your online store.

Most retailers start by Googling “best POS software Australia.” The results show the same handful of platforms over and over. Most of them are built to work for any retailer, like, literally, any type of retailer.

That’s worth pausing on.

Generic doesn’t mean wrong — it means you’ll need workarounds

A generic POS handles the basics well: processing sales, tracking inventory, running reports. For a café or a clothing boutique that sells finished goods at fixed prices, that’s probably enough.

But if your shop sells items by weight, manages customer repairs, tracks serial numbers, handles second-hand goods, processes special orders, or connects to industry-specific suppliers — generic software starts to feel like wearing someone else’s shoes.

You make it work. But it doesn’t quite fit.

If your shop is not generic, why consider generic POS software?

What specialty software does differently

Software built for your specific type of business includes the tools your business actually uses, set up the way your business actually works.

For a jeweller, that means stone-level inventory management, valuation certificates, and repairs tracking with parts and labour. For a garden centre, it means selling by weight, managing plants that grow and change price, and printing weatherproof labels for outdoor stock. For a bike shop, it means workshop management, serial number tracking, and direct connection to Bike Exchange.

These aren’t add-ons. They’re built in.

The questions worth asking any POS vendor

  • Does it have specific features for my type of shop — or will I need to adapt generic tools?
  • Does it connect to the suppliers and buying groups I use?
  • Can it sell by weight, by the metre, or by fraction if I need it to?
  • Are there transaction fees on EFTPOS payments?
  • Are there fees per terminal or per location?
  • Is there a lock-in contract or minimum term?
  • Where is the support team based, and what hours are they available?
  • Can I see it running in a business like mine before I sign up?

What 40 years of working with independent retailers taught us

At Tower Systems, we’ve spent four decades building software for specific types of retail shops. Not all retail — specific retail. Jewellers. Newsagents. Garden centres. Bike shops. Pet shops. Fishing shops. Toy shops. Bookshops. And more.

Every vertical has tools built in that reflect how that business actually works. Not how a generic platform thinks it works.

If you run a specialty retail shop and your current software feels like a compromise, it might be time to look at what purpose-built actually means.

See the retail types we serve →

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