We have scheduled two online training sessions for newsagent suppliers. In these sessions we will introduce our Point of Sale software, outline the facilities, explain how to reportand extract data and take questions. These will be excellent sessions for supplier representatives wanting to help newsagents understand more about their businesses.  Click on the following links to book for either session.

• Session 1, March 16, 11am.
• Session 2, March 17, 11am.

Access is free.  All you need is a computer with broadband access and a phone for a toll free call.

We are pleased to be a sponsor for this year’s NSW & ACT Newsagent Awards for Excellence.  Our sponsorship for 2010 continues our support for newsagents and bodies which support them.

The awards dinner will be held on March 24 at the Waterview Convention Centre at Sydney Olympic Park.

Click here for a registration form to attend the dinner.

We are helping newsagents using our Point of Sale software to drive better ink deals by including this ad on receipts. Our customers have control over when the ad prints thanks to helpful tools in the software.  Including this ad, or any ad, on receipts is easy with our POS software. We have created a pack of professionally designed ads for use by our customers. This is a free service we offer to help newsagents using Tower Systems to drive better outcomes from their business.

Catalogues are crucial to driving new traffic into newsagency businesses. Back to School, Christmas, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Ink … there are many catalogue opportunities each year for newsagents to use to attract new customers.

Tower Systems offers a structured approach to suppliers and newsagents for handling catalogue business. This helps both sides get the most of the opportunities. from electronic files to marketing opportunities to performance tracking to reordering, our Point of Sale software helps key newsagency channel stakeholders - newsagents, wholesales and suppliers - to leverage each catalogue to its full potential.

We are currently working with several suppliers on new initiatives to strengthen the offer around catalogues for the Tower newsagent community. New smart tools have an opportunity to live the commercial benefits driven by catalogues.

We see our investment in helping develop smarter catalogue initiatives as valuable in helping newsagents get more from their businesses.

We are seeing an encouraging number of new newsagencies open for business in our own sales data. In January and February this year we have sold point of sale software systems to newsagents opening new businesses, often for the first time.

The growth in new locations counters concerns in some quarters that the newsagency channel is shrinking. While that may be the case, there are now outlets opening in new centres and extensions of existing centres.

We are glad to be helping new newsagents get their foot in the door and establish new newsagency presences in the community. Given our history in the channel and that we own newsagencies ourselves, we are glad to pass on advice and supplier contacts.

Our newsagency Point of Sale software and our newspaper home delivery software have each undergone considerable change.  The new software was released three weeks ago and is attracting plenty of attention.  The scope of the changes is getting is driving excellent word of mouth.  Newsagents without software are booking to see the new software and some with other software are also taking a look.

With more than 1,650 newsagents using Tower Systems software, we have an excellent pool of newsagents providing guidance on the evolution of our (and their) software.

While we’re happy to demonstrate the software in-store, online live demonstrations are becoming more popular.

After a comprehensive search for a computer solution, Ozcorp Card and Stationery Company has signed an agreement with Tower Systems to implement Tower Systems’ software technology in the Ozcorp business.

Using Tower Systems software, Ozcorp will automate ordering and other key business functions.  They will also produce newsagency channel compliant EDI files for their newsagent and other customers.  This will be a terrific time saver for Ozcorp and for newsagents.  It will help Ozcorp enhance its relationship with newsagents and other retailers.

Tower Systems is pleased to welcome Ozcorp to their community of newsagent suppliers using our software.

Both Tower Systems and Ozcorp are exhibiting at the Sydney Gift Fthis week.

We have loaded a new training video to our website today on handling newspaper price changes in our newsagency management software. It’s video A23 and it’s available now.

This training video has been developed to help newsagents cope with newspaper price changes - some of which come into force this weekend.

Our eziPass electronic voucher network - for vending mobile phone recharge, phonecards, iTunes cards, tourism tickets and other items - has passed 1,000 live and trading locations.  This is the largest newsagent network vending electronic voucher products.  Many sell directly through our software and some sell using our stand alone software.  We also have newsagents using our point of sale software who vend vouchers through the more traditional stand alone terminals - i.e. not eziPass.

Selling iTunes cards through our newsagency point of sale software offers an excellent opportunity to our retail partners to add value to existing transactions. Our software makes selling the cards easy and fast.  Having our own newsagencies to finesse the selling of iTunes cards has helped.

We continue to look for electronic product to add to our already extensive suite.  Suppliers with electronic voucher products they would like to offer through newsagents should make contact with me through our company website.

Tower Systems is proud to have just launched a new newsagent software special offer at our website.  The collateral for this new offer visually and thematically connects with the fresh look and feel of our new website and the new product collateral developed by our marketing team.

Our investment in new marketing collateral, as with our investment in our new website, is considerable.  It reflects our commitment to change which is also evident in our Point of Sale software.

We see software as enjoyable and valuable, something certainly to be celebrated.  Celebration is a central theme in how we represent our software, our company and the benefits we deliver to our customers.

The new collateral features in fresh marketing being sent to newsagents who do not already partner with us.  It is also being offered at industry trade shows which commence shortly.

Tower Systems currently serves in excess of 1,600 newsagents.  More newsagents use our software than all of our competitors combined.

We are grateful for the trust shown by newsagents for giving us this market share.  We respect this through our commitment to customer service and enhancing the value achievable from our software.

The exclusive magazine supply control initiative we quietly released last year gives newsagents a tool with which to control supply at a convenient time in the work day.

Our facility goes beyond the industry standard facilities in our software and delivers something extra, and beneficial, to newsagents using our Point of Sale software.  It enables the submission of s supply change request direct from within the software and without the need to go to the supplier website.

We tested this new facility for some time in our own newsagencies prior to commercial release.

This is another innovation released through our Tower Advantage ^TM program.

We published the results of our January newsagency sales benchmark study to participating newsagents yesterday. We will more broadly release the results to others later this week.  The early release to participants is a courtesy in respect for their participation. It also offers an opportunity for discussion in advance of broader release.

Our newsagency sales benchmark study is the most comprehensive and consistent of its type.  We have been reporting on this data for close to ten years.  It is often used by suppliers to assess the health of the newsagency channel.

With data from more than 130 newsagencies, we have a good pool from which to develop an accurate assessment of newsagency performance in key product categories.

Our goal is to help the channel become better informed and to demonstrate the value of using our Point of Sale software as more than a cash register.

We have been fielding many calls from newsagents transitioning from distribution/retail businesses to retail only businesses.  We are helping them retain customers but stop billing for newspaper distribution using our newsagency management software.  We are also helping extract distribution data to make this available for others taking over the management of the distribution service.  There are many facilities in our software to make this process easier for both sides.

I am undertaking a newsagent retail sales benchmark study comparing sales for January 2010 against January 2009.

Tower Newsagents can participate by sending a Monthly Sales Comparison report: tick the box to exclude home deliveries, and tick the box for a category breakdown. Set your first date range (on the left) to January 1, 2010 to January 31, 2010 and the date range of the right to one year earlier.

Once the report is on the screen, click the PDF button to save this as a PDF, go into your email software and send a copy of the PDF to me at mark@towersystems.com.au. I’ll publish the benchmark results here and elsewhere so all newsagents can benefit.

Non Tower newsagents can participate by emailing me for a copy of a spreadsheet template I have prepared.

As with past benchmarks, I expect to get data from between 100 and 120 newsagencies in the next week.  The results will provide an indication of sales performance year on year and give newsagents something with which to compare their businesses.

We are running another free training program for newsagents switching from the POS Solutions software to our Point of Sale software.  We will share experiences of moving from their software to ours.  With more than 200 having made the move, we have a good body of experience on which to draw.

The training will be delivered live an online at 11am this Thursday, February 4, at 11am.  To book, please click here.

The ePay server is currently down making phone recharge and other products from ePay through our software and other software unavailable.  It is expected to be back online by around 2pm.

UPDATE (2:45PM)  ePay has advised that their server is back up and running.

We are two weeks away from a national tour to meet with newsagents using our software.  These same sessions are an excellent opportunity for newsagents not using our Point of Sale and newspaper home delivery software to see it in action and to see how we connect with our customers.  Observing one of these meetings shows how we treat all of our customers - it is real and that matters more than a sales show.

We will be showing off our new newsagent software.  We will also have fresh documentation, an update on newsagent supplier changes this year and other news for our 1,600 strong newsagent community.

Here is the list of meetings we have scheduled through to the start of April.

Click here to book online and update your Outlook calendar.

We are in the final days of preparation for the Reed Gift Fair in Melbourne this coming weekend. We’re on stand 3430 at the Melbourne Convention Centre.

In addition to readying a new release of our Gift Shop Point of Sale software, we have developed new marketing collateral for the trade show. This pitches the value of our offer and our focus on the gift shop marketplace.

The new marketing collateral also recognises that the trade show will be attended by newsagents and jewellers - other important marketplaces for us.

This is what we love about the gift fairs, the diversity in retailers attending.  It is an efficient marketing opportunity for us.

It is a challenge to create visually compelling collateral which promotes software and fits with the visual dynamic of a trade show floor full of terrific product. Software can look dry and unappealing.

In our marketing collateral we are connecting our software with the joy of saving time, making more money and building a stronger business - under the banner of MADE FOR YOU.

We have offered advanced billing facilities for newspaper home delivery accounts in our software for since the early 1990s.  This feature has become more interesting in the last few days with the decision by News Limited to approve and even encourage its use.  We have published refreshed advice on this - advice sheet N2.7.

While preparing a presentation for next week I have been gathering the latest newsagent market share data for newsagency Point of Sale computer systems.  The results show the strength of  Tower Systems.

To ensure accuracy of the numbers, we reviewed data in our CRM system, compared with supplier data and tested the results with calls to a sample of newsagents.  This ensured the accuracy of the information presented in the graph and our presentations.

2010 will be an interesting year for newsagency software.  Changes will be necessary to meet new supplier standards and newsagents will change business models and therefore require more flexible software.  Add to that the rigors of a competitive marketplace and you have an interesting year ahead.

We are very proud of our numbers and equally proud that they continue to grow.  We are already enjoying 2010 and the newsagents we are welcoming to our community.

When researching the sales data and checking in with recent arrivals to our community, the most common reasons they give for joining us are good word of mouth from colleagues, experiences elsewhere and our strong market share.

We respect our size and are committed to not allowing this to make us complacent. We are soon pulled into line if we ever stray.

For reference for those who want to compare such things, Tower Systems currently serves 1,698 newsagents.

With many newsagents using our software supplying other retailers also using our software, we make it easy for the supplying newsagent to generate an electronic invoice which can be quickly imported by the receiving newsagent.

OPur Point of Sale software created a DD2 file from Invoice/Delivery Docket or Statement for the recipient - using the industry standard layout.  We have an advice sheet (G43) which explains how this works.

This is another time saving feature in our software for both businesses.  We developed this facility as a result of a customer request and seeing the need oursleves.  It works a treat: saves time, cuts mistakes and facilitates easier flow of stock between connected businesses.

This is on my mind this morning because the facility won us another new customer yesterday.  We are thrilled when a software feature wins us a new customer.

We have scheduled our third free online Magazine Management workshop for 2010 for tomorrow at 11am. The sessions will cover everything people need to know to manage magazines to meet industry standards around the XchangeIT EDI platform.

Bookings can be made the online training page on our website.

We tested and loaded the latest Officesmart catalogue to our website today with the approval of GNS.

On Friday morning we will release new and tested stock files from Kat Kards and Taylorgraphic with permission of the suppliers.  Each stock file we make available from the downloads area of our website has been tested for adhering to our standards.