Sometimes it is the simple reports in our POS software which our customers like the most. Take the Monthly Taking Report . This lists sales by department for the full previous twelve months, all on one page. We have customers who love this report for the year long view it provides. They tell us that it helps them spot sales trends, easily compare periods and balance the business across departments.

The takings report suite was the first we developed for Point of Sale in the last 1980s. It’s good to see it still being useful today.

Our gift shop point of sale software is helping more businesses thrive thanks to gift shop specific tools.

Our latest software makes it easier for gift shop owners to trade electronically with suppliers. This delivers significant benefits beyond the obvious time savings. Five new suppliers have been added in the last few weeks.

By more tightly controlling stock replenishment, gift shop owners can reduce oversupply and other purchase errors. This puts money in the bank.

Delivered with our software is business management training and support which helps gift shop owners leverage the tools in the software to achieve these savings. We understand the importance of not only delivering excellent software but also helping our customers make the most from this.

Between now and the end of June is a good time of the year to install Point of Sale software in our experience.  We are away from major retail seasons except for Easter and Mother’s Day.  Also, we can have the system installed and ready for the stock take at the end of the financial year and nicely bedded in for the Christmas / New Year trading period.

While we are usually busy in busy retail periods, it is the next few months when we find ourselves busiest with major installations as people work on their businesses in their quieter periods.

We gear ourselves for this opportunity and make the most of it.

We are seeing more homewares retailers introduce cafes in their businesses. This is an interesting more – for them and for us. We are enjoying our exposure to the needs of managing a cafe through our Point of Sale software.

In the businesses we have seen and are working with, the cafe / homewares business blend works well. It brings a vibe to the business and this is crucial in retail. Separating your offer from others in a similar space us crucial.

While we don’t see ourselves as delving further into the cafe space, we are certainly enjoying the experience and working with our customers to better blend the needs of the two businesses in one.

One thing we have learnt over the years in this software business is to be flexible.

Some of our Point of training videos are to be included as modules in formal (government supported) training offered by a couple of organisations. They approached us after evaluating the content and the mechanisms for assessing what has been learned. We are thrilled with how our training stacked up to professional scrutiny.

Our online training program, videos and live online workshops, are backed by assessment to track what has been learned. We back the assessment with the follow-up training opportunities to ensure that gaps are covered and that the learning is the best possible.

Creating content for a curriculum beyond our own use is exciting. It encourages us to continue to develop the suite of training on offer.

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.

We are receiving kudos for the real-time reporting in our jeweller Point of Sale software as it is helping jewellers make business decisions on up to the minute sales and other data. Jewellers love the immediacy of the data access as well as the breadth of data coverage in our reporting.

Just yesterday we received a call from a jeweller who was thrilled with these reporting tools compared to the system they had been running. They encouraged us to pitch our real time reporting as a point of difference. So, here we are.

Our jeweller software has more than eighty management reports with a range of facilities and options – thus providing comprehensive reporting tools. Good reporting is crucial to good business decisions.

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.

A Sydney jeweller is using Tower Systems Point of Sale software for jewellers to control his retail business from an overseas base. Thanks to remote link facilities, excellent reporting and integrated theft management tools, such remote management of the business is easy.

Fast and secure, the remote link facilities are ideal for jewellers who work away from a retail business of travel extensively. Key decisions can be actioned quickly, as if you are still in the business back home.

Data integrity is not compromised by the overseas link. Further, local staff don’t have to know the extent to which the owner is watching over the business.

The same facilities helping this jeweller control his software are also helping Australian based jewellers to manage more than one retail outlet from a central location. The ability to monitor performance is exceptional, almost as good as if you are in the business at the time.

More than 300 jewellers use the current version of Tower Systems Point of Sale software.

Tower Systems is proactively helping jewellers using its jewellery business Point of Sale software to easily handle the significant change Pandora is introducing to their stock file.  The Tower Systems facility will make the change easier.  It will also cut mistakes a more manual process would cause.  This is being delivered free to Tower Advantage ^TM customers.

We are communicating with our Tower Advantage ^TM jeweller customer base on how to access our utility as well as advice for undertaking the change.

This is a significant one-off change for jewellers and if not done right the disruption to the business could be considerable.  We are pleased to be in a position to help.

You know you have had a successful trade show when you pack up at the end of the show with orders.  The last four days in Sydney at the Home and Giving Fair at Homebush have been good, reinforcing the value of our commitment to the gift and homewares channels several years ago.

We are looking forward to more of these trade shows this year since they attract retailers from several channels which interest us.

Twenty more of our retail customers signed up with Tyro broaadband eftpos last month.  This continues the excellent growth we are seeing in the use of Tyro for eftpos payment among our retail partners.

Our Tyro implementation sees eftpos transactions processed faster, with fewer mistakes and with better customer and retailer documentation.

I have been fortunate to have time yesterday and today at the Gift Fair and the Home and Giving trade shows in Sydney. It was terrific seeing many of our Point of Sale software customers: gift show owners as well as newsagents.

I enjoyed walking the halls, spotting trends and considering the implications of these for our software and hoe we serve our customers. Trade shows in the gift space provide an insight into business for the rest of the year.

The retailers I spoke with are positive about 2010, most saying that they had an excellent Christmas and first two months to this year.

We have people at the trade show for the full five days. This is an indication of our commitment to the gift and homewares retail channels. Our Point of Sale is growing in its penetration.

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.

Earlier this year we offered our Marketing Tools software free to existing customers using our Point of Sale software for a limited period of time. We advertised it only through this blog. Plenty took up the offer.

I made the offer as a thank you to our customers, particularly those engaging in our online activities.

We are starting to hear from people using the Marketing Tools and the benefits they are achieving. This is one note I received overnight from a happy customer.

Thank you Tower Systems. The marketing software is helping us market our business better than ever. We just sent out our first emails.  We are using our customer database and we are getting a response in sales. So thank you for this free gift. It is not often we in small business get a leg up. You have made us feel good.

It is not the first time we have given away valuable software and it will not be the last. We understand our role in helping our retail partners and adding value where we are able. The free Marketing Tools software did that. It is proof of our actions speaking louder than our words.

Every dollar added to the bottom line of a retail business is multiplied when it comes time to sell. We are glad to make our retailers more valuable.

One of the most important facilities in our Point of Sale software is the suite of powerful reports which detail the performance of products by supplier.

These are far more useful to our retailer partners than reports produced by the suppliers since they report on over the counter activity in the business.

Our reports serve our customers first.  As we have seen recently, some retailer supplier reports serve the supplier ahead of the retailer.

Our reporting on supplier performance is one of the most compelling reasons for adhering to our proven stock control standards.  Retailers can bank on the value! We help ensure this value is unlocked through our user meetings, online training, face to face training, advice sheets and training videos.

We are as passionate about helping our retailers than ever.  This is why we continue to invest time and money in helping our user community achieve more.

Supplier performance is on my mind today because of a report I have reviewed overnight.  Supplier performance in this instance has not helped the business.

We are meeting with our users in Cairns this Wednesday starting at 11am.  This meeting will run like other recent User Meetings, presenting our new Point of Sale and back office management software.  We will also cover navigating our new website, outline new training now available online and take plenty of questions.  Book here.

We get to Cairns twice a year and always have a good turn out. Thanks to recent acquisitions, our local presence is getting even stronger in far north Queensland.

We have modified our new Tower Systems website to make it easier for people to book on online demonstration of our point of sale software, online training, make a sales enquiry or make a support enquiry.  While these facilities all existed on the new website, we felt they were not as obvious as they could be.  The latest changes on the home page address this and demonstrate our care and attention to customer service.

We will continue to tweak our new website to improve the customer service and sales prospects outcome.

We had a batch of premium water bottles labelled with our brand for use as a gift at trade shows and conferences.  They have been a real hit with sales prospects, customers and suppliers.

We have used the water bottles to promote our tag-line message of LIFE IS GOOD WITH TOWER SYSTEMS.

We went with water bottles because we wanted a gift which is valuable and genuinely useful.  Since many of our customers are on the go, a quality hot and cold spill proof drink container made sense.  They have been so popular that we have received requests for more.

We have used pens, pads, mouse mats, stress balls, cakes, chocolates and folders as promotional message vessels in the past.

This water bottle is the best on all fronts in my view and based on the reaction from happy recipients.

We have moved our Brisbane User meeting next Tuesday to accomodate more users.  It will now be held at 2pm at the Virginia Golf Club, 1 Elliott Road, Banyo.  There is plenty of free parking.  Bookings can be made by clicking here.

The response we are receiving from the meetings is excellent.  In Adelaide this week we had a terrific turnout as our customers wanted to learn about our new software and network with our team and others using the 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.

Jewellers in our beta release program tell us they love our new software.  They are especially happy with our completely new repairs facilities as well as the new software look introduced with the latest update.  We are slowly rolling the latest jeweller software out to our marketplace.

We spent most of 2009 developing new facilities for jewellers based on excellent feedback from our customers.

We currently serve in excess of 300 jewellers nationally.

In addition to the more than twenty face to face user meetings which we are in the middle of hosting around the country, we have scheduled four online user meetings:

• Wednesday, February 24 at 3pm
• Friday. February 26 at 2pm
• Saturday, February 27 at 11am
• Tuesday, March 9 at 6pm

These will cover the same agenda as the face to face meetings. The key focus is the latest release of our software, the most significant software update in two years.

Any person using Tower software can participate from work or from home.  All you will need is a computer with broadband access and a phone for the toll free call.  Yes, participation is completely free.  This is further evidence of the value of the Tower Advantage ^TM.

We are testing the evening and Saturday sessions in response to suggestions from some of our customers.  Let us know what you think.

Click here to book immediately online.  Numbers are limited.

We will schedule more of these online sessions if there is demand.