In two days, our new point of sale software for gift shops will be on show at the GHA Gift Fair in Sydney. This latest software has new features developed specifically for gift shops. Enhanced Lay-By, stock management, reporting and Point of Sale facilities will help gift shop owners build stronger and more profitable businesses

The Gift Fair will provide us with an opportunity for valuable feedback on the new software not only from gift shops but fro the many other retailers who attend including newsagents.

This is our second trade show for 2010 and we are excited for the opportunity. If you are at darling Harbour for the event, be sure to drop in and say hello.

With our first trade show for the year now over we are well into planning for the GHA Home and Giving Fair in Sydney later this month.  This looks set to be an excellent event with close to 30,000 business people expected to attend.

We will announce a special offer at the GHA Home and Giving Fair along with other innovation.

We are using trade shows this year to show new software as well as our online training and training videos.  It’s great to show our point of difference live and in a context which makes sense - more so than just talking about things.

Here is our revised Trade Show schedule for 2010 so far.

• GHA Home & Giving Fair, Sydney, Feb 27 - Mar 2
• Reed Gift Fair, Brisbane, July 3 - 6
• GHA Home & Giving Fair, Melbounre, August 7 - 11
• GNS Market Fair, Melbourne, Jul 31 - Aug 1
• GNS Market Fair, Sydney, August 7 - 8
• Ausbike/Interbike, Melbourne, August 22 - 23
• GNS Market Fair, Perth, August 22
• JAA Jewellery Fair, Sydney, Aug 30 - Sept 1
• GNS Market Fair, Brisbane, Sept. 11 - 12

We expect to add at least anothermore trade shows to these plans as we develop opportunities with trade show organisations.

Our stand at the Melbourne Gift Fair has delivered excellent new leads for us over the last three days.  We also got to meet with many existing customers as well as with many gift suppliers who can make good use of our technology.

The configuration of our stand made it easy for us to talk with multiple groups at any one time.  This was important given the show traffic as well as the number of businesses we met having more than one outlet - common in the gift space.

We used the Melbourne Gift Fair to roll out the first phase of new look and feel marketing collateral for 2010 as well as our new software release.  The reaction was excellent.

As we anticipated, visitors to the trade show and our stand came from the gift retailer, jeweller and newsagent channels.

This has been our first Trade Show for 2010 and even with one day left to go we’re feeling good about the interest retailers will have in technology this year.

Here is our Trade Show schedule for 2010 so far.

• Reed Gift Fair, Melbourne, Jan 30 - Feb 2
• GHA Home & Giving Fair, Sydney, Feb 27 - Mar 2
• Reed Gift Fair, Brisbane, July 3 - 6
• GHA Home & Giving Fair, Melbounre, August 7 - 11
• GNS Market Fair, Melbourne, Jul 31 - Aug 1
• GNS Market Fair, Sydney, August 7 - 8
• Ausbike/Interbike, Melbourne, August 22 - 23
• GNS Market Fair, Perth, August 22
• JAA Jewellery Fair, Sydney, Aug 30 - Sept 1
• GNS Market Fair, Brisbane, Sept. 11 - 12

We expect to add at least another six trade shows to these plans as we develop opportunities with trade show organisations.

Tower Systems New Zealand will have our software for jewellers on show at the New Zealand Jewellery Fair this weekend.  we will be demonstrating our latest software including repairs, manufactured goods, point of sale and jeweller specific reporting.

Jewllers in New Zealand  have made an excellent contribution to the enhancements we have included in our software this year.  Some of their suggestions will be on show in Auckland this weekend.

With our second last trade show of the year now over, we are taking time over the next two weeks to review our plans for 2010.

We have completed twenty four trade shows under this year and as a result have excellent contact and closure data to guide our plans.  In some markets, trade shows are passing theur use by date while in other markets they are growing in importance.

The gift fair just completed in Sydney has been good for us, generating some excellent new leads.

Our stand at the Reed Gift Fair in Sydney from today through to Tuesday is open for business with the latest gift shop software on show.  Attendees at the trade show will get to see our point of sale, stock management, back office, lay-by, loyalty club, theft reduction, reordering, business management, customer service and multi store management facilities for gift shops and other businesses likely to be represented at the show - such as newsagents.

Our gift shop software is selling well and to store owners and has been endorsed by many suppliers keen to trade electronically with gift shop owners.  We continue to innovate, releasing new facilities this year to add value to the gift shop offer.  Many of these innovations are as a direct result of gift shop owner suggestions.

There is no  better way to demonstrate support for a marketplace than to  support their industry trade shows.

The photo was taken of our stand this morning, a few minutes before the fair opened.

Our jeweller software has been a hit at the International Jewellery Fair in Sydney these past three days. It is great to be at a trade show and meeting people who stop by because of recommendations from their peers.

Our sales team has a busy few weeks ahead following up the new sales leads here in Australia as well as overseas.

The trade show has been another successful outing for our new gift cards as well as our new repairs management software. Both are generating excellent business opportunities for us.

Our stand is ready at the JAA International Jewellery Fair in Sydney which opens tomorrow.  On show will be Tower Systems’ new jeweller management software including our new repairs facilities, marketing tools and retailer efficiency tools.  this will be the fist outing for some of our new facilities.  We have experts from the company on hand to show the strength of our jeweller software and support services. The professionalism of the stand shows off our commitment to the marketplace and our dedication to the jeweller channel.

The Ausbike trade show which drew to a close in Melbourne this afternoon was a great success for us.  We have picked up new bike shop customers for our retail and back office bike shop software.  We also got to reconnect with some of our users.

Our team reports that this was a terrific event for us and proof that trade shows are an excellent way to market point of sale software - the software speaks for itself.

Bike shop owners themselves are a happy bunch, focused enjoying themselves while building strong businesses.

Here is a list of trade shows in which we are participating over the next four (very busy) weeks:

Sydney. GNS Market Fair. For Newsagents. August 15-16
Melbourne. Ausbike/Interbike Australia. For Bike Shops. August 16-17
Perth. GNS Market Fair. For Newsagents. August 30
Sydney. JAA International Jewellery Fair. For Jewellers. August 30 - September 1

As the list shows, this is a very busy time.  On top of the trade shows, our sales team remains very busy presenting in-store to prospects.

Industry standard software for newsagents was the theme of our successful stand at the GNS Market Fair in Melbourne this past weekend.  We chose the theme to reflect the size of our newsagent community - we have close to three times the number of newsagents using our software than our nearest competitor.  This strength is important as it provides us the resources necessary to help newsagents navigate technology change.  The level of change has increased in scope and pace this year.

The change of pace will increase in 2010 as more suppliers extend their IT link with newsagents.

Our size in the newsagency marketplace has helped us fund the reduction in our support fees this year.

GNS put on an excellent event and ensured that newsagents visiting the trade show walked past all companies exhibiting.

A good mix of newsagents attended - city, country, shopping centre and high street.  Most were positive about business and focused on investing in their business.  Our team wass kept busy.

We also appreciated the opportunity to catch up with suppliers - this was important given new EDI work about to launch in the newsagency channel

We are experiencing excellent sales growth of our jewellery software here in Australia.  July was another excellent month.  The latest software enhancements as well as jeweller specific training services are proving to be the keys in driving this growth.  We are also helping jewellers access the 50% tax bonus on offer from the government for purchase arrangements made prior to the end of this year.

We will have the latest version of our software for jewellers on show at the JAA International Jewellery Fair. August 30 - September 1.

Some of our competitors try and deter jewellers from doing business with us by saying we are focused on newsagents.  As anyone who visits our offices will see, we balance our business across several marketplaces.  This provides us with commercial balance as well as learnings which benefit other markets.

We have a busy roster of trade shows in August and September.  Here is the list of locked-in trade shows as it currently stands:

Melbourne. Reed Gift Fair. For Gift Shops. August 1-5
Melbourne. GNS Market Fair. For Newsagents. August 8-9
Sydney. GNS Market Fair. For Newsagents. August 15-16
Melbourne. Ausbike/Interbike Australia. For Bike Shops. August 16-17
Perth. GNS Market Fair. For Newsagents. August 30
Sydney. JAA International Jewellery Fair. For Jewellers. August 30 - September 1
Brisbane. GNS Market Fair. For Newsagents. September 12-13
Sydney. Reed Gift Fair. For Gift Shops. September 19-22

Our sales teams are reporting excellent results from the GHA Home and Giving Fair in Sydney and the Reed Gift Fair in Brisbane from the weekend and through to last night.  Both fairs have been busy and retailers ahve beenmost positive.  We like these trade shows as they attract giftshop owners, jewellers and newsagents - a perfect mix for us.

We are making our final preparations for our stands at gift fairs in Brisbane and Sydney.  Next weekend, we will be at the GHA Home and Giving Fair in Sydney and the Reed Gift Fair in Brisbane.  It has been a challenge to double our trade show equipment and collateral to ensure that we look 100% at each event.

Trade shows are proving to be very successful for us this year, leading to excellent supplier relationships and new customers.

If you find yourself at either of these trade shows please be sure to stop by and say g’day.

We will demonstrating our POS and retail management software for gift shops be at Reed Gift Fair in Sydney starting this coming weekend.  We are located in hall 4, stand 6132.  We will have Gift shop experts available to answer questiions, show you our software and put you in touch with existing users.  Our presence has been managed by Andrew Kahn our National Marketing Manager and the day to day management of our stand is being handled by Nathan Morrison our NSW State Manager.

The Reed Gift Fair in Sydney is the go to fair for gift shop owners and other retailers playing in the gift space.  If you attend, be sure to say g’day to our team.