Newsagency software company Tower Systems has agreed acquisition terms with the owners of the NewsPOS newsagency software business.
NewsPOS serves a loyal community of newsagents in Queensland and New South Wales and has offered best-practice low-cost newsagency software for some years.
Under the terms of the transaction, Tower Systems will assume full responsibility for the NewsPOS software and customer service from next week.
“We will maintain the NewsPOS software, price model and support services and not pressure NewsPOS users to switch” commented Tower Systems Managing Director Mark Fletcher. “Our development and help desk teams will be trained in NewsPOS so that we can provide easy access to quality support for as long as is needed.”
“I am thrilled to have found a place where NewsPOS users can continue to use the software without pressure to switch” commented David Groth, the founder of NewsPOS and the force behind the business. “I am looking forward to working with Tower, training their people and introducing them to NewsPOS customers.”
The acquisition by Tower Systems extends its newsagent market share, pushing its newsagent customer numbers to more than 1,800. The next largest newsagency software company is POS Solutions with an estimated 600 newsagents as customers.
The Tower software serves newsagents in the retail management, stock control, theft management, sub agent and newspaper home delivery areas.
With consolidation of newsagency businesses and newsagent suppliers very much in play in 2012, this acquisition is not expected to be the last in the newsagency software space.
Newsagents using the NewsPOS software are welcome to contact David Groth on 0412 079 308 or Mark Fletcher on 0418 321 338. Once the hand over has been completed Tower Systems will email and fax help desk contact details to all NewsPOS customers.
Mark you claim that pos solutions has 600 newsagents as customers. I trust that you have seen what they say about this, suggesting 2,000 customers. Care to comment?
David thanks for the tip. I have looked at what POS Solutions has published. It is unclear and I suspect that is what they wanted.
Newsagents are the businesses identified as such by core product suppliers and industry associations. There is wide acceptable that Australia has around 4,000 newsagency businesses. The distributors differentiate between numbers of accounts and numbers of magazine specialists. GNS differentiates between newsagents and retailers who sell stationery. The 4,000 number is what would be used by any reasonable expert.
When I talk of percentages of newsagents using a computer system, I am referring to those software packages recognised by core industry suppliers as newsagency computer systems: Tower Systems, POS Solutions, Computerlink, NewsPOS, AccessPOS and a couple of small state based systems.
Tower Systems has close to 1,800 newsagents as customers. This is what gets me to noting a 60% computer system market share.
I stand by my comment that POS has around 600 users.
The accuracy of my data claims was tested in the County Court last year. POS argued that I was wrong to claim more than 200 of their customers had switched to Tower. In the court room I produced a list of the newsagents who had switched as proof. This was accepted accepted by the legal counsel representing POS. One of the Directors of POS was with them when the list was handed as part of our discovery process in the court action POS has brought against me.
I think what has fired POS up is that my software has acquired another software company in the newsagency space. This growth by acquisition added to our excellent natural growth would be naturally frustrating for them.