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newsagent software

Connecting product categories in a newsagency

cardsxc2.jpgA newsagent earlier this week was surprised and thrilled to discover that more than 10% of their card sales are for religious occasions – confirmation, christening, baptism.  They knew that religious cards were popular in their newsagency but not to the extent they now know.  Religious card sales are more than double they thought was the case.

Knowing card sales at the category, segment and card level, by drilling down into card performance data and comparing trading periods, provides an insight which can change a business.  It certainly is in the case of this newsagent. Armed with factual data, they are planning several changes to leverage the extraordinary traffic and sales they are generating around religious occasions.

The discovery of the value of religious cards in this newsagency was made as a result of the new Hallmark category level reporting developed in association between my newsagency software company, Tower Systems, and Hallmark Cards. The new and exclusive reporting provides a hitherto unavailable insight into the performance of cards, from the top level down, and in a format which newsagents can use to drill down into micro level data.

I have seen excellent examples over the years of greeting card sales data being extraordinarily valuable to newsagents in expanding other product categories.  Take the example of the newsagent discovering this week the value of religious card sales.  They can now, with certainty, expand the range of gifts they sell with religious cards.  Indeed, since they have the data breakdown by religious occasion, they can expand gifts in a targeted way.

The card performance data allows the newsagents to act in a pull approach to cards and gifts rather than accepting a push approach.  The data in a newsagency is far more valuable for determining what products should be carried in that newsagency than the data held by a supplier.

Newsagents who I see expanding their businesses are usually doing so by analysing the performance of a department, like greeting cards, and using that data to expand other departments in their business. I’d be happy to be a sounding board for anyone looking for such expansion opportunities in their business performance data.

Newsagents with the Tower Systems software should implement the free change to produce the new Hallmark reporting.   Those with John Sands cards will have access to something soon. Newsagents with other software will get access soon as the Tower initiative has some approach Hallmark.

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Greeting Cards

Q1 2011 Newsagent Sales Benchmark Study

I am looking for data from newsagents for my next Newsagent Sales Benchmark Study. While I am primarily interested in data from the 1,700 newsagents with newsagency software from Tower Systems, I’ll happily work with other newsagents on their data.

Participating is easy. Run your Monthly sales Comparison report with Jan 1, 2011 – March 31, 2011 on the left and Jan 1, 2011 – March 31, 2010 on the right. TICK THE CATEGORY BOX as this provides an excellent breakdown to allow more thorough analysis. Please do NOT tick the supplier box. Save the report as a PDF. Email this report to mark@towersystems.com.au.

I need the data by next Monday, April 4 as I’d like to publish top line results by Friday, April 8.

I have been doing these sales benchmark studies for years.  The results have been supported by audits and other studies produced by others.  The purpose of my benchmark study is to help newsagents sport trends and this this make better informed business decisions.

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newsagent software

Newspaper home delivery changes coming

We are set to see several changes in the handling of home delivery subscriptions this year.  Newsagency software companies are currently being briefed on some of the changes. I anticipate that briefings on other changes will take place in the next few months.  Some software in use will have to be modified to suit the changes.  Newsagents who don’t have current software could face some challenges depending on how the publishers deal with this.

In considering changes, publishers need to be pressured to think of the needs of newsagents and not just their own needs.  For example, for fifteen years newsagents have been calling for electronic statements to enable easier checking line by line.  An electronic statement could save a newsagent up to four man hours a week.  Multiply that across the channel and you soon see the value.  sadly, publishers put their needs ahead of the needs of newsagents.  Rather than save the channel thousands of man hours each week they would prefer to focus on getting better subscriber and other data at their end.

I am all for the changes mooted for 2011 but I would like to see more.  I would like to see software changes which genuinely save newsagents time and money in their businesses.

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newsagent software

Newsagents could do better on XchangeIT compliance

While some in the newsagency channel like to talk down newsagents when it comes to compliance (as happened with this thread recently), the facts show that newsagents are doing quite well.

Of the 2,381 newsagents signed up for XchangeIT, 2,220 are eligible to be considered compliant as it cannot include POS Solutions DOS software and other packages which don’t meet the compliance standards.

The most recent assessment, two weeks ago, indicated that 89.9% of eligible newsagents, 1,996 in fact, were sending sales data. However, only 45% of eligible newsagents sending sales data day in day out on time and without fail and passing what XchangeIT calls their ITC’s – Integrity, Timeliness and Continuity. 55% of newsagents fail this.

This data was provided to me on Monday by XchangeIT.

The big challenge is around continuity. Continuity is about sending the files each day AND the content of the files – that today’s file fits ‘neatly’, in terms of sales quantities, with yesterday’s file and so on. It is essential that all files fit so that a whole of business view can be created. The most common reasons for failure of continuity are system setup or a failure to follow standard processes at the end of the trading day – both are easily fixed.

Newsagency software which meets the XchangeIT standards creates the sales files so that they meet the requirements. The challenges are around setup and execution at the store level.

While the 45% number is not ideal, that 89.9% are sending sales data indicates a better result than some writing here have recently suggested.

Newsagents should talk to their software provider to determine if they have their system setup in the appropriate way to meet industry standards. Each of us getting this right is good not only for our own business but for the newsagency channel as a whole.

Click here for a copy of overall compliance advice from Tower Systems. There is a series of EDI advice sheets on the Tower website with specific information about driving compliance to the XchangeIT standards – rely on these for the detail.

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magazine distribution

Trifecta of winners at Victorian awards

Congratulations to the winners at the Victorian Newsagent of the Year Awards announced last night in Melbourne.

  • Distribution Newsagent of the Year – Patterson Road News and Tatts
  • Retail Newsagent of the Year – Queenscliff Newsagency
  • Technology Newsagent of the Year – newsXpress Beechworth

These businesses are beacons in their respective communities, operated by newsagents deserving of the kudos and recognition each award brings.  They do the newsagency shingle proud.  Congratulations!

I’d encourage other Victorian newsagents to visit these businesses.  You won’t be disappointed.

I am proud to note that each of these businesses relies of software from my newsagency software company, Tower Systems.

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Newsagency management

New software for newsagents

My newsagent software company, Tower Systems, is rolling out a significant new version of its newsagency software.  This new software introduces a new level of greeting card performance reporting, streamlined stock management processes, enhanced EDI capabilities, enhanced business performance reporting, greater visibility of gross profit when bringing new stock into the business and tighter management of the sale of age restricted products.

60% of the enhancements in this newsagency software were suggested and voted on by newsagents through the exclusive Software Ideas process.

The software has been in beta release in more than 25 newsagencies since early this year.  The customer feedback has been excellent in assisting further enhancement.

With more than 1,700 newsagents as customers, Tower Systems has to follow a structured process with all updates and even more so with an update of this scope.  Previewing the update has been instrumental in encouraging more newsagents to switch to Tower Systems already this year.

I think that newsagents will see a consolidation of software companies serving the channel as supplier standards further evolve and demands on software increase.  While I have said this previously, I have seen the pace of churn pick up over the last few months.

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newsagent software

Tower Systems Increases Newsagent Market Share

My newsagent software company, Tower Systems, increased its market share by close to 4% in 2010.  This is extraordinary considering that Tower went into the year with a base of 1,700 newsagents, the largest by more than 1,000 locations.

The new customers were a mixture of of newsagencies switching from Non Tower software, greenfield (new newsagency) locations and existing newsagencies without any software.

The Tower newsagent community is the largest newsagent community outside of magazine distributors, some card companies and GNS.  As consolidation among newsagency suppliers (across a range of product categories) continues I anticipate the Tower market share will grow in 2011.  Newsagents will want software which continues to meet industry standards in a timely manner.

I appreciate the support of newsagents not only in 2010 but for many years.

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newsagent software

Too many newsagents ignore the efficiency opportunity

Too many of the close to 3,000 newsagents with a newsagency Point of Sale system in their business do not use the software to manage stock.

This increases their exposure the customer and employee theft, it leaves them overloaded with stock, more than they need for the business, and it is costing them thousands of dollars a year in unnecessary wages.

The majority of newsagents have the technology at their fingertips yet too many do not use it.

It is as if these newsagents want to pay more in wages than they need to, carry more stock than is necessary and accept theft.  Dumb, dumb and dumb.

Is this you?  Do you genuinely manage your inventory?  Do you use your computer system to generate orders or do you order based on gut feel, walking around the shop with a notepad and pencil or, worse still, by letting a supplier representative do it for you?

I have seen newsagents implement full stock control, without spending any more money on technology, and cut wages by $1,000 a month, cut their stock holding by $10,000 and cut theft by $15,000 in a year.  That is a total saving in the first year of $37,000.

Newsagents with these tools at their fingertips and not using them have no excuse.  They are financially hurting their business and the newsagency channel as a whole.

Here are the proven simple steps to saving time, cutting theft and reducing dead stock in your newsagency.

  1. Receive all stock you sell through your computer system.
  2. Scan ALL sales.
  3. Scan out all products you return to suppliers.
  4. Eliminate all department sales – where you type in the amount of the item as you would on an old cash register.
  5. Do a complete stock take with the computer system.
  6. Implement a program of rolling stock takes of the store by section – never pay for a professional stock taker again. Act on the discrepancies reported from your rolling stock takes – this is theft – by moving categories, being more vigilant or eliminating the lines.
  7. Generate stock replenishment orders using your computer system.  STOP relying on supplier reps to order for you – they work for their boss and not for you.
  8. Integrate your stock control plan into the schedules of all who work in the business.

There can be no excuses.  If you want to make the most out of your business (and why else would you be in business?) then following these steps is essential and urgent.

Some reading this will nod their head and agree that they should follow my advice.  That is where it will sit … an idea they agree with but not acted upon.  These people are ignorant, they don’t care about the thousands of dollars they will lose this year in their newsagency as a result of their inaction.

In addition to cutting theft, reducing your investment in stock and cutting paid-for hours, you will access other benefits, I promise you…

  • Better business decisions.  When you have accurate sock on hand data in your system you can rely on accurate Return on Investment, Stock Turn and Return on Floor Space data – by department, category and item.
  • Better understanding. Thanks to accurate comparison of supplier comparison data.
  • More informed strategic planning.  Thanks to an accurate and financial performance based assessment of your business.  If you are concerned about the impact of devices like the iPad on your business you will want to contemplate diversification.  Some options will be obvious thanks to more accurate and meaningful business data.
  • An easier business to sell.  Implementing the eight pointed noted above results in a business which is more profitable and easier to run.  This will make it easier to sell your newsagency. A smart broker will point this out when comparing your newsagency with another.

To kick start your newsagency in 2011, I urge you to act on this list.  Today.  If you have questions or comments, call me on 0418 321 338.  I am happy to help regardless of the newsagency software you use.

You can’t plan for the future unless you are fit and healthy today.  My eight point list goes to the heart of the health of your newsagency.  Businesses which compete with newsagencies – supermarkets, convenience stores, petrol outlets, card shops, stationery warehouses, national variety stores – they all do this as a matter of course.  How else do you think they have been able to take so much business from your channel?  They treat their business data seriously.

Are you in? Are you committed to taking these steps to strengthen your business this year?  I hope so.  You need this for your future.  The newsagency channel needs this for its collective future.

On the software side, I’d note that Tower Systems offers an excellent suite of training videos, advice sheets and live online training workshops which cover the area of inventory management and specifically how to unlock the benefits I have outlined above. For Tower Newsagents especially, there in NO EXCUSE.

Please don’t ignore the opportunity I have outlined in this blog post.  You have nothing to lose and thousands of dollars to gain this year.

Remember, I’d be glad to help in any way.

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Newsagency management

Age delivery fee rise cuts into the weekend

Fairfax announced a newspaper home delivery fee increase for The Age late on Friday and as a result sent newsagents seeking out assistance on how to handle this with their newsagency software.  They could have saved work for newsagents and software companies which provide weekend support by releasing instructions for implementing the delivery increase with their announcement of the rise.

The rise itself is good news for distribution newsagents, especially for customers they have acquired for themselves.

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newsagent software

Newsagent Technology Open Day

pos-software.jpgMy newsagency software company, Tower Systems, is hosting an Open Day at our new Head Office in Hawthorn this Thursday, October 28.

Running between 10am and 4pm we are planning for a fun and innovative behind the scenes look at our Point of Sale company.

People visiting will get a chance to meet our customer service, sales and marketing, development, administration and management teams.

We have two online training sessions booked for the day and visitors will be welcome to sit in on these from the other side of the camera.

We will also have a couple of rooms setup where we can answer technical questions for existing customers or show off our software to sales prospects.

Attendees will also be welcome to sit in on the Help Desk.

We are hosting the Open Day for a few reasons:

  • To show off our new offices.
  • To show that we are not your average software company.
  • To provide a different engagement experience.
  • To demonstrate our openness.
  • To give sales prospects an opportunity to see who and what are really behind our company.

In planning for the event we decided to add some fun with a sausage sizzle, wine tasting and door prizes.

Anyone is welcome to attend any time between 10am and 4pm. No bookings necessary.

Come and see the Tower Advantage TM in action.  Click here for a brochure with details.

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newsagent software

Network Services update on XchangeIT issues

Network Services just issued the following update about the XchangeIT service gateway outage today:

We’re back up now, new files coming through are being processed as expected. As for the backlog of files, we’ve move these into a temporary folder and will push these through in batches so to not create another back log, preference will be given to Returns Files which we hope to push through tonight and then sales files over the next few days.

Hopefully newsagents will get the files they need for tomorrow’s magazines.

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magazine distribution

Greener newsagents saving paper

runlist.JPGMore an more newsagents are eliminating paper from their businesses by using devices such as the iPhone, Android based phones and even Apple’s iPad for tasks which would previously have been done using paper.  The Samsung phone in the photo is being used as an electronic newspaper home delivery run list.  This list is generated by newsagency software and dropped onto the phone in a matter of seconds.

I know of some newsagencies which have eliminated up to fifty pages of printing a day by providing access to delivery runlists to drivers electronically.

This is a good green story for the newsagency channel. Add to it the move away from paper printed monthly accounts to electronic accounts sent by email and the viewing of newsagency management reports electronically rather than in print and you can see smart businesses cutting printing costs, cutting carbon emissions and reducing paper usage.

Now if only we could reduce paper wastage from magazine returns.

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Environment

Promoting the outdoor room

theoutdoorroom.jpgTower Systems, the newsagency software company I own, has published a coupon promoting the outdoor room, the new magazine from Pacific Magazines, for printing on receipts using the Point of Sale software.  The coupon is available from the downloads section of the Tower website.  I’d be happy to send a copy to any newsagent wanting to use this with other software.

The coupon / ad can be printed on a receipt based on what the customer has purchased or just included on all receipts.  This type of receipt based marketing is proving successful at attracting customers to return andeven to get customers to make an additional purchase while in the newsagency.

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magazines

Take care with some XchangeIT advice

My newsagency software company is getting calls from newsagents encountering issues following changing some system settings under the direction of XchangeIT.  While the XchangeIT support people have the best intentions at heart, some changes are best left to the people who know more about specific system settings.

Newsagents who are advised to change settings on their computer system by XchangeIT ought to check first that the advice is approved by their software company.

This situation is quite recent and I am hopeful that it will be addressed quickly.

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newsagent software

Blackhawk gift card marketing collateral coming soon

blackhawk_1.jpgTower Systems is in the process of getting final artwork approval on two posters for newsagents selling Blackhawk gift cards.  Developed in-house by the Tower marketing team for exclusive use by the Tower Newsagent network, the posters are designed to encourage sales of gift cards along with greeting cards in newsagencies offering the Blackhawk range. Once Blackhawk approval is obtained, the artwork will be made available.

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Gifts

XchangeIT push on software updates

Newsagents are being urged by XchangeIT to ensure that they have the absolute latest software from the various newsagency software companies.  This is essential to ensure accurate data flow back to the magazine distributors and thereby protects newsagents from an XchangeIT fee penalty.  If you are not sure, check with your software company.

Having the latest software is vital for compliance today and to prepare you for the next round of enhancements to the EDI platform.

Tower Systems has the latest XchangeIT ready software update available from the website.

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newsagent software

Addressing the magazine theft problem

Magazine theft is costing newsagents between 3% and 5% of total magazine sales.  Publishers and magazine distributors accept no responsibility even though they control the range and volume or magazine stock we receive.  Worse, still, most newsagents do not take basic steps to understand the problem.

Newsagents need to ask themselves if they really have a handle on the cost of theft relating to magazines.  My experience is that few newsagents actually do – they ignore tools available to them to understand the financial cost of magazine related theft.

Think about it, magazines are one of the most tightly controlled parts of our business.   We know exactly what we receive, what we sell and what we return.

Using the Magazine Discrepancy Report (actually called the Magazine Issue Performance Report) in the Tower Systems newsagency software, newsagents are able to immediately see discrepancies between supply and sale and return numbers.  This discrepancy reflects either customer theft or employee theft.

The report is produced as part of the returns process.  Once magazine returns are scanned, the report indicates the difference between what is being returned and what should be returns based on supply and sales data.

Here you have a report which documents exactly what has been stolen by staff and customers yet all too often newsagents ignore the opportunity in the report.

We ought to hunt down every single title which the discrepancy report says is missing.  But we don’t.  We are either too lazy, too ignorant or too scared to look at the Discrepancy Report and face the reality that we have been stolen from by employees or customers.

The first lesson of good theft management in a newsagency is to understand the problem.  The Discrepancy Report helps newsagents do this in the context of magazines – without any extra work involved.  Just by doing what you need to do each day you are tracking theft.

I was talking with a newsagent late last week about magazine theft and once we dug into his data we saw that magazine theft was costing 3% of magazine revenue.  In this particular instance, two thirds of the magazine theft was employee theft. Kaching … yes that is cash bleeding from the business which can now be avoided.

I am sure that other newsagency software programs have similar reports on magazine theft.  If they don’t then shame on them.  My call to newsagents with this blog post is to USE YOUR SOFTWARE, track magazine theft every week, act on the results and take a zero tolerance approach to any discrepancy between the magazine returns you scan and what you expected to scan.

Remember, it is your money.

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magazine distribution

Herald Sun promotion diverts traffic from newsagencies

The folks at the Herald Sun have launched a marketing campaign designed to switch newspaper home delivery customers to a full subscription service.  The  commercial risk for newsagents of this campaign, if I understand the campaign correctly, is that it drives existing customers from paying in the newsagency to paying the publisher direct by credit card.

The potential loss of customer foot traffic is considerable, especially in rural and regional newsagencies.

Paying the newspaper home delivery account has been a key traffic generator for newsagencies, important to other sales and an important factor in assessing business goodwill.

Publishers ought to be driving newsagency foot traffic and not implementing offers which put it at risk.

The Australian retail newsagency channel is unique in the world.  It is a full service offer, excellent at driving sales for publishers and committed to brand building promotions.  Keep chipping away at the channel and one day you will find it has all but disappeared.  This comment right here is amied at ALL publishers, magazine and newspaper, large and small.

This Herald Sun promotion was announced to newsagents on Monday of this week.  Outside of the issues noted above, it is, in my view, time consuming and complex for distribution newsagents to manage.  The publisher could have made life much easier for newsagents had they engaged with the newsagency software companies in advance of their announcement.  Their poor organisation has caused considerable stress for newsagents and generated extraordinary calls traffic to newsagent software companies.

A bit of professional planning and consideration for newsagents could have saved countless hours being wasted over the last couple of days.

I know that what I have written will annoy / anger /frustrate the folks at H&WT.  Cop it on the chin guys and learn, once and for all, that you have to consider and consult with others before you announce any home delivery offer.

I am all for growing newsagency businesses – but not with a rushed campaign which appears, from where I sit, to have not been thought through.

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Newsagency challenges

New newsagent and gift shop software on show this weekend

My software company, Tower Systems, is showing off the latest newsagency software at the GNS Market Fair in Sydney this weekend.  Tower already serves in excess of 700 newsagents in NSW/ACT.

In Melbourne, Tower is on show at the Home & Giving Fair, showing off our gift and homewares software. There are many newsagents attending this event – a few of us are meeting Monday for drinks.

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newsagent software

iPads now flowing more freely in Australia

The 3G enabled iPad I have had on order for so long is in stock and being picked up this morning. One retailer told me that the supply block has been significantly relieved this week.

I will be keeping the 3G device I will keep for myself.  The WiFi unit I got last week is for use by the Tower Systems Point of Sale sales team, demonstrating to newsagents.

Travelling with the iPad has been interesting this week, plenty of people, older businessmen mainly, came up to me asking about the device.   In Perth yesterday I shut the iPad down because of the interruptions.

A week on, I am more convinced than ever than this device has set the scene for a revolution the extent of which we can barely grasp today.

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Media disruption

Helping newsagents collect newspaper home delivery payments

Tower Systems is helping newsagents in South Australia collect newspaper home delivery payments through its free eziPass electronic payments platform.  Using eziPass,retail newsagents will be able to collect payments from home delivery customers and receive a service fee for providing this service.  The fee itself is being handled between News and the newsagents.

Click here to download the signup form to get ready to access this facility through eziPass.  Newsagents already accessing Touch products through eziPass will not need to complete the form.

The eziPass platform is available to all newsagents regardless of the newsagency software they run.

This project is quite separate to the PayPoint project launched by Tower Systems a couple of years ago which enables retail newsagents to collect home delivery account payments on behalf of distribution newsagents.

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newsagent software

Why the iPad is not an ideal home delivery device

The Apple iPad in its current form is not ideal for assisting with newspaper home deliveries.  The GPS is not accurate enough nor the update speed fast enough for what would be needed in a suburban newspaper distribution situation.

Also, the only sat nav facilities in the iPad are for Google maps, not Melway or other maps.

The other barrier is cost.  Would newsagents be prepared to put around $1,000 of technology in a vehicle for deliveries?

I think the iPad has many applications of interest to newsagents and other business operators – just not in the home delivery area at this stage.

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newsagent software

Newsagency software on the iPad

ipad_photo.jpgQuietly, over the last few days one of team from Tower Systems has been playing, like a kid in a candy shop, with our Point of Sale software on the yet to launch Apple iPad.  Using some smart technology we have been able to gain a good feel for the iPad as a management tool for newsagents in their businesses as well as when they are on the road away from their businesses.

We have found the iPad very easy to learn and navigate and the 10″ screen very easy on the eye.

So, outside of application for newspapers, maagzines, books and other digital content, the iPad has good uses in business.  It’sa terrific tax deduction for newsagents who like gadgets with a good business use.

Disclosure: I am the owner of Tower Systems – serving more than 1,700 newsagents with newsagency management software.

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Media disruption

Newsagent training from Tower Systems

My software company Tower Systems is hosting three opportunities for newsagents to learn more about our software and provide feedback over the next week:

  • Melbourne, Thursday March 25 @ 11am. Tower Head Office. Level 3, 22 Horne Street Elsternwick.
  • Brisbane, Tuesday March 30 @ 11am. River View Hotel, Kingsford Smith drive.
  • Sydney, Thuesday April 1 @ 11am. Rydges Hotel Camperdown. Missenden Road Camperdown.

These sessions will feature Jonathan Tay, our Software Development Manager, speaking about our latest software update. These sessions are part of a twenty city tour updating the Tower community of 1,650+ newsagents on the latest release of the software and innovation for newsagents. To book for these free sessions click here.

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newsagent software
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