POS software built for independent Bookshops

Low cost of ownership

With Tower there is one monthly rental fee for as many terminals as you want in your shop. There is no additional charge per transaction.

Efficient title lookup and inventory management

Finding the right book for a customer should be fast and simple. Our software integrates directly with TitlePage for easy lookup of titles, ensuring you have access to the most current industry data. We also offer a direct connection for international barcodes. This allows you to scan and identify stock from around the world without manual data entry.

Searching your own inventory is just as efficient. You can search by title, author name, or even just a part of a name. This flexibility is essential when a customer can only remember a few details about the book they are seeking. The system also handles special orders through a structured process, tracking the request from the initial enquiry until the book is in the customer's hands.

Professional returns and publisher management

Returns are a constant part of bookshop life. Our software includes a dedicated returns management module. It's a structured and predictable process. The system identifies titles that are eligible for return based on their arrival date, sales history, and current quantity on hand. You can manage the entire return in a publisher-friendly way, ensuring your credits are accurate and your shelves remain fresh with newer stock.

For seamless ordering, we provide Pacstream connectivity directly from within the software. This integration saves time and reduces errors by allowing you to communicate with suppliers using industry-standard protocols. By automating these back-office tasks, you can maintain a more profitable and well-managed inventory.

Advanced AI for better product discovery

Tower Systems is leading the way with AI-enabled POS technology. Our software integrates with ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Anthropic to help you work smarter. One of the most powerful uses for this is generating smart product descriptions.

These descriptions are designed to help with customer searching and SEO on your website. Instead of using generic publisher blurbs, you can create engaging content that reflects your shop's personality.

The AI also allows you to tap into deep business performance insights, helping you compare prices and analyse complex reports in seconds.

Plus, with our embedded AI tools you are able to gain quick insights from reports in the software.

Loyalty and event-based marketing

Independent bookshops thrive on personal connections. Our loyalty facilities allow you to differentiate your business by rewarding your most frequent readers. You can move beyond simple points and use various "levers" to encourage repeat visits and higher spend.

Event marketing is another powerful tool. You can create targeted contact lists based on customer anniversaries, birthdays, or other life events. This allows you to send personalised recommendations or invitations to book launches and author events. By nurturing these relationships, you establish your bookshop as a vital cultural hub in your local community.

Connected retail and online sales

Your shop can reach book lovers far beyond your physical front door. Our software integrates seamlessly with Shopify, Magento, and WooCommerce. This ensures your in-store and online inventory levels stay perfectly synchronised.

We also offer direct links to Xero for transparent accounting and integration with platforms like Tanda or Deputy for roster management. Tower Systems is committed to helping independent booksellers thrive with a system that is constantly evolving based on industry feedback.

Where the software earns its place in a bookshop

A bookshop carries thousands of titles, most of them one deep, many of them returnable, and every one of them competing with a phone in the customer's hand. The Tower Systems software for bookshops is built around that reality.

A customer half remembers a title. Search by title, author or part of a name, because a customer who remembers three words and a colour is still a sale. TitlePage integration puts current industry data behind the counter, and international barcodes scan and identify without manual entry.

The book is not on the shelf. The special order runs as a structured process, tracked from the enquiry through to the book being in the customer's hands. Nobody has to remember whose order arrived, and no customer has to ring twice.

It is returns day, and there is more than one publisher involved. Returns Authorisations are managed in the software, developed specifically for the way bookshops and their suppliers work, with several requests to several publishers able to be in play at the same time. It is covered in full in the section below.

An order goes back to a supplier. Pacstream connectivity runs from inside the software, using industry-standard protocols, so ordering is not a second system and a second login.

The website needs descriptions. Your data is your data. There is no community shared inventory file, so titles are described in the shop's own words rather than a publisher blurb every other retailer is also using. Embedded AI tools help produce that copy at speed, which matters for search as much as for browsing.

There is an author event on Thursday. Contact lists built on customer history, anniversaries and interests support an invitation that goes to the right readers. Loyalty facilities go further than points, giving several ways to bring a regular reader back sooner.

December arrives and a third register goes in. One monthly rental fee covers as many terminals as the shop needs, with no charge per transaction. Peak trade does not carry a peak invoice.

An online order comes in overnight. Shopify, Magento and WooCommerce integrations keep one set of inventory behind both the shop and the website.

A quiet Tuesday. Aged stock, best sellers, gross profit by category and supplier performance, so the next order is placed on evidence. This is the work that pays for the software, and the work that never happens when a system cannot report properly.

Returns Authorisations, built for how returns actually work

Returns to suppliers are rarely a simple yes or no. Approval can take days. Stock sits in limbo. Staff keep side lists, and the paperwork often disagrees with what the software says is on the shelf.

The Returns Authorisations facility in the Tower Systems software for bookshops was built to close that gap. In the stores where the design work was done, returns were consuming in excess of ten hours a week.

Several requests, several suppliers, all at once. The console opens on active authorisations and their status: drafts saved internally, requests sent and awaiting approval, requests partly authorised and requests fully authorised. One publisher taking a week to respond does not hold up the next.

The software builds the request. Start with the supplier, then choose the scope: a recall date, an arrival date range, a specific invoice, or individual titles. The software returns what was received in that period, what is on hand, and the invoices the goods arrived on. Quantities are proposed automatically and capped to what was received or what remains, and staff can adjust before saving.

Stock is quarantined while it waits. Units held for authorisation can be set aside individually or in bulk, which reduces quantity on hand so those copies stop showing as available on a connected website. The stock screen shows quarantined units separately, so it is always clear where goods are sitting. This is the part that ends the side list.

Suppliers get it in the format they want. Export to Excel or CSV, then mark the request as sent. When the supplier responds, approvals, partial approvals and rejections are recorded line by line, with the supplier's authorisation number against them. Partial approval is normal in this work, and the facility treats it as normal rather than as an exception to be handled by hand.

Finalising closes the loop. Quarantined stock is released, stock on hand is adjusted, and a returns form is produced showing the total value of the return, retrievable later from the completed list.

A pick list can be printed by description, author, department or category, for teams who pull stock from the shelf first. The facility sits separately from the existing returns handling in the software and can be password protected like any other area.

It has been in live use in a bookshop, and early feedback is positive.

What changing software actually involves

For most booksellers this is the real decision, not the feature list.

Data is reviewed first. Existing data is examined before any commitment, so the answer on what can be transferred is a fact rather than a promise.

Timing is yours to choose. Nobody changes systems in November. The changeover is planned around the trading year.

Training is personal. One-on-one training, backed by a library of self-serve training videos available at any hour.

Support is local. Help desk support delivered by people in Australia and New Zealand, six days a week, with after-hours access when a system is down.

Rental is cancellable. No lock-in contract, no fee per transaction, and no limit on terminals.

More detail on the process is on the switching to Tower Systems and new customer onboarding pages.

Is this the right software for your bookshop?

It is not the right choice for everyone, and it is better to know that early.

It suits independent bookshops that hold real depth of stock, work returns properly, take special orders, run events and want their own reporting rather than someone else's dashboard. A shop wanting nothing more than a simple cloud checkout, with no returns work and no back office, will be well served by something lighter.

Ask for a demonstration of the jobs that matter most, whether that is a partial-title search, a special order, or several returns authorisations running at once. Expect a straight answer about fit. If the software is not right for your shop, that will be said plainly.

FAQ

• Does the software integrate with Pacstream?
  Yes.
• Can I lookup books by title or author?
  Yes, either.
• Can I sell gift cards?
  Yes.
• Do I have control over product descriptions?
  Yes.
• Can I transfer data from my current software?
  Yes. Let us see your data first so we can 100% confirm this for you.
• Does the software handle returns authorisations?
  Yes. Returns Authorisations were developed specifically for bookshops and the way their suppliers work.
• Can I have more than one returns authorisation open at a time?
  Yes. Multiple returns authorisations can be in play at the same time.
• How does the software decide what is eligible for return?
  By arrival date, sales history and quantity on hand.
• Can I manage customer special orders?
  Yes. Tracked from the enquiry through to collection.
• Does the software integrate with Xero?
  Yes.
• Does the software integrate with Shopify, Big Commerce and Woo Commerce?
  Yes.
• Are there AI tools in the software?
  Yes, the software offers embedded AI tools. They were first released in 2023 and are regularly updated to be relevant today.
• Do you use an offshore help desk?
  No, all help desk support is provided with people based in Australia and New Zealand.
• How long does switching take?
  That depends on your data and your trading pattern. Let us see your data first and you will get a straight answer, not an estimate.

Contact Us

Australia Phone: 1300 662 957 Email: sales@towersystems.com.au. Address: Hawthorn, Victoria

New Zealand Phone: 0800 444 367 Email: sales@towersystems.com.au. Website: www.towersystems.com.au