Turn your POS system into a powerful weapon against inventory waste and cash flow problems.  Dead stock refers to inventory that remains in your shop and fails to sell. It takes up space, uses your money, and doesn't help pay your bills. Often, this stock enters your shop by mistake - someone accidentally orders the wrong item, or your supplier sends you their dead stock.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

Transform your daily operations by unlocking the powerful insights hidden in your point-of-sale system.

Many retailers are unaware of how to access crucial business information from their point-of-sale system. But your POS system holds valuable data that can help you sell more and make better decisions about your stock.

Why Yesterday's Sales Matter - Don't Disappoint Your Customers

Knowing what sold yesterday is one of the most important things you can track. Here's something interesting: about 70% of your best-selling items from yesterday are likely to be your best sellers again today. If you sold many blue t-shirts yesterday, you'll probably need stock of them today too.

This is why tracking yesterday's sales is crucial. Knowing what's selling well helps you stock enough, preventing lost sales of popular items and satisfying customers.

How to Find Yesterday's Sales in Your POS System

Getting this information is easier than you might think. Here's what you need to do:

1. Go to your cash register section in your POS system
2. Look for "Reports" or "Register Reports"
3. Find the "Top N Sales in a Given Period" option
4. Enter yesterday's date and see your best-selling products

Do this every day, and you'll start to see this 70% rule at work.

Why This Data Helps Your Business

There's a business rule that says, "If you can't measure it, you can't fix it." Retail stores benefit from monitoring daily sales to make smart stock decisions.

• If red t-shirts are consistently among your top ten sellers, you know to order more red t-shirts
• If green shoes never make the list, maybe you should order fewer green shoes next time
• Most importantly, you must always have the items that 70% of your customers want to buy now

Making Daily Checks Part of Your Routine

Start each day by checking yesterday's sales report. This should become as normal as opening your store or counting your cash register. When you do this every day, you'll quickly learn which products are your money-makers.

You can also use this information to plan. If certain items consistently sell well on weekends, ensure you have extra stock available before Friday. If some products sell better in winter, you can prepare for seasonal changes.

The Bottom Line

Your POS system isn't just a cash register—it's an information hub. Use it to help you understand your customers' needs. Review yesterday's sales to inform better stock decisions.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

The government is set to deliver on its promise to ban merchant surcharges on EFTPOS transactions. What else happens here is unclear, but given the widespread parliamentary support for this move, it is almost sure to pass into law. While this may seem like a win for consumers, it places a significant operational burden squarely on retailers.

The Merchant fees typically range from 0.5% to over 1.5%, and are a real cost of doing business. Surcharging has been the mechanism to pass this cost directly to customers who opt for card payments. If the government bans this practice, these costs don't simply vanish. Instead, the financial responsibility shifts entirely back to the retailer. To maintain their profit margins, they will have no choice but to incorporate these fees into their product prices.

The Repricing Nightmare

It leads directly to the core of the problem if surcharges are banned, every single item in the shop will need to be repriced. 

For even a small retail shop with thousands of individual items, this is not a simple task of simply updating its POS System. It means physically going through the entire inventory, calculating new prices for each product, printing new labels, and replacing every price sticker on your shelves. It would be about three intense working days for a typical small business.

Strategic Timing is Everything

The most practical and least disruptive time for a retailer to undertake such a massive task is during the annual stocktaking.

Stocktake Synergy

Most retailers conduct a full stocktake at the end of the financial year for accounting and tax purposes. This process already involves physically handling and accounting for every item in the store. You could re-sticker a new price at the same time. By combining this repricing project with your annual stocktake, you can achieve an efficiency gain. 

Maximising Efficiency

Carrying this out at any other time of the year would require a second, out-of-cycle stocktake. It would, as such, double the workload. While this combined approach doesn't eliminate the extra work, it could reduce the overall time needed. A standard three-day stocktake might stretch to five days to cover the repricing and relabelling, saving you a day of work.

Conclusion

If this ban goes through, the implementation date is set for the start of the financial year. Allowing these price adjustments to be made while a stocktake is already underway is the least destructive and most logical approach for retailers.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

By reducing payment terms from 30 days to 7-14 days, businesses can significantly improve their cash flow. I suggest that you immediately change your POS System to do this.

The traditional 30-day payment system is a relic from our pre-digital past. Businesses then relied on paper invoices and the mail. As a result, these extended payment terms made practical sense. The 30-day terms accommodate the slow, manual payment process. Today, with electronic invoicing and point-of-sale (POS) software, these delays have been fixed. Most invoices and payments are now sent immediately electronically. Customers can pay within minutes of receiving the invoices. However, many still use outdated 30-day terms, unnecessarily delaying their payments.

This outdated approach creates serious financial consequences for businesses. Consider this example from a customer of ours who completed a rush job worth $4,000. They were expecting quick payment for the urgent work, yet on their invoice, their standard 30-day invoice terms gave the customer permission to wait the whole month. What should have been a few days stretched into two months of waiting.

When you offer 30-day terms, you're telling your customers to wait 30 days.

Today, Australian small businesses wait 22.6 days on average to receive payment. Invoices arrive 6.5 days late on average across all industries.

Setting Up Effective Payment Terms

Clear, standardised payment terms eliminate confusion and set proper expectations. Always specify the exact due date on every invoice using these standard business terms:

Net 7

Say "Payment due in 7 calendar days"

Net 14

Say "Payment due in 14 calendar days"

Net 30

Say "Payment due in 30 calendar days"

Due on Receipt

Say "Payment due immediately, now"

For most businesses, Net 7 or Net 14 terms work well. Reserve longer terms only for specific business relationships that require them.

Customer-Specific Term Strategies

Analyse customer payment history to determine appropriate terms for different clients. Large customers often dictate their own payment terms as a condition of business. There's nothing you can do about that; no matter what they say, their accounting department works by the rules.

Use your POS System for Faster Payments

Set Net 7 or Net 14 as your standard terms for all new invoices. This automation ensures every invoice includes appropriate payment terms without requiring your manual intervention for each transaction.

Immediately send Invoices

Send your invoices immediately upon work completion. The sooner you send the invoice, the sooner your payment can come. If you take weeks to bill, then customers will take weeks to pay. Best to send invoices the same day you deliver products or complete services. With a computer, you do not need to batch invoices for weekly or monthly processing.

Utilise your customer balance reports

Use your POS system's ageing reports to identify overdue invoices and track payment delays. Do it systematically.

Offer Multiple Payment Methods

Provide customers with various convenient payment options:

• Credit and debit cards
• Direct bank transfer
• Online banking (include your BSB and account number)
• Digital payment platforms

Ensure they are clear, as you do not want any friction; eliminate reasons for customers to contact you for payment information.

Pre-Due Reminders

Send friendly reminders 2-3 days before payment deadlines. Include the specific due date to eliminate confusion. For example, specify "Payment due Wednesday, March 15th" rather than vague references like "in two days." On Monday, two days is Wednesday, on Wednesday it now means Friday.

Post-Due Follow-Up

Send follow-up reminders 3 days after due dates. Maintain a professional tone while clearly stating the overdue amount, and the payment is due NOW.

Personal Phone Contact

When these reminders fail to produce results, make direct phone calls. What I do is on the back of a printed invoice, I write notes immediately after the call with a date and time. I have had to use it once, and the judge accepted the notes as evidence.

Maximising Government Payment Speed with eInvoicing

Government departments are increasingly using an eInvoicing system. If you use it, it can dramatically accelerate payment processing. Contact relevant government departments to determine their terms for eInvoicing.

The Cash Flow Impact: Transform Your Business

The fact is that Cash flow problems cause more business failures than any other financial issue. Running out of working capital forces many profitable businesses to close.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) on Thursday, 11 September 2025, published POS Solutions’ latest submission to its review of merchant card payment costs and surcharging, now in its second round of consultation.

We were asked, in view of the importance to news agencies of the proposed ban on surcharging, to submit our views.

Here is the press release of our submission to the Reserve Bank.

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

POS Solutions Challenges RBA Surcharge Ban, Proposes Real-Time Fee Competition to Genuinely Lower Merchant Costs

POS Solutions, a leading Australian provider of POS systems, has made a formal submission to the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) review of merchant card payment costs. The submission warns that the proposed ban on card payment surcharging fails to address the root cause of high fees and will unfairly penalise small businesses by forcing them to absorb costs they cannot control.

The submission argues that banning transparent surcharges does not eliminate the cost of acceptance; it merely hides it. This forces retailers to subsidise the expensive rewards programs associated with premium credit cards, an anti-competitive practice that disadvantages small merchants who lack the negotiating power of larger corporations. Furthermore, POS Solutions challenges the RBA's assumption that card payments are universally cheaper than cash, a claim that overlooks the reality for many small businesses where time and labour are not accounted for in the same way as in large organisations.

"A surcharge ban is a band-aid on a bullet wound," said Bernard Zimmermann, a retail expert at POS Solutions. "It doesn't solve the core problem the fees create and the hidden costs passed on to merchants. Our concern is that this move will create new, hidden fees that ultimately harm the very businesses the RBA aims to protect."

As an alternative, POS Solutions has proposed a forward-thinking approach that would require many payment acquirers to provide per-transaction fee quotes in advance for each transaction. It would allow a merchant's **Point of Sale (POS) system** to choose the most cost-effective processing method for each transaction and also inform the merchant of the cost beforehand. It would create genuine competition among providers and give businesses better control over their expenses. It would be a notable improvement over the current structure.

"Our proposal for real-time fee competition would empower merchants with the transparency they currently need," Zimmermann added. "This practical solution could be implemented within months and would deliver real savings by letting technology find the lowest cost for every transaction."

About POS Solutions:
POS Solutions is a leading provider of **Point of Sale (POS) system** technology for Australian businesses. With extensive expertise in the challenges faced by small to medium-sized enterprises, the company delivers innovative and dependable POS systems.

**Media Contact:**

Details below

POS Solutions submission

To read POS Solutions' submission in full, please visit the RBA's Website for submissions on the Review of Merchant Card Payment Costs and Surcharging here.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

September is a challenging month for the toy industry, covering four separate marketing seasons. Grasping these seasons is essential for toy retailers aiming to boost their profits. Contrary to what many say, toy sales rarely occur organically; it is artificial, coming from marketing campaigns. Recent late August data confirms this.

Four Critical Toy Sales Trends Happening Now

Father's Day Ripple Effects

Father's Day's impact extends far beyond the day itself, generating sales for quite a while. What happens is that Dad receives a game as a gift, the family bonds with it, and other families learn about it through word-of-mouth marketing, wanting these games too. Not only that, but as children enjoy playing games with Dad, they actively request similar toys for themselves. Savvy retailers should examine toy products that align with popular Father's Day gifts. Based on last year, board games, building sets, and interactive toys have consistently shown increased sales now.

Strategic Timing Considerations

Major toy suppliers are currently testing their Christmas product lines to gauge consumer response before placing massive holiday orders. What retailers are now seeing are experimental Christmas toys released in limited quantities to measure market reception. Suppliers want to identify which products to push for the holiday season. While this presents learning opportunities about upcoming trends, you should exercise caution in getting too much involved. If the suppliers do not push them over Christmas, they will not sell.

Weather

Australian families are moving from winter indoor activities to spring outdoor play, though weather patterns remain unpredictable, especially in Melbourne. This shift creates two immediate required actions. This is your final opportunity to clear winter stock at attractive prices, and we must now shift our focus toward outdoor toys.

Educational Focus

Parents are increasingly looking at the educational benefits when choosing children's toys. They want toys that do learning with entertainment. Most importantly, they are prepared to pay higher prices for toys they see as educational tools rather than just for fun.

Current Best-Selling Categories

LEGO Dominates Market Performance

LEGO products are currently topping the toy sales charts, with Minecraft-themed sets performing strongly. This success comes from LEGO's unique position at the crossroads of education and entertainment. Parents see LEGO as tools for educational growth. Kids view them as fun and engaging. This dual appeal sustains steady sales across various price ranges and age groups.

Arts and Crafts

Drawing and art supply sets are now experiencing exceptional sales growth throughout September. These products function as bridge items between traditional stationery and trending creative toys. This positioning allows retailers to capture customers from both groups while getting reasonable prices.

Board Games and Strategy Games Trending Together

Multiple board game and card game categories are trending well, demonstrating the Father's Day ripple effect in action. Families who discovered games together continue seeking similar products for ongoing entertainment.

This trend supports broader inventory investments across the board game category rather than focusing on individual titles.

Premium vs. Value Positioning

Action figures and collectables from various franchises are performing well due to coordinated industry-wide promotional campaigns. Collectables work particularly effectively as impulse purchases when positioned near point-of-sale areas.

Strategic Product Recommendations for September

High-Profit, Space-Efficient Options

Puzzle games and brain teasers will deliver excellent profit margins while requiring minimal storage space. These products appeal to multiple age groups and maintain consistent year-round demand. Card games, including strategy games and family options, provide compact storage solutions with high profit potential. Pocket-sized games give an added value as travel-friendly options for active families. These products can also serve as a backup source of entertainment if weather conditions change unexpectedly.

Premium Investment Considerations

Large construction sets, particularly LEGO products, can generate substantial profits if you can get reasonable prices. However, these items require significant floor space.

Premium toy investments depend heavily on specific market demographics and available retail space. Retailers in affluent areas with adequate space can successfully capitalise on premium demand.

Your Next Steps

September toys are difficult to navigate. You must plan strategically.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

91.34% of online searches in Australia are done through Google. In Australia, where market shares above 40-50% raise concerns, a market share of 91% is considered a monopoly or near-monopoly under competition law. It gives you a feel of how mighty Google is in searches here. Now, since almost everyone uses Google, you have to try to get into it. Here is an idea on how to get your business on Google without incurring any costs, using Instagram.

Now, since July 2025, Google has been showing public posts from a professional account on Instagram for free in its search results. It means your products can appear when people search on Google for free. For example, say you run a newsagency in Sydney. Your Reel showing new stationery items with hashtags like #SydneyStationery could appear in Google searches for "stationery near me." It helps potential customers find your business during everyday searches.

Practical Steps to Get Started

1. If you do not have one, you need to set up an Instagram Business account. It is a simple process that takes minutes.

2. Convert your existing account to a business profile

Open Instagram settings Select "Switch to Professional Account" Choose "Business."

3. Then fill in your business information:

Make sure to add

Add trading hours Address Contact methods

Make sure that these are correct, as if they are wrong, the customer cannot come.

Make sure your details include a clear call-to-action, like "Visit our store for the latest "

4. Post regularly 

You should post 3-5 times per week to stay visible.

For your posts, you need to write captions with clear product names and location tags like "Sydney CBD stationery set" to get the most from search benefits. You do not want to confuse Google. If Google is confused, it will drop you.

If you are currently using Facebook, you will find that you can use your Facebook posts for Instagram. 

Analytics That Help You Make Decisions

After 3 weeks, check Insights weekly on Instagram to track your progress. Look at your high-performing content Now repeat what works and stop what doesn't work well. What I find is looking at the scores and saying what the person is based on these scores, looking at my page, and what they want. Then, after making what we call a persona, I write for that person.

Now, review your POS System to see how it aligns with Instagram. Commonly, they are different. That may be a fact, as online people are not the same as your shop's customers, or you are posting something wrong.

Over time, this is a strong strategy that supports your growth without extra costs.

Next Steps

Convert your Instagram profile today for instant access to free tools at no risk. Use the analytics from your three weeks of posts to identify strategic changes, then make improvements.

Here's an affordable way to boost Lotto sales: an astrological event on September 13, 2025, offers a perfect marketing hook. This "Lucky Day" with positive energy is ideal for a themed promotion that excites customers and increases sales.

Why September 13 Is a "Lucky Day"?

Well, it's because in Astrology, we have a rare Mercury 'Cazimi' in Virgo. What that means exactly, I am not sure, but it's supposed to enhance insight and spark revelations. It's a time for clear thinking, a new beginning, as the cosmic forces around September 12 and 13 are full of good luck. So we have golden opportunities, making it a day when astrologers believe lucky breaks are more likely to happen.

Interestingly, this is true in Western and Chinese astrology. In Chinese, it is a "Wood Establish" day, which is considered ideal for starting new projects, especially for those with the Rooster zodiac.

Capitalise on the Cosmic Buzz

Thematic promotions boost customer engagement and turn event-based marketing into profits. TattsLotto sellers can leverage astrological events as fun luck-themed promotions.

Create Your "Lucky Day" Atmosphere

Posters and signs are very cost-effective for advertising such events. All you need to do is create a simple, eye-catching poster to display in your window or near the counter. The message should be easy to read and engaging. See some samples above that I made.

Place these signs in prominent locations, such as near the front door or at the point of sale. Hold a brief meeting to explain the "Lucky Day" idea to your staff so they feel confident discussing it with customers. When your team is involved, customers are more likely to discuss the promotion, and such conversations often result in sales.

If you have a Facebook page, why not post a short message about the "Lucky Day" event? Use a title like "Is September 13 a Lucky Day to Play TattsLotto?" to attract interest.

How to Measure Your Success

After the event is over, you need to know if it was a success. Here are some key metrics:

• Did you sell more Lotto tickets on September 13 than on a typical Saturday?
• Did more people come into your shop?
• Did customers spend more money than usual?

It is where your POS system is a massive help, as instead of guessing, you can look at the real numbers.

What's Your Next Winning Promotion?

A "Lucky Day" event is one example of many creative marketing ideas you can use to make sales. With some planning, you can turn any fun holiday or local event into a profitable promotion. For more inspiration, explore here a list of retail promotion ideas that suit any occasion.

For example, do you sell comics well  on the 25th of September, which is coming up, we have "Comic Book Day" 

Please be Honest and Responsible

Give it a go, and let me know how you went.

Remember the "luck" aspect here is just for a bit of fun. Astrology is a very dubious practice and shouldn't be used to make life decisions.

Retail analytics refers to utilising sales, stock, and customer data from your POS to inform better decisions that drive revenue and profit growth. A modern POS system enables these insights to be obtained faster and more easily. When you utilise your POS data effectively, you can identify what sells, where margins are generated, and how customers shop, allowing you to adjust stock, prices, and promotions with confidence.

A quick Father’s Day check in your POS System.

Father’s Day is a good example because it is seasonal, has known gift trends, and gives you a clean way to compare this year with last year in your POS. In 2025, Australians were expected to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on gifts, with fewer shoppers but higher average spending, so category mix and margin mattered significantly. I use its Sales Comparison report to see how the shop performed this week versus last week, and then against the week of Father's Day last year to get a sense of seasonality.

Go to Register reports

Now select Sales register > Sales comparison

​

Choose dates that match.

Like-for-like dates provide fair comparisons, so start with “last 7 days” versus “previous 7 days” to see how Father’s Day week performed. Next, compare the Father’s Day period this year to the same period last year to remove the effects of weekends and holiday timing that can skew the numbers. 

So we want this year's date 1/9/25 to 7/9/25 vs 26/8/24 to 1/9/24 

If you want a steadier view, use a four‑week block this year versus the same four‑week block last year to smooth out spikes.

The key numbers to check

Begin with the summary view of the Sales Comparison report, then focus on Quantity, Net Sales, COGS, Gross Profit dollars, and Gross Profit percent to see what drove results. Sort by gross profit dollars to find the categories that did the most work for your margin, then look at gross profit percent to check if discounting cut into your margin. These fields are standard in POS reports and give you a fast read on where to dig deeper if something looks off.

A simple Father’s Day read‑out

Run the Sales Comparison summary for the last 7 days versus the previous 7 days, then scan profit dollars and profit percentage by category to identify areas for further investigation. If one department jumps out, open the detail view for that department to find the SKUs that drove the change and check if discounting or price changes were involved. Re‑run the comparison against last year’s matched period and, if needed, over a four‑week window to confirm if the change is genuine and not just a one‑week spike. Balance your read-out with the known Father’s Day categories in Australia to guide replenishment and any follow-up promotions after the event.

Make sense of what changed.

If profit dollars rose while units fell, the result may stem from higher prices, a better mix, or both. Therefore, examine the items that grew and determine if this trend can be sustained without harming demand. If units rose but gross profit percent fell, promotion depth may be too high, so review discount rules and try bundles or value adds that keep margin healthy. If traffic looked strong but sales were flat, the issue may be conversion or merchandising, so check busy hours and staff coverage in the POS to plan rosters and training.

Avoid common traps

Do not compare random calendar months without adjusting for the number of weekends or the exact timing of Father’s Day, because this can mislead your decisions. Always start with matched weeks or matched four-week blocks, then drill down only when the summary shows a significant swing that requires an explanation.

Make it a habit.

It's an outstanding report, and I suggest that you use it often, as it makes it easy to spot trends early and act. I recommend it for Christmas, back‑to‑school, Mother’s Day, and local events.

Your next step

Open Reports, run the Sales Comparison for the last 7 days versus the previous 7 days. Check profit dollars and profit percentage first, then drill into any category that has moved significantly in either direction. Re‑run against last year’s matched period and, if helpful, as a four‑week comparison to confirm the pattern is real and not a one‑off. Save this setup as a preset, schedule it weekly, and keep using the same columns so your review stays under a minute and your team knows exactly what to act on.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

On 8 September 1983, POS Solutions began in my St Kilda flat bedroom with a simple premise: I could write something to help retailers run their businesses better. As a young programmer with ambitious plans, I transformed my bedroom into my workspace. As soon as the company grew, my business partner Zac, a computer engineer, joined. Our headquarters grew to the living room, creating an environment where innovation thrived alongside determination.

The Foundation of Sustainable Growth

Our move from a flat in St Kilda to several offices nationwide has been driven by two core principles that still guide us today. These weren't just business strategies but fundamental beliefs about how technology companies should support their clients in an industry where reliability and backing are vital.

Research and Development Excellence

Investment in research and development has become the foundation of our strategy. It allows us to deliver software solutions that reliably address real-world retail challenges. We focused on developing features that retailers can use. We concentrated on addressing practical issues. This approach listens to retailer feedback, understands challenges, and turns insights into software updates.

Support as a Professional

Customer support, we recognised at the start that any point-of-sale software is useless without good support.

Gratitude

To all who have been part of our story — the employees who bring expertise and passion, our customers who trust us with their business, our industry partners who have helped us grow, and those reading this who have followed our progress — we sincerely thank you. 

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. In today's business world, with smartphones, it is easy to take photos that can be shared and communicate more effectively than words alone. Today, people expect good quality photos. What is happening is that they glance at your picture on Facebook/Instagram. If it's not a clear, well-lit product photo, it makes it easier for them to see, and they move on to the next one. You only have a second today.

Here are some of the key ways to leverage your smartphone camera in business for visual communication:

Examples of communicating visually today

• Often, we attach photos to emails when describing an issue or product to provide visual context.
• Use the camera to photograph signed contracts or other documents for digital transmission quickly.
• Showing the product we are selling.
• A visual catalogue for our e-commerce site
• Pictures of the shop to showcase our business on social media
• Photograph equipment, buildings, products, and other relevant items to report issues that need addressing.

Tips for Taking Good Business Photos with Your Smartphone

• Activate gridlines in your camera app to help frame and level your shots.
• Take multiple photos and move around to get different angles and perspectives. You can delete the bad ones later! I, as a rule, take about 20. 
• Shine a light on it before photographing products or other objects. Sunlight is best as it's more natural. 
• If possible, put it on a small table so the light falls across the product from the side. Then place a sheet of white card on the opposite side of the product to bounce light back in and gently fill the darker side. It both keeps the photo clean without needing a flash and reduces the harsh shadows. 
• Hold the phone steady because a steady shot looks sharper.
• Move the object, if possible, rather than the camera.
• You want three angles ideally.
• Turn off the flash to avoid overexposure and glare.
• Take many photos,   it costs nothing to take a picture, so take a heap and delete the bad ones.
• Don't strive for perfection - smartphone photos don't need to be works of art to serve your business needs!

While smartphone cameras have limitations, they can produce more than good enough visuals for everyday business needs. Following a few basic best practices goes a long way.

Don't let the quest for perfect photos stop you from visually communicating to improve your operations and marketing.

“Your first 10,000 photographs are your worst.” Henri Cartier-Bresson

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

Windows 10 support has now ended. If your computer is running Windows 10, it will work; however, you will no longer get Microsoft technical support. This matters because it will be easier to hack. If you like, you can pay for Microsoft Extended Security Updates (ESU).

First step: check each PC

Start by checking if your computer can upgrade to Windows 11 using Microsoft's PC Health Check tool. It will also explain the details if it fails. For more information, see here.

What to do now

Run PC Health Check on every computer

If the PC is good

Suppose the device passes PC Health. We suggest scheduling an upgrade to Windows 11, which moves you to a supported, secure platform with ongoing updates. Please perform this upgrade outside your trading hours to prevent downtime.

If your computer fails

If a device fails the check, we recommend that you either enrol it in Windows 10 ESU, which means you will get Microsoft's support, but you have to pay for it, or replace the computer. Running a computer without Microsoft support is not recommended.

Recommended device standards

Currently, we recommend that your minimum computer now be an i5‑class CPU or equivalent, 8 GB RAM and a 256 GB SSD for standard computers and your main computer have 16 GB RAM for back‑office. Ensure that whatever you get has sufficient USB ports for scanners, printers, and other devices.

FAQ

Q: Will Windows 10 stop working?

A: No, it keeps running. There will be no further free security updates, bug fixes, or Microsoft support, and the risk increases over time if you continue to use it.

Q: Is there a paid security option?

A: Yes, ESU adds security updates after the end of support

Q: What is the last Windows 10 version?

A: Version 22H2.

Q: How do I check Windows 11 readiness?

A: Use Microsoft's PC Health Check

Q: What is the Windows 11 basic computer?

A: Windows 11 needs at least a 64‑bit CPU, 4 GB RAM, 64 GB storage, UEFI with Secure Boot, and TPM 2.0. We suggest a bit more to give you a smoother upgrade.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.

Shoplifting poses a serious threat to Australian retailers. Recent research has highlighted a rising perception of crime across communities. Today, Australians increasingly see crime as a growing problem. Sixty-six per cent now agree it's growing in their areas, which is the highest level in a decade.

This perception has increased by 15% over the past four years, which aligns with the complex data showing a 12% national rise in theft incidents from 2021 to 2024. I have discussed this here before, highlighting how shoplifting has increased significantly since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Part of the reason is that attitudes have changed. Many no longer view theft as wrong. They often blame stores for weak security. If a shop seems vulnerable, they reason it's the business's fault. Additionally, it has been fueled by growing economic desperation since COVID, and Australian living standards have experienced a significant decline, with the sharpest fall in real household disposable incomes in decades, which is pushing some towards theft.

It is a reality today that I have spoken with retailers throughout Australia. They all share stories of thieves now being bolder.

The Real Impact on Your Retail Business

Say an SMB shop with $700,000 in annual sales and a 30% margin. Shrinkage from theft at 1.5% to 2% would cut profits by 4%. In low-margin sectors like newsagencies, this could destroy a business entirely. I've advised retailers who have been hit even harder by this. I have seen shops where we discovered inventory gaps of thousands over a few months.

Shrinkage affects more than finances. It leads to stockouts, as computerised controls no longer work, so we see frustrated customers who go elsewhere. That alone can destroy a shop's goodwill.

If not addressed early, thieves grow bolder. They learn your weaknesses and will return to exploit them.

Measure the problem with facts

Firstly, determine the size of the problem. Your accountant can assist you here, or if you prefer, you can do it yourself, as it's not particularly difficult.

Look at the year 2023/24 and write the stock on hand at the start of the 2024/25 year, say $X

Now, look at the stocktake of your shop that you conducted at the end of the 2024/25 year, say $Y.

Now, take from your financial report in 2024/25 the sales figure $S, and the purchase figures $P

Now, estimate your margin. You will need a gut feel for this.

Now your (Theoretical Stock on hand) = (Stock at the start of the financial year = $X) + (Purchases in the financial year = $P) - (Sales this financial year = $S) *(1-Margin%)

The (Missing stock) = (Theoretical Stock on hand) - (Stock value now from the stock take $Y)

If you want to compare your figure with others the formula = 1 - (Missing stock)/(Theoretical Stock on hand)

I have seen many at this stage go white.

Finally, follow these steps to calculate Theoretical Sales at Retail.

Formula: Theoretical Sales = ((Stock at the start of the financial year = $X) + (Purchases in the financial year = $P) - (Stock value now from the stock take= $Y)) / (1 - Margin%)

It provides the theoretical basis by treating all missing stock as if it had been sold.

Now, calculate the Difference (Actual Sales - Theoretical Sales), which gives us the revenue lost to shoplifting.

Working example with numbers

Assume

Stock at the start of the financial year = $100,000 Purchases in the financial year = $200,000 Sales in the financial year = $250,000 Stock take figure at the end of the year = $90,000 Margin% = 40%

Example with these hypothetical numbers

Theoretical Stock = $100,000 + $200,000 - $250,000 × (1 - 0.4) = $300,000 - $150,000 = $150,000

Missing Stock = $150,000 - $90,000 = $60,000 (at cost)

Theoretical Sales = ($100,000 + $200,000 - $90,000) / (1 - 0.4) = $210,000 / 0.6 ≈ $350,000

Difference = $250,000 - $350,000 = -$100,000

This analysis does not reveal how much stock was lost (generally external) or how much money was stolen from you (almost always internal). Although it is a reality, it tends to be a combination of both so we can say here that somewhere between $60,000 of stock is missing and $100,000 in money. Most analysist here would simply halve the difference and say you have lost $30,000 in stock and $50,000 in stolen money. 

Effective Prevention

Mapping theft hot spots

I would firstly suggest that you map out the blind spots and risky areas in your shop. I have discussed this with detailed instructions point by point here.

What it does is map theft hot spots to your shop layout. What you are looking for are the danger areas in your shop; this visual method is a quick method to improve your design. Knowing where the stuff disappears can give you a good idea of whether the problem is internal or external.

In practice, simple changes can also be effective, such as improving lighting or adjusting staff positions, which cost little and yield significant results.

One client, after doing this, found that their end-of-aisle displays were targets. They moved the camera there, which helped to cut their losses almost immediately.

Employee Theft: A Hidden Threat

Internal theft hurts deeply. It's often subtle, accumulating over time. Many staff today see it as a perk. Our POS tracks user actions and audit trails. It identifies anomalies. A client uncovered years of losses this way. Address it early. Combine with staff training for accountability. Protect your business while supporting your team.

One idea is to have a camera pointing at the tills, allowing for visual monitoring of what goes in and out. Review this footage and compare your sales audit figures to ensure they match one another. You may be surprised by what you find. I had one client who did this and discovered that one employee was taking money, putting it in the till without ringing it up, and later taking it out. I like what he told the police after he was reported: "I took the money but did not steal it."

Conclusion

Shoplifting is estimated to cost $9 billion a year; it's the largest crime by value in Australia. Shoplifting incidents have nearly doubled from 2022 to 2024, as accurately measured through stock analysis and theoretical sales calculations. Quantify the losses and understand your current position.

Written by:

Bernard Zimmermann is the founding director of POS Solutions, a leading point-of-sale system company with 45 years of industry experience, now retired and seeking new opportunities. He consults with various organisations, from small businesses to large retailers and government institutions. Bernard is passionate about helping companies optimise their operations through innovative POS technology and enabling seamless customer experiences through effective software solutions.