Most web developers will talk you in circles. Ours won't.
Most web developers will talk you in circles and charge accordingly. You end up with a site only they can update — for a monthly fee, of course.
For a local specialty retailer, that's a particular problem. Your website needs to reflect you and what's actually in your store. It needs to speak to what’s unique about your business compared to others offering the same products. If the two systems don't talk to each other, you're managing both separately, which is more work than you probably signed up for.
Tower Systems, based in Hawthorn, Victoria, builds Shopify websites that connect directly with their POS software. They work with independent specialty retailers — newsagencies, garden centres, jewellers, bike shops, toy stores and others. Not franchises, not corporate groups.
All development happens in Melbourne. Nothing goes offshore. It costs more than hiring a developer in another country, and they'll tell you that upfront. The tradeoff is that you're working with people who understand Australian retail and can actually pick up the phone.
Pricing is fixed and set at break-even. The goal is to get their POS customers trading online, not to make margin on the build. The service covers a proper consultation, a clear brief on what you need to provide, a Shopify theme, full POS integration, a two-hour handover session, and three months of phone support after go-live.
Before you build anything, though, a few things worth knowing:
- Be clear about who the site is for. New customers or existing ones? That shapes everything.
- Start with flat-rate shipping — add complexity once you understand how people are actually buying.
- Write your own product descriptions; copied supplier text gets penalised by search engines.
- Don't list your entire range on day one; a curated selection of best sellers is easier to manage and easier to shop.
- And have a plan to drive traffic — social media, email, something — because a site with no visitors doesn't do much.
That last one catches a lot of retailers off guard. Getting the site live is the start of the work, not the end of it.
Call 1300 662 957 or email
