Retailer POS — bank compatibility

Retailer is a point-of-sale system for retail, built by Tower Systems International (Aust). Started on a kitchen table in 1981 and sold to Constellation Software in 2024 — the Canadian group that buys niche software companies and basically never sells them again.

Certified on Linkly, running in the cloud or on premise. Linkly reaches more acquirers than any other middleware in the market, which is why most POS start there.

The Linkly integration runs in the cloud or on premise. Linkly holds 2 separate certified builds for it, so what works depends which one you are on.

Retailer is Tower Systems' main product, and Tower is one of the genuine old-timers of Australian retail software. Mark Fletcher built an accounting system for newsagents on his kitchen table in 1981, hired the first employee in 1982, and shipped the first actual point of sale in 1994. The company has been in Hawthorn, Melbourne since 2009.

Ownership changed on 1 November 2024, though it was not announced until the following January. Vela APX bought it — Vela is a division of Vela Software Group, which belongs to Constellation Software, the Canadian serial acquirer that holds hundreds of small vertical software businesses and is known for holding rather than flipping them. Fletcher stayed on for two years and said he sold at a time of his own choosing. The practical read for a merchant: nothing changed overnight, and Constellation generally leaves products running, but pricing and support calls now get made inside a much bigger group than the one you signed with.

Tower's real distinction is specialisation, and it is not marketing. They have built for roughly thirty specialty retail niches — newsagents first, then bikes, toys, gifts, jewellers, pet shops, garden centres, produce, fishing, pool supplies, firearms, vape, books, music, computers and charity shops — with dedicated development rounds for pet shops in 2012, toy shops in 2014 and firearms dealers in 2015. They claim more newsagents than any other software company, and they picked up National Measurement Approval for fuel integration in 2014, which matters if you sell fuel. If your shop is a plain general store, Retailer is more system than you need. If it is one of those niches, the vertical depth is the whole reason to take the call.

Tower Systems International (Aust) also has Retailer - Kiosk, Retailer (On-premises only), Retailer Roam and Tower Systems International v2.7.3.2 (Cloud).