Digital technology has transformed retail operations, including point-of-sale (POS) terminals. Businesses are using POS systems on tablets and processing payments on mobile devices to streamline checkout and make the shopping experience more convenient for customers.
Mobile and cloud-based POS solutions, as well as integrated digital tech and channels, is now a necessity for retailers to improve service delivery and meet customer expectations. Consumers are at the root of this seismic shift: pay for what they want, how, when and where they want. Retailers can either leverage in-store digital solutions like POS systems to accept a variety of payment methods and address consumers’ needs, or they can keep doing things the old fashioned way – it’s as simple as that. Unfortunately for retailers not interested in implementing new and integrated solutions, they risk alienating customers and missing larger business opportunities.
GDR Creative Intelligence recently wrote on our blog that retailers can move beyond omnichannel retail and prioritise touchpoints in key areas of customer interaction: discovery, service and transaction. Can POS really be a strategic, customer-service tool?
Retailers using systems like clienteling and assisted selling apps are improving the customer experience and enhancing service delivery in-store, but POS remains – in some cases – one of many disparate systems. The good news is that many POS or mobile POS (mPOS) systems go far beyond just processing transactions, existing as a platform that can create a unified customer experience.
The end-to-end capabilities of POS and mPOS solutions have expanded significantly. These solutions deliver everything from product and inventory management, marketing and customer loyalty programs, as well as real-time data and analytics - al helping retailers drive conversions. More affordable price points have been – and will continue to be – a major factor in increased adoption of POS apps and systems. PayPal Here, for example, eliminates costs associated with POS hardware, software licenses, contracts and monthly fees – once a business is registered, they can process mobile payments instantly.
The right mPOS solution can help retailers offer seamless transaction points throughout a store, meeting customers where they are and when they need to be served – saving the sale. Paired with mobile tablet solutions, retailers can confidently rely on these devices to be the centralised information hub for their employees, customer and store – retail scenarios like CRM, inventory management and endless aisle, or even online purchases become simple and seamless. Customers no longer think in terms of offline or online, so it’s not in retailers’ best interest to continue operating as such. Retailers cannot successfully operate or create a unified customer experience by having their POS system, brick-and-mortar store, online store, and any other channel operating in separate siloes.
