Archives for June 2018

What do consumers really think?

The  in-store experience may well  define whether a visitor will become a returning customer. What do consumers expect from their shopping experience at the Point of Sale as their last interaction with the retailer?

The point-of-sale, or POS, first invented in 1879 as the cash register by James Ritty, was introduced into the market purely as a device that recorded sales as a means to help calculate the total and also discourage employees from stealing money from the business. By the mid-1900s the cash register had become a regular staple in all retail stores.

1955 – “Stops mistakes, saves money, speeds service to customers!”

Today however, the POS has transformed into something much bigger and is an integral part of any shopping experience, for both retailers and consumers.

A recent report by RIS News though, revealed that as many as 43% of retailers say that their current POS does not meet their essential needs or capabilities for the next 2-3 years.

But is the POS to blame?

In a matter of 50 years technology has expanded exponentially, and with the introduction of internet, e-commerce, mobile, and even social media and AI, the way we think about retail and shopping is constantly evolving. It is  impracticable to expect retailers to frequently change their POS systems in order to keep up with the technological advancements every few years; the POS should remain stable and reliable to do what it’s supposed to do.

This is where Cloud Services can bridge the gap; Cloud based apps enable retailers to better manage their sales, inventory, and customers across several stores and channels. And as consumers increasingly use multiple channels to shop (or research), cloud connected POS systems will keep up by offering features that integrate online, physical, and social shopping channels.

We have experienced this in practice. Some of the retailers we engage with have changed their POS systems in search of modernization – a painful and costly process in most cases. It takes time and you could also lose some features in favor of the new and modern system…By the time new system is fully up and running, new needs come along. Whereas other retailers kept their legacy POS apps and integrated them to our cloud services, maintaining their current core functionality and keeping up with technology at the same time. Simple, fast and cost effective – in one word, exciting!

Enabling new, modern, and agile services over and above, without losing any of the core legacy functionality or retraining the entire cashier population is precious. Therefore, sometimes replacing is not necessarily better than augmenting – we know it for a fact!

Furthermore, cloud connected POS systems keep costs down, streamlines processes, and allows for your internal IT team to focus on the business side of things, rather than migrating data and complex systems.

In short, Cloud technology provides retailers with the mobility, simplicity, efficiency, and security that even modern  POS’s just can’t offer for long – regularly checking-in with the core POS system for whatever new comes along!

So what do your customers need? Check or Out your legacy POS system? We are interested to explore!