Since the introduction of credit cards in the 1950s, the digital evolution for retail distributors started. Like the credit card machine that became a phenomenon back in those days, today, an efficient working Point of Sales or POS system is necessary for any modern retail location. The dependence on POS systems has grown so much that surveys say the POS terminal market value is expected to reach $98.27 billion by 2022. The POS system has evolved from a static cash register at the checkout point to the point of sale finance that sits at the heart of the entire retail experience.
As a merchant, it’s essential to look out for the latest trends in POS technology so that you can be a step ahead of the competitors. So, let us dive into the sales trends, which are expected soon.
More Number of Mobile Payments and Tablet POS
The world is quickly moving to the cashless way of making payments. Cash and cash registers are becoming things of the past. There are more payment options present today than ever before. Shoppers can choose from credit & debit cards to UPI apps like Google pay, PhonePe, etc. All these modern payment methods provide convenience, speed, and direct payment to merchants’ accounts, security, and transparency of payment for both customers and merchants. Around 73% of shoppers say they carry less cash than in the past. Online ordering systems that accept cashless payments provide a convenient and secure way for customers to order and pay for goods and services.
Cloud Technology is the Future
The rapid growth in the digital environment made it necessary for the retailers to quickly access the store transaction or sales data over any device, starting from a smartphone, tablet to desktop whenever needed irrespective of the location. To protect your cloud in the future, adopt robust security practices and stay vigilant against evolving threats. The cloud-based solution made this possible; the POS software, services, and data are provided to the users, on-demand, from the cloud server. It also provides the ease of software upgrade, which can be downloaded as an update.
Personalized Customer Experience
Proper use of technology to improve the customer experience, thus enhancing the relationship with the customers, is critical in this highly competitive market. This needs to be carried out along with streamlining the daily activities of the retail investor. Personalizing the offers made by your company to specific customer’s needs is the key to success. The POS system is more than just point of sale finance; it can provide data related to all aspects of marketing, which helps the retailer design personalized promotional activities.
Artificial Intelligence Making an Impact
The retailers in the market are deploying Artificial Intelligence in their POS systems. AI has a significant impact on the retail sector as it revolutionized the working of the POS system. AI and machine learning can be used to improve the efficiency and accuracy of POS systems by automating tasks, predicting trends, and detecting fraud. The feature alerts the business about fulfilling an order, refiling the store stock, change in customer behaviour, latest trends in the market and many more.
Use of Data and Analytics
The current generation POS systems provide a considerable amount of data and analytics to the retailers. These statistics help the retailer to make sound decisions related to the businesses, which are data-driven and carry a solid logic behind them. The POS systems, as mentioned earlier, helps the retailers to gain in-depth knowledge of customer’s needs and demands; the systems tells about customers behaviour changes to assist the retailers to enhance the customer experience.
Going Contactless
Infographic created by Clover, a retail POS system company
The current COVID-19 pandemic situations accelerated the development and adoption of contactless technology. Retailers around the world are developing applications to provide a contactless shopping experience to their customers. In the past, the technology was limited to payments only, but the current crisis calls for the extension of the technology well beyond payments. Several companies developed POS systems that help consumers get every detail of all the products available in the physical store. They need to hold the product in front of their mobile devices, and the installed POS app will tell them everything from the company, brand to the current offer on the product.
Security and POS
The retail stores benefit from the encrypted data transmitted through the POS over a secured network. These secure networks and protocols help the retail stores to support a cybersecurity strategy and comply with the standards of international bodies like Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS).
More Complex Hardware
With more and more hardware technology emerging in the market, retailers have more choices than ever before. But rather than being overwhelmed with the hardware, they should focus on creating POS systems from the ground up that addresses their current and future needs. The systems are meant to be used in harsh environments. Thus, they are expected to be sealed aids that can tolerate high temperature, moisture, electrical surge, and other contaminants.
Conclusion
With the availability of so many POS options, the future of POS systems is secure and promising. The companies are actively investing in the new point of sale finance to have better user engagement and provide them with a good customer experience. This will ultimately result in higher revenues for the business.
