POS Retail
Article | May 10, 2024
"Digital is a very busy ecosystem, so nail first what you are trying to achieve, who you are trying to engage with and what you want to convey."
- Yolanda Valery, Head of Digital Engagement at Ocado Group.
In this age of networked businesses, connectivity and technological advancements impact the payment system. POS systems may sound familiar to retailers. However, you may also be aware of the term "cloud computing," which has garnered much attention in modern technology. Consequently, you must combine POS technology with cloud technologies. It is also advantageous for brick-and-mortar businesses that wish to construct a neater, more contemporary register and reduce wait times by collecting payments from many locations. Investigating and making the switch to a point-of-sale (POS) system that is hosted in the cloud is something that businesses ought to do for a number of different reasons. Let's take a quick look at them in-depth.
Reasons to Shift to Cloud-Based POS System:
According to Cloud POS Market Statistics 2028, the worldwide cloud POS market was valued at $2.24 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $13.24 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 24.5 percent from 2020 to 2028.
Robust Security
Security is one incentive to using cloud-based POS, which reduces risk. Possessing a POS system may considerably reduce all types of danger. If you've selected cloud-based POS software, your data is in good hands with tight security standards and automated backup and synchronization through a remote server.
Without sensitive cardholder data to steal, SMBs can dramatically lower the likelihood of a data breach. Cloud-based POS systems play a crucial part in ensuring that SMBs provide their clients with the most significant payment experience possible.
Better Remote Control of Your Operations
Cloud-based POS software helps you better handle your operations remotely by allowing you to monitor the performance of your various departments while you are absent. This enables you to respond quickly to any potential difficulties.
You can manage your business and obtain essential information from anywhere. Your POS terminals will communicate information in real-time, allowing them to stay flawlessly connected even if you have different retail locations.
Cost Reduction
Profitability and expenditure management should be your top concerns when selecting a POS software solution for your firm. The project becomes lucrative immediately by choosing a POS system, particularly a cloud-based one. The initial expenditure is small, and the software vendor assumes most of the IT administration responsibilities. Most cloud-based point-of-sale systems are offered as SaaS models with no upfront charges and cheap monthly fees. In addition to decreasing labor expenses, these solutions improve worker utilization.
Cloud POS Mobility
The use of cloud-based POS software increases your mobility and adaptability. It is compatible with many desktops and mobile internet-connected devices. With 24/7 access to all system reports, you can manage your business from around the globe. Your employees may accept credit card payments and email receipts to customers at any moment.
Seamless Integration
Last but not least, cloud POS systems may be coupled with various other methods, including accounting, buying, and inventory management systems. Cloud-based point-of-sale (POS) systems that enable simple integration and scalability are necessary for SMBs in a rapidly changing business environment.
Integration with several other systems will further simplify the operations of your retail business and increase sales.
Bottom line:
It is evident that cloud-based POS systems are essential for SMBs and a precondition for integrating them into your daily operations. The reasons for using cloud-based POS software are innumerable; we have only enumerated a handful. Therefore, consider cloud-based POS if you have decided to move to a POS system.
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POS Solutions, Ecommerce Merchandising
Article | June 7, 2024
Point of sale (POS) software is a critical corporate tool that has been well-known as an upgraded alternative to the traditional cash register. This system provides your business with management capabilities like loyalty programs and an improved shopping experience. According to a report carried out by Grand View Research, the worldwide POS terminals market is projected to attain nearly $126 billion by 2027. Here is a point of sale trend list that you will benefit from.
You should adopt this point of sale trend. More and more firms are using POS software that allows for quicker checkout time. People tend to have more than a location they wish to drop by. When they visit your store and buy something, they desire to spend as little time as they can, particularly when doing a checkout.
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POS Solutions
Article | February 15, 2024
Prior to the pandemic and quarantine, less than 8% of commerce was online. As of Q3FY20 eCommerce grew north of 14% of all commerce. So while the Retailpocalypse was in its last phase, physical retail still outsold eCommerce by at least 7:1.
The failure rate of crowdfunding campaigns is 85%.
The failure rate of eCommerce store owners ranges from 80 to 97%.
What if there were a way to bridge the gap between these three failure rates? What if we could bridge what people consume online with what they purchase offline before waiting for brain-computer interfaces (BCI)? In short what if we could bridge social and commerce? (Example use case.)
Mostly missing are the memorable, meaningful, measurable and monetizable responses from people interested in stories about beagles, princesses and pitbulls, pets, car repair, raspberry blueberry vinaigrette gyros, budget-saving techniques for holiday travel, getting stuck at airports in blizzards, rental cars and Cup o’ Noodles, My Fair Lady and @Instacart, dining out at the delicious Banana Leaves café, cooking kosher halal gelatin-free, blue #1 artificial dye-free egg nog flavored marshmallows, 50th anniversaries and chocolate ganache, adventures camping with youth groups, birdhouses built by kids, rainbow hair dye, artificial dye-free cakes DIY for your child’s birthday party, and Halloween gingerbread houses and Greek Mount Olympus costumes.
Other than ad revenue Youtube collects which most of it’s video posters see little of, monetizing the DIY craze has proven quite tricky. Ditto for Christmas shopping, smartphone accessories, buying a new luxury Subaru online with no salesman, how to get hard to find contact lenses and vitamins for kids, how Amazon often has thrift store prices on inventory thrift stores rarely carry, the challenges of buying clothes on Amazon that don’t fit but you don’t realize that until the clothes arrive, DIY car repair, funny car repair, glorious victory of car repair, diaper cakes and muscle aches, drones and honey scones, Triple A baseball and blue-tailed skinks, favorite foods, fasting, and Boston, fused vertebrae and buried treasure, where to buy school supplies when most stores are sold out, creameries and charcuterie,
Bridging social media with eCommerce has been the white rhino of many investors and start-ups for many years.
Instead of working toward such solutions, we have VC’s and stockholders asking about vanity metrics:
- How many people looked at your website? Instead of: How many people subscribed or how many purchased an item?-
- How many downloads per month does your app have? Instead of: How many of the people who downloaded your app have note removed it less than 30 days later?
- What’s your ad revenue? Instead of: How can your product capture or create more value?
In reply entrepreneurs answer these questions, they often present their increased spend on marketing followed up with vanity milestones:
“We’re using Google Analytics and similar providers to track every movement of the supply chain, to ensure when the purchaser’s journey is completed, there’s no delay in delivery. This will lead to more frequent purchases ideally of higher priced products, and…
We are pitching to Chipotle on Friday!”
This leads to concentrated research on Chipotle’s SWAT, followed up with an excellent pitch including a demo via Zoom.
The result of this pitch is usually:
1. The person loved the pitch and accepts your invitation to meet again with his/her manager next week.
2. The person you pitched to is not the decision-maker
3. The person you pitched to doesn’t quite understand what you’re pitching
4. The person you pitched to had 3 other projects due by COB and wasn’t fully present and listening to your 10-minute pitch
5. You provided too many facts too quickly, trying to build rapport
6. You shared how you’re product can reduce shrink, increase ROI, decrease costs, increase retention, and cure cancer. The person you pitched to doesn’t believe all those promises.
7. The person you pitched to is afraid of advocating change; the risk from change that results in lesser results can lead to negative repercussions. The risk of “business as usual” is minimal.
Forgotten by almost all eCommerce platforms and store owners are the facts that:
- People behave differently when they are observed (best behavior vs. average behavior). Despite this, we are seeing an incredible number of start-ups that offer to help track everything your customers do. “We’re Palantir for eCommerce” is essentially the ethos of these companies.
- The Paradox of Choice by Barry Schwarz – too many choices overwhelm the person making the choice, to the point that no decision is made. If you don’t train your mind to buy what you want even if you have to look on pages other than Amazon and Google Shopping, you might end up buying the product you almost wanted.
- The concept of incentivized virality – when PayPal gave $20 to each person who referred another person who joined, and when DropBox offered free data storage to people who referred friends who joined – which Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh brilliantly detailed in Blitzscaling:
The Lightning-Fast Path to Building Massively Valuable Companies.
So now each eCommerce platform tries to copy Amazon who built their model on the opposite of physical retail. Consider your last experience renting a car at an airport vs. Amazon:
- Do you want to refill the gas tank or would you like us to?
- Would you like liability only or more comprehensive types of insurance coverage?
- Would you like a GPS?
- Would you like to join our exclusive members club? etc., etc.
Adding to what @ElevateDemand said, “ B2B marketing is broken,” Raj De Datta, CEO and cofounder of @Bloomreach said, “The future of B2C marketing looks like B2B marketing,” Kevin Marasco, CMO of @Zenefits correctly said “marketing is going back in time from B2B to B2C” or person to person.
Smart speakers in every phone, tablet, laptop PC, TV, and car succeeded by BCI, which @Facebook and @Neuralink are pioneering, hold great potential. Until those products arrive or after their R&D phase, @Homemaide’s object recognition and image recognition models can provide the sorely needed bridge between Social and Commerce.
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POS Solutions, Cloud Based POS
Article | July 14, 2022
Until recently, most brick-and-mortar retail stores relied on local platforms to save their point-of-sale (POS) data, such as transaction records and product price lists. These include a variety of solutions, ranging from larger network servers to on-premises PCs or servers used by service providers. However, a large number of retailers are shifting their business operations to online platforms, with cloud POS emerging as a trailblazer in the transition.
Retailers are heavily investing in the development of digital payments, contactless, and cashless transactions and have begun to implement innovative point of sale (POS) solutions to improve their bottom lines in the long run.
Cloud POS Providers Responding to Transition
Over the years, POS platforms, especially cloud-based POS, have evolved into robust platforms capable of integrating a wide range of retail operations, including data analytics, accounting, inventory, accounting, and marketing.
This evolution of POS platforms from traditional to cloud-based has manifested itself in a variety of ways, ranging from increased inventory management efficiency to improved user experience, data security, disaster management, and increased profitability, positioning themselves solutions as an imperative retail tool, today.
On account of the rising awareness regarding the merits of integrating cloud technology, approximately 52 percent of corporate firms have fully migrated to cloud POS solutions, with more than 40 percent planning to follow the same, as per a study. Citing the trend, cloud POS solutions are anticipated to exceed $9 billion by the end of 2026.
Leading industry players are riposting to this transition in earnest by launching innovative products designed to address the need for advanced POS solutions across the retail sector. For instance, in 2022, Visa unveiled a new cloud-based payment platform, Visa Acceptance Cloud (VAC), which can transform almost every device into a cloud-connected payment terminal.
The Future’s Story
In this digital disruption era, enterprises are gearing up to invest in innovative technologies and enter the new software market. One of these is the cloud-based POS system, which has permitted retail stores to manage customer data and handle sales and inventory digitally. POS software has clearly benefited all business domains, but it has completely transformed the retail sector's facet, making it more progressive, tech-savvy, and customer-oriented.
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