Tablet-based POS systems are here to stay, but retailers have yet to adapt to the use of tablets and smartphones as billing systems. In fact, most retailers are waiting to see how the tablet-based POS system works out, according to BSM Info. This is not surprising, especially since new technology always takes some time to become popular with users. However, this is not a good idea.
Businesses that do not adapt to the changing technology are going to be left behind in the race to capture customers and generate more business. The simple fact is that tablet-based POS systems are an emerging trend and they are picking up in popularity. Retailers who ignore that trend will be left behind as their competitors continue to race ahead with state-of-the-art technology.
What Do the Statistics Say?
According to a recent group study confirmed by Jdapos that focused on the popularity of tablet POS systems, mobile POS systems are expected to take over more than 12 percent of the POS market by the end of 2014. The same study also noted that tablet-based sales would see more than nine percent growth in the coming year. Retailers would slowly move towards POS systems and about 28 percent of retailers are expected to adopt mobile POS system by the end of 2014. This 28 percent is mostly made up of small business owners who cannot afford the retail sticker price of a traditional POS system. According to the same study, large multinationals will adapt tablet-based POS systems faster to help them deal with customers and to increase customer interactions. On top of these statistics, customers are faced with only one choice – adapt to mobile-based POS systems or sink in this competitive market.
What Are the Benefits of a Tablet-Based POS System?
Not surprisingly, the immediate benefits of a tablet-based system are speed, portability, and cost. Let us look at these factors in a little more detail.
Cost – Mobile and tablet based point-of-sale systems are cheaper than traditional POS systems. For example, these systems cost about $1000 to set up and they can be up and running in less than a day. On the other hand, traditional POS systems can cost anywhere from $2000 to about $15,000. Retailers also have to pay a software update fee, a maintenance fee, and charges for extra systems added to the POS network. This is completely different for tablet-POS systems as they use cloud servers. Data is stored online and the company has to pay a small fee to the vendor so that the system is up and running. The cloud server maintains security and software updates. There are no extra costs for additional tablets or smartphones added to the network. This makes tablet systems far, far more affordable to business owners. This is a huge advantage not offered by traditional POS systems points out Foodservicewarehouse.
Speed – Most tablet POS systems use cloud technology to store the company and customer data, according to Payments Source. This makes the tablet billing process simple and very fast as compared to traditional POS systems. As customer data is stored online on a secure server it can be accessed at any time. Also, they don’t have anywhere near the amount of iPhone problems that cellphones do.
Portability – One major drawback for POS systems is that they require a real-time store. It was not possible to use them at pop-up stores at outdoor locations etc. However, tablet systems overcome that drawback since they are portable. They can be used inside the store, locked down at the billing counter, or even used at outdoor locations to process credit card sales and collect cash payments. This benefit alone makes tablet based POS systems immediately useful and much better than conventional billing systems.
Social Media and Marketing – As all tablet-POS systems work online, they can be used to promote products to customers. The store POS can collect customer emails, track their progress through the store, tally their last sales receipts, order goods in advance and even help the store manager to plan targeted advertising campaigns. The options are endless and vendors like Shopify already offer a huge range of interesting marketing features that can be carried out through the tablet.
Although the initial upfront cost with tablet-POS systems is quite low, the system also offers ongoing savings to the customer. Monthly fees for the tablet POS are lower than traditional POS systems and the storeowner can easily add more systems to the basic network. The cloud-based data sharing ensures that business owners can access the system from anywhere and track sales, profits, payroll, employee attendance, etc. through the same system. On the back of these benefits, retailers have to realize that adapting to a tablet-based POS system is a great idea. Mobile technology can be a huge benefit to the storeowner provided they use it the right away.
