Recording sales and transactions is an essential need of any business to conduct analytics. POS systems were first introduced to make this process easier. As of late, it has become a robust platform that can manage market integration, inventory, data analytics, and even accounting. Prediction if POS terminals’ growth is forecasted from 2020 through 2024 as well, based on previous records. POS has a promising future with in-store multimedia displays to self-service portals and better, more immersive online experiences.
There are essentially two components to POS terminals. They are the hardware terminal and the software terminal. Furthermore, they can be segmented into fixed POS terminals, as we have seen in branches of fast food chains with large touch-screen displays that take orders. Or wireless/mobile POS terminals that people can access from their mobile phones. There has been a notable increase in the POS market in 2015-2019. It is projected to further increase tremendously from 202 to 2024. This projected increase comes with trends regarding the POS market. Here we will discuss a few trends that seem to have huge growth potential shortly.
Self-Service Multimedia Display:
The point of Sale technology is increasingly being centered on touch-screen panels and smart interfaces. This allows acting for two separate benefits, a floating POS system for the staff and a dynamic catalog improving customer experience. This opens several avenues, one of which would be to present the consumer with a unique experience of browsing through your products without having to actually keep warehouse items into a manicured ambiance of the store.
This service has gained the most popularity in both restaurant and retail worlds. Based on the Self-Service World magazine, 60,000 such POS terminals were expected to be shipped to businesses in 2018, rising from a mere 27000 in 2012.
Mobile/tablet POS:
A generic mobile POS system consists of a tablet that can accept card, cash, and mobile payment options. These systems are sophisticated enough to handle the cash register all by themselves as a self-checkout kiosk. These systems take the point of sale directly to the customer rather than the customer coming to the point of sale. This is why it is becoming increasingly popular in the modern market. Right now, it is estimated that 54% of retailers incorporate mobile POS in their businesses. It is a very popular trend in the restaurant industry. There are three key advantages to them. They are; better functionality, a more convenient way to pay, and the ability to be used as a static till.
Cloud POS
This is a sort of system that can be accessed from anywhere. All someone needs to access a cloud-based POS model is the internet and any connectivity device, be it a smartphone, computer, or tablet. This allows for a lot of new options to be accessed. This way, a restaurant operator can access and keep an eye on restaurant operations regardless of whether they are present on the premises or not. This has climbed to the top of restaurant hotlists as it is both easy to deploy and is very cost-effective. A cloud-based POS system comes with a licensing fee to be paid to the provider and little to no hardware costs to set up. The providers of the systems themselves handle any upgrades in this kind of POS themselves.
AI Integration
There are immense benefits of AI integration in businesses, and this is why 15% of the businesses in the U.S are already using AI-based POs systems in their operations. Furthermore, an additional 30% are planning to make a leap towards Ai-powered POS within the next twelve months. In a recent survey, 40% of 18 to 24-year-olds were completely comfortable letting an AI-powered bot do their shopping for them. A precursor for this was that the bot should have the exact knowledge of their preferences and needs. Therefore, it is safe to say that Ai in stores would not take much time for customers to adapt to and learn how to interact with.
AI can account for in-store fraud prevention as it can be set to alert the shop and/or the buyer in case of any suspicious activity. It is without a doubt that AI will provide better convenience while shopping. AI can be used to display the products that the user would be interested in based on past purchases. Furthermore, a plus for the businesses is that they can predict their inventory needs. AI uses consumer buying behavior patterns to calculate when and what product would be needed in stock.
Customized Loyalty, Gifts, and Subscriptions
POS technology in sales allows customization of almost all in-store aspects of the shopping experience. Retailers try to use catchy displays and discount offers to attract customers even now. With the use of POS, this whole ordeal can be stepped up to another level as it will allow you to have additional information on each and every client and allow you to make personalized and specific gift cards and subscriptions that the customers would thoroughly enjoy.
Shopkeepers try to keep track of their returning customers and obviously cannot do that perfectly. Using POS, rewarding customers based on loyalty would become easier and fairer, contributing to customer satisfaction greatly. Putting design flair on retail and doing it all while saving money is possible using the cutting-edge technology of POS.
Conclusion
The world is faster, more connected, and smarter now. To have a successful business, it is becoming increasingly important to consider the fast-paced advancement in technology. Keeping businesses up to date with modern requirements is the only way any business can guarantee success. Even though they took a small hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic due to reduced investment, POS systems still are very promising. As the stores tend to reopen and with the more digital approach that is being taken as a result of the pandemic, POS systems are sure to see a major boom very shortly based on the cutting-edge technology and the alignment to customer convenience thy provide. Customer satisfaction is the key to success for any business. Suppose with the incorporation of POS systems, a business gets even a little better at that. In that case, it is surely the biggest trend that we shall see in the FinTech future.
