POS Technologies and Trends That Will Shape Tomorrow’s Retail Landscape

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October 10, 2022 Business

A point-of-sale (POS) system has replaced the cash drawer and cash register as more businesses have turned to technology to solve or simplify the most common business processes. POS systems are not only useful for recording sales as they can also help businesses track their inventory, record employee schedules, and collect a myriad of other data for service personalization and business intelligence. In this article, we look at the POS technologies and trends that will shape the future of retail.

Untethered Systems

In traditional business environments, all sales have to happen at a counter or at one of several counters. This can be annoying and inconvenient for those who need faster checkout or who have only a few items and would have to wait for those who have lots of items to finish their checkout.

Modern POS systems allow you to go untethered whether you are inside the store or anywhere else. Employees wielding handheld POS scanners can interact with customers, walk around the store, help customers pick out what they need, and then complete sales wherever they are.

Additionally, modern mobile POS systems allow employees to complete sales regardless of where they are, be it on the curb or a trade show floor hundreds of miles away. All this data is then synced to central storage where the business owner can analyze it and do anything else they want with it.

With more people preferring mobile payment options, these non-traditional payment options are expected to increase the average transaction value to over $11,700 by 2025.

Omnichannel Experiences

An omnichannel sales experience means completing sales on the channel the customer is using. This could be on their mobile device, using mobile POS systems as discussed above, on social media, or in-person in your store.

Today’s diverse POS systems allow retailers to use non-linear paths to purchase for their customers. It is no longer unusual for someone to learn about your product through an ad, learn more about it on social media, visit your store to sample it and then complete the sale through your website.

Modern POS systems allow businesses to use their online platforms as extensions of their physical stores. We are seeing an increase in the number of online purchases, especially around the holiday session. This cements the fact that online platforms are becoming crucial for businesses.

Lastly, POS systems allow for click-and-collect sales strategies. Customers can complete their purchase online and then complete the payment when they visit your store. With untethered POS systems, they do not have to walk through the door as the business can have someone standing by the door to receive the payment and hand out the products.

Alternative Payment Methods

We are moving away from using cash as much as we used to, with plastic payments – those using credit and debit cards – constituting a significant portion of in-store and online payments. POS systems can be programmed and configured to accept alternative payment options.

Such options can include:

Mobile and digital wallets
Cryptocurrencies
Prepaid cards
Financing options
Charge cards

There are also increasingly diverse ways of paying for something. For example, buy now pay later options are becoming popular especially for expensive goods like laptops. Bill splitting is also becoming popular in the restaurant industry, with some restaurants accepting multiple payment option combinations to settle one bill.

POS systems are increasing not only the options customers have for paying for goods, but also what they can pay for. We have seen retail stores integrate pharmacies under their roofs, allowing customers to pay for their prescriptions using the same POS they would their groceries. Another option is being able to conveniently pay for health insurance. Customers can also use Vanilla Direct Pay to pay their insurance premiums in-store.

These options provide a convenience your customers appreciate. These convenient options can encourage them to visit your store multiple times thereby increasing sales.

Cloud-based Software

The cloud has become one of the most useful technology advancements in the last ten years or so. The cloud allows the sharing and analysis of the data collected by POS systems. This data is made available through cloud-based software that can be accessed anywhere as long as one has the right credentials and an internet connection.

Companies offering these services ensure their servers are secure, up to date and partitioned so every business only has access to its own data. This way, each small business using the POS cloud-based software can see and use all the data it has collected.

All these benefits are the reasons why cloud-based systems and software have become a significant POS trend. Many retailers say they are considering moving all their services to the cloud in the next few years. This is the reason the cloud POS market is expected to grow by 14% by 2028 in the USA.

New POS Hardware

Traditional cash registers are giving way to more modern POS systems and options. These options are made possible by new and improved POS hardware including cash drawers, barcode scanners, tablets, and smartphones.

These new options are much more advanced, flexible, and mobile compared to their traditional counterparts. Apart from upgrades in POS systems and options like self-service kiosks, businesses can expect other trends such as:

A decline in swipe transactions – This is due to newer touchless payment options and modern chip readers.
An increase in Bluetooth use – Some POS systems are now using Bluetooth instead of Wi-Fi for connection to other systems and the central server. This change can decrease Wi-Fi network congestion and reduce internet usage and costs. Although it has been deployed, more research is being done to make it more secure.
Pickup lockers – These house the products bought by customers who prefer curbside pickup. Customers can open them using a code, and they can help reduce labor while improving customer satisfaction.

Point-of-sale systems have been evolving since they became popular several decades ago. Technological advancements have made them better and more convenient for both businesses and their customers. Modern POS systems are so powerful that they can become command centers for businesses, collecting all the data a business needs. They will continue to evolve and their role in the retail landscape is not diminishing any time soon.