Not Your Grandfather's POS: Removing Barriers to Improve Customer Experience
With the changing retail environment and focus on customer interaction in the store, sometimes retailers forget the importance of evaluating their POS systems as it relates to customer experience. As retail adapts to the modern consumer, reviewing how a customer interacts with a merchant in the store can prove beneficial to increasing customer satisfaction and sales. Many times, retailers replace aging cash registers with new models without consideration of changing the in store business model. Modern POS software allows retailers to truly design a store experience with their customers' current and future needs in mind.
Consider the common barrier between the customer and the store clerk. Is that needed in all environments? With modern devices, some alternatives exist. A tablet can run in a thin mode both wireless in the hands of an associate or fixed to a pole assembly. Tablets can have scanners and payment devices built into the system to reduce clutter and space needs. Special pole assemblies can place the tablets in unobtrusive spaces securely and allow for multi-purpose use (such as price look up, omni channel capabilities such as endless aisle, customer relationship management, etc.).
Another option is using new generation printers that can run an operating system to get rid of the large POS CPU structures of yesterday. A printer with a touch screen and a scanner attached can function as a POS system with or without a cash drawer. These systems can also share devices.
Reviewing technology needs can reduce costs too. As an example, few merchants take checks anymore. The cost of a printer that can process checks is much higher than one that does not. New printers are less than half the size of older models, just as resilient, faster, and half the cost. Reducing the MICR printers in a store to just one rather than at all stations is another option.
New designs and improved technology are allowing merchants to make the customer transaction faster, personalized and inviting rather than something that occurs across a barrier. When evaluating POS needs, consider the advancements in POS technology and how transforming the in store experience can impact brand loyalty and sales.
