Nibletz Staff
A Forbes article listed eight biggest challenges faced by businesses and two of them are issues many small businesses deal with on a daily basis: increased selection and competition and marketing and customer loyalty.
Because it’s so easy to start a business these days, keeping up with the rest can be difficult. The competition is tougher and it’s hard to reach out to and retain customers. These issues can be easily resolved if business owners are willing to invest in a reliable POS system.
Mobile POS Systems Steadily Gaining Ground
Mobile point-of-sales (POS) systems are gaining ground especially with small to medium-sized businesses. A mobile POS system makes it easy to accept payments, check inventory, and track sales and customer behaviour. Tablet point-of-sales systems are starting to replace cash registers in many retail stores.
Business owners are now looking at investing in iPad POS system over the traditional machines that are often expensive to maintain. And there are several good reasons to do so. According to analyst Jordan McKee from the Yankee Group, a 2013 survey found that 51 percent of businesses that have been operating for 3 years (or less) are thinking of using mobile point-of-sale in the next 12 months. 34 percent of businesses with less than 20 employees already use mobile POS systems while 19 percent have plans to use one in the coming year. The survey also showed that 39 percent of bigger business (with 20 to 99 employees) already employs mobile POS while 30 percent have plans to use it in the future.
Similarly, another survey showed that 56 percent of businesses are considering using mobile technology for iPads.
Benefits of Using Tablet POS Systems
Businesses that prioritize inventory and time management should seriously consider POS systems for iPads because these can significantly enhance transactions and lead to more sales. Case in point: when Alabama State University first used a similar system on one of its vendors, it recorded 5,721 transactions in just a few hours.
- Seamless transactions. Tablet POS systems do something traditional cash registers can’t: process payments AND check inventory at the same time. Think about the last time you walked into a retail store and bought a pair of shoes. It’s more likely that the staff had to check if they have stock before you can get your goods. For those who are in a hurry (or simply impatient) that can take too long.
Now, with a mobile POS the staff can tell you right away if they have it or not. That will only take a few seconds and you’ll have more time to wander around the store and look for something else.
- Significant savings. Low cost is another major appeal of these systems. Traditional cash registers are expensive and if they break down, you must be ready to shell out a lot of cash for repairs§. Not to mention the time it will take to fix the device, which means you can also lose potential sales.
- Improved customer service. Your employees don’t have to be chained to the register. Many times, customers will need to seek assistance or ask questions. It can be a problem if they’re at the other end of the store because they wouldn’t like to call out to you or walk to the counter. They can simply walk out and go somewhere else.
Having a mobile POS system allows your staff to be on the floor and interact with customers. They can quickly address any concern and, more importantly, take orders instantly. This is one very important advantage of mobile POS because you can minimize the risk of customers changing their minds after wandering inside your store.
- Faster training time for employees. It’s also easier to train employees with an iPad. Let’s face it, cash registers can be intimidating. New staff can experience difficulties using them as compared to the iPad, which everyone knows too well. This will significantly reduce the time spent on training and get them on the floor as quickly as possible.
- Unparalleled flexibility. POS systems for iPads offer flexibility, which is highly advantageous for those running both an online and brick and mortar shop. Your inventory, orders, and customer data are all synced and that makes it easy to monitor your business performance. There’s no need to track multiple inventories or utilize different payment systems. You can run your business from anywhere with ease.
The Answer to All Your Business Needs
Utilizing iPad point-of-sales systems is beneficial to your business. These allow you to save money on equipment acquisition and repair, integrate inventory control and payment processing, track sales to predict trends and create monthly reports, train staff quickly, and run both online and retail stores without difficulties.
With iPads foreseen to replace many cash registers in the future, a mobile POS system becomes indispensable not just because it makes your work easier but because it lets you spend more time establishing relationships with customers.
