It’s the weekend, and the influx of customers is impressive. You’re super excited about the hyped-up ambience that has been created. Everything’s running smoothly until the customers begin to head to the checkout. The lineup at the counter is becoming ridiculously long.
Even though you’ve employed the best professionals to deal with such situations, a single point-of-sale (POS) terminal limits their capabilities.
This situation is a nightmare for every retailer, and it creates panic around the store, leading to frustrated customers, and overwhelmed employees. It might seem like an inevitable situation, especially during seasons such as Thanksgiving and Christmas, but there is a way you can efficiently handle this situation without losing any customers.
We’re talking about incorporating mobile point-of-sale (mPOS).
When you choose a mPOS for your brick-and-mortar store, you equip your staff with the flexibility to carry out financial transactions from anywhere in the store. Any mobile device, be it a smartphone or tablet that performs the functions of an electronic point-of-sale terminal or that of a cash register, can serve as your mPOS. The constituents of this portable POS terminal include an efficient app, a powerful internet connection, along with card readers. There are several other add-ons that you can choose from.
Completely replacing the static POS terminals is not a practical solution for many companies, but adding them in-store can significantly improve the experience of the consumers without turning the situation too overwhelming for the
There’s a reason why these mobile POS terminals are gaining rapid popularity across the global retail industry.
Better Customer Engagement with mPOS
The power of mPOS is real. It brings a wide array of benefits that help boost the efficiency of a store and allow businesses to enhance the customer’s experience. From allowing customers to register anytime using the app to providing flexibility to the staff to carry out financial transactions anywhere around the store, there are countless ways your store can benefit from a portable POS terminal.
One of the most powerful reasons why such checkout terminals are acquiring a firm ground is how it helps improve customer engagement.
Personalized Customer Service
Every retailer aims to study and understand customer demographics. It helps them better deal with them and provides them personalized services. Unfortunately, the sales staff helping customers across the store don’t have such knowledge. And remembering every specific detail about a customer is humanely impossible.
When you provide the sales team with portable POS systems, they can access the customer details with just a few clicks.
As soon as a customer walks in, a sales associate can look up their order history and identify their preferences. Once ready, they can approach the customer, greet them, and win their hearts by offering perfectly personalized service.
When a customer feels like the staff knows them, they get comfortable shopping and even spend more than they initially decided.
Trust us; nobody likes anything more than a personalized service!
Being Well-Informed
The ‘modern’ consumers of this advanced age are well-informed as they do thorough research before making any decision, especially when it involves spending money. For any retailer to win the customers over, they need to be as well-informed, and this is the need of the hour.
Despite this, the on-floor employees in a store are usually unaware. Be it the inventory, reviews, or trending news. They don’t have access to such information, which frustrates the customers. With mPOS, you can turn your on-floor employees into experts.
With mobile devices in their hands, they can easily access the inventory data, product specifications, and reviews. It allows the staff members to be on the same page as the customers, giving them an upper hand.
Whether a customer is inquiring about a product’s specification, asking for reviews, or asking about its availability, the employees can easily extract the data through their mobile devices.
Make Everything Available
Nothing frustrates a shopper more than being told ‘it’s out of stock.’ It infuriates them, forcing them to head to a competitor store. Sometimes a specific product is not available in the store but is in stock online or in the inventory. Many brick-and-mortar stores use landlines and emails to inquire about other stores or warehouse staff products.
An mPOS helps staff not utter the forbidden words, ‘out of stock,’ in front of a customer. These mobile POS terminals can access inventory data and even contact other stores in real-time and inquire about a product.
The staff can get the products delivered to the customer, adding to the overall satisfaction level!
Reduce Waiting Times
We’ve all been there. Waiting in long queues at the POS terminal, waiting for hour turns. It’s very frustrating. In some cases, this waiting time also results in loss of customers. When you equip your staff members to carry out the financial transactions from anywhere around the store, the line at the counter gets shorter, leading to significantly reduced waiting time.
Importance of Data
Data is the king. Whether a government organization or a retailer, the more data a company has, the more power it has over its clients and customers. One drawback of brick-and-mortar stores is that their staff is disconnected from the inventory and the online store. To access that data, they have to put in requests which can take hours formally. Before bringing this system into your business model, create a single database. A well-maintained database allows the in-store employees to stay connected with the warehouse, online store, and other franchises. All this data can easily be extracted through a single database.
Saying that mPOS will change how retailers operate is not an exaggeration. Know that ‘the future is mobile. If you’re still not leveraging the power of a mobile point-of-sale terminal, you’re falling behind your competitors. Remember, your customers are important. Curate the perfect experience for them by integrating mPOS in your store.
