New Point of Sale Trends in 2020

After the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, businesses have had a chance to explore various digital technologies and online marketing strategies. It doesn’t mean shutting the doors of the brick-and-mortar stores since many people like to buy things after trying them out or having a tactile experience. It simply intends to streamline the in-store experience with the online marketplace to enhance the user experience.

 

Since companies are at the face of reduced in-store retail shops, it’s time to consider digital marketing opportunities to bring back their customers in an altogether new shopping environment. Organizations are adopting new POS trends to beat the competition and ensure business continuity.

 

Today’s advanced and intelligent POS systems can integrate with your core business processes like marketing, accounting, inventory, and data analytics. This gives you enhanced flexibility to serve your customers better and smarter. To help you get started, we have enlisted the top 8 POS trends in 2020.

1. AI Integration and Increases Automation

A larger number of businesses are exploring AI-powered POS systems for greater efficiency and productivity. According to a study, 40% of customers in the age group of 18-24 years would like artificial intelligence to understand their unique preferences and shop for them. The benefits of AI integration in the shopping experience is multifold –

 

1. Better shopping experience
2. Have a better understanding of the specific needs and choices of each customer
3. Tracking customer habits and buying trends better
4. Providing customers with intuitive suggestions based on their behaviors and past purchases
5. Detection and prevention of in-store fraud
6. Sending real-time alerts and warnings for any suspicious activities
7. Improved insights into the inventory to reduce inventory loss
8. Detecting checkout errors and reducing cart abandonment rates

 

More companies are, therefore, expected to adopt AI-powered POS systems for an improved shopping experience.

2 .Faster Payment Processing

In addition to the shopping experience, today’s customers are also looking for better payment processing systems to make transactions on-the-go. Moreover, since the coronavirus outbreak, consumers prefer cashless and contactless payment modes to prevent the spread of the virus.

 

To ensure that your buyers are able to make quicker payments, you need to upgrade your POS systems with additional features. Mobile payment options have gained much popularity, especially in 2020, so restaurants and retailers want to get a mobile-based point of sale system with quicker payment solutions.

3. Better Ways to Collect Customer Data

Collecting vital customer data is essential to serve them better and make their shopping experience as satisfying as possible. In fact, a study shows that 83% of buyers are willing to provide relevant information to receive a more personalized shopping environment.

 

Most modern POS solutions come with tools that let you process customer data to create better experiences, similar to business intelligence solutions. By using a comprehensive POS system, you can –

 

• Track buyers’ trends and determine what would probably be buying next.
• Make informed marketing strategies by gathering customer habits to promote your brand and products better.
• Advanced POS solutions can even offer actionable data in real-time through easy-to-understand graphical representations.

 

The above benefits enable businesses to improve their services and enhance their customers’ shopping experience.

4. Mobile POS Systems

With the rise of mobile shopping, businesses have reported an increase in their sales and revenue over the year. Companies, especially restaurant operators, are leveraging mobile POS systems to drive more traffic, boost customer service and sales, and reduce costs.

 

Companies are implementing tablet-based POS solutions to give an extra edge to the traditional POS systems and extend their range of services. Most restaurants and other retailers are now equipping their servers with tablets to take down orders from the table. The order details are then transferred directly to the kitchen.

5. Switching to Cloud-Based POS

There is a significant emergence of the cloud-based POS model in recent years, particularly helping the restaurant managers. These cloud-based solutions are easily accessible from any device or system having an internet connection, which allows the restaurant operators to keep track of their business from anywhere and at any time.

 

Moreover, cloud-based POS systems are cost-effective and are easy to deploy. It doesn’t require the user to download any software and provides them with better flexibility and accessibility. Also, one doesn’t need to purchase the entire solution all at once, and can gradually upgrade the system as per one’s business requirements and budget.

6. Self-Service Kiosks

The most impressive trend of 2020-21 is the self-service multimedia display and kiosks that add sophistication to the entire shopping experience. More and more retail shops are opting for new Point of Sale technologies centered around mobile, multipurpose iPad interfaces and touch-sensitive portals.

 

This is extremely popular in food chains and quick-service restaurants that use self-service kiosks to save labor by operating as order-takers. In this system, patrons are allowed to input the customers’ orders into the self-service kiosks and pay for them through that system accordingly.

 

Further, the self-service portals will act as both a dynamic catalog for customers and floating POS systems for the staff. This helps to reduce the number of employees, thus being more cost-effective, productive, and smarter.

7. Customized Gifts, Offers, Loyalty Points, and Subscriptions

The most popular trend of today’s POS systems is to provide more customized services to customers through gifts, loyalty points, discount coupons, subscriptions, etc. The modern POS systems enable retailers to personalize every aspect of one’s shopping experience.

 

Starting from spoiling your consumers with custom gift cards on birthdays, anniversaries, etc., to running loyalty programs, buyers can get a good reason to stay with you for the long term. The popular POS systems include barcodes, gifts, special discounts, loyalty program collaterals, and the like.

8. Empowering Employees

Besides customer experience, the latest POS trends can also empower your employees as it offers them a pleasing working environment. Moreover, modern technologies are not only exciting to work with, but also help them reduce their work pressure, allowing them more time to focus on themselves.

The good news is many POS solutions also come with dedicated programs and training materials for employees who can learn about staff management and customer relationship management. Other features include roster access, tip allocations, employee reward points, and others to motivate the players to work more efficiently.