Submitted by Mike Stinson, VP of Marketing, Motion Computing
Mobility is coming to retail in 2012. As one large retailer recently told me at NRF, “Last year we talked about mobile, this year we are implementing it.” Almost every other booth had a mobile solution of one type or another. While there are a variety of solutions out there, one thing is consistent – in order to truly mobilize the retail industry, retailers need a complete mobile point-of-sale (POS) solution that improves efficiency, increases profitability and provides a competitive advantage in the ever-changing marketplace.
What defines a complete mobile POS solution? It’s a coupling of the right software and hardware that provides retailers with the tools they need, from the POS to back-of-house inventory management. It’s common knowledge that implementing a variety of different applications and devices increases the time, costs and supporting training and deployment resources as well as potential failure points. As such, retailers need to look for software that includes all necessary applications as well as a mobile device powerful enough to run the software and with the integrated tools, such as cameras, barcodes scanners, magnetic stripe readers and wireless capabilities, that supports activities from the POS to the warehouse.
A complete mobile POS solution enhances the overall retail experience for both consumers and store associates. Retailers can improve business operations and enhance customer service by expanding an associate’s access to functions that make the in-store experience more rewarding for consumers, such as:
• Debit, credit and gift card processing virtually anytime, anywhere.
• Real-time access to information on products, pricing, warranties and inventory, providing associates with the ability to up sell and cross sell.
• The ability to track special orders as well as facilitate in-store pickup and merchandise transfers.
• Increased efficiency, productivity, employee satisfaction and customer loyalty.
It’s clear to me that mobile POS tools are going to be adopted by a wide range of retailers this year, and it’s essential that these implementations focus on comprehensive solutions for truly mobile retail.
