Today , engineering can zipper your restaurant order to the kitchen in an heartbeat , permit you pay your cab transportation by credit card , and let you scan your groceries as you place them in your cart . Welcome to the earthly concern of fluid point - of - sale system . Wireless connections are in the appendage of modify the way we shop . And the trend cover to grow .
Point of sale ( POS ) is business enterprise cant for the spot where a retail transaction conduct home – where money changes hands . Though today many people pay for things with mention or debit cards , most payments used to be made by cash or hitch , and merchants stored the money in a immediate payment drawer or box . Then along do the cash registry . excogitate in the 1870s , it was a mechanically skillful way to keep track of revenues and was the first POS scheme [ source : RetailSystems.com ] .
Not much change until the seventies when the next POS innovation – the barcode – became usable . begin in 1974 , Universal Product Codes began to look on point . merchant were able to use scanners to take these computer code and mental process sale more quickly and accurately [ source : National Barcode ] . In the past 20 age , retail merchant have added a few more gadgets to speed up check-out procedure line , including wit swipe machine for accepting credit and debit entry cards , as well as signature pad and personal identification issue ( PIN ) pads .
During the nineties , wireless electronic computer networks – which send receiving set waves through the line to channel data – became usable , allow for POS organization to go roving . eating house were among the first to take in this new technology . They accelerated the payment procedure by letting staff cognitive operation credit cards at customers ' tables . Other businesses followed courtship . motorcar renting companies , for good example , append mobile POS to allow curb - side manipulation of car returns . Hotels place servers poolside to take guests ' drinking order on mobile equipment .
Some retailers are now replace centralized checkouts and letting clerks expend portable computer to dispatch minutes . Many Apple stores , for example , which trade Apple computers and other hard- and software system , have get disembarrass of cash registers . instance serve customers ' doubtfulness , break farm animal and finalize cut-rate sale with helping hand - held gimmick [ informant : First Data ] .
Mobile POS can be peculiarly utile in the theater . For instance , the Hampton Jitney autobus service , which bear New Yorkers to Long Island beach residential district , use an onboard arrangement that allows attendants to check mental reservation , take payments and impress out receipts [ germ : Zebra.com ] . Today , there are also systems that allow small - shell merchandiser like flea grocery vender and bake sales event operators to accept credit cards and process transactions using an ordinary mobile phone [ source : Extended Retail Solutions ] .
Though some have concerns about the security of wireless proceedings , both consumer and merchant may benefit from the availability of fluid POS . Retailers and help fellowship can make employees more productive and lower labor costs . A restaurant server , for example , can deliver considerable legwork with fewer trips to the kitchen or cash register . Also , accuracy is increased by eliminating save order . customer may receive speedier service and error - detached , detailed receipt on the spot .
Read on to learn about the cutting edge of mobile degree - of - sale system .
Where is mobile point-of-sale headed?
Wagamama is a world eatery chain that has been an innovator in adopting mobile decimal point - of - sale system . When you model down in the restaurant to savour Asian - invigorate culinary art , a waiter enters your drink and solid food choices into a small mobile computer . The order is displayed instantly in the kitchen and at the drink bar . When it ’s ready , the chef pushes a release and a tag is print to tell the server where to deliver the food . After dinner , the server can deliver the client with a bill , swipe his or her mention wag , and print out a receipt from a portable printing machine [ informant : Clancy ] .
The next step for nomadic POS organisation at Wagamama is an iPhone software that set aside diners to regularise their food before they even get through the eating house . They can graze the menu , send their order straight to the kitchen , pay by credit lineup , and then either use up at the restaurant or take the solid food out . This feature film is currently uncommitted in the United Kingdom and will shortly circulate to other countries [ source : Clancy ] .
Advances in mobile POS are fuel a quest for ever corking transaction security . One way in which retailers can address this challenge is by using encrypted card readers . When they ’re used , the customer ’s entropy never leaves the mobile card reader except in encrypted shape , minimise the chance of it being steal [ source : Ciardiello ] .
Also on the horizon is the idea of enabling fluid phones to complete contactless transactions . Visa has kicked off a program in Malaysia that lets customer devote for purchase just by waving their enabled phone near a end . The earphone securely transmits the possessor ’s recognition data to the gadget and keeps track of transaction [ source : cellular - news ] .
The applications of mobile POS continue to grow . For example , Stop & Shop Supermarket Co. is install a system predict ScanIt ! in many of its stores . Upon entering a ScanIt!-enabled storage , the shopper may acquaint a loyalty card and break up up a portable run down equipment . The scanner ’s display presents especial offers and voucher based on a person ’s shopping history . It even offers voucher as the shopper nears a special production in an aisle . A customer can scan items and directly bag them in his or her cart . The twist totals the purchase , and the shopper pay up at a self - overhaul kiosk [ root : Ciardiello ] .
In general , roving point - of - gross sales organization are increasingly decentralizing the existent point at which gross sales take place , understate wasted clock time and reject unneeded paperwork . The goal is to make shopping as easily and as " automatic " as possible for the consumer . For more selective information on point - of - sale system and other tools , follow the links on the next page .
