Thinking About Mobile POS? Your Competitors Are.
The mobile POS business is expected to grow from $2 billion in 2015 to $38 billion in 2024, with analysts projecting a 36 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) between now and 2019.
Retailers see mobility as a way to improve customer service in store, largely by reducing customer waiting time.
The devices also usher in a closer customer/clerk relationship, because associates can easily answer customer’s questions at the touch of the screen. They can look up inventory, shipping dates and even general product information, all of which leads to improved interactions between customers and their trusted retail advisors.
Even stores that are well known for customer satisfaction such as Nordstrom’s, are constantly innovating to stay on top. The high-end department store arms sales associates with tablets that can check customers out rather than force them to wait at a cash wrap.
But the ability to save customers time on a register line is irrelevant if you can’t get them to the line in the first place. Customers get irritated in stores when they can’t get a price or availability question answered quickly and knowledgeably.
If a store employee doesn’t have the tools to provide a quick answer, customers often simply leave and buy from a competitor.
However, when they are outfitted with mobile devices tied back to the POS and inventory management system, retail associates can immediately help customers, remaining with them throughout the purchasing cycle, and providing information needed to “seal the deal.”
As retailers enter the 2016 holiday season, it becomes increasingly important to encourage salespeople into sales consultants with mobile POS. No longer is it enough to stand behind a register and wait for the customer to come to you.
Today’s retailer must be proactive and engaging. Customer service must be a differentiator.
Mobile POS can provide associates the critical information needed to help customers to make a purchase, close the sale, and even provide up-sell opportunities to drive higher revenue.
