Apple’s iPad has spawned a consumer craze for tablets, much like how the company did so with the smartphone market. But the device is not just for customers interested in accessing email, browsing the Internet or playing games. These products are ideally suited for the retail space. Retailers that have yet to consider adopting iPads should rethink this stance because the benefits far outweigh any disadvantages.

Price

Depending on the size of the retail operation, a couple of iPads or a dozen won’t set back the company millions of dollars. These products are hundreds of dollars, so a small store with only a handful of employers can adopt these products without allocating their entire budget toward doing so.

Functionality

The retail sector operates under the notion that the customer is always right. In most cases, this is true. People have so many things on their minds and so many places to be that the last thing they want to do is wait 20 minutes in line to buy a single item. This is where an iPad can replace or complement a traditional point-of-sale system. An iPad POS enables employees to use the tablet to complete transactions anywhere in the store.

Ease of use

One doesn’t have to look far to see how easy iPads are for anyone to use. There’s a reason why schools adopt iPads for their students to use – they are not complicated. Employees should have no issues navigating the touchscreen or accessing the mobile POS.

The iPad may have become a worldwide sensation because of the consumer market, but retailers should not overlook how effective the products can be for their brands. The devices offer similar functionality to traditional equipment but without the physical limitations that can bog down operations and, importantly, sales and consumer happiness.

Mobile devices are driving all sorts of global traffic, a new Cisco report suggested. The study indicated the global market in 2019 will have 5.2 billion mobile users, up nearly 1 billion from 2014’s totals.

In 2014, Cisco said there were just over 4 billion mobile devices and connections on a global scale. By the end of the forecast period, this figure will nearly triple to 11.5 billion. The report added mobile connection speeds should increase from 1.7 Mbps in 2014 to 4 Mbps by 2019, with annual run rates of worldwide IP traffic expanding from 30 exabytes to 292 exabytes.

Businesses can capitalize on this trend

Companies that have yet to focus on attracting mobile audiences to their e-commerce stores or brick-and-mortar locations may want to make this a top priority the rest of 2015. A recent Adyen report found m-commerce drove roughly 26 percent of all online transactions during the fourth quarter of 2014, up 11 percent from the third quarter. Year-over-year improvements were 37 percent.

Roelant Prins, chief commercial officer at Adyen, indicated companies must possess a “mobile-first” outlook for the first quarter of this year.

We can help, schedule a demo with our sales team today: www.teamworkcommerce.com

More Info: Adyen

U.S Retail Challenges

“It is scary, it is a big investment. It is scary to learn something new and change over what you are used into a new system.”

The extensive array of inventory, varied needs of order management, and complexities around the actual customer experience create a high barrier to entry for retailers. There is no guarantee that the investment will pay off, or that retailers will be able to resolve all of their issues with one system. Retailers are often hesitant to take the next step. But, the reality is that many retailers have already taken steps towards Omnichannel. Using mobile points of sale, having points of purchase on multiple channels, or using member apps to take payments or schedule orders are pieces to the puzzle. A lot of these technologies are already being used by retailers. But, they have not always worked together. Omnichannel is about creating an ecosystem where retailers can feel confident to create new solutions for their customers knowing they are backed by innovation and a secure, reliable framework for long term growth. From point of purchase to fulfillment, the process needs to be seamless, transparent and consistent to prevent friction & loss of customers in the process.

The Holistic View

“You have to be able to know your customer, you have to be able to see what they bought online, what they bought in store, their past histories, if they want to be able to return without a receipt or buy a gift card”

What Amber is referencing here is the Seamless Customer Experience. For Omnichannel retailers to succeed, they have to empower a genuine relationship with customers. Retail staff have to easily be able to access information about the customers at the POS to understand the specific customer, provide needed support and enable a seamless transaction process. This detailed view needs to be paired with analytics and consistent updates to enable an effective purchasing process. The customers needs, behaviors and orders have to be centrally monitored and accessible to reduce the friction that exists within the purchase process.

Omnichannel Drives Revenue

“Not only have sales increased because of customer experience, they are also not losing sales. They no longer have to send customers to an online location.”

Customers don’t slip through the cracks, customers want the product when they want it… they don’t want to wait until the product is available in store again. The product needs to be readily locatable, need a different size/color/style…. No problem? Having a detailed viewpoint of current inventory across warehouses, store fronts and back rooms is not optional anymore. Retailers need to instantly fulfill the product somehow, taking the purchase at the point of sale and fulfilling the order in a manner that is convenient for customers. This customer centric approach to retail is crucial for retailers to stay competitive, these processes need to be focused on the needs of consumers but supported by an extensive integration ecosystem that drives functionality and simplicity throughout the purchase process.

Teamwork Commerce + ShippyPro

Teamwork Commerce is the brain for retailers, while the solution has a wide range of features, it does not resolve every issue for every retailer, legacy systems, existing implementations and niche requirements present challenges for retailers. The need for a wide range of flexible integrations is critical. The addition of ShippyPro into the Teamwork Commerce platform was a natural choice. The solution has been whitelabelled into the Teamwork application for certain clients enabling an efficient fulfillment system, leveraging ShippyPro’s integration network to centralize shipping, easily print labels and monitor shipments at every stage using webhooks. Shippypro is the easiest way to ship, track and return your orders.

Watch the Webinar: ShippyPro + Teamwork Webinar

2020 might be known as the year of online shopping. With expected EOY performance of $4.2 Trillion in global eCommerce sales, the concept of a seamless and limitless shopping experience is increasingly accessible across the world. Today’s peripherals must be as agile as in store point of sale tools to ensure complete flexibility and convenience in the increasingly competitive brick-and-mortar marketplace, enabling an efficient and targeted approach designed to minimize friction within the customer experience. Jammed receipt printers, or label misreads can lead to the loss of valuable seconds in the collection or purchase process, potentially costing sales and valuable customer relationships. But there is a better way, printer hardware can provide a myriad of benefits to retailers in their journey to refine and optimize the customer experience.

Enhancing The POS Experience

Issues at the Point of Sale are the enemy of proficient customer experiences. Loyalty begins the moment after the purchase. The initial experience will be memorable for a customer. The last thing retailers want is to provide poorly printed, illegible and excessively long receipts. While they may seem trivial, receipts play a key part in the customer experience, serving as a memento of the purchase experience, enabling brand marketing, coupon production and customer surveys. The combination of this functionality represents a critical touchpoint for retailers. Building relationships at the point of sale and communicating key messaging before, during and after the purchase with the addition of value added services will encourage customers to continue frequenting the business and engaging with the brand.

Removing Friction

The retail experience is transforming so rapidly, there is a significant risk of products becoming obsolete before they even get out of the box. Retailers across the world are building out unified approaches to retail, leveraging cloud solutions in conjunction with legacy systems to enhance the customer experience. Printers at the POS have to easily fit into this complex ecosystem and provide value, flexibility and functionality.

Retailers need additional flexibility, whether at a traditional checkout, or a mobile POS (mPOS), having a receipt printer that can move with the sale allows retail staff to do what they do best, build relationships and communicate with customers wherever they are needed. Speed is also key at the point of sale. In the mobile example mentioned, being able to quickly produce a physical receipt and move on to assist the next customer is key. High speed printers help to reduce post sale wait times and allow staff to quickly pivot to the next sale.

A Seamless Solution: Teamwork Commerce + Epson

Teamwork Commerce partner Epson understands this. The company’s mobile-friendly receipt printers pair perfectly with the TWC mPOS software allowing seamless & painless sales across the store enabling your business to serve customers whether they buy online, pick-up in store, use curbside pickup or home delivery.

Teamwork Commerce uses the Epson TM-m30 POS receipt printer at the point of sale, allowing retail staff to have complete flexibility. Epson’s compact printer features modular casing, enabling flexibility between top-load or front-load configuration ,and offers the advantages of integration with mobile POS environments, intuitive functionality and advanced connectivity.

The joint solution ensures a seamless operating experience and mitigation of friction throughout the retail operation process. Together, we provide merchants with the assurance to get the most out of their mobile POS systems delivering a seamless experience at every sales channel and continue driving the strength of mPOS while mobile expansion in retail continues to grow.

See how Teamwork Commerce + Epson can empower your brand to create a more engaging, customer friendly and efficient experience across retail channels.
https://teamworkcommerce.com/demo-request

Apple has been behind some significant consumer trends – MP3 players, smartphones and tablets – and it may be the company to drive the use of mobile payments in retail stores. Traditional point-of-sale systems are still in use at retailers, but they are no longer the only way to accept payments. An iPad POS enables employees to complete transactions anywhere in the store, improving efficiency and keeping shoppers happy with shorter transaction times and fewer minutes spent waiting in line .

The Financial Brand’s Jim Marous recently detailed the company’s much buzzed about Apple Pay, the company’s near field communication application that has “the unique ability to change consumer behavior on a large scale.” This app enables users to use their iPhones to make payments at more than 200,000 U.S. locations.

Any mobile application is all for naught, though, if it is not secure. Shoppers are unlikely to trust a retailer with their personal information again if their payment data is stolen or exposed at any point during the relationship.

Fortunately, Marous indicated security is one of Apple Pay’s strong points, which should go a long way toward alleviating user fears.

If Apple Pay takes off, it will likely contribute to a healthier mobile payments market. As it stands, very few consumers pay for goods using their smartphones and tablets. Marous cited a BI Intelligence report as backing up this point. The study predicted mobile payments will improve markedly in the next five years, yet they will still only account for 5 percent of retail sales by 2018.
Tablets and smartphones are a boon to all sorts of tasks, making checkouts easier for consumers and more efficient for retailers. Apple has changed various markets in the past and it wouldn’t be surprising if it were the company to spur the mobile payments space in the future.

Traditional point-of-sale systems still have a place in the retail industry, but they are no longer the de facto option for accepting consumer payments. Mobile devices such as tablets have taken the market by storm, delivering similar functionality to stationary PCs with capabilities more suited to today’s fast-paced shopper mentality. Businesses with a mobile POS can empower sales representatives, enabling employees to serve customers anywhere in the store.

An IHL Group study indicated global POS hardware shipments experienced healthy growth during the first half of 2014, VSR magazine reported.

Greg Buzek, president of IHL Group, said enterprise retailers are experiencing “tremendous” changes from technology.

Mobile POS fastest-growing retail sector since Internet

A separate IHL Group study noted the North American mobile POS retail market is currently worth nearly $8 billion. The firm asserted mobile POS is the fastest-moving development to influence the retail segment since businesses integrated Internet into their stores. Apple is perhaps the biggest reason behind this development, thanks to its popular iPad device.

Much like how Apple started the smartphone craze by introducing the iPhone in 2007, the tech giant started a similar trend some years later with the iPad. The iPad offers touchscreen functionality that makes Web browsing, typing and operating system navigation possible in a slim package that is easy to carry around a retail store.

An iPad POS is a great way for replacing or augmenting current POS systems with more agile tools. Businesses that embrace these solutions will have an opportunity to achieve operational flexibility, employee productivity and, importantly, customer service. The main problem with older POS infrastructure is that consumers are required to wait in designated lines to purchase items. This causes certain areas of a store to become crowded and, if someone is returning a product or has a question that requires further assistance, this only leads to added frustration among the people waiting for their turn.

A mobile POS is an effective way of relieving the burden from sale reps working at the checkout line. Now, employees walking around the store with an iPad in hand can help shoppers purchase goods without waiting.

Apple’s product is driving retail experience

Consumers may have been the ones most responsible for adopting the iPad in droves when it first launched, but businesses are also jumping on this bandwagon and will continue to do so in the years to come. IHL Group explained retailers are eager to achieve the same experience throughout the entire organization – a capability also leading them to implement a mobile POS.

Future shipments of tablets, especially the iPad, will experience double-digit growth, with many of these devices used for POS capabilities, IHL Group predicted.