When the mPOS retail revolution took off, it gave the little guys a magic bullet to elevate their customer experience model. Consumers came to expect more from micro-merchants and the ease of the payments process.
Juniper research highlighted that mPOS is still on the rise and by 2021 expected to process over 20% of retail point-of-sale transactions. What’s more, by the same year it will account for more than 1 in 3 POS terminals, driven by larger retailers adopting mPOS as part of an array of point-of-sale options.
It’s no surprise that the presence of mPOS across the retail segment is still booming fast, especially amongst micro and small businesses. They’ve benefited from lower upfront costs and more streamlined operations. And, consumers like it too.
In fact, our independent research published in 2016 highlighted that consumers love Apple’s mPOS disruption that they use to serve customers within their Apple Stores. 96% of consumers asked, found the mPOS system easy to use, with 4 out of 5 expressing that other retailers should deploy a system which enables payments to be taken anywhere in the store.
Interestingly though, while consumers like it, there is still a delay in adoption amongst larger enterprise-level retailers. We, therefore, wanted to take a closer look at some of these obstacles. Why enterprise mPOS is stalling and how a ‘payments first’ approach could be the right solution for these larger retailers.
Challenges with certifications and integration
mPOS solutions are perceived as less secure than traditional fixed or desktop solutions and many don't meet the ironclad security demands of larger more security conscious retailers. Every payment terminal must go through a long list of certifications needed by various regulatory and financial organizations before it can operate at a merchant store to process transactions. These include certifications such as PCI, Point-to-point encryption (P2PE), and EMV. As well as the actual Payment Application running on the terminal. At a large scale, this can be time-consuming and costly. Development can also be disparate. Many mPOS systems use different operating systems to the current fixed POS systems already established. Developers need to program new platforms and infrastructure to accept in-person payments. It’s complicated, time-consuming, and requires investment. mPOS providers need to make the integration of their solutions much more open and flexible to developers.
Problems with the product
Enterprise retailers want progressive and attractive design, to be seen as ahead of the curve because their brand image stands for a lot. Design becomes outdated fast and technological advancement is making solutions more and more compact. To adopt a mPOS solution it needs to be forward thinking and maintain its design integrity into the future. Not just aesthetically, but with well-designed features too. If an enterprise retailer’s mPOS solution launches to relative success and large volumes of payments start rolling in, fundamental issues like battery life can plague progress. Staff should be able to dock charge or extend battery life, where needed, without breaking the flow of service or at the expense of losing a sale.
The need for accompanying devices and peripherals
Our research estimated that stores lose thousands of pounds in sales due to not being able to help customers fully. The average loss for each store is £110,864 a year. Across Britain, that
adds up to millions of pounds. However, in-store and assisted selling accompanying devices can help ensure that sales aren’t missed. But, with the advent of tablets and touch screens, enterprise retailers might need to carry different devices at the same time to facilitate sales. With two hands it can be a juggling act to carry out a transaction while showcasing additional products on the tablet. The solution to this is all in the sleek design of companion devices, to aid store staff in assisted-selling to consumers.
How can enterprise retailers get it right?
While mPOS has its place at the enterprise retail level, ultimately it is just one element to consider as part of a more comprehensive payments strategy, and an array of point-of-sale options.
A ‘payments first’ approach means putting payments at the heart of the business, and ensuring that it has a flexible solution that is right for the organization and the consumer. Enterprise retailers need the ability to have a fixed point-of-sale, that also can be mobile when needed – therefore, mPOS isn’t always the right answer.
The evolution of technology and interactions across physical and virtual systems means that customer shopping behaviors and the ability to build omni-channel experiences requires a different approach. Systems and components on the commerce platform need to be designed and built for interconnectivity, interoperability, and extensibility which allow developers to create new shopping experiences. It’s never been more critical to deliver secure and straightforward integration to existing, third-party peripherals and software. Developers need the ability to adapt payment systems to provide a tailored solution that suits their customers.
At Miura, that’s why we developed an open API and extensive software development kits. And, when you integrate once, you’ll never need to do it again. Our next generation payment solution, the M020, has the open API and SDK to enable developers to do this. And, it’s one solution, with infinite opportunities as its multiple value-added peripherals help to serve customers wherever they go from fixed POS to in-store mobile or even to home delivery.
Discover more about our next generation retail payment solution, the M020.
