Retail point of sale (POS) recently celebrated five decades of technological and business innovation. The earliest electronic cash registers were installed in American supermarkets in 1973, and the POS segment developed for two decades before the arrival of graphical user interfaces. Innovation has not stopped in the world of enterprise POS systems; to this effect, here are a few trends shaping their future:
Self-Checkout POS Systems
Installations of kiosks and self-service stations for ordering and checkout transactions surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they are quickly expanding thanks to technological advancements and smoother workflows. Hospital cafeterias have been reducing labor costs with the implementation of self-service kiosks, thus requiring fewer employees to operate checkout stations.
Online Ordering
This trend also surged during the pandemic, and it is here to stay. In essence, web-based or mobile applications use cloud computing to transmit ordering information directly to POS systems.
Hybrid Cloud and Local Offline Modes
Cloud computing has been a POS game-changer. Virtually all modern enterprise POS systems run in the cloud, but not all offer local offline modes. The importance of this feature is based on the reality of internet outages or network disruptions; plus, offline POS functionality can help protect sensitive customer and employee information in the event of a data breach, system failure, or disaster. This POS trend is surging in the enterprise and manufacturing sectors that thrive on business continuity.
To learn more about trends shaping POS systems, visit www.arbapro.com today.
