The point-of-sale (POS) market has become a crowded place. For many years now, since the digitization of POS systems brought software to the fore, we’ve seen major diversification in the market.
Where once you had a handful of big name players dominating the production and supply of POS, now in every vertical sector and sub-sector there are dozens of vendors offering niche platforms tailored to the precise needs of particular operations.
Into this already saturated space, we’re now seeing new entrants, particularly from the world of ecommerce and digital payments, make their own push into the POS market. We’ve seen Shopify make a play with an integrated POS software and terminal offer. We’ve seen digital bank Revolut purchase Nobly, an app that turns an iPad into a POS system.
Competition is of course a good thing in any market. It drives innovation, value and quality of service. Incumbents cannot afford to rest on their laurels, while new players bring fresh ideas that shake up the status quo.
Yet while the software revolution has helped the POS sector take giant leaps forward, here at AURES we still stick to our founding principles – that in a store, in a restaurant, in a bar, hotel or wherever else you’re making sales, you also need quality hardware to be the foundation of your POS system.
We’re well aware of the counter argument that you often hear nowadays. That platform agnostic POS software – i.e. applications that you can run on any device – mean you don’t need dedicated POS hardware anymore. That you can run a POS system from any computing device, be it a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, even a smartphone.
We respectively beg to differ. We build our business on the simple proposition that premium quality, purpose-built POS hardware adds value to your business. And hundreds of our clients agree with us. Here’s why.
Reliability you can trust
You know, it’s great that these days businesses have the flexibility to run any POS software they want on any devices they want. But just like you need to think carefully about picking an app suite that does everything your business needs, you need to put some thought into how the hardware works, too. And one of the big things to consider is – how robust is it?
Think about it – how many hours a day will your POS have to run for? How many transactions will be keyed in, how many hands will be on that touchscreen? And think about the environment, too – in bars and restaurants, there’s always the risk of a drink being spilled in the wrong place. If you equip your people with mobile POS tablets, there’s always the risk they will be dropped as they hurry around a busy store.
That’s why we equip all of our terminals with tough dust and spill proof PCT touchscreens. It’s why we design them all with extra durable sealed casings that won’t allow liquids inside. It’s why we give our mPOS mobile tablets additional rugged casings, just in case. It can get tough out there when you’re selling.
Dedicated support
And following on directly from the last point – not only are purpose-built POS devices built to stand up to the rigors of heavy use, you also get specialist, dedicated manufacturer support if something does go wrong. If an iPad or a standard PC you’re using in your POS set up goes kaput, technical support is probably going to amount to being told to look up the problem online.
We offer extensive warranties on all of our products, and work closely with channel partners to ensure their technical teams are able to diagnose and repair the majority of issues end users face in the shortest possible time.
Form as well as function
Finally, there’s one other reason why we feel dedicated POS hardware continues to be the best option for any sales environment – it looks great. At AURES, we make no bones about the fact that we build our products with one eye on how they look. And our customers love it.
Do you really want a generic black box sat on display somewhere in your classy fashion boutique or meticulously designed themed restaurant? Or do you want to have to worry about where you hide them?
With a range of sleek, tasteful, compact designs available in all colors, our terminals give you options that blend in with the rest of your premises. And sure, you can still run any POS software you like on them.