by Moray BOYD – Deputy CEO AURES Group
Having been in the POS (Point of Sale) industry for many years now, I have read my fair share of articles about people’s opinions on what the future of POS technology is.
I place emphasis on the word opinion as when we look back, the changes in the retail technology space have not been very rapid or significant since the establishment of barcoding technology and most predictions have not eventuated.
Yes, we have seen new technology solutions developed but just because they have been made does not mean they are being used.
I don’t want to give you the impression that I am stuck in the dark ages and not willing to move with the times and do believe that the POS landscape will evolve but I do believe that the wholesale adoption of newer technology will come with a strong paradigm shift in what consumers want from their retailers. Retailers will be forced to rethink their physical store interactions which may lead to a shift in the technology utilised.
The traditional POS solution combination of a POS computer, barcode scanner, cash drawer and receipt printer is by far the dominant POS technology adopted by retailers and not slowing down. In fact, the AURES business has experienced double digit growth, year on year, on the back of “traditional” POS hardware.
AURES as a business continues to evolve our solutions with mobile technology, particularly in the POS tablet space, being a logical extension to our integrated touch terminals. The strength of our business has been our ability to evolve solutions in line with our customer demands. We sometimes push the envelope but often we find that we reset the goal posts for the standard of equipment that is expected in store.
So, what do I think is the future of POS technology? Integrated touch terminals that are faster, quieter, more stylish, and more energy efficient. Mobile technology will be used to complement traditional installations but the backbone will remain traditional POS hardware. Above all I think that the POS technology space is a slow-moving beast that is more evolutionary than revolutionary and that is fine for the majority as what we have works.
Maybe the saying, “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” describes the reason why retailers across the globe have been slow to adopt new POS technology incarnations.
No one is demanding a revolution in the POS technology space so evolution is more apt to describe the reality we live in.
I’ll leave the predicting of retail technology to the so-called experts but while they are gazing into their POS crystal balls, our teams will focus on the here and now by providing the best POS solutions that our customers want to support their businesses.