Enabling Mobile POS With Smart Devices

| Retail

scan barcode from package

Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) technology is a gamechanger for retail businesses, enabling employees to use mobile scanning devices to complete customer purchases anywhere in the store. Not only does this approach create more flexible shopping experiences for customers, but it also helps to reduce in-store staff levels—which can dramatically improve the cost-effectiveness your POS system over time.

Traditionally, a major downside of mobile POS is that it requires retailers to buy and maintain dedicated mobile barcode scanners. But thanks to innovations in mobile data capture technology, retailers can simply replace these tools altogether with inexpensive smart devices equipped with computer vision to decrease equipment expenses and foster more efficient mPOS workflows.

If you’re considering adding a mobile point-of-sale process to your retail stores via smart devices, then you’re in the right place. The Scandit team has been partnering with leading retailers to create powerful smart device-based mPOS solutions for almost a decade. Today, we’re going to talk you through how you can integrate mobile data capture technology into your own mobile POS app. But before we jump in, let’s talk through how this setup works in the context of real retail environments.

How Does a Smart Device-Based POS System Work?

Put simply, any wireless device that can perform all the roles of a point-of-sale terminal or cash register can be a mobile POS point. To fulfill these responsibilities, the mobile POS point must be able to support mobile payment options, as well as identify products the customer wants to purchase through barcode scanning or OCR. In terms of application, retailers can use these tools anywhere in their brick-and-mortar stores—or anywhere you are selling products.

While equipped with a smart device-based POS system, such as a high-end tablet, retail employees can lend more thoughtful and involved support by meeting the customer exactly where they want to be. This opens up opportunities for deeper engagement opportunities—where the employee can use their smart device for mPOS transactions as well as to display additional product information, customer reviews, and more.

From there, the retail employee can quickly close out the transaction by scanning each product using their device’s built-in camera and collecting payment information via its card reader. No long checkout lines or awkward kiosks—just fast and exceptional service.

Who Should Invest in a Mobile POS System?

Here’s a quick summary of the types of retailers that should think about investing in a mobile POS system:

1. Retailers pressed for floor space. 

It’s no secret that checkout kiosks take up tons of valuable floor space in stores. With a mobile POS system, retailers can free up much of that space—and redeploy it to generate additional sales.

2. Retailers trying to simplify sales in general. 

Mobile POS solutions give customers the freedom to pay exactly how and where they want to, streamlining the entire sales process. It’s also possible to track data acquired through your mobile POS to keep tabs on employee performance, sales data, and inventory levels—making the sales process faster and driven by data insights.

3. Retailers looking to enhance their customer experience. 

One of the most exciting aspects of mobile POS is that it enables retail staff to engage and connect with customers just about anywhere in the store, as opposed to being confined to a dedicated kiosk. This feature alone makes customer experiences more versatile and convenient for shoppers—which helps retail brands set themselves apart from the competition.

So now that you have a solid grasp on mobile POS and its applications, let’s talk about how you can get those kinds of results out of a standard consumer smartphone or other smart device.

Mobile POS System Apps

As mobile technology continues to evolve, so too do consumer demands for faster and more intuitive shopping experiences. That’s why retailers are turning to smart device-based mPOS tools, both to create better shopping experience and increase ROI. With robust mobile data capture tools like the Scandit Barcode Scanner SDK, you can turn any inexpensive smart device into an enterprise-grade retail barcode scanner, making mobile POS simple for your team.

SDK-powered POS apps deliver unmatched performance and accuracy, eliminating human error while driving greater retail efficiency. Your team can even harness collected data from the app to assess and revise your mPOS setup to deliver more value. And because most retail staff already use smart devices in their personal lives, there’s little to no training involved when installing your smart device-based POS app.

Thanks to the universality of consumer smart devices, many retail companies simply use their mobile POS solution with employee personal devices. This BYOD (bring your own device) policy reduces adoption costs and TCO even further, which can pay off big in the long run. In short, if you’re after a fast, intuitive, and flexible technology solution for mobilizing POS and generating better business outcomes, then a smart device-based mobile app might be the perfect investment for your enterprise.

The Scandit Solution for Smart Device-Based POS

By augmenting your mobile POS app with the Scandit Barcode Scanner SDK for Android, iOS, Windows and Linux, you unlock best-in-breed performance on any compatible device—empowering your team with a selection of low-cost, high-performance barcode scanners. Employees can simply approach customers, pull out their personal smart device, and complete transactions efficiently with a few taps on their touchscreen.

Not only is this mPOS setup less expensive compared to dedicated mPOS hardware, but it also makes it easy to update single devices from the mPOS terminal—and enables you to update the device and card reader independently.

The Scandit Barcode Scanner SDK is an ideal choice if you’re looking for reliable mobile data capture software that’s powerful and easy to integrate into your daily workflows. Just be sure to use our optimal mPOS setup. We always recommend combining Scandit software with high-end tablets and card readers for the best results.

Advance Your Retail Enterprise With Scandit mPOS

Want to learn more about smart device-based POS solutions and the unique advantages they can bring to your business? Then don’t hesitate to explore our free whitepaper. This exclusive resource outlines how you can leverage mobile data capture technology to refine your retail workflows and create superior shopping experience that drive sales.

Last but not least, feel free to contact us for more detailed information on our innovative mobile data capture software, retail scanner technology, or point-of-sale systems in general. As always, we’re ready to help.