Tips for an Effective Mobile POS Implementation

Retailers need to understand what's driving the push for mobile point of sale (POS) to understand how to effectively implement a mobile POS system. At the root of this are three converging ideas:

• the consumerization of mobile smartphones and tablet hardware;
• the unique opportunity to truly reinvent the traditional and sometimes old-fashioned ways retailers interact with their customers; and
• the ever-increasing demands of a customer base that expects better, faster, value-added interactions with retailers.

It's clear that mobile POS is the present and future of retail. So how do retailers get started? Begin by considering the basics: setting goals and value propositions, hardware and operating system (OS) considerations, defining and calibrating metrics, and the timing of deployment.

Setting Goals and Value Propositions
Improving customer experience and increasing the basket size no matter the channel or POS method remains an ultimate goal of retailers. How these goals overlay your operation will vary, but there remains a front-end opportunity to identify some value propositions based on customer satisfaction, cost and profit. From our observations, the greatest potential for mobile POS value will come from these areas: better labor use, hardware savings, bigger basket size and reduced rates of abandonment. Softer benefits related to overall customer experience, associate empowerment and "coolness" factors may be a little harder to measure, but will also contribute to the benefit side of the equation. Decide on your goals and value propositions as the first step in implementing a mobile POS system.

Flexibility and Adaptability in Hardware and OS
Once goals and value propositions are set, you can begin on the OS decision. Don't handcuff yourself by insisting upon one OS or another or one hardware platform or another. In consumer mobile technology, the only thing we really know is that things are going to change — and rapidly.

One of the biggest mistakes you could make is to believe you know what's best for the customer, and not the other way around. Your mobile POS solution therefore needs to allow application build-out on any mobile device OS no matter what hardware and OS have been selected for store associates.

Defining and Calibrating Metrics
When defining and calibrating metrics for your POS implementation, the important thing is to figure out what you want to measure ahead of time, then build the measurement mechanisms into the deployment. Recalling the major sources of value — labor utilization, hardware costs and basket size — and ensuring that you identify and agree upon associated metrics need to be a part of your planning checklist.

From our observations of successful and unsuccessful POS implementations, the single most important tip would be to move ahead and not hesitate. Retailers that insist on total package functionality to go live will miss the boat, and retailers that wait until every piece of the puzzle appears to be in place will suffer from never being ready. Those who spend undo time and effort "selecting" the ideal OS are going to find themselves stuck with antiquated hardware and a nonupgradable application.

Mobile POS presents a unique opportunity for retailers to take a fresh look at how a customer transaction should flow. Instead of continuing on a path of "that's the way we've always done it," a mobile deployment allows retailers to go in and challenge the status quo, with the possibility of reinventing the entire customer experience in novel and engaging ways.

John Kenney is senior vice president of business development at Stella Nova Technologies. John can be reached at john.kenney@sntinc.com.