GREENSBORO, N.C. -- Touchscreen technology, contactless payments, gas-pump integrationthese are some of the trends happening in point-of-sale system technology, and each provides a learning curve and need for system upgrades as they become more widely accepted. So how does your POS system stack up? That's just one of the questions asked during a CSPNetwork CyberConference entitled Fueling Success, sponsored by Gilbarco Veeder-Root.
A lot of older POS systems are running on proprietary hardware. That proprietary hardware is aging, it's getting harder [image-nocss] to support and it is resulting in some very high maintenance costs, said Kirsten Paust, manager of POS marketing at Gilbarco Veeder-Root. In addition to that, older POS systems just don't have the horsepower to drive the new features [necessary to] increase margins and the performance of your fueling sites.
Click here to view a free ondemand rebroadcast of the cyberconference (retailers only).
Paust said touchscreen-based POS technology is one of the fastest-growing trends in retailing. The retail industry has been very fast to adopt this technology, and it's been available for at least 10 years in restaurants and big-box retail, she said. The facts are there that it can speed up and increase the accuracy of cashiers and dealing with transactions.
Contactless payment also is growing with no end in site, according to Richard Browne, vice president of Gilbarco Veeder-Root. There are expected to be over 75 million contactless cards issued by 2006. [So] we'll see a fairly dramatic shift to contactless over the next year or two years, he said. Contactless cards can drive revenue and improve customer loyalty.
The team at Greensboro, N.C.-based Gilbarco Veeder-Root, which manufacturers the Passport POS system, also offered a comprehensive list retailers can review when considering purchasing a new POS system.
Choose a POS with features that protect your profits, such as:
A touchscreen POS, which reduces employee training costs.Remote diagnostic and fix capabilities that eliminate costly site visits.Superior security and cash control features.An integrated dispenser-POS combination that reduces downtime.Round-the-clock live help desk to assist employees.Also, choose a POS with features that protect your investment for the future, such as:
Open software and hardware architecture.State-of-the-art POS with future migration path.POS upgrades as technology changes, without having to replace the POSnew features, Windows upgrades, security enhancements, etc.Extended warranties.Ultimately, Paust said, a POS system should help retailers increase their overall profitability.
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