Hardware Solutions for Your Brick and Mortar Store to Improve Your Business
Local is the name of the retail game in 2021. In fact, 70 percent of consumers are choosing to support local businesses over larger, big-name retailers. While choosing to shop small can have various motivations, 57 percent of Americans say their main reason is to keep money local. As many local businesses shut their doors to weather the global pandemic, consumers fled to support them through their online stores. Businesses without an eCommerce option soon caught on, and focused their energy on creating a memorable online shopping experience.
However, as vaccination rates rise and businesses open back up to the public, your brick and mortar store faces a unique position to create a positive in-store experience. But, amid labor shortages for minimum-wage workers, it’s crucial for small retail shops to invest in technology solutions for their business if they wish to offer an experience their customers won’t soon forget.
All-In-One POS Terminals
The national labor shortage is crippling local businesses, forcing them to limit business hours or operate short-handed. An all-in-one POS terminal will support your small brick and mortar store when staff shortages negatively affect business numbers. With maximum functionality at your fingertips, you’ll enable the employees you do have to be more productive, all while reducing operational costs.
For example, by melding touchscreen-based POS with card readers and other peripherals, all-in-ones make customer checkout a faster, less labor-intensive, less error-prone process for every retail segment. With the labor shortage already affecting profitability, you can’t afford turning away a customer because you can’t support their preferred payment method. It’s important to look to a POS provider whose all-in-one system allows you to maximize revenue by accepting multiple payment options, including:
- EMV card payments
- Near field communication (NFC) contactless payments
- Mobile wallet payments such as Apple Pay and Google Pay
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Tablet POS Devices
Small businesses require more support than larger retailers such as Walmart, especially amid minimum wage and staff shortages. Tablet POS devices are an excellent addition to your operations in order to provide you and your employees with additional support. Tablet POS devices open doors for remote payment processing and afford employees access to inventory information they can share with customers, bolstering their quality of service and the potential to ring up sales.
With the ability to accept payments anywhere in your brick and mortar store, you will increase customer throughput and employee productivity while minimizing the potential for frustrated customers abandoning their intended purchases. Furthermore, some providers offer an optional 3G module on their tablet POS hardware that allows you to line bust outside of the store, making lines that may be out the door more manageable during peak times.
Touchscreens
If your brick and mortar store is still functioning on traditional devices that feature keyboards and tiny analog displays, you’re in need of an upgrade. These days, touchscreens are everywhere, and for good reason. For example, with touchscreen displays at checkout, staff will enjoy a more readable and user-friendly display. Whereas ringing up a purchase on a traditional register can be clunky, slow, and more prone to error, touchscreen displays will allow staff to make sales with a simple tap of their finger.
The same can be said for your customers; forward-facing customer devices such as card readers have traditionally featured a keypad and tiny touch display. By replacing the traditional card reader with a touch tablet or mobile device, you’ll increase checkout speeds and minimize customer confusion. Touch screens are also easier to wipe down quickly between uses and offer a modern, sleek aesthetic to your business.
Kiosks
While your brick and mortar store may be understaffed, there’s no shortage of customers, especially as vaccinations rise. Self-service kiosks are a great way to make up for the labor you don’t have. By allowing customers to serve themselves, you’ll keep them happy while also keeping labor expenditures in check. Kiosks can function in various roles, including self-checkout. When high customer traffic is keeping your traditional checkout stations and staff busy, customers can opt to skip the lines and check themselves out with a self-service kiosk. This not only increases customer throughput, but minimizes customer frustration.
Self-service kiosks can also be useful if employees need quick assistance. Instead of waiting around for the next available floor associate, customers can utilize a kiosk to quickly locate merchandise in-store, access product information, and arrange delivery of out-of-stock items. This provides customers with a unique experience and ensures that they’re never unattended to.
Even though eCommerce isn’t going away any time soon, it’s important that small business owners have the hardware they need to make their brick and mortar store as efficient as possible and enhance the in-store experience. However, great hardware starts with a great provider.
Here at Touch Dynamic, we recognize that small retailers need solutions that satisfy multiple needs, from taking payments from more customers in less time to offering the type of shopping experience that brings customers back to the store time and time again. Our assortment of durable, customizable retail POS hardware, including all-in-one POS terminals, tablets, touchscreens, and kiosks are sure to elevate your small business this year and for years to come. Don’t wait, contact our team of experts today to get started.
