Over a quarter (28 per cent) of merchants’ in-person point of sale (POS) systems cannot support alternative payment methods like digital wallets and QR codes, according to a new study by digital payments and infrastructure orchestrator Tribe Payments.
Tribe Payments says that merchants, ranging from sole traders to multinational enterprises, are struggling with a range of legacy POS terminal and infrastructure failings, causing lost sales due to payment acceptance difficulties, lengthy queues of frustrated customers, and compliance headaches.
The payments orchestrator says that these legacy POS system inefficiencies are rupturing revenue streams, leaving a gap that modern SoftPOS solutions can fill.
Tribe’s findings make up part of the firm’s new report, ‘Queue-Busters: Why SoftPOS Will Supercharge Merchant Payment Acceptance‘, which says that, as contactless payments grow increasingly popular, 30 per cent of merchants believe using outdated or inadequate payment technology infrastructure is their biggest challenge in maximising cross-selling and upselling opportunities at the checkout.
Meanwhile, 80 per cent of merchants say the ability to accept a wide range of payment methods like QR codes and digital wallets is essential to secure sales.
While 63 per cent cite a lack of specific data analytics capabilities in their current POS systems, 79 per cent said they would leverage advanced analytics to enhance the customer experience and drive loyalty if they had the POS technology to do so.
Enabling ‘hyper-personalised experiences’
Inefficiencies such as costly upgrades to the latest security and industry standards like PCI DSS, and being unable to integrate with other merchant systems like stock inventory and customer relationship management (CRM) platforms, are also threatening to eat into already-thin profit margins.
Tribe Payments outlines how SoftPOS solutions can solve these merchant pain points by slashing queue times, easing compliance obligations with instant remote updates, and empowering merchants to deliver hyper-personalised customer experiences.
Robin Anderson, head of product management at Tribe Payments: “SoftPOS turns any mobile or tablet device running iOS or Android into a payment terminal, without the need for extra hardware like card readers. Unlike traditional mobile POS systems, it allows businesses to process payments, accept PINs, and handle contactless transactions directly on their device.
“What makes this even better is the freedom it gives by enabling untethered payment acceptance. Staff can move around the store, serving customers wherever they are, and take payments right on their smartphones or tablets. It’s also much more affordable than the standard POS terminals.
“On top of that, SoftPOS can communicate through open APIs in merchant’s other systems, like inventory, cashflow management, and CRM tools, offering a 360-degree view of the business in real-time. That kind of insight can lead to hyper-personalised experiences, helping to build stronger customer loyalty.”
Embracing SoftPOS
Lynda Clarke, chief operating officer of Tribe Payments, also added: “It’s been 70 years since the first credit card was launched, and almost 45 years since the first POS terminal enabled in-store card acceptance. While tech has moved on, merchants are still shackled to clunky POS hardware that slows down sales.
“People in the US spend around 37 billion hours per year waiting in lines while the average Brit spends one year, two weeks and a day of their lives stuck in shop queues. Longer queues mean fewer sales, and for merchants, the true cost of legacy POS tech can mean billions of pounds or dollars in lost revenues, unhappy customers, and pressure on in-house sales staff.
“SoftPOS can sweep away so many of the pain points facing merchants. That’s why we have conducted this research, to show merchants of all sizes how they can unlock game-changing operational, data insight and sales efficiencies, garner more sales, and gain peace of mind through future-proof SoftPOS tech that can be updated instantly to accept new payment methods and adhere to changing industry standards and regulations.”
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