Mobile Wallets?

Posted on February 8, 2012 by CAPSoftware

Just a quick thought on mobile payments from the consumer side. We’re starting to hear a lot about mobile wallets from Google, ISIS, and now even Microsoft, but what does that mean for the regular consumer?

Do you see any benefit in linking your payment accounts to your phone so you can use your credit card to pay for items at the point of sale, without carrying your credit card around?

We tried RFID keyfobs at gas stations, and we tried miniature keychain sized credit cards, both to supposedly speed transactions and improve the customer experience, but neither caught on.

I was recently invited to test a mobile wallet in beta from my bank. It was easy to download and install on my Android phone and linking my payment accounts was simple enough, but then I was stuck. What do I do with it? Who accepts payment this way? That was a couple of weeks ago and I still don’t know.

Now we have Paypal in-store at Home Depot (and presumably more stores soon) which seems interesting, but we’ll have to see if it catches on.

Give us a shout at CAP if you are interested in mobile wallets as a retailer or a consumer, I want to know what you think.

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Data Breaches

Posted on January 27, 2012 by CAPSoftware

We may never get to stop talking about PCI and the impact it has on retail businesses and point of sale vendors alike, but data security encompasses more than just credit card numbers. Businesses need to actively and jealously protect ALL of their customers’ data including names, email addresses, and more.

A credit card data breach has known and expensive consequences as laid out by the PCI Security Standards Council, but breaches of all types have serious impacts on your business, your credibility, and your customers’ loyalty to you. If you can’t be bothered to safeguard their data, then why should they shop with you?

Here’s a great article on some of the internal impacts of a data breach:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-study-by-experian-data-breach-resolution-and-ponemon-institute-examines-the-aftermath-of-data-breaches-138029118.html

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More on Mobility

Posted on January 26, 2012 by CAPSoftware

I know I’ve talked about mobility before, but it’s here to stay. I’m excited about the new devices that are hitting the market in 2012 because they are going to better enable small businesses to add mobile functionality to their retail point of sale systems with minimal disruption and at a reasonable cost.

In the past, mobile devices were expensive ruggedized warehouse style units that were out of reach of most SMB retailers, especially considering the use case. Why use a $2500 mobile computer to count inventory or handle the occasional mobile POS interaction when you can use a $500 handheld to do inventory?
How many small retailers were really looking for line busting applications, and how many small retail businesses can realistically use such technology anyway?

Can you check out a customer in a liquor store with an iPhone when the customer has a cart full of wine and beer and wants to pay with a check? Not likely.

But, with the advent of new Windows 7 tablets from Dell, HP, and others, we’re expecting to deliver a rich and complete POS experience with minimal new infrastructure and training, that will allow clerks or managers to process complete transactions over the WIFI network using the tablet with onboard card swipe and BlueTooth printer and scanner. These devices can be used as full POS lanes, as inventory counting stations, receiving devices, and as full mobile POS to take to trade shows, sidewalk sales, fairs, you name it. AND, they’re not that expensive. We’re expecting them to fall in the same range as an entry level all-in-one point of sale station, and that’s great news.

Stay tuned for more on mobility, it ain’t going away!

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2012 is Looking Good

Posted on January 25, 2012 by CAPSoftware

As with any new year, it’s hard to accurately predict what all will happen, but it seems we have a lot to be optimistic about anyway.

We’ve got signs of life in the job market, the housing market is stirring, and the race to the election in the fall has everyone excited. Plus, we’re not seeing the downside risks like inflation and trade friction that some had predicted through 2011.

What does that mean for retailers and solution providers? Well, retail is consumer driven, and solution providers like point of sale resellers are retailer driven. We all need a confident and stable consumer to form a solid foundation for a growing economy. When consumers feel good, and they are sure of keeping their jobs, then they’re more likely to get out and spend. This is good for retailers, and things that help retailers grow are good for solution providers.

On top of that, there are lots of new technologies hitting the marketplace this year that should help improve the customer experience and increase customer loyalty, resulting in more sales for retailers. We rely on our solution providers to put these technologies together into a coherent and valuable package to enable retailers to better serve their customers.

I think the economy is beginning to gain some momentum, and that’s good for all of us. But enough from me, here are some thoughts from some other industry peers:

http://pointofsale.com/20120125901/Point-of-Sale-News/point-of-sale-leaders-share-what-does-2012-have-in-store.html

Enjoy!

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Cloud Computing?

Posted on December 2, 2011 by CAPSoftware

The “cloud’ is an extremely hot topic right now in many areas of IT and personal computing, but it means different things to different people, and it can do different things for different types of businesses.

One of the simplest concepts to understand and use is cloud storage. This is essentially just remote storage of your data, and you can get this service from Google, Amazon, Apple, Mozy, and any number of others.

But, is that really a business service, or just outsourced storage? Small businesses need data security and disaster recovery, included automated backup services, not just data storage. Many companies offer this service as well, but is that the whole story?

Imagine this scenario: You have a retail store with 4 POS terminals and a back office station. You have had a busy holiday season so far and you’ve done lots of account sales and loyalty transactions with your best customers. You have a backup service, so you assume you’re good to go.

But, a desperate criminal, possibly hurt by the long recession, breaks into your store. He finds empty cash drawers because you have good banking practices, but he sees value in your computer system and steals them all.

What good will your simple backup service do you now? You need help re-installing your point of sale application on your replacement computers, and you need help downloading your data. A simple backup of your files isn’t enough. Not by a long shot.

As noted here by Mark Webster: http://www.echannelline.com/usa/story.cfm?item=27328, retailers need to be thinking about more than just offsite backup. You need to have a disaster recovery plan, and you can use the cloud to store not only your data, but your mission critical applications and other necessary information. Or, pick a provider that will do it for you, and will give you the services you need, when you need them most.

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