What is A Mobile POS?
A mobile POS system consists of POS software that can be run on Windows-based or iPad tablets allowing your staff to interact with customers, wherever they are in your store.
In a recent survey, 52.8% of shoppers said they seek out retail staff that carry tablets; meaning they want your team to be equipped with the best technology.
So, what business advantages can these mobile point of sale systems bring to your business?
1/ Minimise walkouts and showrooming
As soon as they step into your store, your prospective customers are looking to confirm that you have the products that meet their needs readily available in stock, know what price you’re charging and answer some other pertinent questions to help them decide if they want to buy.
Shoppers often feel hesitant to approach the counter to ask a question. Most will simply walk out (often engaging in showrooming) if this key decision-making information isn’t quickly presented to them as they browse your store.
With a Mobile POS solution you can intercept the process and proactively engage the customer, armed with all the information in your POS system to facilitate the sale.
An advanced mobile Point of Sale system like Retail Express empowers your employees to quickly find relevant products and provide real-time stock availability, pricing and a wealth of other product information. It will use Google-like fuzzy matching so employees are confident their searches will return specific products or provide nearest matches to suggest a range of alternatives, maximising the likelihood of winning the sale.
The ability to pull up product information and pricing details efficiently whilst interacting with the customer is invaluable in providing a great shopping experience.
It also enables your staff to close the sale with tempting offers that won’t undermine your bottom-line.
Where you don’t have stock of suitable products in store, your staff can see in real-time what’s available in other locations and arrange automated stock transfers from other outlets for home delivery or store pickup.
You can even incorporate in-store screen browsing featuring all inventory across your store network which the customer can browse themselves and make quick purchases.
Giving your staff the ability to complete multiple sales anywhere in the store rather than being confined to the sales counter will increase sales, lower waiting time, and remove the need to queue.
One Australian company achieving considerable success using Mobile POS is Vast Furniture & Homewares. Franchise owner, Chad Sawtell has armed his customer service staff with mobile tablets running Retail Express, enabling them to engage with customers on the showroom floor rather than being stuck behind the counter.
Sawtell said the introduction of Retail Express on tablet devices has reduced walkaways by 10%, which represents an extra $100,000 in revenue a year.
“We work hard to offer shoppers an outstanding customer experience. Retail Express is the backbone of our approach because it allows us to answer all their questions about pricing, stock availability and delivery times on the spot,” he said.“
The point at which people are most willing to hand over their money is when they see something they like, so we do whatever we can to take the discount mentality out of the equation and close the transaction.”
“With Retail Express in our hands, we take away all the reasons why they might want to delay. You want a different colour? No problem. We have these options available. Can’t afford it? You can put down $200 now and pay the rest off over time. Let me show you how our payment plan works. By answering all their questions right there on the mobile tablet, we can close the sale there and then,” he explained
2/ Cross-sell and up-sell to maximise basket size
An advanced Mobile Point of Sale solution like Retail Express allows your staff to engage customers in the section of the store they have product interest in then quickly identify and show them a range of up-sell and cross-sell products to maximise basket size. Staff can easily identify which products to select for up-sell/cross-sell unique to each situation/customer. It takes into consideration old stock, marked down items and available inventory in other locations or channels.
3/ Drive named sales and reward loyal customers
Capturing customers’ information is easy and accurate when they can see your device screen and correct any would-be errors on a mobile POS screen.
Using built-in loyalty programs, you can incentivise the customer to provide these details. Next time they visit, your staff can then pull up demographic information on their mobile POS such as age and gender for occasion-based shopping/cross-sells. For example, if they know a customer has a husband and kids, they can cross-sell for men and children. If the customer has a history of purchasing, the sales team can leverage previous purchasing to suggest items related to past sales.
4/ Selling via pop-up stores
If you sell at trade shows, car park sales, markets or pop-up stores, a mobile POS system is your ideal solution. With Retail Express mobile POS solution, stock levels are adjusted in real-time between all your stores including your eCommerce webstore, giving you a clear idea of what you have to offer at any one time.
5/ Lower shrinkage in-store
Because your sales team have more time to engage customers in-store, common shrinkage from shoplifting, administrative mistakes, and vendor fraud will decrease. With less time spent behind the counter, employees can focus on other sales tactics that will increase profits.
To see how retailers in your sector are using mobile POS to get a competitive advantage, speak to one of our retail experts today on 1300 732 618.
