The Future of Point of Sale

Today, traditional Buyer's Journeys are changing at a tremendous pace every day. Trends born in the post-pandemic retail world shape the way consumers buy goods now and in the near future.

According to a survey, only a little over half (54%) of consumers in the world answered that they can shop with confidence in stores, which is four minutes of US consumers who have tried curbside pickup. It seems that nearly 3 of them answered that they will continue to do so in the future.

Joe Kamala, one of Manhattan Associates' heads of solutions, said that along with BOPIS (Buy Online, Pickup in Store), also known as "click and collect," curbside pickups are a traditional retail point-of-sale solution. States two of the reasons why it should be adapted.

In a conversation with Miya Knights, the publisher of RetailTechnology.co.uk, Kamala said that such online demands prompted major retailers to review existing point-of-sale technologies and omni in the future. He said he will be able to take advantage of the three key and strategic features of the channel store.

Trend 1: Flexible transaction capabilities

“Unified commerce is a centralized view of inventory and customers,” says Kamala. "Today, transactions are orders + sales, which requires retailers to process purchases that combine store and online transaction orders and sales."

This trend has had a major impact on traditional retail point-of-sale systems: "A retail customer in Manhattan is using physical POS for endless aisle order capture in stores, which results in online returns. With the management function, I was able to turn it on immediately. "

Traditional retail point-of-sale systems may lack the flexibility to accommodate the new features needed for new online-to-offline shopping styles, such as curbside pickup and two-way customer interaction. However, Kamala adds that today's point-of-sale must be able to centrally track inventory and provide "business anywhere" services such as pick-up and shipping from stores.

Existing retail point-of-sale systems are inflexible and may not be able to accommodate the new features needed for new online-to-offline shopping styles, such as curbside pickup and two-way customer interaction. However, Kamala adds that today's point-of-sale must be able to centrally track inventory and provide "business anywhere" services such as pick-up and shipping from stores.

Trend 2: Corporate customer perspective

In addition, in order to provide a "business anywhere" service, it is necessary to have a corporate perspective such as customer purchase history and loyalty rights. 

例えば、マンハッタンは現在、米国最大の照明専門店である Lamps Plus社に、POSを含む様々な小売技術ソリューションを提供しています。 小売業者はPOSを利用して販売、エンゲージメント、フルフィルメントを統合し、オムニチャネルの顧客とのやり取りや取引を管理するための単一記録システムを通じて、より良い体験を提供することができます。

ここでは、クラウドネイティブなソフトウェアとマイクロサービスベースの統合の登場により、小売業者がデータの一元化やPOS外の機能管理を容易に行えるようになったことを、カマラ氏が説明します。

「データの処理場所を最小限にすることが、POS入れ替えの第一歩となる 」と述べています。 「例えば、既存のシステムと一緒にiPadでPOSを動かすことができます。 主な内容は、何十年もかけて蓄積された既存の技術的負債をいかに効率的に解消するかという、顧客重視のロードマップを構築することです。」

トレンド3：POSの枠を超える

さらにカマラ氏は、小売店のPOSハードウェアの制限を克服することが、顧客と在庫の集中管理によって従来のPOS機能を取引の枠を超えて拡張するために不可欠なステップであることを強調しています。 

「当社の差別化要因の一つは、クラウドネイティブの顧客注文管理エンジンを備えたすぐに使えるPOSを持ち、真に統合されたコマースプラットフォームを提供することです」と述べています。

例えば、注文状況を確認したり、特定の場所に在庫がない商品を店員が「セーブ・ザ・セール」できるエンドレス・アイル機能を利用したりすることができます。

Such services are becoming very important for retailers who are trying to bring consumers who are reluctant to shop back to their stores. In fact, one study by Business Insider Intelligence found that 85% of U.S. shoppers were already receiving online orders and making additional purchases in stores before the pandemic accelerated online growth. I know. Yes, the chance is clear.

Building POS flexibility and fault tolerance

To take advantage of these consumer-led trends, Kamala says retailers should ask: : "What kind of customer experience do you want? How open is the architecture of the system that supports it? Modern point-of-sale is an anchor for unified commerce, where examples include online purchase history and loyalty. You may be able to see data that was not previously owned by the POS. "

Finally, retailers of all sizes are urged to reassess their existing point-of-sale capabilities for stores and create a roadmap for future conditions that focuses on the desired customer experience. By ensuring that point-of-sale, inventory management, and customer relationship functions (loyalty, promotion, customer management, etc.) are supported by point-of-sale, retailers can see what will happen in the future and shape trends. Regardless, you will be able to stay ahead of the trends.

Learn more about Manhattan Associates POS solutions here .