Are you one of those people who hate to wait in lines to bill your purchases? Well, wait no more, as iPad and Wi-Fi based Point of Sale systems are now here to stay. iPad POS systems are the wave of the future and they offer multiple benefits that will streamline your billing process by as much as 60 percent. The business website Entrepreneur, states that retailers have yet to jump on to the handheld POS system but its popularity is a given. In fact, the Alabama State University Stadium was the first to incorporate the virtual billing system for its concession vendor service during the first game of the year. The handheld billing systems made it possible to clear a record 5721 sales in the matter of a few hours. This rapid billing system impressed other stadium owners as well and handheld billing systems may be expected to be implemented at all major stadiums in the US. Although this does seem impressive, is it really possible to phase out the traditional billing register and use only tablet-based systems?
How Do Tablet-Based POS Systems Work?
Point of sale systems can be simply described as the cash register that you see when you reach the counter at your supermarket. When you pay, the counter registers the sale and provides you with a bill. Traditionally, the cash register could only record sales. Store staff had to then manually tally store inventory with sales to verify stock and to replace stock. However, POS software changed all that as the computerized systems could tally sales with in-store stock, order goods from the warehouse, tally sales, calculate daily profits and daily taxes, register multiple users, manage payroll and attendance and much, much more. POS software made it easier on customer and on store staff as well but iPad POS are bringing a whole new twist to the game. These handheld tablets contain the same software required for billing but they log on to a cloud-based server that collates the data from the tablets with store information. For example, an iPad billing system can be used with a register and a cash drawer or it can be used by store staff anywhere in the store to ring up spot sales through credit and debit cards.
Are Tablet Based Billing Systems Really That Good?
Every system has its pros and cons but the site Possystemrestaurant states that having a mobile billing system could provide multiple benefits for many industries. For example, one of the major benefits of tablet-based billing systems is the overall cost. A single tablet may cost anywhere from $100 to about $200 and this is usually provided by the vendor. The software is present online and store staff just has to tap on a browser to be linked to the online server. This means that set up costs for an iPad-based POS system are far lower than traditional systems that cost anywhere from $10,000 to about $20,000.
Of course, this does mean that the retailer has to pay the cloud-based system a monthly fee to store data online safely and they also have to pay an internet provider for a fast and efficient in-store connection. A glitch in the store Wi-Fi or the cloud-based server could delay billing or even stop the entire billing process in the store completely. To prevent this, vendors are now offering cloud and traditional iPad POS hybrid systems. These hybrid systems contain both traditional offline POS and online POS which work together as backups in case one system goes offline.
Mobile billing systems are also proving to be very useful in the restaurant industry as servers at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, frozen-drink lounge Snow & Co, The Bean Sprouts Café & Cooking School, etc. use the handheld devices to take orders, convey orders to the kitchen and be notified when the kitchen has prepared orders. The same handheld devices also compute bills and calculate tips and are used by the servers to tally sales immediate with no delay. As market awareness of handheld iPad POS systems increase, more and more tech companies are climbing on to the market and making innovative products and affordable tablets that will make the transition from traditional to cloud that much easier.
The Future
The website Now2business states that it’s hard to beat the advantages of the tablet-based billing system. As store staff are already familiar with tablet use, they do not require extensive training. It also frees up staff to interact with customers and carry out other vital store jobs. With many more tablet-based billing systems, it may also be possible for store staff to approach browsing customers and bill sales on the spot reducing the need to stand at checkout counters for billing. Not only will this reduce billing time but it may also convert browsing customers to billing customers and increase overall store profits. It’s actually a win-win deal for everyone.
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