Go ahead, try to find a cash register at Moosejaw – you won’t. Instead, their sales associates use mobile devices with powerful software engines to meet and serve customers anywhere they are in the store – and make sales. They’re not the only one. This edition of the Payments as a Service Tracker™ features insights on retail’s mobile-powered makeover from execs from CardFlight, Retail Pro and ShopKeep. We also rank 39 providers who are each giving merchant terminals a makeover — the integrated payments way.
Mobile technology, already a fixture in consumers’ daily lives, is having a major impact on the retail industry. Merchants are turning to mobile technology in the form of mPOS platforms in order to better serve and connect with their customers and make sure those customers return.
To discuss how mobile, full-service payments solutions are impacting retailers, for this month’s Tracker cover story, PYMNTS caught up with executives from CardFlight, Retail Pro and ShopKeep, as well as with Jordan McKee, a mobile payments analyst at 451 Research. A major takeaway? mPOS technology can be an efficient means to improve and enhance customer experiences that will bring them back to a store again and again.
Here’s a sneak peek:
Meeting customers wherever they are is what technology should do for merchants – not force them to make customers meet them there the terminal happens to be. Mobile and software are huge enablers.
McKee cited Moosejaw, an outerwear and outdoor gear retailer, as another example of a retailer that has effectively done away with cash registers. The company, he said, has replaced its cash registers with savvy employees equipped with advanced mPOS terminals that can process a wide range of payment methods, including mobile payments.
This has also helped Moosejaw save on precious retail space, he said, which has been better put to use with more products and displays.
Having mPOS-equipped employees on the sales floor, McKee pointed out, eradicates the problems that come with long lines, including customer dissatisfaction, which can even lead to checkout abandonment.
But, retailers need to be careful when trying to engage customers, McKee cautioned.
“If you have an mPOS-enabled associate who’s simply stalking shoppers as they pursue the sales floor, they’re not creating an inviting in-store experience that you’re going to want to return to,” McKee pointed out. “The bottom line is: How are you applying the technology to actually make the in-store experience better? You shouldn’t be accosting customers, you shouldn’t be stalking them, you should be looking for those opportunities to go above and beyond what you’re already doing.”
Around the full-service payments world
In his interview with PYMNTS, McKee noted that a key aspect to using mPOS successfully is protecting sensitive data from fraudsters or bad actors. He called EMV protection a “must-have” solution for merchants, and recommended that companies form partnerships with security providers to better protect themselves and their customers. Recent happenings around the full-service payments space seem to reflect the sentiment, with numerous notable companies rolling out new EMV-enabled security features over the past month.
Action Systems, Inc., for example, announced partnerships with a pair of payment technology providers, Vantiv Integrated Payments and Payment Logistics, which will provide the company and their resellers with a certified EMV payment processing solutions.
Additionally, TSYS and Dejavoo Systems announced a collaboration to certify the Dejavoo Z and V series devices for EMV processing. Similarly, retailcloud and Micronics teamed up for an EMV-enabled POS bundle that will include an EMV reader, thermal printer and other tools.
The June edition of the Payments as a Service Tracker™ features the latest news and analysis across the Payments as a Service industry. It also contains profiles of 39 players – including 10 new provider profiles – that not only enable payment processing of new and old technologies, but also integrate with other features that make the merchant’s experience easier.
To download the June edition of the Payments as a Service Tracker™, click the button below.
About the Tracker
The PYMNTS.com Payments as a Service Tracker™, in collaboration with Cayan, is designed to give an overview of the trends and activities of merchant platforms that not only enable payment processing of new and old technologies, but also integrate with other features to improve the merchant’s experience, including customer engagement, security, omnichannel retail experience, analytics, inventory management, software and hardware management, and more.
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