iZettle Uses Acquisition To Set Up One-Stop POS Shop

When it comes to the point of sale, merchants today are in need of solutions that can help them keep pace with fast-moving, digitally empowered consumers.

Today, payment technology company iZettle is focused on answering that call through the acquisition of cloud-based POS solution provider intelligentpos. Merchants, especially the small to medium-sized businesses both iZettle and intelligentpos serve, are looking for a POS that goes beyond payments.

The two companies are joining forces to create a truly “one-stop-shop” commerce environment for both in-store and on-the-go transactions. IZettle Cofounder and CEO Jacob de Geer explained that, together, the two companies will deliver an integrated payment and POS solution that will enable SMBs to not only accept payments but also implement the types of services that will help better manage and grow their businesses.

This end-to-end capability for small merchants is what de Geer believes is needed to continue the disruption of the traditional POS system.

He noted that intelligentpos was actually the first company to integrate with iZettle’s SDK back when it launched, and after working together for over two-and-a-half years, it was clear the two companies were looking at disruption from the same angle.

That simplicity of use is key.

Simplicity, along with increased sales, is what de Geer said merchants are really after when it comes to integrating with a POS solution. With this core focus in mind, merchants then have the ability to strengthen loyalty and bring in the types of capabilities that will help to boost sales.

According to de Geer, intelligentpos’ aggressive nature in terms of developing its POS solution, cutting down on costs for merchants and leveraging new technologies is what really helps to deliver value to the merchants themselves.

“By adding intelligentpos, not only do we actually move significantly up the value chain for competing with totally new players in a totally new industry, which is more the traditional POS industry, but also it gives us access to thousands of pretty big merchants across the U.K.,” he added.

Escaping The Hardware Trap

No longer is it enough to simply supply a merchant with a physical terminal that accepts payments — both merchants and consumers are looking for more.

The hardware side of the POS is being commoditized, and with that, de Geer said, the big companies are in big jeopardy over the next couple of years.

“That’s actually what you’re starting to see right now, and to a certain extent, this development has come a lot faster than anyone could expect,” he explained.

The hardware, as well as the typically closed software environment that comes with it, isn’t providing merchants with what they need.

But it isn’t just a hardware problem.

The physical terminal actually provides a great opportunity for merchants to run a more efficient platform — if the right APIs and SDKs are being used to deliver meaningful capabilities.

But, more often than not, the more incumbent POS players insist on having proprietary, closed systems, which aren’t truly empowering merchants.

With the emergence of cloud-based software solutions in the POS space, having a hardware-only strategy could possibly mean having a losing strategy — particularly because merchants’ expectations are evolving and they no longer want to be tethered to a solution that doesn’t provide the ability to do what they need to do to keep up with the business.

It’s no surprise that many big players in the payment terminal space are getting a wakeup call.

“If I was only in hardware, I would have a lot of strategy meetings these days,” de Geer said.