Although the Apple iPad is the most popular tablet on the market, it isn’t the only tablet that’s making it easier for people to receive news updates, connect with friends and listen to hit songs. The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity, Google Nexus, Amazon Kindle, Toshiba Excite and the Barnes and Noble Nook are other tablets children and adults are using to do a lot more than read electronic books and magazines. It’s this broad range of options that makes tablets winners with millions of consumers. In fact, some small business retail and restaurant owners are using the iPad as a tablet POS.
High speed processors like the A6X processor, sharp graphics and images and the ability to telephone people in various parts of the world are winning points of popular tablets. Applications the mobile devices, including a tablet POS, are built with include Internet, weather, news, music, calendar, maps and checkout tools. Perhaps it’s for these reasons, especially the latter, that more small business owners are using the handheld devices at their brick and mortar and offsite locations.
The fact that millions of consumers have a tablet is another reason small business owners are adding the tablet POS to their inventory. It’s a wise move. After all, “By 2015, there will be 82.1 million tablet users in the US,” as reported in the March 21, 2013 Resource Nation “Tablets, the Secrets to Amazing In-Store Experience” article. The article continues, “From easier checkout and better customer service to mobile POS apps, the benefits of tablets to your store and your customers are innumerable.”
In addition to restaurants, one of the many companies that has started to reap the benefits of using a tablet POS is Home Depot. The home and garden retailer trained its staff to use a tablet POS to check customers out on the sales floor, reducing the amount of time customers wait to have large purchases rung out so they can load them in their cars or trucks and head home. Home Depot has yet to use a tablet to check customers out if they have several small items to ring up. Even considering a tablet’s numerous options, it may remain less time consuming to have customers with lots of small items check out through lanes near exit doors.
Mobile applications could reduce the costs small business owners spend to install several mobile POS systems throughout their stores. This is possible, because mobile applications are generally less expensive than going out and buying several dozen traditional cash registers. Another benefit of buying mobile POS applications is that, in addition to being compatible with tablets, POS applications can also be installed on traditional cash registers, eliminating the need for retailers to buy additional software.
After restaurant and retail small business owners install mobile POS systems, to keep their systems up-to-date, they should install upgrades as needed. Some signs that stores may need an upgraded system include not having inventory management tools on the POS and not having 24/7 sales reporting capabilities. With inventory management tools, small business owners could let customers know how many units of certain products they have in stock or on order. This information could help customers to feel appreciated and understood.