Is Your POS Device Ready for Black Friday?

You’re ready! You’ve ordered your stock, your staff are prepped. But, is your POS device fit for the challenge? 

Black Friday marks the beginning of the highest traffic shopping season of the year. Keep reading to decide whether your POS solution really measures up to your business requirements. 

Until very recently, a Point of Sale (POS) system was little more than a simple card-swiping machine. POS technology has developed in leaps and bounds. Today, retailers offer a variety of payment methods and even in-person purchases depend on cloud-based connectivity.

This article will explain four POS device considerations. As well as four redundant connectivity options.

Ready, Set, Transact

Most of us expect to tap our cards when we pay for something. It’s now ingrained as a force of transacting habit. And contactless payment options, like tap-and-pay, haven’t even been around that long. 

Service providers are racing along with new system updates and added features. Plus, now we have omnichannel business models to thank for a few extra payment options. It goes without saying that making transactions easy for customers is good for your business. 

So, is your POS device keeping up with the current capabilities? Here are four things to consider:

1. Inventory Levels

A POS system that easily connects to online payment gateways offers you real-time syncing of online and physical outlets. Reconciliation of inventory automatically consolidates sales information. This means you can monitor your stock levels at any location, physical and online.

2. System Efficiency 

Long lines of people waiting to pay aren’t great for business. With an integrated POS system, you can speed up the payment process. Some POS applications expedite credit card payments and send receipts by email, or let you print receipts wirelessly. 

3. Instant Price Changes

Some POS systems allow instant promotions. This includes timed discounts where you can add time-specific sales on particular items. 

If you are looking for an edge on your competitors, surprising shoppers with flash discounts could put you ahead of the pack. Speak to your POS service provider to take advantage of their customisable solutions. 

4. Support and Returns

Your POS service provider should help you with easily accessible, round the clock support. Another thing, you’ll inevitably need to process returns and refunds. Is your POS system equipped to retrieve sale history and transaction numbers from any of your outlets? 

Redundancy and Your Connection

Data redundancy can prevent the loss of data and business. It enables your POS device to use current inventory and an alternative server or a limited backup integrated within the POS software.

What if your network provider goes down? Or, your internet runs slow? A failover connection will pick up the slack.

A router or firewall can be programmed to switch from a primary connection to a backup connection automatically. Then revert once the problem is resolved.

Huge Connect can provide redundancy by making use of two networks (For example, Vodacom & MTN), as well as multiple private APNs per network and links to the banks to ensure true redundancy.

When your POS systems are cloud-based, many critical business functions happen securely offsite including reporting and data storage. It can also increase the number of devices you can connect. 

Cloud-based systems are super helpful if you go with a mPOS (Mobile Point of Sale) device. Mobile solutions mean you can still process transactions if there’s a power cut by using the battery power of smartphones and tablets. Do we even need to mention that this is helpful during load-shedding?

Here are four data redundancy options:

1. Independent POS Devices 

Independent POS devices allow your transactions to continue when the network drops. These work independently from the main server until the internet connection is restored.  

2. Hardware with Built-In Redundancy 

Hardware design features that incorporate redundancy are available in some POS system packages. These include alternate servers, continual data backup, and mirrored hard drives. 

3. Credit Card Processing

Alternative, secure credit card processing is a necessity. This is an important redundancy consideration. Having an additional router or a GSM familover system will pick up your connection if the internet goes down. This maintains secure credit card processing when you need it most.

4. Data Backups 

If you’re tired of hearing about data backups, then unfortunately you’re going to hear it again.

The importance of data backups cannot be stressed enough. They should be done every single day. Even if you’re already relying on the support of other redundancy options.

Many businesses use cloud-based backup options. This means their data backups run automatically and the service provider stores them remotely.

POS Device Ready 

Ready or not, Black Friday shoppers are coming for you. As a business owner, you don’t need reminding about what this annual shopping event can do for your profits.     

Your physical and online shops can cope with sales and traffic surges when you invest in robust POS solutions. A reliable POS device along with connection redundancy is a big deal for your business. It’s an investment that pays for itself.

If you want sound advice, a stable system and superior service, call the Huge Connect team.