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How using tablets as PoS devices make sense for SMEs

Traditional Point of Sale (PoS) systems used to be cumbersome beasts, mainly accessible to large enterprises, such as large high street chains whereas tablets as PoS devices makes perfect business sense.

However, the ‘invention’ of the tablet computer has had a dramatic impact on traditional, fixed PoS systems, with the result that not only has the barrier to entry for smaller businesses dropped significantly, but even those high street chains are also moving to more flexible and powerful alternatives - the tablet-based Electronic Point of Sale (EPOS) is here to stay.

Indeed, it’s not just the increasing number of powerful, competitively priced tablets on the market (such as the ASUS M Series tablets), but a series of market forces that are in many ways producing the ‘perfect storm’ in EPoS. Payment sector accelerates The fact that cash is rapidly losing out to digital payments isn’t news in itself, but the competition in that market is ramping up exponentially. According to McKinsey, global payments revenues swelled to $1.9 trillion in 2017, and are forecast to become a $2 trillion business by 2020. Companies such as iZettle and Square have taken on the market incumbents and gained significant traction. These newcomers provide Bluetooth card readers as a matter of course, enabling anyone from market trader to multinational to take card payments anywhere - given a tablet or smartphone running the app, of course. Business automation kicks in In parallel, the ongoing trends of business automation and big data mean that business perceptions have shifted. What was once the preserve of large enterprises is now available to SMEs at realistic price points. Technology services such as customer relationship management (CRM) and Enterprise resource planning (ERP) are now readily available for low monthly costs, enabling SMEs to work more efficiently, reduce costs and minimise admin time. The increasing popularity of integrated accounting packages has also had a significant impact, recently boosted hugely in the UK by the government’s Making Tax Digital initiative, which has rapidly migrated most UK businesses to digital bookkeeping packages. Many of these packages either offer their own flavours of CRM, ERP and EPoS offerings or integrate with the main players, thus encouraging wider adoption of ‘end-to-end’ business solutions.

Power of the cloud- in your hand The core enabling innovation behind these services, however, is the tablet-based app with it’s secure connection to the enormous power of cloud infrastructure. Without being tied to large, costly and maintenance-heavy server hardware, this has allowed business users to use the smallest of client devices to control complex infrastructure with relative ease. Powerful devices are also a vital part of the puzzle, and while Apple’s iPad may have been the catalyst for the tablet PC market we see today, there are many comparable devices that will deliver a complete enterprise package in the palm of your hand. One vital detail here is to be able to lock the device into ‘kiosk mode’ so that only the dedicated business apps are running. ASUS M Series tablets are specifically designed for business use and come preloaded with ASUS’s ASUS Device Admin for Mobile (ADAM) remote management tool. ADAM enables system administrators to locally and remotely manage multiple ZenPad M Series devices, such as blocking selected ports for security reasons and enabling or disabling specific wireless technologies, depending on the application. Perhaps most importantly, admins can lock or remotely wipe all data from a device, protecting not only the business data itself but also the extended supply chain from an attack in the event of device theft or loss. Data, data everywhere The combination of these factors is visible everywhere, from retail to hospitality, digital payment options are proliferating. Increasingly integrated EPoS systems on tablet PCs, seamlessly connected to both upstream and downstream supply chains. It’s not too much of an extrapolation to imagine the value of additional ‘intelligence’ layered on top of these networks, whether bundling together similar services for cost-savings or aggregating products into bulk orders, the value of business data is only going to increase, especially for SMEs. Find out more about the latest business tablets here