With the recent explosion of smartphones and mobile devices, it was only a matter of time before this technology hit the retail industry. In many stores, owners are starting to switch their point of sales equipment to mobile POS to make their processes more efficient.
Mobile POS devices are usually iPads or tablets that have payment functions built into the POS software, and can be used by employees to help check customers out without asking them to wait in a long line at the check out counter.
But mobile POS does come with a few drawbacks. Here are a few of them.
- Internet. While you may think that cloud point of sale systems are superior to traditional ones, they are completely reliant on an internet network. This means that the wireless has to be functional at all times. If the network is down, you could have a line full of frustrated and antsy customers, waiting to pay their bill.
- Bandwidth. Depending on how many payment devices a retailer has, he or she should be aware of how much bandwidth the store is allowed. When you purchase a package from an internet company, without a large bandwidth, you could be facing extra charges for using more space than your package allows. This could end up being costly.
- Data Loss. Many companies lose data to the cloud every year, and have to invest in data loss prevention methods to ensure that this doesn’t happen. With mobile-based payment systems, there is a chance that a customer’s information could be lost, or even stolen by a hacker during a transaction. While there are plenty of security measures put in place to prevent this from happening, there is no guarantee that breaches won’t occur.
There is no doubt that a mobile system adds efficiency and convenience to any retail store’s processes, but it’s critical to be aware of the disadvantages as well.