Tech Trends: Taking A New Approach To Selling POS Solutions

By Brian Albright, Business Solutions magazine.

As merchants slowly recover from the economic recession and make long-needed upgrades to their point of sale (POS) and other solutions, resellers are finding that they need to take a more comprehensive approach to selling these systems. Customers are interested in new, developing technologies and integrated systems, not just a straight hardware or software pitch.

"Resellers who are focused primarily on selling feeds and speeds are going to struggle," says Jeff Yelton, president of ScanSource POS & Barcoding. "They are going up against resellers that are selling the total solution and are acting as a consultant to their end-user customers. There is a risk for point of sale resellers that don't sell all technologies in the solution. If they are focusing solely on the register area, they are missing many opportunities, such as physical security, video, voice, etc."

Customers are interested in enterprise-grade software that allows for integration into accounting, payroll, digital signage, and other POS solutions. Other POS-related technologies in demand include electronic funds transfer, signature capture, interactive digital signage, near field communications, security and access control, cloudbased systems, and mobile POS and checkout systems.

"Whether it's integration of POS software and mobile devices, mobile payment opportunities, or coupon recognition, this is an exciting and emerging area where VARs need to assist their retailers," says Justin Scopaz, vice president and general manager at Ingram Micro Data Capture/POS.