Industry Perspective: Mobile POS: iPads Have Potential To Help Retailers Boost Sales

By Chris MacKinnon, Business Solutions magazine.

Barry Wise, senior marketing consultant with EPSON, says retailers are looking to expand POS (point of sale) from the traditional terminals to multifunction, mobile devices like iPads and iPhones to help improve customer service.

According to Wise, it appears there is an increase in demand for mobile devices in retail outlets, especially with the advent of the iPad and similar devices. He comments, "What we are seeing is a ton of application developers extending their POS and service applications directly to the iPad.

Considering the iPad alone, there is a huge amount of interest. But will mobile POS help VARs increase sales? In Wise's opinion, if you're a VAR that tends to settle in with specific product lines, move at your own pace, and adopt late in the game, mobile POS will likely move too fast for you. "On the other hand, if you're an innovative VAR that works with ISVs doing integration work, understanding your customers and their pain points, and working to find out what applications and solutions make your customers more successful, you'll likely notice an increase in sales," he elaborates.