Retail, Grocery, And Hospitality IT News For VARs —January 5, 2015
By Phillip Britt, contributing writer
In the news, technology use is predicted to increase in restaurants in 2015, and payments in 2015 include fingerprint ID and payment from social media. Also in the news, a report from Box Technologies shows consumers are less likely to buy if checkout lines are long.
2015 Predicted To Be Restaurants’ Year For Technology
Nation’s Restaurant News (NRN) predicts the increase of technology use in restaurants this year, as restaurants take advantage of lower prices to provide customers with the service they demand. Point of sale (POS) systems will be the first systems restaurants will upgrade. After highly publicized data breaches in 2014, restaurants may be more inclined to adopt EVM-capable POS terminals. Additionally, restaurants can move to systems that will promote dynamic pricing or fluctuating prices based on time of day and customer traffic. Finally there is the option of adding more technologically advanced ovens and stoves to reduce cook time and increase customer flow.
2015 Payments Include Fingerprint ID, Payment From Social Media
2015 will be the year of advanced and simpler payments, according to TechCrunch. Now that Apple and Samsung’s newest phones include fingerprint scanners, paying with passwords and typing in credit card information is becoming a thing of the past. This will increase security without making payments more difficult. Facebook and Twitter have invested in technology to let users buy directly from their social media dashboards.
Help Your Customers Shorten Lines To Increase Sales
A Retail Times article looks at Box Technology’s “How Long Does It Take To Lose Your Customer” report. It reveals customers are less likely to shop if the lines are too long. Three-quarters of consumers feel shop owners should be doing something beyond self-checkouts. Suggested technology upgrades to shorten wait times, especially at grocery stores, include getting checkers out from behind check lanes to checking out with payment receiving tablets. Facing long lines, customers are more apt to head to a competitor’s store should they have a shorter line. In addition to checkouts that aren’t tied to a check lane, customers feel they should be awarded loyalty points for their time.
Mobile Payments Use Expected To Increase By 50% Over The Next Five Years
RFID World reports that NFC payments are expected to increase by 50 percent over the next five years. The predicted growth is attributable to increase NFC deployments in finance, IT, telecom, and device manufacturing. This technology makes it easier to share information, game play and social media connectivity. Integration of NFC with public transit payment systems, healthcare systems and retailers’ POS also makes the product more attractive.
Retail, Grocery, And Hospitality IT Talking Points
Jonathan Spruill of Trustwave spoke to TechCrunch about how cybercrime hasn’t changed much over the years. He compares two cyber intrusions, one in 2010 and one “today.” The first intrusion was at an SMB restaurant while the more recent attack took place at a much larger corporation. In both instances, each had POS systems whose vendors could access them remotely for repairs. Both intruders used these avenues to install malware on their computers to steal customer and employee information. With simple passwords and no firewall, no one is immune to cyberattacks, Spruill points out.