Cloud for Cloud's Sake?

Or perhaps I should have said: tablet for tablet’s sake.

An interesting trend has been happening in the POS world since the introduction of tablets and the cloud almost a decade ago. POS providers are pushing tablet based systems that don’t necessarily meet the needs of a retailer because of the perception of ease of use (or maybe ease of the sale!)

I do specify retail here because for the most part, tablet-based cloud POS systems can meet the needs of a hospitality business, Usually. That is certainly not always that case.

When it comes to retail, I’ve recently evaluated a number of systems that would likely meet the needs of a very simple or mobile retailer, but would be very challenged to operate most retail environments. There are two issues: features and workflow at the point of sale.

Not looking to publish full reviews here, but the thing I first noticed was the inability to connect to “real” peripherals. While Socket scanners and Bluetooth printers may be a good thing for mobile retailers, they fall short of what a true brick-and-mortar retailer needs. I can imagine a busy day where there is a line at the counter, and the scanner battery dies. Not to mention that Bluetooth connectivity can be a challenge. Things that don’t work when you need them to drives a retailer nuts.

We are starting to see more Android based computers that can communicate with more hardware, but it seems that the systems with the most hardware flexibility are relying on Windows no matter if the data is cloud or on-premise.

Gone seem to be the days when the POS provider started with the merchant’s needs and worked to a solution that meets those needs. I have see simple workflow ignored, for example, not being able to enter a quantity before scanning an item. To have to go back to a small tablet and try to tap on the quantity field and change it on-screen seems like a simple thing. But it’s not. It’s something that will drive a real retailer to throw the system out.