What is mPOS? A definition from WhatIs.com - SearchCIO

An mPOS (mobile point-of-sale) is a smartphone, tablet or dedicated wireless device that performs the functions of a cash register or electronic ... Home Mobilestrategy Wirelesstechnologies mPOS(mobilepointofsale) Sharethisitemwithyournetwork: By BrianHolak, SiteEditor EmilyMcLaughlin, ContentDevelopmentStrategist AnmPOS(mobilepoint-of-sale)isasmartphone,tabletordedicatedwirelessdevicethatperformsthefunctionsofacashregisterorelectronicpoint-of-saleterminal(POSterminal)wirelessly. mPOSisusefulforbusinessesthatwilltaketransactionsonthego.Forexample,anybusiness,frommarketvendorstofoodtrucks,thatwouldinteractwithcustomersfromanywhereoutsidetheorganizations'geographiclocationwouldfindmPOSuseful. ToimplementanmPOS,abusinessneedsaninternetconnection,acreditanddebitcardreader,andanapplicationdownloadedtowhateverdeviceitwantstouseforthetransactions.AusercanthendownloadaPOSappandconnectthereadertotheirmobiledevice.AnmPOScanalsobepairedwithadditionalPOShardwarelikeabarcodescannerandacashdrawer. TraditionalPOS,forcomparison,willuseadesktoportablet,acashdrawer,receiptprinter,creditcardmachineandscanner.Thissetupismuchmorestationaryandcumbersomeinnature.mPOS,then,allowsforsmallertransactionsystemstobedeployedwhereverthebusinessneedstomoveto.TherearealsosecuritystandardsformPOSapplications. HowdoesanmPOSwork? AnysmartphoneortabletcanbetransformedintoanmPOSwithadownloadablemobileapp.Typically,whenabusinessownerregisterswithanapp,thevendorsendsthebusinessowneracardreaderthatplugsintothemobiledevice'saudiojacktoprocessdebit/creditcards.SomemPOSsoftwarevendorsalsoprovideoptionalhand-held dockingstations calledsledsthatenablethemobiledevicetoreadbarcodesandprintreceipts. Dependingonthesoftware,anmPOScanoperateasastand-alonedevicethat'ssimplylinkedtothebusiness'sbankaccount,oritcanbeintegratedaspartofalarger,legacyPOSsystem.Toprotectcardholderdata,customerdatais encrypted and storedinthecloud --notonthedevice. BenefitsofmPOS mPOSimplementationsenableserviceandsalesorganizationstoconductfinancialtransactionsinamoreversatilemannerwithouthavingtobetetheredtoasinglelocation.Thisimprovesthecustomerexperience(CX)byspeedingupserviceandwaittimesandofferingmultiplepaymentoptions.ItalsofreesupvaluablerealestatethatwouldotherwisebededicatedtoacountertopPOS. Becauseoftheirportabilityandversatilitycomparedtotraditional POSterminals,mPOSsystemsareidealforbusinessesthatareconstantlymobile,suchasfoodtrucks,homeandrepairservices,sportsvenues,fleamarkets,andmarketvendors,toconductcreditcardanddebitcardtransactionsonthego. Withcontactlesspaymentsand mobilewallets likeGooglePayandApplePayincreasinginpopularity,mPOSsystemsarealsobetterequippedtoaccommodatethosecustomerswhosimplywishtotapordiptheirphonetopay. AnmPOScanalsobecost-effective,allowingasmallbusinessownertoconducttransactionswithouthavingtoinvestinanelectronicregisterorpaytosupportthesoftware.mPOStechnologyissignificantlylessexpensivethanatraditionalPOS,anditreliesoncloud-basedsubscriptionmodelsthatboastlowinitialcostsandmonthlymaintenancepayments.mPOSsystemscanalsoleadtoshortercheckoutandreturnlines. EveninestablishmentswithtraditionalcountertopPOSsystems,anmPOScanbedeployedduringrushorheavytraffictimestopreventbackupsatthesalesregisters,streamliningcustomerservice.mPOStechnologyalsohasthepotentialtoboostsalesbyallowingbusinessestoselltocustomersanywhereinastoreorexhibitionarea--capitalizingonimmediateexcitementorinterest. UsinganmPOSdevicelimitsabusiness'sliabilitybecausetransactionsareencryptedandcreditanddebitcarddataisnotstoredonthemPOSdeviceitself.Notonlydoesthisreducetheriskofsecuritybreaches,butthisdatastoragemethodsimplifiescompliancewithprivacyandsecurityregulationssuchas PCIDSS.Thetechnologyalsoenablessmallbusinessestotakeadvantageofsecuritytechnologiesandmonitoringthroughtheirsoftwarevendors,whichwasonceonlyavailabletolargecompanies. Thatbeingsaid,mobiledevicesandmPOSterminalscanstillbetargetsfortheftandhacking. AnotherdownsideofmPOSsystemsisthebatterylifeofthedevices.Whennotconnectedtoapowersource,mPOSdevicesusuallywon'tlastafullworkday. mPOSevolutionandimpactonin-storeretail Overthepastfewyears,themPOSmarkethashititsgrowthstride,withevenlargerretailersadoptingthetechnologytohelpupdatetheircustomerexperienceandimprovesatisfactioninthefaceofdecliningfoottraffic. A2018studyfromJuniperResearchfoundthattheadoptionofmPOSdeviceswilldriveannualmPOStransactionstoover87billionby2023,whichwillrepresentathreefoldincreaseoveranestimated28billiontransactionsin2018.ThatsamestudyestimatesthatmPOStransactionswillrepresent24%ofallPOStransactionsby2023. Intermsofcost,JuniperResearchpredictsthattheaveragepriceofanmPOSdevicewilldropfrom$40in2018toabout$33by2023.Theaffordabilitywillmakethemanevenmoreattractiveoptionforsmallerandpreviouslycash-drivenbusinessesthatlostcustomersduetosingularpaymentoptions. AnothertrendthatcanappearinmPOSistheuseof biometrics --includingfingerprintandfacialrecognition--toconfirmidentitiesduringpayments.Biometricsisconsideredasecureauthenticationmethod,andcompanieslikeMastercardarerunningpilotprojectscombiningthetechnologywithexistingmPOSsystems.JuniperResearchpredictsthatthenumberofbiometric-enabledmPOSdeviceswillreachalmost2milliongloballyby2023,justunder4%ofthetotalmPOSterminalsexpectedtobeinuseatthattime. Topvendors TherearenumerousmPOSofferingsavailabletobusinesses.PopularmobilePOSvendorsinclude Square,Lightspeed,Shopify, PayPal Here,ShopKeep,IntuitandSalesVu. SquareisconsideredoneofthebestandmostprominentfreemPOSofferingsforsmallbusinesses.Squareisanall-in-oneoffering,meaningitcombinesacreditcardprocessingserviceandafullsuiteofbusinessmanagementtoolsinoneapp. ChoosingtherightmPOSvendorcanbedifficult.OnMerchantMaverick,MelissaJohnsonconstructedalistofquestionsbusinessthatleadersshouldaskthemselveswhendecidingwhichmPOSofferingtogowith. HowmuchcanIaffordtopayforsoftwareandhardware? WouldIpreferanappthathasabuilt-inprocessor,orwouldIliketochoosemyown? WhatfeaturesmustIabsolutelyhave? WhatfeatureswouldIliketohave? DoesthissoftwareintegratewithanyothersoftwaresolutionsIcurrentlyuse? Ifnot,amIwillingtoswitchtoonethatdoesintegratewithmysolutions? Ismybusinessmodelcompatiblewithmypreferredpaymentprocessor? ThiswaslastupdatedinDecember2020 ContinueReadingAboutmPOS(mobilepointofsale) ThetopmobilePOSapplications JuniperResearchonmPOSdevices Pandemice-commercetrendspointtomassivegrowth Mobilewalletmania:Contactlesspaymentsareheretostay Targetglitchpitse-commercevs.POScustomerexperience RelatedTerms digitaldivide Thedigitaldivideisatermthatreferstothegapbetweendemographicsandregionsthathaveaccesstomoderninformationand... See complete definition SWOTanalysis(strengths,weaknesses,opportunitiesandthreatsanalysis) SWOTanalysisisaframeworkforidentifyingandanalyzinganorganization'sstrengths,weaknesses,opportunitiesandthreats--... See complete definition visitor-basednetworking(visitor-basednetwork) Visitor-basednetworking(VBN)isacomputernetworkwithhigh-speedinternetaccessprovidedbyanorganizationfortemporary... 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