Cliche as it may sound, it's just not your father's (or your mother's) mobile POS. Rather, rapid evolution remains the watchword on the mobile POS applications front.
One major development in the mobile POS space centers on line- or queue-busting solutions that enable customers' purchases to be scanned, and sometimes paid for, prior to reaching the checkout counter. New capabilities are being incorporated into these applications, enhancing their value-add, thus rendering them an easier sell for VARs.
In many cases, such capabilities address long-standing impediments to implementation -- for instance, the need to significantly modify POS software to operate on portable data terminals. "This has traditionally been a sticking point for retailers who, while they found the idea of line-busting an attractive one," from an efficiency and customer service standpoint, weren't willing to invest time and money in big software changes," notes Nick Tabet, vice president, handheld product marketing, Datalogic Scanning.
Datalogic currently offers PreScan, a queue-busting software solution that works in tandem with its cordless PowerScan handheld reader and Magellan 2000, 8000 or 9000 Series scanners and scanner/scales. Tabet says the solution is cost-effective partially because scanned barcode data is transmitted from the unit's auxiliary ports to the POS system via the same interface as data collected by non-mobile POS equipment. The use of an inexpensive bidirectional radio, rather than a Bluetooth connection, as a communications "vehicle" for wirelessly conveying data from portable devices to the POS system comprises the other piece of the cost-effectiveness puzzle.
The PreScan software can be configured in single-lane or multi-lane operations mode. In single-lane mode, sales assistants scan customers' items while they wait in line. When shoppers reach the POS terminal, sales assistants scan a code on the checkout lane. Information that has been scanned from barcodes on items to be purchased and stored in the handheld scanners is then downloaded to POS terminals. One radio base station is dedicated to each front lane, and all front-end lanes may be equipped so each one has a cordless scanner used for queue-busting and dedicated in-lane scanning alike.
In multi-lane mode, single handheld scanners can be combined with multiple radio base stations. Individual POS terminals are equipped with separate base stations. As in single-lane mode, sales assistants scan merchandise as customers stand in line. Upon reaching the POS terminal, customers present a unique ID card, and items stored in the handheld scanners are downloaded to the terminals.
Newer-generation line-busting applications also address another potential obstacle to line-busting adoption -- the inability of mobile payment acceptance technology to handle PIN-based debit card transactions as well as credit card payments. "Retailers pay a significantly lower interchange fees to process PIN-based debit transactions than they do to process credit transactions," says Frank Riso, senior director of retail industry, worldwide for Motorola's Enterprise Mobility business. "Most prefer debit to credit -- and they want the flexibility to incorporate debit if they're going to leverage a mobile POS solution."
In mid-September, Motorola was preparing to unveil a magnetic stripe reader that reads debit cards. Merchants will be able to utilize the reader with the vendor's MC70 and MC75 Enterprise Digital Assistant wireless handheld devices, which Riso deems highly suited for line-busting purposes. Customers will be able to complete transactions from anywhere in stores by swiping their debit cards through the reader, then entering their PIN numbers on the units' keyboards.
"For retailers, accepting debit payments on handheld devices opens up opportunities to cultivate new markets -- specifically, younger consumers who consider debit a staple payment method," purports Angela Rakis, retail specialist, IBM Total Store Solutions. She adds that as the number of items in consumers' shopping baskets and the cost of these items decreases, the greater their desire to pay for purchases with a debit card than with a credit card if they aren't using cash. Given a choice between a merchant that accepts debit at the mobile POS and one that doesn't, most younger customers -- and many older ones, too -- will go with the former, she asserts. IBM recently expanded its 4690 POS platform, deploying an offering for mobile POS.
Added Functionality
Wireless applications that permit POS stations to be set up anywhere inside or outside a store (e.g., outside the front door) and/or allow transactions to be processed from remote locations such as freestanding mall kiosks, flea markets and consumers' front doors, are also becoming more technologically sophisticated. "Whether it's a line-busting application, or a full-blown mobile POS solution for line-busting and 'remote' POS in general, increased functionality is the direction this category is taking," asserts Keith Blankenship, senior product expert, Radiant Systems Retail Division. "As a result, mobile POS is evolving from being an afterthought piece of POS installation to a standard part of retailers' order."
Blankenship says Radiant has seen heightened demand among retailers for its Tablet PC, which is suitable for line-busting and complete mobile POS applications and performs double-duty in inventory-taking. The unit runs Windows XP Embedded as its operating system and features a native screen resolution of 800 x 600, enabling support for multiple software applications. Connectivity and/or expansion options encompass 802.11a/b/g wireless networking through a miniPCI slot, native Bluetooth support for peripherals, a Compact Flash slot, a single USB port on the tablet and two USB ports on the charging cradle. A two-track USB mini-magnetic stripe reader can be attached to the side of the tablet to add support for payment by credit card.
Receipts can be printed from Radiant's Tablet PC via the belt-clip Epson TM-P60 receipt printer in Bluetooth or wireless mode. The Epson belt-clip printer emulates the print formatting of the Epson TM-88 wired receipt printer already supported by most POS software applications, meaning that there are no extra software changes required for receipt formatting. A Compact Flash Class Two barcode scanner is also an add-on option for scanning requirements at check-out or for inventory. "Class Two scanners are visible in sunlight, so they work well indoors or outdoors," explains Andee Pure, Radiant's senior product expert.
In a similar vein, New West Technologies, a Portland, Ore.-based VAR and ISV, combines mobile POS and mobile inventory-taking functionality in its Mobile Suite Pro software package, which leverages the Microsoft Dynamics Retail Management System (RMS) and comprises two modules: Mobile Cashier and Mobile Manager. Version 5.2 of Mobile Cashier yields end users the ability to perform real-time credit authorizations when handheld devices are not connected to the RMS database, as well as to place sales on "hold" to be recalled later. Earlier this year, New West signed an agreement with distributor BlueStar, under whose terms the latter will distribute Mobile Suite Pro.
Meanwhile, Hypercom now touts its Mobile POS Solution Suite, which allows credit, debit, gift, loyalty, check, Automated Clearing House (ACH) and EBT/food stamp transactions to be processed from or by outdoor markets, home delivery services, taxis, stadiums, restaurants and any other U.S. merchant location where wireless payment terminals are in place. WAY SYSTEMS, too, has a sophisticated mobile terminal offering in the form of its Mobile Transaction Terminal (MTT). Touted as featuring the capabilities of a POS terminal, the MTT consists of a mobile phone, smart card reader, magnetic card stripe reader and optional mobile printer.
Another player, ELITE Industrial Group, has unveiled a wireless POS terminal with an on-screen selection manual and extensive searching functions. Both Wi-Fi (802.11 b/g) and ISM band wireless varieties are available. Although the unit is designed for use in the hospitality environment, it is would be equally adaptable to other retail environments, such as specialty stores, states John Constantine, ELITE's general manager, Americas.
Farther Afield
Yet just as more complex mobile POS solutions continue to enter the market, new applications have begun to appear on the horizon. Among them is text messaging -- or short-message services (SMS) configurations designed to accept real-time SMS payments. These systems have gateways through which text information from cell phone signals is transferred to Internet signals, then transmitted to merchants and financial institutions alike.
PayPal blazed the SMS trail two years ago with the introduction of PayPal Mobile, which uses SMS transmissions to "instruct" PayPal to move funds from sender to recipient. It followed up by rolling out PayPal Mobile Checkout, a service wherein consumers with PayPal accounts can, while shopping in brick-and-mortar stores, use SMS to pay for merchandise on the spot.
Several months ago, Moosejaw Mountaineering, a Madison Heights, Mich.-based outdoor gear retailer, became the first merchant to accept PayPal payments in-store. Once orders are rung up, cashiers give to customers paying via PayPal the amount of the sale and the email address of the store. Shoppers with Web-enabled cell phones can log in to their PayPal Mobile accounts and e-mail the funds to the store; those whose cell phones do not offer Internet access can make payments by sending text messages.
Considering the popularity of text messaging, "there is every reason to assume SMS will catch on," states George Peabody, director of emerging technology advisory services at Mercator Advisory Group, a consumer payments research and consulting firm headquartered in Maynard, Mass.
The evolution of mobile POS applications built around near-field communications (NFC) will also open new doors for VARs. NFC employs radio frequency technology to enable secure communication between devices and, as such, is a form of short-range contactless payment. With NFC, credit, debit and/or loyalty information is embedded into cell phones or other handheld devices to create "electronic wallets" that replace forbs or chip-enabled cards to initiate transactions.
In the future, consumers may use NFC-enabled devices not only to pay for merchandise, but to download coupons and loyalty program offers when they are within proximity of special contact readers. ABI Research, a New York City-based emerging-technology analyst firm, predicts that NFC chips will be embedded in millions of handsets in the next few years.
"A huge volume of growth in the NFC infrastructure -- including the development of software and front- and back-end technology and coupled with consumers' growing expectation to use cell phones for multiple purposes -- lends tremendous promise to NFC," states Brad Tracy, vice president of retail channel operations at NCR Corp. NCR's RealPOS contactless payment products, developed in partnership with ViVOtech, feature a platform for future NFC applications.
Cliche as it may sound, it's just not your father's (or your mother's) mobile POS. Rather, rapid evolution remains the watchword on the mobile POS applications front.
Datalogic currently offers PreScan, a queue-busting software solution that works in tandem with its cordless PowerScan handheld reader and Magellan 2000, 8000 or 9000 Series scanners and scanner/scales. Tabet says the solution is cost-effective partially because scanned barcode data is transmitted from the unit's auxiliary ports to the POS system via the same interface as data collected by non-mobile POS equipment. The use of an inexpensive bidirectional radio, rather than a Bluetooth connection, as a communications "vehicle" for wirelessly conveying data from portable devices to the POS system comprises the other piece of the cost-effectiveness puzzle.
ge fees to process PIN-based debit transactions than they do to process credit transactions," says Frank Riso, senior director of retail industry, worldwide for 
