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iPhone is the hottest point of sale device in decades

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Published on Friday, 09 September 2011 20:05

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       Are iPhones about to become the best selling piece of point of sale equipment of all time?     

Lowe's Home Improvement Centers have ordered 42,000 iPhones to equip their staff with, to answer questions and ring up purchases, according to a Bloomberg News report.   Lowe's, a 60 year old retailer, is putting 25 iPhone 4s in each store.  The plans were disclosed by Chief Information Officer Mike Brown.   

      The move by Lowe's is partially a response to Home Depot's installation of Motorola scanners last year.   As a shopper in Home Depot, I've seen the Motorola device used to check available inventory, and the location of the inventory, and it worked nicely - allowing a department manager to confirm the availability of the kitchen backsplash tile I needed, and actually get it for me in about 2 minutes.  

      The sale of 42,000 iPhones for point of sale use is noteworthy, even if its only a drop in the bucket for Apple.  It certainly seems a no-brainer these days to add an iPhone to a point of sale system, and as far as this writer is concerned, portends a trend in the point of sale industry away from the large fixed cash register type equipment to mobile devices.  

    Is there much that the traditional point of sale station can do, that the iPhone cannot?   The preparation of detailed purchase orders is one item that comes to mind.  And anything else that involves a lot of typing is probably going to be easier on a full sized station, as will dealing with a shopping cart full of items needing bar code scanning.   However, the iPhone is going to help out all over the place.  The iPhone is going to be a line-busting POS tool at the busy times as well.

But for helping customers and ringing up sales of just a few items on the fly, the iPhone is going to do just fine.   In fact, the iPhone may well become the biggest selling point of sale component of all time.

  

 

Written by Craig Aberle 

VarTech '11 Bringing POS and Barcoding to Miami Beach

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Published on Tuesday, 09 August 2011 16:20

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    Monday, August 15th, will see a large number of point of sale and bar code equipment and solution resellers descend on Miami Beach eagerly waiting to see the latest in POS and Bar code technology. The event, which is hosted and arranged by BlueStar Inc., a leading distributor of point of sale and bar code equipment, will feature over 100 vendors and dozens of speakers and educational sessions.  The two day show will offer hundreds of resellers the chance to update their offerings and expand their knowlege.

According to BlueStar, "VARTECH is a combination educational conference and trade show that unites the industry value-added resellers, manufacturers, and the BlueStar team in a constructive form that enables resellers to cultivate rewarding relationships with hardware manufacturers, software solution providers, and service partners."

Workshops will include sessions on; ADC (Auto Data Capture), Digital Signage, ID Card & Security, Mobility, Point of Sale (POS), RFID and more. 

The show has over 100 sponsors including Motorola, HP, Intermec, Zebra, Star, AIM, Cherry, APG, MMF and the RSPA.

    Both myself and Erin Thayer, Managing Editor of The Point of Sale News and The Bar Code News, will be attending and looking forward to seeing you there.

Click here for more details on VARTECH 2011

 

BlueStar is the leading global distributor of solutions-based ADC, Mobility, Point-of-Sale, RFID, Digital Signage, and ID & Security technology. BlueStar works exclusively with value-added resellers, providing them with complete solutions, business development and marketing support. The company brings unequaled expertise to the market, offers award-winning technical support and is an authorized service center for a growing number of manufacturers. BlueStar is the exclusive distributor for the In-a-Box Solutions Series, delivering hardware, software and critical accessories in one bundle, under one SKU, with technology solutions across all of the verticals. For more information about BlueStar value-adds for VARS and independent software developers, please contact a BlueStar Account Executive at 1-800-354-9776 or visit www.bluestarinc.com.

 

Bartenderless? Wine Bar Robotic Dispenser Delights

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Published on Friday, 28 October 2011 07:51

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Regular readers of my column will know that I have a thing for fully automated POS, self-service,  kiosks , robots – and basically anything that allows self-checkout.  Well, this week I experienced something new in automation.  It was a wine bar that is completely self-service.  No human being was pouring and yet there were  80 bottles of wine to sample!

The self-service dispensing was done by machines utilizing smart card technology.  The card,  with a chip on it, gets preloaded with some money, and then the customer (dare I say “consumer”)  will insert the card into the dispensing machine and then press a button over the bottle of wine you’d like to enjoy.  The  system dispenses the wine into your glass, which you are holding underneath the spout.

The quantity can be as small as 1oz, or a larger 3oz or 6 oz.  The price for each is displayed on an LED over the bottle.   The system automatically deducts the cost from your smart card, which you then withdraw.  The smart card is shown on the right. 

The pressure system is powered by nitrogen – pumping some in and forcing the wine out through a tube.  The nitrogen keeps  the wine fresh for weeks .

The really fun part was being able to try just an ounce of several different wines that I would normally never get around to trying due to the price.  It was great!

The self-service machine reminded me of an automated soda machine where the cup drops down, and soda water and syrup are squirted in.   Perhaps the next step in wine automation will allow some kind of custom blending.

You can try the technology at the Sarasota Vineyard.

www.sarasotavineyard.net

 

My favorite wine, this particular evening: 

Written by Craig Aberle 

FuturePOS Software wins Two Awards

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Published on Sunday, 07 August 2011 13:30

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     Future POS Inc., the developers of Future POS software, was the recipient of Two Outstanding Awards at a ceremony hosted by the Retail Solution Providers Association (RSPA). The organization is the only association dedicated to the retail technology industry. The annual conference dinner was held July 27, 2011 at The Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort.
President and CEO, John Giles was first honored in the ISV/VAR collaboration category along with Dakota Retail Technologies who are a value added reseller for Future POS. The award was presented by VSR Magazine and the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) for their collaboration of the "Sioux Falls Arena" in South Dakota.
The Sioux Falls Arena is an 8,000-seat indoor sports and entertainment venue located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The arena is part of SMG, a world leader in venue management, marketing, and development. The nineteen terminal install utilizes Future POS's "Fusion" version that runs on a Microsoft SQL database.

Future POS VAR, Kory Lindersmith, with Dakota Retail Technologies was able to incorporate the latest technology into the Sioux Falls Arena by utilizing Digital menuboards that are directly integrated into the Future POS system. Dakota Retail created a series of Flash animations that rotate through enticing product photos. The arena can change the screen graphics and branding based on whatever team is playing that night. The arena used to have old fashioned "Menuboards" used to display food items but with the addition of Future POS's Digital Signage, the arena now features "Live" Menu updates on 42 inch Television Screens. The HTML based screens are easy for the customer to use and to create customized layouts. With the Scheduled Content feature, the arena can also display advertisements, specials and much more.
Wireless "Widefly" handheld terminals for mobile order entry and credit card processing were also incorporated throughout the Stadium. This solution helps the "Hawkers" (the guys that sell beer in the stands) to save time by being able to take credit card payments from patrons right at their seats. The Premium Seat Patrons will also get better service because the VIP waiters are able to utilize the handhelds to send orders directly in front of the customer instead of running back and forth to a service station therefore their order goes directly to the kitchen for faster food delivery. Terry Torkildson, General Manager at the arena stated "Not only have we gained increased efficiency and revenue, but now the handhelds are tied into inventory for an integrated solution."

     Future POS Inc. also proudly accepted the Silver "Vendor of Excellence" Award in the Software Providers Category. This marks the fifth award in six years that Future POS software has received from the Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) in this category of Excellence. "We are honored to be receiving this award from the RSPA. Is it important to us at Future POS Inc. to be part of such a strong organization and to know that our dealers believe in Future POS Software and our mission to be the most innovative software provider in the market today," commented President and CEO John Giles.
The award is determined by votes from dealers that sell the Future POS software, and are compared to the other software companies within the organization. Future POS previously received the Gold Medallion Award in 2006, Bronze Awards in the Software category in both 2008 and 2009 and Silver in 2010.

 

About Future POS:

     Future POS is distributed by Future POS Inc. in Butler, PA and writes point-of-sale software designed for the hospitality industry. Future POS is installed in restaurants around the world including fine dining, quick serve, retail, and specialty applications in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, China, Dubai, South Africa and other locations.

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