So you’re thinking about getting a tablet or sticking with a POS terminal? Let’s face it tablets are awesome! They are portable and sleek and some have attractive price points, but are they the right solution for your business?
Before you think about taking your iPad for a spin there are a few things you need to consider.
What’s the catch?
They are easy to lose. Unfortunately, we live in a high-crime country and tablets are easier to pocket and walk away with. Tablets are useful but they aren’t always a perfect fit for a point of sale system and can be a distraction for staff.
The difference between a POS terminal and a Tablet.
We understand that price is an important factor in purchasing hardware and software for your point of sale. POS systems come in various price points and configurations to best suit your business environment.
A quality POS solution can cost more but is designed to be fast and robust and the hardware has been optimised for the task at hand.
Tablets on the other hand are generally designed as a broad consumer product and not specifically designed for point of sale, this doesn’t mean they can’t be used. It simply means you will need to pay close attention to the specs of your tablet required to run your POS software correctly to avoid down time.
Limitations of Tablets as a POS
Your point of sale is more than just a fancy touch screen. You will still need additional hardware and software to round out your point of sale system.
You will still need things like printers, a cash drawer, KDS, a card machine and software to capture transactions. If you want to have your FOH integrate with your BOH or include other third-party integration to add Uber or Mr D, you will need to consider that in your software too.
The weakest link…Connection
WiFi offers a convenient way to connect portable devices to a network but it’s not as stable as a wired network. POS terminals can be networked correctly to reduce latency and reduce downtime drastically, thereby avoiding the disruption of inconsistent wireless connectivity.
Tablets- More devices to charge
Not only do you need to make sure they don’t disappear, but you also need to keep these devices charged regularly if you want to keep them portable. Over time the batteries in these devices start to pack up and you would have to get replacements,if this is possible. Alternatively it means replacing the whole tablet.
Alternatives To Tablets
When you invest in the right hardware and software for your business you open yourself to more avenues to processing orders and sales. While the convenience of a portable POS is alluring, the novelty wears off very quickly when you consider what else a robust POS solution can bring to the table.
Point of Sale software like ours is designed to expand your operation with tailored solutions like our eCommerce platform that puts the entire ordering process in the palm of your customer’s hand. Orders go straight from your customer’s device to the POS.
Self Service Kiosks are another alternative to tablets that can effectively shorten your queues, provide unique upselling opportunities and reduce errors during the ordering process. They are space efficient and can be set up virtually anywhere in your store.
The hardware is designed to be robust and hardy. A kiosk’s larger high definition screen can double up as a digital display when not in use.
Self Service Kiosks also free up your staff to focus on other tasks and interacting with customers.
At the end of the day, tablets can be great tools to have in the appropriate environment. If you are feeling torn about which type of device would service your business the best, please get in touch.
