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Education

If it's just payment, restrictions of the vendor and thus limited in appeal to
independent software vendors (ISVs) who could provide
it's not frictionless additional value to the merchant and consumer.

More attractive to developers are the growing number of
smart POS solutions that are more flexible and adaptable
than either standalone payment terminals, or semi-
integrated POS solutions. Smart POS solutions may run on
a proprietary hardware platform or a more commoditized
Android device that has been customized to the needs of
the solution provider and its target market.

Typically, smart POS solutions incorporate a software
POS along with third-party applications offering other
functions that provide additional consumer services and
automate traditional merchant back-office needs such as
employee management, inventory management, or billing
and invoicing.
By William C. Nichols Smart POS solutions not all alike
AEVI For acquirers, ISVs and other solution providers, smart

f your primary goal is to provide frictionless pay- POS solutions are not all alike. Solutions that provide
ment at the checkout counter, you may be missing merchants with access to app marketplaces often place a
a critical market shift and risking the loss of future burden on the merchant to research, test and curate their
I business. Making payment a fraction of a second own portfolio of apps.
faster or accepting Apple Pay or some other alternative
is not sufficient to make merchant accounts enduringly Few merchants have the time, skills or inclination to
sticky. What will endure is your ability to improve the configure their own smart POS app portfolios, particularly
total shopping experience. as more and more applications compete for their attention.
Worse, they can expect little or no integration among
The road to prosperity lies in figuring out how to deliver those applications, so a purchase involving multiple
to merchants and consumers a complete and frictionless interactions will require the consumer or merchant to
checkout experience that enhances the overall shopping interact separately with multiple apps, disrupting the
event. That requires a focus on integration of value-added frictionless experience that each desires.
services, alongside payments, in the checkout process.
That's why there is still an incredible need for direct sales
It's virtually impossible for a merchant to differentiate and service of payment solutions. ISOs and other service
from competitors simply on the basis of payment. Instead, providers can provide fully managed, fully supported,
merchants must distinguish their offerings through a total white-glove solutions at an affordable price point. But only
shopping experience that smoothly integrates payment if they are willing and prepared to change how sales are
within a seamless buying transaction, such as scheduling made.
a delivery of items or automatically redeeming loyalty
points or discounts without having to present a separate The first challenge is to educate sales teams on how to
card or enter a phone number. It might include arranging sell software-based solutions rather than hardware boxes.
financing or installment payments on purchases. It That takes a commitment by team members to learn about
increasingly will need to encompass omnichannel the capabilities of different applications and how they can
experiences such as in-store ordering for home delivery or integrate with POS and payment functions. They must
online ordering for in-store pickup. become discerning in how these applications bring new
consumer-facing services to the countertop, and how they
The case for smart solutions can make a merchant's business more productive and
profitable.
Acquirers, ISOs, merchant level salespeople and value-
added resellers have been able to extend the life of the Choosing the right platform
classic standalone payment terminal by delivering semi-
integrated payment solutions, in which the payment ISOs and other providers need to find the right platform
continues to be routed directly from the terminal or PIN that will allow them to compile the right set of apps and
pad to the processor, while tokens are between a connected services to meet specific needs of their merchant bases.
POS solution to provide some value-added functionality. They need an estate management solution that allows
That functionality is generally limited by the proprietary them to operate both smart POS and classic terminals.

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