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products that once ruled the day, and next, by leveraging
ry
The ve
The very point of sale a deep technology experience to drive innovation and
point of sale
excitement. Beyond that, these tech titans, well-versed
in regulatory, security and compliance issues, focused
on helping resellers improve efficiencies and create new
The new pull-through Leverage technology
revenue streams in the digital-first era.
game Winston Fong, vice chairman of the board at Castles
Technology, a global technology provider, agreed that the

By Dale S. Laszig POS manufacturing landscape has significantly evolved in
the past two decades.
DSL Direct LLC
"Originally, the focus was on moving as many terminals as
enry Ford's cars were available in "any color possible through the channel, often with heavy emphasis
the customer wants, as long as it's black," on price-based promotions," he said. However, in tandem
according to Ford's autobiography, My Life and with technological advances, "leading OEMs have become
H Work, published in 1922. Eighty years later, more like technology companies that offer modular,
merchant level salespeople (MLSs) were saying similar flexible and customizable solutions. This shift has changed
things about POS terminals. At a time when POS devices the game, moving the focus away from pushing terminals
rolled off assembly lines for quality assurance testing, dai- to providing solutions that add value and solve specific
sy-chain downloads and mass deployments, a terminal's problems for merchants."
receipt header was a primary differentiator. Countertop
terminals were a focal point of payments in the early 21st Distributors have also evolved from transactional, price-
century. Unlike today, when merchants accept payments focused enterprises into strategic partners that collaborate
on phones, tablets and laptops, there were only a few ways with OEMs and channel partners to create new revenue
to accept payments back then, and only a few products streams through subscription service offerings, Fong
built for that purpose. noted, adding that formerly hardware-centric resellers,
for example, are leveraging technologies and managed
POS manufacturers shipped truckloads of devices to services. He cited the following examples:
resellers and designed promotions to help partners "pull • Cloud-based solutions: Accessing flexible and scalable
through" products out of warehouses and into the hands software-based solutions enables merchants to manage
of ISOs, acquirers and MLSs. The following quarter, they their businesses more efficiently and cost-effectively.
would do it all again. The pull-through game was equally
intense for resellers and manufacturers. Resellers had • Mobile POS: Integrating mobile POS solutions enables
to commit to larger and larger shipments to qualify for merchants to accept payments anywhere, anytime,
discounts. Manufacturers had to ship those orders by the flexibility that benefits businesses with dynamic op-
last day of every quarter. Looking back, I see a race to the erations and remote workers.
bottom that had little to do with added value, problem- • Data analytics: Gaining valuable insights into busi-
solving or innovating. The pull-through game was all ness operations helps merchants make informed deci-
about price. sions and improve overall performance.
Flip the script • Integration and customization: Integrating POS sys-
tems with other business applications, such as account-
Ford had "famously remarked that the use of the moving ing and inventory management software, helps busi-
assembly line allowed for the work to be taken to workers nesses streamline operations and enhance productiv-
rather than the worker moving to and around the vehicle," ity.
according to the company's website. Researchers observed
that the assembly line, with its signature conveyor belt and • AI and machine learning: Exploring artificial intel-
distributed labor, reduced Model T production from 12 ligence and machine learning technologies can help
hours to about 90 minutes. businesses improve fraud detection, enhance customer
engagement and personalize the shopping experience.
Ford flipped the script by bringing work to workers, • Blockchain: While still in its early stages, resellers and
and in a similar way, digital technologies disrupted partners are exploring the potential of blockchain tech-
commerce by bringing the shopping experience directly nology in POS systems.
to customers. When transacting on connected devices or
in stores and restaurants, today's customers expect speed, Manage device estates
convenience and choice, and merchants have upped their Advanced technologies have made it easier to manage large
games accordingly. POS manufacturers have mirrored the populations of connected devices, Fong stated, adding that
changing shopping paradigm in interesting ways, first by cloud-based terminal management systems (TMSs) can be
expanding products and services far beyond countertop
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