A Brief About mPOS - Mobile Point of Sale

mPOS - Mobile Point of Sale

Before we know about mPOS - Mobile Point of Sale, we have to understand what is POS - Point of Sale. Point of Sale - POS or Checkout is the place where a retail transaction is completed. It is the point at which a customer makes a payment to the merchant in exchange for goods or services. At the Point of Sale the retailer would calculate the amount owed by the customer and provide options for the customer to make payment. The merchant will also normally issue a receipt for the transaction. The POS in various retail industries uses customized hardware and software as per their requirements. Retailers may utilize weighing scales, scanners, electronic and manual cash registers, EFTPOS (Electronic Funds Transfer at Point of Sale — is an electronic payment system involving electronic funds transfers based on the use of payment cards, such as debit or credit cards, at terminals located at points of sale.) terminals, touch screens and any other wide variety of hardware and software available for use with POS. For example, a grocery or candy store uses a scale at the Point of Sale, while bars and restaurants use software to customize the item or service sold when a customer has a special meal or drink request.

The modern Point of Sale is often referred to as the Point of Service because it is not just a Point of Sale but also a Point of Return. Additionally it includes advanced features to cater to different functionality, such as inventory management, CRM, financials, warehousing, etc., all built into the POS software. Prior to the modern POS, all of these functions were done independently and required the manual re-keying of information, which can lead to entry errors.

mPOS - Mobile Point of Sale in a single word, a "Dongle Plus Smartphone" innovation for modern POS system. An mPOS - Mobile Point of Sale is a smartphone, tablet or dedicated wireless device that performs the functions of a cash register or electronic Point of Sale (POS) terminal. 

mPOS implementations allow service and sales industries to conduct transactions in place, improving the customer experience and freeing up valuable real estate that would otherwise be dedicated to a POS counter. An mPOS can also be cost-effective, allowing a small business owner to conduct transactions without having to invest in an electronic register or pay someone to support the software. 

Any smartphone or tablet can be transformed into an mPOS with a downloadable mobile app. Typically, when the business owner registers the app, the vendor sends the business owner a card reader that plugs into the mobile device's audio jack. Some mPOS software vendors also provide optional hand-held docking stations (called sleds) that allow the mobile device to read barcodes and print receipts. 

Depending on the software, a mPOS can operate as a stand-alone device that's simply linked to the business' bank account or it can be an integrated component of a larger, legacy POS system. To protect cardholder data, customer data is encrypted and stored in the cloud -- not on the device.

Popular mobile POS vendors include PayPal, Square, Intuit and VeriFone. 

NOTE:   mPOS implementation requires Strong Security Awareness.