We’re on the precipice of a fintech revolution that encompasses a vast range of industries. For small businesses, adopting the right point-of-sale (POS) system can represent the first step on a digital transformation journey within financial technology.
With a post-pandemic transition towards a fully cashless society, it’s become imperative for small businesses to embrace change by adopting a POS system that can suit the changing expectations of customers.
While an estimated three million POS card machines are used by small businesses in the United Kingdom, the UK mobile point-of-sale market is set to grow by 93% by 2027, making the adoption of POS hardware and software a key consideration for SMBs seeking to keep up with fintech transformation throughout their respective industries.
This will come with a range of benefits for small businesses in their bid to unlock the potential of fintech as the industry continues to grow. With this in mind, let’s take a look at five key ways POS technology will form the core component of SMBs embracing fintech:
1. Accessing Fintech Services:
The capabilities of modern POS technology are virtually limitless today and can help small businesses manage their inventory, staff, shape loyalty programs, and train new hires to build competencies. However, the right POS system will be pivotal in providing frictionless access to fintech services when it comes to accepting payments.
Crucially, for businesses in high-value sectors, modern POS terminals offer ease of access to the burgeoning buy now pay later (BNPL) landscape. This can help to make the selling of luxury or premium goods and services far more accessible to all users.
BNPL platforms like Klarna have helped to make purchases more accessible for customers, and their seamless integration with POS technology can help small businesses maximise their reach among leads.
With BNPL customers spending 40% more on average in comparison to traditional customers and shopping 50% more frequently, it’s clear that accepting buy now, pay later purchases is a key consideration for small businesses.
Additionally, POS systems can help to provide frictionless access to services like mobile pay and self-checkout, paving the way for far greater flexibility in the purchasing process.
2. Checkout Automation:
Point-of-sale systems are most effective at automating the checkout process, which helps to improve the customer experience (CX) while lowering waiting times. This is an area of fintech that can significantly improve the operational efficiency of small businesses without having to spend more on new staff hires or payout for more costly technology.
The ability to tap into a fintech framework where sales can be automated means that businesses can use POS applications to free up staff from their old manual tasks to deliver a more personalised level of service.
The best POS providers can not only deliver a wider range of checkout options but can also provide real-time analytics that help small businesses understand customer expectations over preferred payment methods and favoured checkout processes.
3. Improving Customer Loyalty:
Using POS as an access point to emerging fintech tools can help small businesses build more innovative customer loyalty programs with personalised rewards and more impactful experiences.
Point-of-sale technology can be utilised to introduce points-based loyalty programs and tiered rewards for customers. These loyalty programs can be automated for greater accessibility and could work alongside other promotions and offers to increase engagement.
This level of automation can be highly advantageous for SMBs seeking to build their customer retention, and POS systems can deliver training programs focused on ensuring that staff can manage loyalty programs accordingly to avoid the danger of compounding promotions and losing out on the full value of sales.
4. Adding Security:
Introducing POS systems can also be an excellent security measure for small businesses. Given that IBM recently estimated that the average cost of a data breach across 17 different countries was around £3.95 million for UK small businesses, shoring up your access to fintech is essential.
With the right point-of-sale technology, it’s possible for SMBs to shore up their data and prevent intrusions from unknown sources. With double user authentication processes, modern POS hardware can protect against intrusions and use cloud-based backup systems to ensure that your data is protected at all times.
5. Embracing AI in Fintech:
The arrival of artificial intelligence and machine learning (ML) will pave the way for a more frictionless transition into embracing fintech transformation for small businesses.
Next-generation POS systems will utilise AI and ML as a means of introducing predictive analytics to analyse and predict purchase trends and create bespoke recommendations based on a user’s individual purchasing history.
This will help more small businesses to embrace fintech trends more effectively, while POS technology can actively monitor for the fastest transaction speeds and lowest associated costs for both retailers and customers alike.
Embracing the Fintech Revolution:
For many small businesses, a slick POS system will be the key to embracing advances in fintech and offering a more frictionless experience for customers.
Acting as a gateway to a series of fintech innovations, as well as a strong platform to build loyalty schemes and safeguard customer data, there are plenty of advantages for utilising an efficient POS to embrace the next generation of finance technology.
With the ability to eliminate common growing pains through automation tools, adopting the right POS could be a strong starting point for building a sustainable operating model for the future.
Disclaimer:
CBD:
Qrius does not provide medical advice.
The Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 (NDPS Act) outlaws the recreational use of cannabis products in India. CBD oil, manufactured under a license issued by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, can be legally used in India for medicinal purposes only with a prescription, subject to specific conditions. Kindly refer to the legalities here.
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Gambling:
As per the Public Gambling Act of 1867, all Indian states, except Goa, Daman, and Sikkim, prohibit gambling. Land-based casinos are legalized in Goa and Daman under the Goa, Daman and Diu Public Gambling Act 1976. In Sikkim, land-based casinos, online gambling, and e-gaming (games of chance) are legalized under the Sikkim Online Gaming (Regulation) Rules 2009. Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries, subject to state laws. Refer to the legalities here. Horse racing and betting on horse racing, including online betting, is permitted only in licensed premises in select states. Refer to the 1996 Supreme Court judgment for more information.
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