Guest Post: From Traditional to Cloud-Based POS – What the Evolving Customer Experience Means for ISOs.

The payments industry is clearly in transition. While this isn’t breaking news to members of our community, is your company positioned to survive, and succeed, in this evolving landscape?

Particularly, the point of sale sector has become much more self-serve, with a trending reduction of cost for POS software and hardware.

So, what does this mean for ISOs? Specifically, how do they position themselves to survive in this new, proposition-driven landscape?

The most efficient way for your company to stay afloat is by partnering with an ISV that provides both value to your clients, and stickiness to their customers.

From Traditional to Cloud-Based
Currently, we see a shift away from traditional POS systems, where merchants needed to invest sizable capital into hardware, installation, training, software, and support that, ultimately, was cost prohibitive for many businesses.

Now, many cloud-based POS systems are increasingly reducing the barrier for SMB onboarding, as opposed to the former “old school” solutions. As an ISO, this means you must shift your focus to your clients first, and their unique business needs.

Moving forward, all commerce will become increasingly seamless, continuing to connect with customers at all touchpoints of their buying journey– in-store, online, email, SMS, everywhere.

Merchants will always select their processing solution based on the overall value it brings, and not simply the reduction of merchant service fees. Therefore, it’s crucial for all industry professionals to continue to educate themselves on these new ways to bring the most value and ensure a total Commerce Solution for their clients.

Become Device Agnostic
In order to compete, you must offer the greatest potential value to your clients. Initially, this means eliminating any barrier for the merchant’s entry. The easiest way to accomplish this…make sure you offer a solution available on as many devices as possible.

The more options you can provide to your clients, the more likely they are to do business with you – it’s that simple.

It all starts with focusing on your clients. Where do they sell? What’s the best hardware option for their location? Do they need to be mobile? Do they have multiple stores with inventory?

For an ISO, it’s crucial that you partner with an ISV that supports any potential use.

This means finding a POS system that is device agnostic and offers cloud-based software.

In the past, ISOs were wedded to one, or maybe two, pieces of POS hardware that they packaged with merchant services.

The truth is, this is no longer a sustainable model. If your company wants to compete, you need to position yourself as having a customizable fit for any client’s situation.

Offer Integrated Online Ordering
Reports project 2019 eCommerce sales to be around 3.45 trillion dollars!

No two ways around it, every business has to be online to really compete. But what does this mean for ISOs? Much like incorporating device-agnostic software, the more channels you use, the better your chances to sell your product. For business owners, this means including eCommerce or online ordering. Therefore, to ensure the success of your clients, ISOs need to offer merchants a Commerce Solution that syncs their physical point of sale with online sales. While there are several POS systems that can offer POS + ecommerce, there some important things to consider for your clients:

As the industry continues to shift to becoming fully-cloud based, your company’s relationship to your client’s online ordering platform is paramount to your success.

Support Customer loyalty
This on-going evolution of the POS industry means your company must continue to focus on providing the most total value to your clients. A proven way to do this…offer them a customer loyalty program.

By offering more total-value to merchants, ISOs can ensure customer retention for their clients, and therefore, themselves.

Conclusion
The payments industry is transitioning to more of an Omnichannel approach, and ISOs must keep pace with this. Ultimately, this means offering the most value possible to your clients. By pivoting to an offering that is device agnostic, supports online ordering, and rewards customer loyalty your company will provide the complete Commerce Solution needed for merchant success in 2019 and beyond.

About eHopper
Visit eHopper at Booth 3323, with their TRANSACT 2019 partners Star Micronics, HP, and BIxolon.

eHopper POS is a device agnostic, cloud-based point of sale solution that is ideal for all small to mid-sized retail and hospitality businesses.