How smartphones are changing the way we buy

With a number of challenges for high-street retailers right now, taking money from customers really shouldn’t be one of them. Let’s face it, with coronavirus concerns and high rent, you don’t want to be spending cash on extra staff to keep your stock in check and then accepting cash only because you’ve not looked into digital payments.

Not only that, but the whole “going online” thing seems daunting, and trying to accept digital payments seems to be a big thing. However, the guys at Lightspeed are showing how Point of Sales software is making it much easier for us to checkout. They have a fully mobile, flexible and secure Point of Sale system which can be installed easily on a mobile device. Once done, you can get selling straight away.

You can be mobile direct to the door of your customers or around your shop – carrying your checkout on your tablet or phone and accepting payment on the spot. No big queue for the checkout – heck, you don’t even need space for a checkout. Just send the sale to a receipt printer and the customer can be on their way in seconds.

The system also adds in information about products, so your staff can walk around the store and have a virtual catalogue of your entire warehouse – providing knowledgeable answers to customers straight from their devices. Plus, with a barcode scanner it adds in a full inventory system, so you know where your stock is and what your levels are. Track returns, transfer items to other stores and so on.

Plus, if you decide to go for a coffee or a holiday and it’s your own business – you’re going to want to be connected. This is another feature – full mobile reporting to let you know what sales your making, what your staff are doing and whether there’s a trend going on.

Like I said, with the current challenges it seems daft for those who are running their own business to be scared of using technology and accepting contactless or debit card payments. So, with this system accessible from your phone, it seems like a solution worth trying.