How evolving merchant demands are pushing POS terminal providers to up their game in an increasingly competitive environment…

The downfall of US brick-and-mortar commerce is overblown—despite sharp gains in e-commerce, which will nearly double between now and 2021, the lion's share of purchasing continues to take place in-store. And that's unlikely to change anytime soon, since the online environment can't yet compensate for the reasons customers like brick-and-mortar shopping.

That means the point-of-sale (POS) terminal, which merchants use to accept payments of all types and to complete transactions, isn't going anywhere. But that doesn't mean it's not changing. As merchants look to cut costs amidst shifts in consumer shopping habits, POS terminals, which were once predominantly hardware offerings used exclusively for payment acceptance, are evolving into full-service, comprehensive solutions. These new POS terminals are providing an array of business management solutions and connected offerings to complement payment services.

This is where the smart terminal, a new product that's part-tablet, part-register, comes in. Merchants are increasingly seeking out these offerings, which afford them the connectivity, mobility, and interoperability to run their entire business. And that's shaking up the space, since it's not just legacy firms, but also mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) players and newer upstarts, that offer these products.

As merchants begin demanding a wide variety of payment solutions, terminal providers are scrambling to meet their needs in order to maintain existing customers and attract new ones. This is leading to rapid innovation and increased competition in both the POS terminal hardware and software spaces.

In a new report, BI Intelligence has put together a detailed report on the shifts in this landscape, how leading players can meet them, and who's doing it most effectively.

Among the big picture insights you'll get from this report, titled The Point-of-Sale Terminals Report: How Evolving Merchant Demands Are Pushing POS Terminal Providers To Up Their Game In An Increasingly Competitive Environment:

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Evolving merchant needs are impacting POS terminal players' strategies. Merchants select terminal providers based on four key areas: payment functionality, user experience (UX), over-the-top (OTT) offerings, and distribution/customer service. Terminal firms need to innovate in these areas, or risk falling behind.
Larger players need to double down on existing success. Smaller players can often be more nimble, which gives them the opportunity to innovate more quickly and build in-demand solutions. That's a disadvantage to market leaders; however, they can, and should, leverage their massive distribution networks when upgrading or updating their offerings. Meanwhile, smaller players can win by focusing on niches instead.
It's all about the platform. No single feature is likely to make or break a merchant's decision to pursue a specific provider. Above all, they want a robust ecosystem that can evolve over time.

This exclusive report also:

Explains the current state of in-store retail and why terminal firms need to evolve to meet it
Groups features that matter to merchants and explains why they're important and what terminal providers stand to gain from focusing on them
Determines the leading players in the space
Assesses how the leading players stack up, and which offerings are the most comprehensive
Issues recommendations about how to develop an attractive platform that best serves merchants' needs as the market continues to shift
And much more.

The Point-of-Sale Terminals Report is how you get the full story.

To get your copy of this invaluable guide to the payments industry

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Choose one of these options:

Bundle and save 92% today when you purchase the Ultimate Payments Reports Bundle. You will gain immediate access to this report and 45 others on some of the most important topics impacting the payments space. BUY THE BUNDLE AND SAVE 92%
Purchase the report and download it immediately from our research store.

The choice is yours. But however you decide to acquire this report, you've given yourself a powerful advantage in your understanding of payments.

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Rabu, 17 Januari 2018

REPORT: Here's why point-of-sale terminal firms need to up their game...