Point of Sale: Point at which a sale is made, the ownership (and usually the possession) of goods is transferred from the seller to the buyer, and sales taxes (such as VAT) become payable. Commonly, at a retail checkout counter.

In today’s online driven 24/7 shopping environment, today’s bricks and mortar stores need to maintain relevance to survive. The customer expects a joined up customer experience; one that reflects what they find online, in store. While omnichannel retail demands many mobile app based solutions usually running on tablets, there is, and will also remain the necessity for static Point of Sale systems.

Point of Payment: Point at which a customer executes the payment for goods or services. Often incorporated within the Point of Sale, but may be separate, particularly where the transaction only relates to services, for example payment of public transport fares.

Payments, unsurprisingly, are the least favourite part of an in-store shopping experience. Lining up at the point of sale is slow and laborious and that desired seamless shopping experience can come to a grinding halt.

But you can make this a positive customer experience. By making usability, accessibility, and physical protection central to the planning process you can ensure that the correct payment solution is in the correct location.

Point of service: Point at which a service or information is provided to the customer, either by a member of staff, or through the customers‘ use of self-service technology. Examples include product information (including price, location and availability)

Great customer service defines an effective customer engagement strategy. Gone are the days when a customer visited a store more in hope than in expectation. Today the customer arrives knowing what is in stock, the online and offline price, discounting options and crucially, where else and at what price it may be purchased.

In the retail sector, we supply over 60% of custom retail display stands to the global top 50 retailers. In an industry where delivering seamless omnichannel services is now the norm, every interaction that customers have with a retailer is more important than ever. Ergonomic Solutions has a range of retail point of sale display stands, point of service and point of payment mounts and associated products to help retailers successfully facilitate staff and customer touchpoints in a wide variety of fixed and mobile locations, throughout the store.

One consideration for using tablets on tables and having mPOS devices in high traffic areas is always going to be security. Taking the necessary steps to ensure that the equipment can’t be tampered with is essential for businesses to be PCI compliant, where payments are concerned. Protective and secure mounting options such as the SpacePole range from Ergonomic Solutions for tablet devices used on tables or in bars for unattended public use. Tablet mounts and stands can also include secure docking stations, such as the SpacePole A-Frame, negating the requirement for removing the devices daily to charge elsewhere on the premises.

Whatever type of pop-up or small business you run, a restaurant, café, bar, eatery, or a retail outlet, you’ll need to ensure that customers can pay for their purchase easily and securely. Every type of business and setting has its own set of considerations and, especially if you’re a mobile pop-up business or change location frequently, this can mean that you have additional problems to overcome when it comes to making the buying journey for customers (and staff) as hassle-free as possible. You might not have the resources of large chain retailers, but customers still expect and deserve to be able to pay for their purchases quickly and safely.

Attending exhibitions and industry events remains an important part of the marketing fabric for many sectors, whether it’s a conference, a product or brand showcase or launch, or a press event. Their portability and ease-of-use make tablet computers an ideal choice in these settings, whether for displaying information, playing videos and other media, demonstrating products or providing an interactive experience for users. These devices offer people a hands-on way of doing everything from viewing your brand story and navigating your website or app, to playing a new game, using a prototype tool, pre-ordering something or accessing exclusive content – all at a location , or multiple locations, of your choice.